The Web MiniDisc Application

[cybercase]

Hello everyone!

I'm new to this forum, and let me say that I love to see the love and conversation about MiniDisc keep going on

I'm popping in just to let you know that I've recently released an app for NetMD devices. I wrote the app mainly for myself, but I thought it might be useful for some of you too!

So, and here's the link to use it -> https://stefano.brilli.me/webminidisc/

And here's a short demo of how app works

 

Any feedback is welcome!

Stefano

 

[BearBoy]

This looks great Stefano!

Does it require any drivers or anything to be installed when using a PC?

[drfunkdubious]

So cool.  Awesome to see someone creating for minidisc again.  Would this work for Hi-MD?

[BearBoy]

I've never tried using NetMD so don't have SonicStage on my PC or any of the associated drivers installed.

When I connect my NetMD walkman (MZ-N910) to my PC and  click on "connect" in the app I get a pop up box saying "no compatible devices found". Is this because I don't have the drivers installed Stefano?

My work phone is an Android phone but I don't have a mini USB to USB C cable so cannot check that.

[cybercase]

38 minutes ago, BearBoy said:

This looks great Stefano!

Does it require any drivers or anything to be installed when using a PC?

Even if I'm a mac user, I've tried the app on Windows 10 once and yes, you need to install a driver. Sorry I forgot to mention. There are a few instructions here: https://github.com/cybercase/webminidisc .

[BearBoy]

Thanks Stefano. Does it require any sort of drivers on an Android device?

[cybercase]

31 minutes ago, drfunkdubious said:

So cool.  Awesome to see someone creating for minidisc again.  Would this work for Hi-MD?

Well, I cannot say that for sure because I only got a NetMD unit, but I've received reports from people who've successfully used the app with HiMD units. I wish I had a device to try myself

[cybercase]

2 minutes ago, BearBoy said:

Thanks Stefano. Does it require any sort of drivers on an Android device?

No drivers need. It should work out of the box... Although I haven't tested many devices. I only used my phone to test the app.

[cybercase]

30 minutes ago, BearBoy said:

I've never tried using NetMD so don't have SonicStage on my PC or any of the associated drivers installed.

When I connect my NetMD walkman (MZ-N910) to my PC and  click on "connect" in the app I get a pop up box saying "no compatible devices found". Is this because I don't have the drivers installed Stefano?

My work phone is an Android phone but I don't have a mini USB to USB C cable so cannot check that.

Yes, it's very likely that you're missing the drivers. If you're on windows 10, just install the WinUSB driver using the installer here: https://zadig.akeo.ie/ . Then, close the browser and try again. It should work

[Stachu]

That is so brilliant! Making things much easier and faster! My big big congratulations for your fantastic work, Stefano! I will definitely give it a try tonight with my HiMD unit ;D

Bests from Poland

Stan

PS. Any chance to use it on a Mac?

[BearBoy]

53 minutes ago, cybercase said:

Yes, it's very likely that you're missing the drivers. If you're on windows 10, just install the WinUSB driver using the installer here: https://zadig.akeo.ie/ . Then, close the browser and try again. It should work

Thanks Stefano. I've got it working now. Sort of. Seems to be fine with MP3 files and AAC (.m4a) but every time I try to convert/upload an ALAC file (.m4a) it fails. Do you know if it should work with ALAC files?

[cybercase]

20 minutes ago, BearBoy said:

Thanks Stefano. I've got it working now. Sort of. Seems to be fine with MP3 files and AAC (.m4a) but every time I try to convert/upload an ALAC file (.m4a) it fails. Do you know if it should work with ALAC files?

Sorry, I never heard of ALAC format before  , but I'll see if I can add support for that.

[cybercase]

57 minutes ago, Stachu said:

That is so brilliant! Making things much easier and faster! My big big congratulations for your fantastic work, Stefano! I will definitely give it a try tonight with my HiMD unit ;D

Bests from Poland

Stan

PS. Any chance to use it on a Mac?

Happy you liked it!

Let me know if it works with your unit; and yes, I use a Mac too, so that's not a problem for sure.

[BearBoy]

It's probably better known as Apple Lossless? It's basically Apple's version of FLAC.

I have to say Stefano that your app is brilliant. I've never bothered with NetMD before as I was put off by using SonicStage and sorting out the drivers etc but your app is amazingly simple (even for an idiot like me  ).

[cybercase]

Just now, BearBoy said:

It's probably better known as Apple Lossless?

I have to say Stefano that your app is brilliant. I've never bothered with NetMD before as I was put off by using SonicStage and sorting out the drivers etc but your app is amazingly simple (even for an idiot like me  ).

Happy you liked it!

I was also annoyed by sonic stage... and the fact that I had to use it in a VM was even more frustrating.

I decided to build that app as a side project, during the last month. Needed a way to kill the time during the lockdown...
Honestly, I'm happy with how it came out, but now I can't wait to go back to normal

 

[zzzuppp]

Trying to use it with a Mac going to a MzRH-1 (the ultimate HiMD). It pairs up, the MD says 'ACCESS' but when I hit the 'Connect' button I get this message 'The requested interface implements a protected class' and no 'upload' window appears.

 What does that message mean?

I would love this to work, since for about a decade I've had to transfer soundfiles in real time from computer to MD because Sony's app for Mac to pair with MD stopped working several OS versions ago.

Meanwhile it looks amazing - BRILLI-ant ! Well done Stefano.

[Stachu]

1 hour ago, zzzuppp said:

'The requested interface implements a protected class'

Reporting the same issue with my MZ-RH1 unit. Actually, seems like the type/series of the MD unit is not being recognized. The website lists it just as "HiMD" (paired) without listing its model name. Maybe that's the reason?

[cybercase]

10 hours ago, zzzuppp said:

Trying to use it with a Mac going to a MzRH-1 (the ultimate HiMD). It pairs up, the MD says 'ACCESS' but when I hit the 'Connect' button I get this message 'The requested interface implements a protected class' and no 'upload' window appears.

 What does that message mean?

I would love this to work, since for about a decade I've had to transfer soundfiles in real time from computer to MD because Sony's app for Mac to pair with MD stopped working several OS versions ago.

Meanwhile it looks amazing - BRILLI-ant ! Well done Stefano.

 

9 hours ago, Stachu said:

Reporting the same issue with my MZ-RH1 unit. Actually, seems like the type/series of the MD unit is not being recognized. The website lists it just as "HiMD" (paired) without listing its model name. Maybe that's the reason?

Thanks for reporting guys.

Unfortunately I've done a few researches and it seems the error means that the browser is not allowing the connection to your device because it falls among the "protected USB device class". No idea why they decided to put the RH1 in the protected devices list.

I'm sorry for this trouble, I wish I had a himd unit to do some testing. However, while researching for a solution, I've came into this thread 

I see that your RH1 has 2 disc mode: One for MD and one for HiMD. I also see that at page 17 of the RH1 user manual there's a way to switch between "modes" https://www.minidisc.org/manuals/sony/Sony_MZ-RH1_user_manual.pdf 

If you haven't tried already, maybe switching to MD mode could help.

By the way, thanks for your feedback. I hope it'' work for you

[Stachu]

Good morning :-)

Reporting good news! I switched the MZ-RH1's mode to SP and... it worked out! The device is being recognized as NetMD/Hi-MD unit and I can transfer eg. a wav file in SP/LP2/LP4 mode

[cybercase]

Just now, Stachu said:

Good morning :-)

Reporting good news! I switched the MZ-RH1's mode to SP and... it worked out! The device is being recognized as NetMD/Hi-MD unit and I can transfer eg. a wav file in SP/LP2/LP4 mode

Happy to hear that! And thanks for letting us know.

Maybe one day I'll decide to buy an RH1 and do some more work on the HiMD part  

[Stachu]

Encoutered a bug on MZ-RH1 - while I was able to transfer files to the device successfully, I have a problem to delete them, there is a loader that doesn't go off and I can't do anything then. Here is what it looks like: https://share.getcloudapp.com/04uKXlZr 

[Stachu]

Bugs cont...

I eventually disconnected the device and now it's not being recognized by the Mac - nothing happens when I connect it over USB and when I try to access your page - I get this: https://share.getcloudapp.com/Apur0Z4K

[cybercase]

5 minutes ago, Stachu said:

Encoutered a bug on MZ-RH1 - while I was able to transfer files to the device successfully, I have a problem to delete them, there is a loader that doesn't go off and I can't do anything then. Here is what it looks like: https://share.getcloudapp.com/04uKXlZr 

 

1 minute ago, Stachu said:

Bugs cont...

I eventually disconnected the device and now it's not being recognized by the Mac - nothing happens when I connect it over USB and when I try to access your page - I get this: https://share.getcloudapp.com/Apur0Z4K

Ah, that's a bummer... Probably the RH1 use a slightly different protocol from the NetMD unit I used for development (an old MZ-N710). The Loading screen that doesn't fade away means that there's likely some error in the developer console.
If you want, you can check it out by enabling the Developer Tools in the View > Developer menu of chrome. then you should find a few red lines reporting the error in the Console.

[Stachu]

Another bug. I rebooted my Mac to see if it would "reset" things, and when I connect RH1 - it's not listed in the devices list anymore. Seems like something went wrong on my Mac. Not sure what I can do now...

[Stachu]

4 minutes ago, cybercase said:

If you want, you can check it out by enabling the Developer Tools in the View > Developer menu of chrome. then you should find a few red lines reporting the error in the Console.

Chrome is now reporting:

Uncaught (in promise) Error: Assertion failed: no message provided
    at Object.o [as assert] (utils.ts:27)
    at e.<anonymous> (netmd-interface.ts:384)
    at main.caa32d2c.chunk.js?__WB_REVISION__=884d278225965a562985:1
    at Object.next (main.caa32d2c.chunk.js?__WB_REVISION__=884d278225965a562985:1)
    at o (main.caa32d2c.chunk.js?__WB_REVISION__=884d278225965a562985:1)

but still - the device is not actually connected

[cybercase]

4 minutes ago, Stachu said:

Another bug. I rebooted my Mac to see if it would "reset" things, and when I connect RH1 - it's not listed in the devices list anymore. Seems like something went wrong on my Mac. Not sure what I can do now...

Ok, great! that's what I thought. A slight difference in the protocol is causing the error.

Try to wipe the minidisc using your device, that should fix the problem

Edited April 2, 2020 by cybercase
rewording

[Stachu]

2 minutes ago, cybercase said:

Try to format the minidisc using your device, that should fix the problem

Ok I will try with a blank disk first, but stuill - I'm unable to make the device visible in the system anymore  Is there any workaround to force Mac to see the unit again?

[cybercase]

1 minute ago, Stachu said:

Ok I will try with a blank disk first, but stuill - I'm unable to make the device visible in the system anymore  Is there any workaround to force Mac to see the unit again?

I guess you can switch the unit back to HiMD mode, and that should make the unit visible again on your mac.

[Stachu]

2 minutes ago, cybercase said:

I guess you can switch the unit back to HiMD mode, and that should make the unit visible again on your mac.

Unfortunately it didn't help. I reverted REC setting to HiMD and the unit is still not being listed in the Mac.

[Stachu]

STUPID ME, I accidently pushed PLAY and connected it while the unit was playing music LOL. Once stopped, my Mac started to see the unit. I will now perform another test with Chrome console's errors and will drop them here :-)

[cybercase]

1 minute ago, Stachu said:

STUPID ME, I accidently pushed PLAY and connected it while the unit was playing music LOL. Once stopped, my Mac started to see the unit. I will now perform another test with Chrome console's errors and will drop them here :-)

I'm glad everything's fine  

Thanks for the help. I'll try to see what I can do with those Chrome errors... not sure if I'll be able to solve all of them because I don't have a RH1 for testing, but I'll try.

[Stachu]

Ok, once tried again, the situation is the same, and the same console error.

Nevertheless! It's still fantastic I can transfer records via Mac directly in SP modes ;D Can't find words of gratitude for your work - such a relief as I was forced to use an old WIndows laptop each time I wanted to transfer anything. I rarely erase MDs, still - I can do that on the unit ;-) I bet one day you'll make it work anyway ;D 

One more question: does the UI support FLAC?

[cybercase]

10 minutes ago, Stachu said:

Ok, once tried again, the situation is the same, and the same console error.

Nevertheless! It's still fantastic I can transfer records via Mac directly in SP modes ;D Can't find words of gratitude for your work - such a relief as I was forced to use an old WIndows laptop each time I wanted to transfer anything. I rarely erase MDs, still - I can do that on the unit ;-) I bet one day you'll make it work anyway ;D 

One more question: does the UI support FLAC?

Yes, UI supports flac, mp3, wav, aiff and a bunch of other formats. I'm also planning to add alac.

By the way, this weekend I'll try to add some debug reporting to the source code, so that I might be able to fix that error.

If it's not too much trouble, I'll get back to you after I added the debug code, just to ask for the new error report in the console.

[Stachu]

1 minute ago, cybercase said:

Yes, UI supports flac, mp3, wav, aiff and a bunch of other formats. I'm also planning to add alac.

Fantastic!

2 minutes ago, cybercase said:

If it's not too much trouble, I'll get back to you after I added the debug code, just to ask for the new error report in the console.

That would be a pleasure of mine to contribute.

BTW, after the last attempt, I can make the unit to be visible in the HiMD mode, but once any iof standard modes is set, the unit is again not being recognized by the Mac. Not sure what did I do wrong.

[cybercase]

2 minutes ago, Stachu said:

BTW, after the last attempt, I can make the unit to be visible in the HiMD mode, but once any iof standard modes is set, the unit is again not being recognized by the Mac. Not sure what did I do wrong.

You did nothing wrong. As far as I can get it, basically when you switch to standard mode the HiMD protocol is disabled and NetMD takes its place.

HiMD falls into the "Media devices" usb class, so the os recongnizes it and the browser can't take control of the devices. On the other hand, NetMD protocol does not fall in that category, and it's basically seen as an "unknown device" for the mac, allowing the browser to see and control that device.

[Stachu]

Ahhh yes, you're correct - I can control it again ;D

A question: there are player's controls in the UI - but seems they don't work with the MD - when I click eg. the play button - nothing happens. Just curious...

[cybercase]

Just now, Stachu said:

Ahhh yes, you're correct - I can control it again ;D

A question: there are player's controls in the UI - but seems they don't work with the MD - when I click eg. the play button - nothing happens. Just curious...

Well, I guess that's another "difference in the protocol" then... those buttons should tell the unit to start/stop the music playing on the device, while still connected to the computer.

[BearBoy]

5 minutes ago, Stachu said:

A question: there are player's controls in the UI - but seems they don't work with the MD - when I click eg. the play button - nothing happens. Just curious...

Hi Stachu. They work okay with my MZ-N910.

[Stachu]

Ok I get it. One more question as it may also be an RH1-related issue:

I tested a SM MD with two albums recorded in LP2. Each Album stands for a group of songs, so that I've got 2 groups with 1 album each. But when Vieweing the MD via the web UI I can only see al records listed without groups - all at once. Is that correct?

[cybercase]

1 minute ago, Stachu said:

Ok I get it. One more question as it may also be an RH1-related issue:

I tested a SM MD with two albums recorded in LP2. Each Album stands for a group of songs, so that I've got 2 groups with 1 album each. But when Vieweing the MD via the web UI I can only see al records listed without groups - all at once. Is that correct?

Yes, correct, but it's not a RH1 related issue.

When designing the app I just decided to ignore groups because it's a feature that I use rarely, and didn't want to complicate the UI too much. However, I might add them in the future if people keep asking and if I come up with a nice way to add them.