Installing PRS-505 Software on Vista64

MikeF74 · 10-09-2007, 09:07 PM

I broke down and bought a PRS-505 yesterday while I was in Pennsylvania on business. Well, I was in Philly and drove 20 miles to the Sony Style store in King of Prussia.

I just wanted to relate that the installer fails on my brand new 64-bit Vista installation.

I was going to capture MSI logs and maybe open the installer up in ORCA and poke around (since part of my job is writing an installer for an application I develop). But then I decided to just install it in an XP Pro VM and then copy the resulting files. That seemed to work just fine.

I copied the C:\Program Files\Sony\Reader directory to C:\Program Files (x86)\Sony\Reader. Created a shortcut, and ran it. It worked just fine.

I was able to authorize my computer and my device. Download free books and download a purchased book.

I can only assume that the installer failed because it was trying to load the older driver for the PRS-500 onto the system. I can't say for sure since I didn't get around to any logging.

Anyway, it works and I'm happy.

darkstar · 10-09-2007, 09:39 PM

Well, I can see my PRS-505 as a drive on my windows X64 system so I can copy books over. But the installer fails. Maybe I can copy the C:\Program Files\Sony\Reader directory from my Vista(32 bit) notebook over to the X64 and see if it works.

JSWolf · 10-09-2007, 11:27 PM

The program will work, but the USB driver won't work as it's 32-bit only. There's no 64-bit USB driver. So I would stick with your laptop to run Connect or rather Ebook Library 2.0.

darkstar · 10-10-2007, 12:32 AM

Connect's (sony) USB driver does not work with win64, true. But simple transfers to the reader work for me from win x64 using microsoft 64-bit usb drivers, the reader appears as a drive. But I will pretty much stick with the notebook for the store

JSWolf · 10-10-2007, 12:40 AM

Can you create collections using the supplied software and the generic USB driver?

kovidgoyal · 10-10-2007, 01:01 AM

also the books wont be pre laid out.

MikeF74 · 10-10-2007, 06:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kovidgoyal

also the books wont be pre laid out.

What do you mean by that?

HarryT · 10-10-2007, 06:56 AM

If you don't load a book via the Connect software, the Reader has to paginate it the first time you open it, or the first time you select a particular font size. Means you have typically around a 30s wait.

MikeF74 · 10-10-2007, 07:05 AM

Oh I see... He was talking to those who were simply relying on the USB Mass Storage route. I though I might have been missing out on some benefit in my installation workaround.

If Sony doesn't want to rework the PRS-500 driver for 64-bit, then they should at least rewrite the software installer such that it skips over the installation of that older driver in 64-Bit environments. There was no need for the installer to fail on my PC.

HarryT · 10-10-2007, 07:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MikeF74

Oh I see... He was talking to those who were simply relying on the USB Mass Storage route. I though I might have been missing out on some benefit in my installation workaround.

That's right, yes.

Quote:

If Sony doesn't want to rework the PRS-500 driver for 64-bit, then they should at least rewrite the software installer such that it skips over the installation of that older driver in 64-Bit environments. There was no need for the installer to fail on my PC.

All Sony need to do is digitally sign the driver. That's the only reason it fails to install on Win64.

igorsk · 10-10-2007, 08:00 AM

Actually, PSRUSB.sys is signed (see PRSUSB.cat).

HarryT · 10-10-2007, 08:15 AM

Hmmm. If that's the case, why doesn't it install, I wonder?

JSWolf · 10-10-2007, 08:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarryT

Hmmm. If that's the case, why doesn't it install, I wonder?

Because it's not 64-bit. 64-bit Windows won't use 32-bit drivers.

HarryT · 10-10-2007, 08:22 AM

Thank you; I wasn't aware of that.
You were partially correct. It has to be 64-bit and signed to be a valid driver.

kovidgoyal · 10-10-2007, 11:45 AM

vista's requirement for signed drivers means I for one wont be porting libprs500's USB driver to it. I find microsoft's attitude in this to be absolutely abhorrent.

10-09-2007, 09:07 PM	#1
MikeF74 Groupie Posts: 179 Karma: 28 Join Date: May 2007 Device: Sony PRS-505	Installing PRS-505 Software on Vista64 I broke down and bought a PRS-505 yesterday while I was in Pennsylvania on business. Well, I was in Philly and drove 20 miles to the Sony Style store in King of Prussia. I just wanted to relate that the installer fails on my brand new 64-bit Vista installation. I was going to capture MSI logs and maybe open the installer up in ORCA and poke around (since part of my job is writing an installer for an application I develop). But then I decided to just install it in an XP Pro VM and then copy the resulting files. That seemed to work just fine. I copied the C:\Program Files\Sony\Reader directory to C:\Program Files (x86)\Sony\Reader. Created a shortcut, and ran it. It worked just fine. I was able to authorize my computer and my device. Download free books and download a purchased book. I can only assume that the installer failed because it was trying to load the older driver for the PRS-500 onto the system. I can't say for sure since I didn't get around to any logging. Anyway, it works and I'm happy.

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10-09-2007, 09:39 PM	#2
darkstar Enthusiast Posts: 25 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jul 2007 Device: sony 500 505, kindleDX,KA1	Well, I can see my PRS-505 as a drive on my windows X64 system so I can copy books over. But the installer fails. Maybe I can copy the C:\Program Files\Sony\Reader directory from my Vista(32 bit) notebook over to the X64 and see if it works.

10-09-2007, 11:27 PM	#3
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 73,942 Karma: 128903250 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	The program will work, but the USB driver won't work as it's 32-bit only. There's no 64-bit USB driver. So I would stick with your laptop to run Connect or rather Ebook Library 2.0.

10-10-2007, 12:32 AM	#4
darkstar Enthusiast Posts: 25 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jul 2007 Device: sony 500 505, kindleDX,KA1	Connect's (sony) USB driver does not work with win64, true. But simple transfers to the reader work for me from win x64 using microsoft 64-bit usb drivers, the reader appears as a drive. But I will pretty much stick with the notebook for the store

10-10-2007, 12:40 AM	#5
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 73,942 Karma: 128903250 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	Can you create collections using the supplied software and the generic USB driver?

10-10-2007, 01:01 AM	#6
kovidgoyal creator of calibre Posts: 43,850 Karma: 22666666 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Mumbai, India Device: Various	also the books wont be pre laid out.

10-10-2007, 06:56 AM	#8
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,544 Karma: 93383043 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	If you don't load a book via the Connect software, the Reader has to paginate it the first time you open it, or the first time you select a particular font size. Means you have typically around a 30s wait.

10-10-2007, 07:05 AM	#9
MikeF74 Groupie Posts: 179 Karma: 28 Join Date: May 2007 Device: Sony PRS-505	Oh I see... He was talking to those who were simply relying on the USB Mass Storage route. I though I might have been missing out on some benefit in my installation workaround. If Sony doesn't want to rework the PRS-500 driver for 64-bit, then they should at least rewrite the software installer such that it skips over the installation of that older driver in 64-Bit environments. There was no need for the installer to fail on my PC.

10-10-2007, 08:00 AM	#11
igorsk Wizard Posts: 3,442 Karma: 300001 Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Belgium Device: PRS-500/505/700, Kindle, Cybook Gen3, Words Gear	Actually, PSRUSB.sys is signed (see PRSUSB.cat).

10-10-2007, 08:15 AM	#12
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,544 Karma: 93383043 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	Hmmm. If that's the case, why doesn't it install, I wonder?

10-10-2007, 08:22 AM	#14
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,544 Karma: 93383043 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	Thank you; I wasn't aware of that. You were partially correct. It has to be 64-bit and signed to be a valid driver.

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10-10-2007, 11:45 AM	#15
kovidgoyal creator of calibre Posts: 43,850 Karma: 22666666 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Mumbai, India Device: Various	vista's requirement for signed drivers means I for one wont be porting libprs500's USB driver to it. I find microsoft's attitude in this to be absolutely abhorrent.