Q I have a Sony NW-E507 Walkman and I use Ubuntu 7.04. This Walkman uses Sonic Stage for installing and removing music files and podcasts, which is what I mostly use it for. I have tried Mbnet without success. Is there anyway to use this Walkman with my OS?
A This Walkman device is heavily tied into Sony's DRM technology and Sonic Stage is required. You can mount the player as a USB mass-storage device to upload files, but those files will not be playable. This device is Windows-only, and even there it is locked into Sony's software; Mac users are also out of luck too. Standard MP3 players are cheap nowadays, so the best option is usually to replace such locked hardware with something that lets you do what you want with the music you have bought.