The Sony Network Walkman line of MP3 players have always suffered from a lack of software support. SonicStage (the “official” song management software provided by Sony) and other solutions such as GYM and MP3 Manager will only run on Windows. Additionally SonicStage, in particular, has often drawn the ire of users for being slow and flaky to use.

Recently the Symphonic project has released JSymphonic - a Java based MP3 management tool which allows deletion and transfer of songs to and from Sony NW MP3 players.

The latest version supports earlier models such as the NW-HD5 that utilise encryption and do not support drag 'n drop file transfers.

It requires version 1.5 or greater of the JRE, so the stock version of Xandros on the eee is fully compliant. Check your JRE version if you are running XP - chances are you are already up to date.

JSymphonic will run from any location - including from your MP3 player itself. If you are tight on space or want to use it on other PCs, you can install it to your player.

If you have installed XP on your eee pc, this program makes a great replacement for SonicStage as it a much more lightweight program - both in terms of diskspace (the entire installation is less than 1 mb) and processing requirements.

These instructions can be used for both Xandros and XP

• Download the zip file containing the latest version of the software by clicking the download button on the project website above.

• Extract the zip file to your chosen location.

• Plug in your network walkman.

• In Linux, start a terminal session (ALT - CTL - “T”). In Windows open a command prompt (window - “R”, “cmd”, Enter).

• Execute the following command from the directory in which you unzipped JSymphonic:

java -jar <jsymphonic_jar_file.jar>

Note: Substitute <jsymphonic_jar_file.jar> with the name of the jar file from the zip file. For example, the version current at the creation of this article would be:

java -jar JSymphonic_0.2.1a.jar

• The JSymphonic application will start and lead you through the configuration process on the first occasion.

• If you find yourself using JSymphonic often, create yourself an icon! (Easy mode icons)

Note that this software is currently at alpha stage. It currently supports deletion and import/export of MP3 files.

It does not have support for playlists or advanced features of later NW models - however, the authors have stated their intention to add these features in the near future.