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Creating a Mac Driver for Sony PX720 Voice Recorder

I recently got a Sony PX720 Digital Voice Recorder:

http://digitalvoicerecordersreview.com/blog/sony/sony-icd-px720-digital-voice-re corder-with-pc-link/

...but I use a Macbook Pro (mid level Penryn, bought right before the unibodies came out). As you probably read in the comments on that site, this recorder doesn't work with Mac or Linux. My computer won't recognize the device when I plug it in, in Finder or System Profiler. Even in Windows, the software needs to be installed before the recorder shows up.

I have XP installed via BootCamp. I could easily log onto that, pull the files off, and place them onto my Mac partition with MacDrive, but I don't want to. CrossOver is also on my Mac, but the commenters say that won't work either (and I really don't want to virtualize it anyway).

I'd like to know if there's a way to create a driver that could read this thing. Could I look into Sony's packaged software to find out how it's allowing access to the recorder? Could I somehow hack my own USB port (through software?) so I can mess with the device on a very basic level?

At the very least, I want to be able to read this thing like a flash drive. If it's in a funky format, whatever. I'll cross that bridge when I get to it. I just want to get to the information on the recorder.

Thanks for taking the time to read through. I'd love to find a solution to this. I appreciate your help!

Macbook Pro Penryn 2.5 GHz, Mac OS X (10.5.8), 2 GB RAM 500 GB HD

Posted on Dec 28, 2009 2:19 AM

Reply
4 replies

Mar 21, 2010 10:36 PM in response to cptomes

+>This is ridiculous. It's a USB device. Sony should make Mac drivers for this.+

If anyone should, Sony should....however.

Seeing as Sony makes computers, perhaps they don't feel like making it easy for you to buy the competition... And at the end of the day, I can support that...no law says they have to provide X when their equipment does the job with Y.

Clear to me they've made a business decision as to how far their support will go outside their own ecosystem. Been that way for quite some time and not expected to change soon.

I've lost count of the number of times I've looked to Sony for a particular driver, etc. and come up dry. I lived and worked in Japan for a number of years and when I say 'looked to', I mean I went directly to Sony and pleaded in their language. Polite 'gomen (sorry) but no', each time. I can name several other companies, foreign and domestic, that are either more open or more closed, so while it may tick someone off at the consumer level, it's not at all uncommon. Get over it.

Creating a Mac Driver for Sony PX720 Voice Recorder

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