Z - Importing into iTunes / Playing on your PC

[CC]

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

You can uninstall the content protection software at:
http://www.sunncomm.com/support/tools/uninstall3.asp

One method by which you can bypass the "Mediamax" program in Windows is to hold the Shift key down when putting the CD into the CD Drive on your computer.  Once the CD has stopped spinning, take your finger off the Shift key, open up Itunes, and Z should appear, with a complete track listing.  At this point, there should be no problem importing the songs to iTunes.

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

Please use this topic only to help out people having problems playing Z on their Computer/iPod.

[bilbo]

Anyone get this to work? Doesn't work for me!
I can't even get the disc to play. This is after already playing the Elizabethtown EP.(Which won't play now either)
 I keep getting a Mediamax error:
" An error ocurred while verifying the license database"
mediamax error 00000419:000B

Contacted Sunncom and Sony tech support. Just got canned responses about getting back to me which hasn't happened.

[CC]

try this:
http://www.cs.princeton.edu/~jhalderm/cd3/

there's a lot of info but just scroll down to item 3
I know this worked for other people.

[doEVILslittle]

yeah item three is pretty much your best bet that the cd will work and your computer won't be infested with sunncomm software errors etc

[bilbo]

Thanks Guys
Listening to it right now.

I had looked at that site last week. When I tried to stop the driver I got the message "The system encountered the following error while attempting to stop the service: The request control is not valid for this service."
 So I just disabled the service rebooted and fired up Windows Media Player 10.
 Now
 Can I make a copy?
 What happens next time I insert the disc in my computer?

Answering my own questions... I ripped with Windows Media Player then used Roxio
Easy Media Player to make a cd without the copy protection.

If you insert the cd without holding down the shift key the protection software gets reloaded.

[ben grimm]

Don't know if the U.K. release is without the copyright code type stuff things or what? but mine imported to itunes first go, no problems, no warnings or messages at all.
Just waiting for it to finish then me and my headphones gonna take a walk.......................

[Billy_Pilgrim]

What exactly does the copy protection do?

I loaded Z into iTunes without any problems and it copied into my library, again with no problems. However, when I tried to play it, there was clicking and skipping on every track. Is it the Copy Protection doing this? Or is it iTunes/my computer? I imported 2 other albums at the same time with no problems at all.

Thanks for any help provided...

[ycartrob]

casey, if MMJ were an indie band then you might not have ever heard of them. And if you had never heard of them then you would not have the desire to put their music on your i-pod.

why does everyone want everything right now?

[jdw]

As previously mentioned this link worked for me.

http://www.cs.princeton.edu/~jhalderm/cd3/

In addition, I had to do one more step that wasn't discussed.

When your modifying the SbcpHid driver properties, under the general tab, I had to disable the device.  After the restart I was able to rip the cd from windows media player.  I used winamp (i avoid itunes) to play the files and load into the ipod without any problems.

[LaurieBlue]

http://p2pnet.net/story/6808

Yep - don't blame the band...it's Big biz vs. Big biz..



Part III

As odd as the story is so far, its about to get a whole lot weirder: It turns out that all Engadget (quoting Variety) notes that this DRM is not at all about making the CD immune to piracy. Instead, its part of a pissing contest between Sony and Apple: Variety writes that "the new copy protection scheme — which makes it difficult to rip CDs and listen to them with an iPod — is designed to put pressure on Apple to open the iPod to other music services, rather than making it dependent on the iTunes Music Store for downloads."

You mean to tell me that this isn't even about P2P and unauthorized downloading? How annoying is that? Sony has their panties in a bunch cause Apple has been kicking their arses all over the innovation and digital music schoolyard? So the mature response from a major global conmsumer electronics corporation is to take their ball and go home?

DRM is now being used as a competitive economic weapon -- not as an anti-piracy tool.

[Wowch!]

I have a Creative Nomad Jukebox:  Zen Xtra (that's a mouthful...) and I had no problems ripping the cd to MP3 files at all.  Not sure why, though.

[Wowch!]

I retract my former statement, anyone who can find a way to get it onto my mp3 player, email me.

[Joahua Cundiff]

Hi, I am new around here, just bought my first MMJ CD today and of course ran into this problem just like everyone else. But I had ok luck after a bit of experimenting.

Give it a shot with a program called Exact Audio Copy. Its an audio extraction program that a lot of traders use to copy discs. Once you make the files you can then import them into Itunes.

I tried disabling the protection software via the given method where you go into the drivers and turn it off, but I still got all the popping and noise when I ripped in Itunes, but when I used EAC it was perfect.

Hope this helps some of you.

[Laurie the Artist]

The philisophical debates aside (I'm very anti Sony and their whining and anti-Apple crusade) the basic workarounds described early on in this thread are just for the Windows users and as I just learned, doesn't impact Mac users like it does for Windows users.  

In the Princeton article the Revisions section has a note about a previous technical oversight that might be another good point:

• If the user has ever accepted the SunnComm end user license agreement (by clicking Accept when the license is displayed), the MediaMax driver does not become deactivated when the computer is rebooted, as I had stated. Rather, it reloads every time unless the user takes steps to disable it.

don't accept the license agreement that pops up! It will make the workaround easier.

There is one more option if you have a Windows system.  Go straight to the iTunes Music Store and purchase the album there for $10.00.  
(ed./lta)

[ycartrob]

jd, the bands have no control over these things. We talked to the boys after the Nashville show and they weren't happy about it either.

Why are you pissed at them and what do you suppose they do? Perhaps you should be pissed at everyone else who doesn't buy CD's and rips and burns instead.

[ratsprayer]

lets take this to the exponential level!  maybe you should stand up to big business and topple the fascist regime that rules this country!  you be CEO of sony, and fix all this shit.  thanks.

revolution begins in the basement.  

[tomEisenbraun]

hey Laurie (the Artist), the reason they have no write-up on how to get around the program is that Macs don't run .exe prgrams. Mac programs are .dmg, and all the discs are loaded with is a Windows-based program. When you put the disc in a mac, there's absolutely nothing to have to toy with, it just plays.

[Laurie the Artist]

Thanks Tom! Now that I'm sober, maybe I'll actually try that.
I'll see how the playback is.   Gracias.


*returns later* -- Everyone just go run out and buy a Mac.

It loaded beautifully and the playback so far is just perfect. Thanks again, Tom.  So it is the specific iTunes for WINDOWS that is the issue and does explain why no "fix" for Mac.  So I was right to point out that fix distinction for Windows at least.  Yea.  Happiness.  

It was interesting to see when I popped in the disc that a second Z icon appeared and it was the part that contains all that evil additional programming and such that infests innocent and unsuspecting Windows users.

Have I mentioned y'all should be rushing out to buy a Mac?

Ta!

[tomEisenbraun]

well, it's not iTunes in particular. What it is, is that the programmers added in some software on the disc. PC's run software before music, so it runs the software, you have to agree to a liscensing thing, and then it forces you to upload a player. The CD will then only play through this player, and does not allow you to make copies into iTunes.

Sucks, eh?

I think the way around this is to simply turn off auto-run before you put the CD in for the first time, and it will not run that software, and if you want to open it in iTunes, you've got no opposition.

And whoever is pissed at the band for this, don't be. They're just as pissed at Sony as you are at them, because they did NOT want this to happen.

[cmccubbin25]

i just bought two copies...the CD and on iTunes...don't mind supporting the boys any way i can!