::People of the sun::

I bought the MP101 Wireless Digital Music Player quite a while ago, I guess it might have been in 2004 if I recall it right.

That device used to be state-of-the-art back then and was pretty much the only affordable device to play Internet Radio. It was even able to stream MP3’s from your own server which was an pretty awesome feature. Yes, very cool, in theory. There were a lot of problems in the beginning, but, after a while, Netgear fixed the most annoying bugs and it was actually good fun using it. The combination of firmware and server software that worked best for me was a mix-up between firmware “VA1.3.7RNG.2.img” on the MP101 itself and software “Version 3.3.23” on the server where the MP3’s are located. I also bought a VTuner subscription for $19,95 to be still able to listen to Internet Radio after the VTuner trial expired. So far so good.

Time went by and everything worked fine with my Windows XP/2003 machines. From the day I decided to switch to Vista/2008 the MP101 caused a lot of trouble. The server software wouldn’t install properly anymore so I gave Twonky a try, which was definitely worth the money. But, the MP101 still kept disconnecting while playing Internet Radio. I tried some tweaks but in the end, I just stopped using the MP101 for Internet Radio. Streaming MP3’s was still working ok, but had some random disconnects too.

Years later and after upgrading all machines to Windows 7/2008R2 x64 at home I gave it another try. Now, I was able to run the Server Version 3.3.23 using the new compatibility options when installing it in the special location “c:\programs\netgear\”. Anyhow, the connection kept still dropping while playing Internet Radio or streaming MP3’s randomly.

Today I stumbled over a to me unknown firmware VA1.4.7 which had not been officially released by Netgear. I gave it a try, installed it and yes, it did the trick. The MP101 plays Internet Radio and streams the music again without disconnecting every once in a while. Yeah!

The update is fairly simple if you still have a XP machine around:

1. Download Netgear Server Version 3.3.23 and install it on a XP machine. No, the upgrade will not work from an Vista/7/etc. machine! Yes, it’ll work on a XP machine.

2. Download VA147RNG2.ZIP, unzip it and copy the files “NG.ver” and “VA1.4.7RNG.2.img” into c:\*your-fancy-install-path*\netgear\media server\upgrade\

3. Connect to the Media Server with your MP101, navigate to “Setup”, “Maintenance” and chose “Upgrade”. Next: Your MP101 will upgrade.

4. Be happy. :-)

By the way, shame on you, Netgear, for never fixing the MP101 properly! You should have supported your happy buyers a lot better. Well, on the other hand, thanks a lot to the one who released the firmware on his own. Great job, mate. Cheers!

Please let me know if you have any problems…

—

Sound of the day: Yeah Yeah Yeahs – “Heads will roll“