Hi-MD and Mac - the definitive answer

[oivindi]

And it´s not a good one.

Sent an email to Sony Norway, simply asking whether or not the Hi-MD format/players would be Mac-compatible.

I got this reply:

"Hi-MD will not be compatible with Mac."

So, that´s it then. God damn it.

[Christopher]

Well, now wait a minute. This isn't entirely true. I know that Hi-MD devices will be compatible with Mac's in the data sense, whereas the computer will be able to read the "mass storage device" and you'll have some limited functionality that way. If Hi-MD takes off then Mac compatibility may come.

[SilverBlade]

If your lucky enough to have VirtualPC or VMware for Mac, you can install SonicStage. Then again, I've never done so, so its hard to say whether its possible

[KLank]

If your lucky enough to have VirtualPC or VMware for Mac, you can install SonicStage.   Then again, I've never done so, so its hard to say whether its possible

Does anyone one know if this will work? I just got a new PowerBook and I would like to be able to load my MD's from it.

[mAjEsTiC]

KLank i think it would work...since i've managed to get quite a few windows programs to work with VirtualPC...but i'm not 100% sure as i've not tried it myself nor do i own a mac (i only use one at work)

[iceeedtea]

If your lucky enough to have VirtualPC or VMware for Mac, you can install SonicStage. Then again, I've never done so, so its hard to say whether its possible

.... VMWare Workstation for Mac? VMWare Workstation is only available for Linux (yay) and Windows (...). Both of which I own and use. Last I checked, VMWare, Inc. only supported x86 systems.

I have yet to test it under Linux, since VMWare does not work properly under 2.6 kernels. It seems to be still broken under gentoo-dev-sources 2.6.1-r5. (No, I will not use the "official" kernels. Gentoo > *.)

For Macs, you should be able to run SonicStage through a copy of Windows installed in VirtualPC in OS9, not "Classic" mode. OSX doesn't work properly. However, that would mean that you would need to dual-boot your Mac. Messy. And costly, if you don't already have a supported version of Windows somewhere on disc.

MacOS 9 == space. Windows in VirtualPC in MacOS 9 == more space. And slow performance.

Plus....it's Windows. :rasp:

[MDfreak]

I had contact with Sony Netherlands and they checked on the MAC-compatibility with Sony Japan and the answer was that the data-mode also will NOT work with MAC's. A bit strange because it is USB-mass-storage compatible but that is what Sony told us.

[Christopher]

What? That's absurd. :whatever:

[iceeedtea]

I had contact with Sony Netherlands and they checked on the MAC-compatibility with Sony Japan and the answer was that the data-mode also will NOT work with MAC's. A bit strange because it is USB-mass-storage compatible but that is what Sony told us.

Well, that makes no sense.

Could this be a bit of miscommunication to cause this reply from Sony Japan?

This just got a bit more interesting. I wonder what caused them to reply like that?

[MDfreak]

Well, that makes no sense.

Could this be a bit of miscommunication to cause this reply from Sony Japan?

This just got a bit more interesting. I wonder what caused them to reply like that?

I think that the only possibility to prove Sony wrong is to try out ourselves when Hi-MD is available in shops.

I also found it strange because the USB mass-storage standard is also used on MAC's but I explicitly asked Sony and this was their answer. I can't help it. We didn't have a MAC-computer with us when we were @ Sony's

[briantreanor]

It seems like Sony is, unfortunately, giving a negative answer here. I, like many others, am ready to buy a HiMD device if I can get it to work on a Mac, with or without virtual PC.

So, to clarify the terms of the debate for all those folks who are insisting that it "should" work: when folks ask the Mac/MD question, we are looking for a "definitive" answer before we shell out $300 for a HiMD, $200 for Virtual PC, etc. Given all the confusion, I am wondering if anyone out there knows the answer. "Knows" = "Yes, it will work; I am sitting here typing as I listen to my MD player playing songs I just got off my Mac."

Don't get me wrong. I REALLY APPRECIATE ALL THE ATTEMPTS TO HELP HERE. Moreover, I know next to nothing about the advanced software/hardware topics that many of you seem to be so well versed in. That being the case, the various Mac/MD threads here have only served to confuse me, and have convinced me that many others here are confused as well.

WITH ALL HUMILITY, thanks again for your help; but does anyone have a REALLY DEFINITIVE answer to the Mac/MD compatibility issue. Will Mac users be able to use HiMD technology on their Mac computers?

[mhp_man]

It is my understanding that because Sony makes PCs that they have incentive to write software ONLY that will work on their own hardware, whereas since the Macintosh is "competition" to their PC sales, they have a tendency to ignorre Mac users. Be that as it is, I own an iBook and I have Virtual PC on it. It isn't very fast but I am willing to install the PC software that came with my Sony MZ-N707 to see whether this is even possible. I am quite hopeful that it will actually work! My only concern is support for USB in VPC. I have version 5. If it will see the device, I am quite certain that it will work fine. Strange that I have not even tried it before, but I have a PC at home as well, which broke my heart to have to spend money on "that other" operating system and hardware.

Wish me luck! I will be back in touch.

[briantreanor]

That's GREAT! Please do tell us how it goes with the Virtual PC/MD interface. I got my Powerbook last week, but the delayed release of the Hi-MD units gives me a couple of months before I'll be making the MD decision. I hope Sonicstage works with Virtual PC, even if it is slow (and expensive, as I'll have to shell out for VPC as well as the MD, but oh well).

Thanks again for trying this out!

Brian

[phildrip]

Check out:

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/05/04/so...ony_connect_us/

Specifically, it says theregister contacted Sony regarding their new Connect online music service (which uses SonicStage and links with NetMD) and asks whether there will support for platforms other than Windosh. The short answer was 'we hope so in the future'.

Sweet.

Laters

[Dimora]

I know that this post is somewhat old...but I just need to vent.

I recently emailed Sony USA asking if the Hi-MDs will be compatible with Macs and their reply was no. Not even a ray of hope for the future.

I am absolutely LIVID.

And the possible reason of Sony being strickly a PC manufacturer is bologna *trying oh so hard not to curse like a sailor*. With the strides OSX has made in programming it would be exceedingly simple to write a compatible program - if I were a programmer I'd do it for people! lol. Furthermore - Sony would have nothing to lose in this venture. In any event, revenue would increase quite a bit if they supported the estranged Mac users!

I have had my eyes on a Hi-MD ever since they have been announced and was giddy like a school girl for it's release! Now, I am bitter and surly and want to break something but instead I sit in a corner and mumble incoherently about injustice and unusual cruelty. My only hope right now is that someone will write a program that will allow it (come onnnn sourceforge!)

Maybe I am just jumping the gun. Maybe, as someone posted earlier, that in the future they may support Macs, but as it stands right now, my opinion on Sony isn't very good:

Sony is effing stupid.

[alieninhead]

Don't crucify me if I'm wrong, but it is very unlikely the Hi-MD or any USB-based MD format will ever come to the Mac. Since Sony is the purveyor of all things NetMD at this point, they more-than-likely have the final say whether or not you can put a USB-based format on what operating system. And since, potentially, Apple and Sony are on a collision course with each other I'm not sure if there will ever be a Mac version.

However, again, if enough support is rallied--or if an aftermarket app is created to work w/the Mac is made, it's not out of the realm of possibility Sony would come out with their own thing. They just really like the PC platform and are really trying to push themselves along using Windows, and pretty computer towers.

As far as mounting the drive under Mac? OSX is a Unix core, right? It's pretty easy to mount a Fat32 drive even under the kernel of Linux I'm running, I'm sure I could get the MD player to mount. Unless, of course, it's FAT but using some sort of weird encoding scheme. You never know with Sony.

~a.i.h.

[MadDuck]

Well, I kinda suspected that this would be my first post here after reading them for QUITE a while!

I can say with ALL certanty that my NH-600D works like a champ on my eMac 700Mhz with USB 1.1 on it! It even manages to power the unit the entire time too, which SONY implied could only be done on USB 2.0.

It always mounts as a device with the name of, "NO NAME" and one file and one folder in it. I've tried renaming it in SS2.0 and on the desktop to no avail, it's always, "NO NAME"

My Mac sees it as any other moutable device, which should be ejected like SONY states that Winblows '98 (L)users have to do in the instruction booklet.

It is seen nativly on OSX 10.3.4, and on a beta of OSX 10.4 that I'm playaing with. OS9.X did not see it at all. Pity. I'd of like to of copied a system folder to it and booted off of it.......

It transfers files over about like you'd expect a USB 1.1 device to do, nothing spectacular, but kinda kewl!

SO I'm stuck running my WinClone for a bit longer just for NETMD.

And yes, I copied a stack of MP3's over to it and NO they did NOT play. (DRAT!)

Peace out.

[Christopher]

Awesome, MadDuck! This is good news for the Mac users amongst us..I'll see if I can spur some progress! Thanks for finding this out, and welcome.

:happy:

[Fray Adjacent]

Madduck, I think what you're seeing is the OS reacting to the DISC not having a label. It's the DISC's label that is going to give the device a name. And the one file and one folder are put on the disc by the player when you insert a blank disc.

[meatballfulton]

It always mounts as a device with the name of, "NO NAME" and one file and one folder in it. I've tried renaming it in SS2.0 and on the desktop to no avail, it's always, "NO NAME"

All my USB storage devices (Olympus digital camera and my jump drives) mount to my iMac as NO NAME. No, I can't rename them either. It would only be a problem if I had more than one mounted at the same time (which I never do).

[DrAdvertising]

Sony will never make its minidisc (or cameras, or ...) Mac compatible, unless some pressure is brought to bear. I was shopping for a video camera a few years ago and discovered that Sony's wasn't Mac compatible, but Canon's was. I bought the Canon. Sony has a history of refusing to acknowledge the Mac community.

But wait!!! McDonald's just began it's tie-in campaign with SonyConnect. Unlike Sony, McDonald's is smart enough not to alienate consumers of any ilk. So go to the McDonald's website, to the "contact us" page, and send an e-mail (or letter, if you like) complaining that they have this great promotion but they've locked you out of it. Here's a link to their e-mail form: http://www.mcdonalds.com/app_controller.cu...marketing.html/

I suspect that if they get enough complaints, they'll have a little talk with Sony. :rasp: :rasp:

[MadDuck]

JUST WHEN I THOUGHT IT COULDN'T GET ANY MORE WEIRDER!

I plugged the 600D in to my other Mac (running 9.2.2) and booted it up.

Well the OS recognized it, and offered a FORMAT.

I agreed (knowing that SS could reformat it back to 'normal'!) and it took the format correctly AND let me rename it too!!

And here's where it got weird......

I copied a system folder to it (took FOREVER to Xfer to the HiMD)

AND it BOOTED to it. Slow as Christmas, but it worked :rasp:

Thought you'd all get a hoot from that! :laugh:

Oh, yeah and STARTUP DISK on OSX (10.3.4) saw it too! :grin:

[jadeclaw]

Well, that confirms my suspicion.

If it confirms to the standard, it will be useable on any OS, that supports the standard.

It would be great, if Sony gets a grip here and supplies the necessary drivers/plugins to use the sound functions as well.

[thecapt]

Has anyibe tried using Virtual PC with the new Hi MD unit? Maybe things can transfer now! This news is hopeful to all Mac and MD users

[MadDuck]

I honestly just haven't gotten around to testing out the 600D on VPC yet, anybody else tried??

ALSO- I was in CompUSA yesterday and picked up FIVE new retail pcked HI-MD blanks!!! BTW they were stacked over with the ZIP discs, not with the standard blank MDs for some reason!?!?

The Sony Style store(Houston Galleria across the street from CompUSA) can't get them,

back ordered on Sony.com (try to add them to your cart!),

audiocubes is having 'shipping delays'

NONE are listed on Ebay (tho some PPL are selling the toss-in ones from time to time)

and my buddies on minidisco aren't even listing them yet on their site!

So, yes, I kinda feel luck having found them, I actually went in there to get a 128MB SD RAM card for my Tung E.

Has anyone else actually found thoses blanks anywhere??

[hobgoblin]

hmm, anyone feeling like copying a knoppix cd onto a md?

but why is the transfer slow? is it the media write prosess or just sony being cheap?

[Latexxx]

hmm, anyone feeling like copying a knoppix cd onto a md?

but why is the transfer slow? is it the media write prosess or just sony being cheap?

Writing MO discs is slow.

[hobgoblin]

well as long as its not so sensitive in the write prosess as a cd-r or dvd-r i can survive i guess. it will just take very long to save large files (just put the task in the background and make damn sure you dont do it at the last needed minute)

[sir-ed-md]

The new SonicStage works with Virtual PC.

Make sure you have enough hard drive space.

A good idea is to burn ATAC3 disk for smooth transfer.

So here's a comparison of two machines:

-----------------------------------------------------

(Present)

G4 Titainium 667 w/512M ram

Virtual PC 5.0

Windows 2000

and ofcouse the new SonicStage.

"Works very well"

-----------------------------------------------------

(past)

G3 iBook 333mhz w 256M ram(Clam Shell)

"Yeah I know, but I got it for free."

Virtual PC 2.1

Windows 98

Old SonicStage that came with my MZ-N505.

"Super Sluggish"

-----------------------------------------------------

Here're the snags:

The USB connection only works in the classic mode (OS9).

I tried to transfer atac3 files from my MD to Puter. It failed.

VPC and Windows2000 takes up 2 gig.

VPC will not work with the new G5 and I haven't heard from Microsoft making a new OS9 version to work with G5 either.

Only if SONY decied to make a Linux or UNIX version of SonicStage. Than it will be easy to convert for MacOS.

I still think MD is worth consideration against the iPOD. MD's frequency response can not be matched by a HD mp3 player.

[oivindi]

So, to summarize (partly): If I were to buy a Hi-MD, record some sounds using a microphone/mic in in PCM-format, mount the Hi-MD on my desktop, access the folders...I would only get access to a copy protected file that Sony´s own software (for the PC) can read?

[jadeclaw]

Writing MO discs is slow.

Not necessarily, the problem with current Hi-MD recorders is, they are build for low power consumption.

And that means slow and weak motors.

And looooong seek times. A first generation CD-ROM drive is ten times faster in seek times.

Solution: Pack the files into a ZIP-archive or a tarball and copy that to MD, its a lot faster than copying a load of small files. In addition, the space on the disc is better used as well.

So, to summarize (partly): If I were to buy a Hi-MD, record some sounds using a microphone/mic in in PCM-format, mount the Hi-MD on my desktop, access the folders...I would only get access to a copy protected file that Sony´s own software (for the PC) can read?

That's correct. Only SonicStage can decode the files.

Methinks, some serious reverse engineering is due...

Unless Sony get's off their butt and supports real operating systems as well.

[reefbeef]

oops..

[reefbeef]

Here're the snags:

The USB connection only works in the classic mode (OS9).

I tried to transfer atac3 files from my MD to Puter. It failed.

VPC and Windows2000 takes up 2 gig.

VPC will not work with the new G5 and I haven't heard from Microsoft making a new OS9 version to work with G5 either.

[aeriyn]

I still think MD is worth consideration against the iPOD. MD's frequency response can not be matched by a HD mp3 player.

:laugh:

That's incorrect. MD has the same frequency response of CDs (20-20,000Hz) and so do MP3s, regardless of the unit they're played on.

If you have a Mac and are doing no recording, do yourself a favor and buy an iPod.

[DrZhivago]

:laugh:

That's incorrect. MD has the same frequency response of CDs (20-20,000Hz) and so do MP3s, regardless of the unit they're played on.

If you have a Mac and are doing no recording, do yourself a favor and buy an iPod.

Amen to that.

[reefbeef]

OK well then anyone out there who is also dreaming of an NH1 uploading to a G4 laptop...PLEASE...lets see if it's possible. I may be able to come across a G4 with Virtual PC on it...hopefully I'll try to install SS 2.1 on it and hook up my NH1.

Edit: My buddy with the G4 is sleepin on getting Virtual PC. Don't wait for me...sorry.

[jchansen]

So could someone try this please:

Can WAV files that you recorded on the MD be transferred via USB? I really don't care about mp3 or ATRAC files. I would be recording recitals in uncompressed WAV format. Do they appear on the MD when connected to a Mac?

Thanks very much.

Jeremy

[jadeclaw]

The data is stored in one big file plus a few smaller files containing further data like track info/discname etc.

You need SonicStage to do a fast upload.

Or realtime via soundcard.

[dex Otaku]

bump.