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[JimH]

At Computer Audiophile:

https://www.computeraudiophile.com/forums/topic/23801-pono-player-firmware-update/?do=findComment&comment=743114

[Pononerd]

JimH,
I see that you have posted about Pono related issues.  I am struggling to continue to use my Pono, which still functions well with the catalog which has already been loaded on it.  However, because the software I used to load music to it is no longer working, I cannot add or remove files from the unit.  I am looking for help - basic help as I am not particularly adept with computers (I am a Mac user, after all) - how, exactly to perform these functions.  I need step-by-step information about how and what I need to do to continue to be able to use my Pono. 

Can you help me?  Is there anyone you could direct me to for this sort of help? 

You kind assistance is greatly, greatly appreciated. 

Pononerd

[JimH]

Download MC25 and install it.  It should work with the Pono Player.
https://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php/topic,121041.0.html

I'll split this to a new thread later.

[Voyager]

Thank you for posting this firmware update.

Running 1.06 already on Pono with 128 MicroSD
Mac User (10.13.6) with MC 25.0.81

Please tell me how to direct specific audio files to the SD card, without duplicating all of the files in my MC.

[amshinov]

Download MC25 and install it.  It should work with the Pono Player.
https://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php/topic,121041.0.html

I'll split this to a new thread later.

My Pono Player is now not being recognized in either Windows 7 Explorer or the JRiver MC.

I say "now" because I was an original buyer of the PP, got the 1.06 firmware update, used the PP with PMW until Uncle Neil pulled the plug, then bought JR's MC22 and used them together without any major problems until last month, when all of a sudden, I couldn't get the PP to be recognized.

None of the remedies I found in the Forums did the trick and I saw this 2019 thread, recommending DLing the MC25 to solve PP problems which I did but I still got them.

[JimH]

If it suddenly stopped, then it's probably a Windows update, antivirus, or Pono hardware problem.

[al1947]

JimH - can you solve a puzzle for me? Did Pono's full support for the Mac, including mounting in Finder as if it were an external drive, stem from something you did in the Pono version of MC? or from the player itself? As I recall, it used a version of Android, and very few Android-based DAPs will mount on Macs.

[JimH]

Sorry.  I don't know the details of how it worked.

[al1947]

Sorry.  I don't know the details of how it worked.

But you can confirm that you did not add any specific Mac-compatible features into Pono MC?

[bob]

FWIW, I have a pono with a 400G SDCard which stores all of my hires music.

The player is horribly slow over the USB interface to both the internal and external storage.
This is not OS specific, it applies to Windows, Mac and Linux and has nothing to do with MC.
One of the firmware updates broke it's transfer rate which was never great to begin with.

What I do it to store all of my media on the SDCard and remove that card from the Pono (with it off) and update it with MC (linux in my case) as a manually configured handheld device.
That works great. When you put the card back into the Pono and turn it on it can take a LONG time to update it's catalog if you have a lot of tracks on it like I do, over an hour in some cases, you just need to have it plugged into power and be patient. Once the catalog is updated everything runs well.

[amshinov]

I have had the same problems as the others in this thread: Can't get either my OS or MC to recognize my Pono Player, no matter what I do, so I have no way of adding new music (that I WAS able to add to the MC program on my computer) to my Pono Player.

I read the promising suggestion in your post with interest but don't have enough experience with these things to know what you meant when you said: "update it with MC (linux in my case) as a manually configured handheld device".

So I would very much appreciate your patience and kind assistance, please.

What are each of the steps I need to take to create -- and have recognized in the MC program on my computer -- a "manually configured handheld device"?

And how can the SD card be connected to the computer on which the MC program is being run, if not via the Pono Player?

Thanks.

[bob]

I have had the same problems as the others in this thread: Can't get either my OS or MC to recognize my Pono Player, no matter what I do, so I have no way of adding new music (that I WAS able to add to the MC program on my computer) to my Pono Player.

I read the promising suggestion in your post with interest but don't have enough experience with these things to know what you meant when you said: "update it with MC (linux in my case) as a manually configured handheld device".

So I would very much appreciate your patience and kind assistance, please.

What are each of the steps I need to take to create -- and have recognized in the MC program on my computer -- a "manually configured handheld device"?

And how can the SD card be connected to the computer on which the MC program is being run, if not via the Pono Player?

Thanks.

You can put the SDCard into a USB  card reader, there are tons of different ones.
The filesystem on it is just a windows FAT32 filesystem. Put it in a reader and plug it into your computer with MC running. You can then use MC to put files onto it configuring the card as a manual handheld in Tools->Options changing the conversions rules to not convert lossless files.

[amshinov]

Thanks so much. I will do my best to follow your suggestions and report back on the results.

[UXB]

Has anyone figured out how to add music to the on board harddrive on the pono player without having it go incredibly slow, or actually freezing the JRiver application? I noticed it take several hours to load songs on the internal harddrive. if I add music to the removal card (whether loaded in the pono player or in a reader) those large sized flac files load very very quickly..

and thank you for the link to the latest 1.0.06 file. I will update my pono players with that.. -- George

[bob]

Has anyone figured out how to add music to the on board harddrive on the pono player without having it go incredibly slow, or actually freezing the JRiver application? I noticed it take several hours to load songs on the internal harddrive. if I add music to the removal card (whether loaded in the pono player or in a reader) those large sized flac files load very very quickly..

and thank you for the link to the latest 1.0.06 file. I will update my pono players with that.. -- George

No, the firmware is just horrible.
Removable cards are cheap. Ignore the internal memory.
Load them as a handheld in MC with a card reader, it'll save you days.

[UXB]

Thank you kindly sir. I figured bypassing the firmware was the only way to do it. Largest card I have used is 128. Does it (the pono player) handle 256 and 512 cards okay?

[bob]

Thank you kindly sir. I figured bypassing the firmware was the only way to do it. Largest card I have used is 128. Does it (the pono player) handle 256 and 512 cards okay?

I don't know about 512. My 400GB works fine.
It's mostly full and the pono CPU works a LONG time cataloging it the first time I load it up, several hours IIRC. Just have it on the charger until it finishes.

[amshinov]

Jim and Bob,

I am resuming my contributions to this thread from where they left off last February (9 months ago):

I did like you said but I couldn’t get EITHER the new card reader I bought on your advice, nor the Pono player (PP) itself to be recognized (either in MC or on the computer itself) on my old HP laptop running Windows 7, even though I had been able to transfer newly-acquired FLAC files from my HP via JR MC23 to my PP until about a year ago.

I am now considering using Boot Camp on my 6-year old Mac mini to setup a PC drive, buy and install Widows 10 Pro on it, generate an Install Key from the email receipt for the JR MC23 I bought in 2017, and then move over all my FLAC files from my old HP to the new PC drive in my Mac mini — and hope that will work.

What do you guys think of my new plan, please? Or what would you advise instead?

Thanks in advance for any help you can provide.

[bob]

Jim and Bob,

I am resuming my contributions to this thread from where they left off last February (9 months ago):

I did like you said but I couldn’t get EITHER the new card reader I bought on your advice, nor the Pono player (PP) itself to be recognized (either in MC or on the computer itself) on my old HP laptop running Windows 7, even though I had been able to transfer newly-acquired FLAC files from my HP via JR MC23 to my PP until about a year ago.

I am now considering using Boot Camp on my 6-year old Mac mini to setup a PC drive, buy and install Widows 10 Pro on it, generate an Install Key from the email receipt for the JR MC23 I bought in 2017, and then move over all my FLAC files from my old HP to the new PC drive in my Mac mini — and hope that will work.

What do you guys think of my new plan, please? Or what would you advise instead?

Thanks in advance for any help you can provide.

Sounds like there is an issue with the USB ports on your HP.
Have you just tried the card reader on the Mac Mini to see it it's seen?
You could also try the Pono on the Mac, it would show up as a drive (2 if the SDCard is in it).
At least that would pin down the problem to the Pono or the HP.

On the Mac click on the desktop to get the finder menu at top, Select Finder->Preferences and turn on External Disks to show them on the desktop when you plug them in.

[amshinov]

Thanks for your response.

I tried to follow your advice but neither the PP nor the card reader was seen on the Mac mini when they were plugged in.

[bob]

Thanks for your response.

I tried to follow your advice but neither the PP nor the card reader was seen on the Mac mini when they were plugged in.

If the card reader isn't seen on the Mac there must be an issue with it. You may have to try a different one.
Not seeing the Pono on the Mac indicates either the USB cable to the Pono or the Pono's internal usb connector is defective.

You might run Disk Utility on the Mac to make sure the devices don't show up at all (as opposed to a bad filesystem).

[amshinov]

Sorry to bother you with this trivial request but since I’ve never used an SD Card Reader before, and the UGREEN one I purchased from Amazon turned out not to work, could you please recommend a make and model of SD Card Reader that I should buy now for the purposes we have been discussing?

Thanks,

[bob]

Sorry to bother you with this trivial request but since I’ve never used an SD Card Reader before, and the UGREEN one I purchased from Amazon turned out not to work, could you please recommend a make and model of SD Card Reader that I should buy now for the purposes we have been discussing?

Thanks,

Would you insert the scard into the reader, plug it into the Mac and run disk utility on the mac and post a screenshot of the disk utility screen here please?

[amshinov]

Thanks for your response.

I am very sorry but since the UGREEN SD Card Reader I had was not recognized on any of my computers — HP laptop, office Dell PC or Mac Mini — and because your post from earlier Sunday evening stated “If the card reader isn't seen on the Mac there must be an issue with it. You may have to try a different one.” — I shipped it back to Amazon this afternoon BEFORE I just saw your post from last night.

I will now try to follow the instruction in your post of last night, as soon as I buy another SD Card Reader, so any reco’s as to “foolproof” brand and model for this fool (LOL) would be most appreciated.

Thank you again for your kind consideration and patience.

[amshinov]

P.S. My Mac mini (Mid 2014), Model # MGEN2LL/A has both Thunderbolt [1?] and USB 3 [.0?] ports

[amshinov]

Sorry for messing up your Forum. Again:

[bob]

Not a problem.
Try that disk utility again with
View->Show all devices.

[amshinov]

Thanks. Here it is, with the Pono Player turned on, plugged in and the Mac restarted:

[bob]

Thanks. Here it is, with the Pono Player turned on, plugged in and the Mac restarted:

It's not seeing your Pono at all. I suspect the usb connector on it is damaged.

You'll have to use your new USB card reader when you get it.

[amshinov]

The problem is not the USB connector (or the port). I have 4 or 5 USB connecting cords, all of which I’ve used without incident in other capacities and, no matter which of those I use here, the result here is the same (as is the result regardless of which port on my Mac is being used).

I have a couple of questions, please:

1. Do you think my plan to set up a Windows 10 OS on my Mac, and then move my JR MC application there (along with the FLAC files) is a good solution OR might you have a better one?

2. As I am not very much at all experienced in these matters, and it now appears possible that I may need to come back to this forum for follow-up assistance, would it be possible for you to share with me the names of Card Readers you have used, so that I can use one of them, so while we continue to try and find a solution, we can henceforth, with some confidence, rule out the Card Reader as the source of a problem?

Thank you for your patience and consideration.

[bob]

The problem is not the USB connector (or the port). I have 4 or 5 USB connecting cords, all of which I’ve used without incident in other capacities and, no matter which of those I use here, the result here is the same (as is the result regardless of which port on my Mac is being used).

I have a couple of questions, please:

1. Do you think my plan to set up a Windows 10 OS on my Mac, and then move my JR MC application there (along with the FLAC files) is a good solution OR might you have a better one?

2. As I am not very much at all experienced in these matters, and it now appears possible that I may need to come back to this forum for follow-up assistance, would it be possible for you to share with me the names of Card Readers you have used, so that I can use one of them, so while we continue to try and find a solution, we can henceforth, with some confidence, rule out the Card Reader as the source of a problem?

Thank you for your patience and consideration.

I wasn't referring to the computers, I was referring to the Pono USB port. Since you aren't seeing the Pono on multiple computers I'm deducing that the Pono USB port is not working.

Now you don't really need it for anything other than charging anyway. You are going to put all of your media on the SDCard as soon as you get one that can be seen on your Mac or PC.

[amshinov]

Thanks, I'm going to be researching online to figure out which one to buy