• We’re currently investigating an issue related to the forum theme and styling that is impacting page layout and visual formatting. The problem has been identified, and we are actively working on a resolution. There is no impact to user data or functionality, this is strictly a front-end display issue. We’ll post an update once the fix has been deployed. Thanks for your patience while we get this sorted.

Linux and Hi-MD is it possible ?

T

The Linuxator

Banned
It just struck me today when I thought about it, I loved my minidisc player to death (NZ-510CK) but with all that hardware awesomeness comes SONY's crappy ,buggy and spyware like software.I couldn't handle their ****** restrictions anymore so I sold my NZ-510CK a long time ago.

Anyway it struck me today when I thought about it, the new Hi-MD's can be used as MSD (masss storage devices) plus on top of that they support MP3 if I am not mistaken (becasue SONY decided to support MP3s in their player a while back).

So the ultimate question is :

Will it be possible to use a Hi-MD player with Linux, by just dragging your music files in as MP3's , without going through loops and whatnot ?
 
In theory, at any rate, it looks promising. More or less all generic MP3 players work in exactly that way. Far from certain, though. The Ipod, for example, can be used as a mass storage device, and supports MP3; but still needs special transfer software. I wouldn't put it past Sony to have bodged up something similar, so "MP3 support" means not having to transcode, rather than not having to use their ghastly software.
 
Originally posted by: phisrow
In theory, at any rate, it looks promising. More or less all generic MP3 players work in exactly that way. Far from certain, though. The Ipod, for example, can be used as a mass storage device, and supports MP3; but still needs special transfer software. I wouldn't put it past Sony to have bodged up something similar, so "MP3 support" means not having to transcode, rather than not having to use their ghastly software.
Click to expand...

I understand your point well, but the whole point of the software is to be able to transfer those files you need to the Media (i.e Hi-MD minidiscs), now either the software flags them with something special so that the player picks the files up or not I have no clue. If the software does flag the files, then even if the files are transfered to the media, it's pointless.

But in theory if all the software does is just creat an interface through which you are able to transfer files to the media it should work, anyhting beyond that point is a little hopeless IMO.

God ! Is it too much to ask for a way to use those sweet Hi-MD players without SONY's craptastic software 🙁
 
I remember being really interested in buying a DAT (digital audio tape) recorded in the late 80's/early 90's. This was post music CD's / pre-CD recorders. DAT was exciting because it would let you make CD-quality digital recordings (which was not available at the consumer level). Then it got hung up and jerked around while they labored to tack on some kind of stupid copy protection. I bought a high-end cassette deck instead (which still works perfectly).

I don't see the appeal of a MD, especially considering the convenience of digital media players. Screw Sony and their short-sighted proprietary formats. For an audiophile, I'd recommend a digital player that can handle FLAC (free, lossless audio codec). FLAC is like a raw CD track, but shrunk down slightly with MP3-like tag information. Me, I'm not that fussy -- either Ogg Vorbis or MP3. Human hearing only extends so far and both those formats cover it well.

I'm watching the industry struggle to cripple its devices and formats at the same moment in time when roll-your-own digital media is exploding. Like a changing of the guard.
 
Does anybody in here have a Hi-MD Player maybe he/she can just plug it in their Linux system, add a couple of songs and see if it works ?
 
Oh come on ! There are alot of you guys out there who have the Hi-MD can't someone give me an answer from a small experiment like this ?
 
does HiMD actually natively play mp3's? I rememeber good ol' NetMD... I thought that would save MD in the states (iPod not quite that big yet). I too loved MD, but their "plays mp3's" claims were so much BS... they hide the fact you have to convert it to atrac3 w/ their POS sonicstage software. At least in their advertising they hid it.

not sure if this helps, but: http://forums.minidisc.org/lofiversion/index.php/t7366.html
 
I don't know. Never owned a mini disc player in my life. Have absolutely no desire to own one... Personally I am quite happy with my GP2x. (plays video, plays games, plays music, but it's a pure geek toy with some downsides) with it's ability to use SD cards (relatively cheap and plentifull, even in department stores). I have a card reader and I just drag and drop files and whatnot from my Gnome desktop. I have a gig sd card and a 128 sd card, but it should support 2 gigs.

The nice things about SD cards is that they are virtually indistructable.

Other devices are like that also... For instance like the http://www.cowonamerica.com/products/iaudio/x5/ device will mount as a USB mass storage device and generate your playlists on the fly and such. They even advertise Linux support. (and it'll do recordings, too)

Other devices are not like that.. For instance Ipods are crappy like that. You have to have all this extra software to support them. Stuff like Banshee and Amarok can deal with them in Linux, but that's mostly just because of the ipod's fasionable nature and popularity then anything else and it's not going to be as nice as Apple's own software.

Knowing Sony I'd bet that it requires fairly craptastic software to run it irregardless. But I have no clue.. I don't think minidiscs were ever realy popular. At least not around here.

 
Originally posted by: drag
I don't know. Never owned a mini disc player in my life. Have absolutely no desire to own one... Personally I am quite happy with my GP2x. (plays video, plays games, plays music, but it's a pure geek toy with some downsides) with it's ability to use SD cards (relatively cheap and plentifull, even in department stores). I have a card reader and I just drag and drop files and whatnot from my Gnome desktop. I have a gig sd card and a 128 sd card, but it should support 2 gigs.

The nice things about SD cards is that they are virtually indistructable.

Other devices are like that also... For instance like the http://www.cowonamerica.com/products/iaudio/x5/ device will mount as a USB mass storage device and generate your playlists on the fly and such. They even advertise Linux support. (and it'll do recordings, too)

Other devices are not like that.. For instance Ipods are crappy like that. You have to have all this extra software to support them. Stuff like Banshee and Amarok can deal with them in Linux, but that's mostly just because of the ipod's fasionable nature and popularity then anything else and it's not going to be as nice as Apple's own software.

Knowing Sony I'd bet that it requires fairly craptastic software to run it irregardless. But I have no clue.. I don't think minidiscs were ever realy popular. At least not around here.
Click to expand...


BAck in the Net-MD days things were pretty much hopeless. but now in the Hi-MD days, their is a little bit of hopw, and for two reasons :

1- The Hi-MD players can function as a USB Mass Storage Device in any OS.
2- The Hi-MD has built in support for MP3 music, therer is no need to convert it to openMG anymore.

So that was my question, if it is a USB MSD , and it has built in MP3 support, will a person be able to play MP3's he had transferred from Linux in Mp3 format.

Minidisc aren't popular I agree, but do you know why they aren't popular ? You see the build quality on MD players is amazing and how cheap the storage is more amazing you are paying $ 6 for each 1 GB Hi-MD compare that to how much you are paying for those SD cards! If there is a possibility to avoid Sony's software then you will see the Hi-MD as another beast, it has very nice recording capability, Optical & Mic and it has nice recording techniques, for example it will stay idle untill something on the inputs (Mix or Optical) makes a sound and it starts a new track for the recording and once there is no more sound it will automatically end the track .

It serves great for recording a live performance (due to the optical digital link and which I would love to have once I do a performance soon) or for recording a lecture in school, and the ability for you to swap storage for cheap, you don't have to worry about if you are wasting preciouse HDD space, so I think I made my self clear now about the reason why I need an Hi-MD player. The question remains , will it work for sure or not ?

BTW that iAudio cowon X5 sounds like a kick ass pieace of equipment as I am reading about it in here it does have a mic and it supports Direct Encoding (Line-in) not bad at all I have to say, thanx for the tip drag :thumbsup:


Originally posted by: randomlinh
does HiMD actually natively play mp3's? I rememeber good ol' NetMD... I thought that would save MD in the states (iPod not quite that big yet). I too loved MD, but their "plays mp3's" claims were so much BS... they hide the fact you have to convert it to atrac3 w/ their POS sonicstage software. At least in their advertising they hid it.

not sure if this helps, but: http://forums.minidisc.org/lofiversion/index.php/t7366.html
Click to expand...


Well I have seen that a long time ago, the guy is not trying to get it to transfer music, he is trying to use the storage capability as a USB MSD in Linux and was asking about how to mount it correctly .
 
If I can find my MD player, I'll try it out. Not sure what I did with it though, and since I've never used it (got it for free) I don't know if it's Hi-MD or not (I know nothing about it 😛).
 
Originally posted by: drag
I don't know. Never owned a mini disc player in my life. Have absolutely no desire to own one... Personally I am quite happy with my GP2x. (plays video, plays games, plays music, but it's a pure geek toy with some downsides) with it's ability to use SD cards (relatively cheap and plentifull, even in department stores). I have a card reader and I just drag and drop files and whatnot from my Gnome desktop. I have a gig sd card and a 128 sd card, but it should support 2 gigs.

The nice things about SD cards is that they are virtually indistructable.

Other devices are like that also... For instance like the http://www.cowonamerica.com/products/iaudio/x5/ device will mount as a USB mass storage device and generate your playlists on the fly and such. They even advertise Linux support. (and it'll do recordings, too)

Other devices are not like that.. For instance Ipods are crappy like that. You have to have all this extra software to support them. Stuff like Banshee and Amarok can deal with them in Linux, but that's mostly just because of the ipod's fasionable nature and popularity then anything else and it's not going to be as nice as Apple's own software.

Knowing Sony I'd bet that it requires fairly craptastic software to run it irregardless. But I have no clue.. I don't think minidiscs were ever realy popular. At least not around here.
Click to expand...

SD isn't exactly an "open standard." 🙁
 
Originally posted by: n0cmonkey
Originally posted by: drag
I don't know. Never owned a mini disc player in my life. Have absolutely no desire to own one... Personally I am quite happy with my GP2x. (plays video, plays games, plays music, but it's a pure geek toy with some downsides) with it's ability to use SD cards (relatively cheap and plentifull, even in department stores). I have a card reader and I just drag and drop files and whatnot from my Gnome desktop. I have a gig sd card and a 128 sd card, but it should support 2 gigs.

The nice things about SD cards is that they are virtually indistructable.

Other devices are like that also... For instance like the http://www.cowonamerica.com/products/iaudio/x5/ device will mount as a USB mass storage device and generate your playlists on the fly and such. They even advertise Linux support. (and it'll do recordings, too)

Other devices are not like that.. For instance Ipods are crappy like that. You have to have all this extra software to support them. Stuff like Banshee and Amarok can deal with them in Linux, but that's mostly just because of the ipod's fasionable nature and popularity then anything else and it's not going to be as nice as Apple's own software.

Knowing Sony I'd bet that it requires fairly craptastic software to run it irregardless. But I have no clue.. I don't think minidiscs were ever realy popular. At least not around here.
Click to expand...

SD isn't exactly an "open standard." 🙁
Click to expand...


Very true.

Fortunately nobody uses the features that are realy closed on SD cards though. (the DRM aspect of them that makes them 'Secure' digital cards)

In the embedded world almost NOTHING has open standards. Everybody is to freaked out to have everything commoditized and have all their carefully protected 'IP' be as generic as what is found in PC hardware. To them propriatory == money. That's their special sauce, secret ingrediant that makes it special.

Very irritating.

Linux making inroads into telephony and becomming a acceptable 'embedded' OS is helping the industry realise things to a certain extent, but it's very slow moving. It's like Unix systems with their propriatory hardware 7-10 years ago.

Fortunately with SD cards, except for the S part, are backwards compatable with the MMC card stuff which most everybody knows how to work with without paying big licensing fees and getting the lock-in up the ying-yang.

 
Originally posted by: drag
Originally posted by: n0cmonkey
Originally posted by: drag
I don't know. Never owned a mini disc player in my life. Have absolutely no desire to own one... Personally I am quite happy with my GP2x. (plays video, plays games, plays music, but it's a pure geek toy with some downsides) with it's ability to use SD cards (relatively cheap and plentifull, even in department stores). I have a card reader and I just drag and drop files and whatnot from my Gnome desktop. I have a gig sd card and a 128 sd card, but it should support 2 gigs.

The nice things about SD cards is that they are virtually indistructable.

Other devices are like that also... For instance like the http://www.cowonamerica.com/products/iaudio/x5/ device will mount as a USB mass storage device and generate your playlists on the fly and such. They even advertise Linux support. (and it'll do recordings, too)

Other devices are not like that.. For instance Ipods are crappy like that. You have to have all this extra software to support them. Stuff like Banshee and Amarok can deal with them in Linux, but that's mostly just because of the ipod's fasionable nature and popularity then anything else and it's not going to be as nice as Apple's own software.

Knowing Sony I'd bet that it requires fairly craptastic software to run it irregardless. But I have no clue.. I don't think minidiscs were ever realy popular. At least not around here.
Click to expand...

SD isn't exactly an "open standard." 🙁
Click to expand...


Very true.

Fortunately nobody uses the features that are realy closed on SD cards though. (the DRM aspect of them that makes them 'Secure' digital cards)

In the embedded world almost NOTHING has open standards. Everybody is to freaked out to have everything commoditized and have all their carefully protected 'IP' be as generic as what is found in PC hardware. To them propriatory == money. That's their special sauce, secret ingrediant that makes it special.

Very irritating.

Linux making inroads into telephony and becomming a acceptable 'embedded' OS is helping the industry realise things to a certain extent, but it's very slow moving. It's like Unix systems with their propriatory hardware 7-10 years ago.

Fortunately with SD cards, except for the S part, are backwards compatable with the MMC card stuff which most everybody knows how to work with without paying big licensing fees and getting the lock-in up the ying-yang.
Click to expand...

I'll stick with compact flash where I can. 😉
 
If your MD player is somewhere and you don't remember what it is, odds are it's an old MD player in that case you will be lucky if you find a NetMD in there instead of an MD player.

NetMD's are hopeless when it comes to Linux very few projects have been made for Linux and NetMD, and NetMD has a major obstacle, which is it doesn't support anything that isn't OpenMG , on the other hand the Hi-MD can play MP3's without converting them so it's a direct process , now we know that Hi-MD can be used as MSD, but the only thing we need to know is that can you just drag and drop your music files ?

But hey shouldn't we be able to get the same result with Windows ? I mean let's say you have a windows PC and no software from Sony installed, once you plug the player it will show up as an MSD wouldn't we be able to replicate the process in Windows ?

In that case then I will try to contact some people on GH or something and see if they can do just that , why didn't I think about that before ?? Maybe becasue I was thinking about Linux specifically and didn't think I would get much feedback from GH when it comes to Linux ?
 
Originally posted by: The Linuxator
If your MD player is somewhere and you don't remember what it is, odds are it's an old MD player in that case you will be lucky if you find a NetMD in there instead of an MD player.
Click to expand...

I got it last year, so no telling WTF it is. 😛
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Back
Top