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What about SonicStage support in Windows 7?

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sefarad

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There may be several options with Windows 7. Although already present in Vista, the Compatibility Tab function supposedly is implemented in a sort of "virtualisation microkernel"--to make a long story short, it's supposed to pretend to be the target platform in a much more precise manner. If that doesn't turn out to live up to the hype, you can also use VMWare and run XP in a virtual machine that way--it even supports passing through physical wireless network interfaces now.

Hello.

I knew this would happen.

I hope my old XP PC lives for thousand years.

It's a pity!.

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Avrin????? You surely read of several folks using SS in version 7 of Windows. I duly reported myself as one of them.

The ONLY thing that might not work is NetMD drivers on 64-bit version. However even this ought to be possible, either as XP compatibility mode, or a virtual machine.

For sure, no problems with SS 4.3 on W7-32.

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AFAIK it's not W7-compatibility so much as 64-bit compability. The same problem exists in Vista, namely you cannot do certain things (not exactly sure what, someone here can tell us) in 64-bit mode. Same problem with 64-bit XP (which has LOTS of things it cannot do).

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Furthermore, it's related to drivers. While plain old 32-bit software if written to standards can usually play nice under 64-bit Vista or Windows 7, drivers have a problem because under the default configuration they must be "signed". In order to use unsigned drivers and have them work consistently you have to actually disable the requirement for signed drivers in the boot table. I haven't seen the latest Windows 7 release (I last played with Build 7000), so I don't know if you can set the compatibility tab to "32-bit" when you're running the host as 64-bit. Here you'd have to resort to VMWare or another related product.

AFAIK it's not W7-compatibility so much as 64-bit compability. The same problem exists in Vista, namely you cannot do certain things (not exactly sure what, someone here can tell us) in 64-bit mode. Same problem with 64-bit XP (which has LOTS of things it cannot do).
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Avrin????? You surely read of several folks using SS in version 7 of Windows. I duly reported myself as one of them.

Yes, surely. But still SS43 is not officially supported in "the axe".

While plain old 32-bit software if written to standards can usually play nice under 64-bit Vista or Windows 7, drivers have a problem because under the default configuration they must be "signed".

The main problem here is not with driver signing. The drivers used for NetMD are in no way standard. They have their own USB protocol, are encrypted and use proprietary SONY routines even for simple operations. And they are explicitly designed for 32-bit OSes (so they may possibly work with a 32-bit "axe"), but there is no way to use them directly with 64-bit installations. A decent VM will do though, but I wouldn't rely on the new "XP within the axe" technology (remember that Microsoft Virtual Machines have no USB support at all).

Edited by Avrin
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That rings true.

Duh, I should've known this was because Sony Entertainment has to "protect its interests." I knew drivers must be the culprit, though I didn't realize in this case the blame is squarely on Sony's greed and not Microsoft. Knee-jerk reaction, sorry. :)

Yes, surely. But still SS43 is not officially supported in "the axe".

The main problem here is not with driver signing. The drivers used for NetMD are in no way standard. They have their own USB protocol, are encrypted and use proprietary SONY routines even for simple operations. And they are explicitly designed for 32-bit OSes (so they may possibly work with a 32-bit "axe"), but there is no way to use them directly with 64-bit installations. A decent VM will do though, but I wouldn't rely on the new "XP within the axe" technology (remember that Microsoft Virtual Machines have no USB support at all).

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I think he's referring to the virtualization subsystem that's accessed in the compatibility tab--but I can find no reference to his colloquialism anywhere. It could be just his own personal nickname for it. Please enlighten us, Mr. Avrin. I think i found it:

AXE-Application Execution Environment

I still can't find anyone using this in the context of Windows 7 though.

Since when has Windows 7 been called "The Axe"? I'm aware of Windows Azure, but that is a server-centric technology; whereas W7 is a "standard" standalone Windows client.
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Hello everyone

Do you know if SonicStage will supported in Windows 7?.

Best.

I'm working on an installer that patches SonicStage to version 4.3.02.14200. With this patch I have been able to run SonicStage on two different installs of Win7 RC1. The Release notes for this patch which was released in Japan for version 4.3 says:

"Vista in SonicStage was not to a privilege escalation dialog was displayed at startup." (translation from google).

This installer includes the OpenMG Secure Module v5 and the most recent PxEngine.

I should be done testing sometime today or tomorrow and will have the download available on my website.

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I'm working on an installer that patches SonicStage to version 4.3.02.14200. With this patch I have been able to run SonicStage on two different installs of Win7 RC1. The Release notes for this patch which was released in Japan for version 4.3 says:

"Vista in SonicStage was not to a privilege escalation dialog was displayed at startup." (translation from google).

This installer includes the OpenMG Secure Module v5 and the most recent PxEngine.

I should be done testing sometime today or tomorrow and will have the download available on my website.

Where did you get this patch? I was only able to find a full Japanese installer for 4.3.02.14200. BTW, it installs just fine on English Windows XP, and there is an easy way to make the program English by replacing the respective language files with those taken from English version 4.3.01.

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Where did you get this patch? I was only able to find a full Japanese installer for 4.3.02.14200. BTW, it installs just fine on English Windows XP, and there is an easy way to make the program English by replacing the respective language files with those taken from English version 4.3.01.

I'm using the full installer but if the US version is installed it will patch the install with the updated files. So this is the route I'm taking with the installer.

The installer does the following:

1. Installs Msc from 4.3

2. Installs the SetupReg from 4.3

3. Installs OpenMG from 4.4

4. Installs SonicStage 4.3

5. Installs SonicStage 4.3 Addon

6. Installs the Security Update

7. runs the 4.3.02.14200 installer, which detects you have 4.3 installed and patches.

8. installs the pa driver from version 4.4

9. Copies some updated image files that I created to remove the Connect branding.

10. Runs the PxEngine.

I'm using inno setup to put it all together.

Edited by Silvos
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Great!

A few suggestions:

2. Installs the SetupReg from 4.3

Use the one from 4.4. This component adds registry keys for HDD/flash/phone devices supported by the included OpenMG version.

3. Installs OpenMG from 4.4

For Windows 7, you may try OpenMG 5.4 from SonicStage V 5.2. It still supports NetMD/HiMD. Download the full version from http://cnt01.labelgate.com/omgx2/player/SS...eVInstaller.exe then use WinRar to extract the Common\OpenMG folder from the archive. And don't forget to edit the OmgCore.ini file to make it English (OmgCore.ini from OpenMG 4.4 also needs editing). BTW, if you use OpenMG 5.4, also use its SetupReg from the SonicStage\Japanese\Patch folder in the distribution package.

6. Installs the Security Update

7. runs the 4.3.02.14200 installer, which detects you have 4.3 installed and patches.

Change the order of these two steps. The Security Update needs to be applied after 4.3.02 is installed.

9. Copies some updated image files that I created to remove the Connect branding.

No need to do that. Simply remove the [MenuService], [EMDCommon], [EMD0], [EMD1], and [EMD2] section from the SSAddOpt.ini file located at SonicStage\addon\English and/or SonicStage\addon\Japanese, and the EMD plugin along with CONNECT, Mora, etc. stuff won't even get installed. You may also want to edit the [support] section there.

Edited by Avrin
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I'm finished with the installer as I outlined in my last post! I'm going to wait to release it though until I update it with your suggestions.

Thanks for the help, awesome suggestions!

As for "9. Copies some updated image files that I created to remove the Connect branding."

I have removed the [MenuService], [EMDCommon], [EMD0], [EMD1], and [EMD2] from the ini file. But I'm keeping the image files in there as I wanted to change the startup screen, I've see that same old startup screen for years, its time for a change :D

Edited by Silvos
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Well, I decided to go the easy way and created a small (4.3 Mb) patch that updates SonicStage 4.3.01.14050 Ultimate English to version 4.3.02.14200. OpenMG and PxEngine are not changed in any way. The patch simply installs and registers files that were updated in version 4.3.02.14200, with the exception of language resource files.

You may download it here: http://depositfiles.com/files/gnx02914v

To install:

1. Make sure you have the original SonicStage 4.3 Ultimate installed to the default folder (C:\Program Files\Sony\SonicStage).

2. Close SonicStage, disconnect any ATRAC devices and restart your computer.

3. Run the patch.

Please note, that I do not recommend using the patch if the original Ultimate version is working fine for you. The update only addresses the behavior of SonicStage in Windows Vista, and possibly in Windows 7.

Edited by Avrin
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