Can't Sync Playlist to Sony NWZ-E465

[Clevider]

I've tried researching this problem all over the internet, but haven't found a solution yet (at least not one that was specific enough).

MM syncs all of my music to my NWZ-E465 just fine and puts an .m3u playlist in the \playlists directory. I can play the music with my Walkman, but it denies that there are any compatible playlists loaded. I talked to Sony tech support and they just told me to use WMP. I have version 12 and that works for creating a functioning .pla playlist on the device, but I prefer MM.

My internet research says I have to have WMP versions 10 or 11 installed. They were old posts and presumably written prior to WMP v12. Do I really have to hunt up an old version or should my version 12 have already come with whatever drivers I need?

I've also seen that the Walkman has to be connected as an MTP device. I don't know how to check that, but the Walkman screen says "Connected USB (MTP)."

I come across a couple of posts claiming that .m3u files created with MM can work even though you can't just drag&drop with Explorer, but I can't figure out how to make that happen. I've also seen it said that MM can export .pla lists, but I can't figure out how to make that happen either. I don't care which playlist format I use. I don't even care if I have to manually copy over a playlist. I just need someone to explain to me how to get playlists to work.

Any help?

[SansaMonkey]

I talked to Sony tech support and they just told me to use WMP. I have version 12 and that works for creating a functioning .pla playlist on the device, but I prefer MM.

According to http://www.ventismedia.com/mantis/view.php?id=9216 you should determin, to use M3U or PLA playlists. But I still couldn't find this option.

PLA is good for MTP mode. Whether M3U are readable, depends on the device.

[Clevider]

Thank you, that looks like it would solve my problem. As I read it, however, that feature won't be included until version 4.0.5.

In looking for that feature (before noticing the version), I noticed the "relative path," "unicode," "extended m3u," and "directory separator" options. I've tried the 16 combinations of those settings but the player still won't read the .m3u file.

What's most frustrating is that I've seen posts from a couple of years ago by people saying that they got this to work so there's apparently some way to fix this. I might be willing to wait for v4.0.5 anyway if I could be sure that option would solve my problem, but I need to decide soon whether to return this player. I like it well enough to keep if only I can get the playlist to work with something other than WMP.

[Lowlander]

Actually 4.0.5 auto-determines which playlist format is supported by the device and uses it. Note that 4.0.5 is pretty stable (mostly iOS5 testing left on the latest beta) and you can always do a Portable Install to a different folder (not in Program Files) to test your device.

[Clevider]

Oh, so it's in beta? Cool, I'll try that this afternoon (have to get to sleep now since I work tonight).

Incidentally, I spent 50min chatting with a Sony tech. He helpfully advised that neither .m3u nor .pla playlists are supported, and that they don't have any information as to what kind of playlist IS supported. He only knew that the bundled software (Media Go) is the only way to create playlists.

While waiting for his responses, I remembered Winamp being mentioned during my research. I downloaded it and found that it can synchronize playlists without any extra configuration. So, as a workaround I can use MM to manage my library and export playlists which I can then sync with Winamp without much extra work.

I hope MM v4.0.5 works. Thank you for giving me the heads up!

[Lowlander]

In that case try to see what format WinAmp syncs to the device. Sony is known for its weird proprietary stuff, but I would be/I'm surprised that it doesn't support M3U or PLA.

[SansaMonkey]

OK - with WMP 11 created pla-playlist are working, and your Sony is running in MTP mode.
I had a look into the Sony manual, MSC dosn't seem to be suported.

I think MM should create a pla-playlist.

This works with my sansa clip+ in MTP mode (MM 4.0.5.xxxx)

[Clevider]

In that case try to see what format WinAmp syncs to the device. Sony is known for its weird proprietary stuff, but I would be/I'm surprised that it doesn't support M3U or PLA.

The Walkman absolutely does support .pla. So far that's they only playlist format I've seen work. I've never seen .pla files before getting this play, but I'm not sure they're real playlists. When WMP and Winamp syncs a playlist, the .pla file they create is 0-length.

[Clevider]

I installed MM v4.0.5, but still couldn't find any options for forcing it to create a .pla in preference to .m3u. In fact, I didn't see any difference in the available options at all. I tried it anyway, however, and it worked! Thank you so much for your help, SansaMonkey and Lowlander!

[Lowlander]

That's what I told you. MediaMonkey will auto-detect which format is supported and use it, there is no user setting.

[jasonblu]

When I transfer playlist to my walkman, MediaMonkey doest not detect needed format, it still transfers m3u playlist. What should I do?

[Lowlander]

In the Device Profile set the correct Supported Format for Playlists in the Auto-Conversion rules and then set that format in the Playlists settings (Tools > Options > Portable Device Sync). Make sure you're using the latest release of MediaMonkey.

[jasonblu]

In the Device Profile set the correct Supported Format for Playlists in the Auto-Conversion rules and then set that format in the Playlists settings (Tools > Options > Portable Device Sync). Make sure you're using the latest release of MediaMonkey.

Thanks,
But there's strange problem, I changed to PLA in Auto-conversion, but I cant change it in Playlist settings. m3u is set by default, I checked PLA box but it still shows me m3u.

[Lowlander]

Did you use Set Formats in that screenshots? Is PLA an option, but it reverts to M3U after selecting PLA? Which version of MediaMonkey are you using?

[jasonblu]

Im using 4.1.11 version of Media Monkey.
Yes I ticked PLA box in "Set Formats".


I checked all the boxes(including PLA ), its weird because I can select all the formats except PLA ?
Im gonna lose my mind :/ .