I recently acquired a CLIE PEG-TG50. I am trying to figure out how to download music easily to a Memory Stick such that the CLIE will play the music. Particularly annoying is a message "The Memory Stick media is write protected or does not support copyright control or the track file is corrupted." The switch is not set to lock the card, and I have reformatted the card and recopied the track (and several tracks) with no success more than once.

Anyone have a link to a site that might provide an explanation or better instructions?

(BTW, I used the word "acquired" because the local Best Buy did honor an unwritten term of an extended warranty on my prior PDA to allow me to be able to "trade up" with full credit for the cost of my prior PDA. )

If I am not mistaken the Clie will only play music copied onto it with Sony's OPENMG Jukebox unless you install the MP3 update, which should be on the CD. Out of the box it doesn't do regular MP3's.

Are you copying the files using openmg jukebox?

I also think the color of the memory stick has something to do with it. The white ones from Sony are "copy protected" and more expensive. I have no problems copying mp3s from my memory stick reader on my desktop using explorer.

It might help to know how exactly you are trying to transfer the MP3's on to the Memory Stick. Are you using the Palm/Sony Install Tool? Are you doing a straight transfer via the Windows desktop? I'm not a Sony PDA user - is there a specific method Sony's specifies in their documentation?

------------------
Michael Steinberg
Editor
BizTrip
www.biztrip.com
A site for travelers by a traveler with 20+ years experience
Please visit my site and let me know what you think.

Indeed, the White (MG / MagicGate) sticks will accept OpenMG music AND MP3 while the regualar blue ones will only do MP3.

I think ScottC may be onto to it. I was told by a store rep today that the Memory Stick was primarily for "data" (meaning photos, I think). If I wanted to use it for music, I would need the Memory Stick Pro (aka Magicgate). I'll experiment over the weekend.

To address a few of the other questions, I have tried RealPlayer, Windows Media, and Sonic Stage which came with the CLIE.

More later. Thanks for the comments.

Careful, Memorystick PRO is *NOT* Magic Gate Memory Stick.

The new Pro sticks only work in a few devices!

It's kind of weird how Sony charges more for the white memory sticks. It's like paying more for the headache. I also think it easier for pics and music transfers to just buy a usb memory stick reader so you can plop it into any pc and use explorer to transfer files.

The white sticks all have a unique DRM protection chip, they are simply more expensive to produce.

Status: I was out of town last week and didn't have time to troubleshoot. I'm back at it.

I now have both a (white) MagicGate Memory Stick Pro and a regular (purple) Memory Stick. See link to Sony website below in reference to their software (SonicStage and OpenMG) not working with their MGMSP sticks. I found this after spending an hour with Sony support.

http://www.ita.sel.sony.com/support/...proupdate.html

Basically I was dragging and dropping MP3 files created in RealPlayer using Windows Explorer onto the sticks. The files successfully made it to the sticks so that I could see them from the PDA, they just would not play. I received the same error message regardless of the stick used. I also tried with a MG Memory stick reader with no more success.

In summary: A) the purple memory sticks won't work with files recorded from a CD because it does not have sufficient copyright protection and B) the white MGMSP doesn't work because the file was not downloaded from the Internet (which doesn't make sense to me).

I'll try downloading a file directly from the Internet to see it that works any better, but I am not optimistic.

I am positive that Sony has a different music application that DOES play regular MP3's. It is not on the PDA out of the box and has to be installed from the CD. I always just used to copy my files onto a memorystick using my laptop card reader. Perhaps they have stopped making that program but check the CD to be sure...

Silly question. Are you using the music app on the Clie to play the mp3s?

Here are the specs for that model and it definitely should have the software that can play mp3s:

BUNDLED SOFTWARE: Palm � Organizer Applications: Address Book; Date Book; To Do List; Memo Pad; Card Info; Calculator; Security; HotSync��; Palm� Desktop v. 4.1 (for PC); SMS; Sony Software: Audio Player; CLIə Album; CLIə Files; CLIə Launcher; CLIə Mail; CLIə Memo; CLIə Remote Commander; CLIə Viewer; Image Converter v. 1.0 (for PC); Memory Stick Backup; Memory Stick Export v. 1.3 (for PC); Memory Stick Import; Movie Player; PictureGear� Studio v. 1.0 (for PC); PhotoStand; Photo Editor; Remote Camera; Reversi for CLIə SonicStage� v. 1.5 (for PC); Sound Converter2 v. 1.0 (for PC); Sound Utility; Voice Recorder; World Alarm Clock


I noticed it was only for sale in Japan and in Europe although I doubt that has anything to do with it.

I just bought a Clie NX60, and can play MP3 files from a purple memory stick with no problems at all. But, since I'm still very new to the Clie, you might try using www.cliesource.com to find an answer (if you haven't already).

That, my friend, is the goal. At the moment, Audio Player can see the tracks but will not play them.

Downloaded MP3s seem to work fine with both the purple and the MS MG Pro sticks. However, tracks ripped from CDs into MP3 format (via either Realplayer or Sonic Stage) and placed onto the MS using MSAudio will not play using Audio player.

To make matters worse, none of the local retailers seem to be carrying the white (MG) sticks: only the purple and the off-white MS Pros.

Can you move the MP3s using windows explorer instead of MSAudio?