[Dtb-talk] USB and NLS Player

[Joseph Norton]

Hi David:

This subject has been discussed at length on the BardTalk list, but, here's a rundown of the things discussed.

The NLS Digital Talking Book Machine (DTBM)'s current firmware version is 2.1.7.

With the advent of this version, more thumb-drives could be supported when used in the side USB port.

The reason was, indeed, the drive's going to sleep, so-to-speak, and, when the DTBM woke them up, the drive would not remember the last position the machine had read from.  This would cause a premature "End of Book" message.

The reason the DTBM put the drives to sleep was to save battery power.  The NLS cartridges and some other thumb-drives, would work correctly--they would wake up and remember where they were, so the reading would be seamless.

In the latest firmware (version 2.1.7), the power-saving mode is disabled when using the side USB port.  This means that, when any USB thumb-drive/card reader is plugged into the side USB port the machine doesn't put the drive to sleep, so, it is always on, and, remembers your reading position.  This makes the DTBM work with a larger range of devices.  The price is around a 30 per cent reduction in battery life, since power is always on to the side USB port when in use.

Many of the Kingston drives work well with the power-saving mode and do not need this concession.  However, there are a number of devices which do need to be kept awake for the DTBM to work correctly with them.

Now, here's the catch.  under firmware version 2.1.7, any USB device plugged into the front cartridge slot will still be in a power-saving mode.  If it doesn't remember it's position after being put to sleep, you will get premature "end of book" messages and other piratic behavior.  Of course, NLS doesn't recommend anything other than a cartridge be plugged into the front cartridge slot.  There are some people using USB thumb-drives in the front cartridge slot, but, some have experienced problems when the drive would not fit.  One librarian said they had received machines back with thumb-drives stuck in the front slot because patrons had tried to insert them and couldn't remove them.

There has been a big debate on whether to use USB thumb-drives in the front cartridge slot, or, just to stick with cartridges.  I'm not going to get into that.

Hope this info helps.

On Aug 24, 2012, at 3:24 PM, David Andrews <dandrews at visi.com> wrote:

> Hi:
> 
> This may sound strange -- but here goes anyway.  I have a USB thumb drive that seems to work with my NLS player -- off the bat.  If it does work, will it keep working as I read into a book, or will it stop after a while.  I ask because remember reading that problem with some drives is that they go to sleep so to speak, to save power, and the machine can't wake them up.
> 
> Dave
> 
> 
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