Follow up on the last.

Sony has fallen at every DRM hurdle and famously locked down their network and minidisc players with proprietary software (SonicStage) and formats (atrac). Thankfully, a open source project called jsymphonic is available to get music on and off of this old walkman. I love that there are people out there still working on making old abandoned, but perfectly serviceable hardware accessible. I must admit some of the documentation could use some help. Specifically I had to generate a key file for my walkman. This is surprisingly easy.

  • install the MP3 FileManager Application from SONY on any compatible PC ( i was able to run it on a windows 10 VM).
  • once installed navigate to the install location “C:\Program Files\Sony\MP3 File Manager” (or \Program Files (x86)\ if ruining in 64 bit and run the CopyTool.exe as an admin. This will place a new folder on your player titled MP3FM. The DviD.dat file may need to be moved from there to the root for Jsymphonic to recognize it.

I have been listening to this thing for a few days and there is a lovely feeling of nostalgia as well and something purposeful about plugging in and turning off other distractions. I went through a half day of work just letting tunes play into my head without pings, boops, and accidental ads distract me every few mins.



Get out there use old tech and enjoy yourself!


I found this forum post helpful.