MTP vs UMS/MSC vs proprietary software

[Andreas]

There are three ways a player can be connected to a computer. MTP (media transfer protocol), UMS (universal mass storage, also referred to as MSC), and proprietary software. Some players use only one of these, others use several - user selectable or not. There is a constant discussion what is best, but here's the difference, facts wise:

MTP
MTP is developed by windows and so using it on other OS-es isn't that easy. In windows XP SP2 and above you just plug it in, and it shows up as a portable media device. MTP is basically a dumbed down UMS, it's technically drag and drop but has some limitations as to what goes where on the device, for the sake of being user friendly. MTP is also compatible with a variety of media players like Windows media Player, media monkey etc, and allow you to synch with these programs, create playlists and so on.

UMS
UMS is basically exactly what it says - universal mass storage. It installs itself on any USB compatible OS (Windows 98SE and above, Linux, OS-X, and USB On The Go capable devices such as USB DVD players, car stereos etc). It shows up as a removable drive, and it's up to the user to put stuff where it belongs. This is preffered by many because of the OS independency, while others prefer to have the synch options of MTP.

Proprietary
Some less consumer friendly companies still insist on making the user install a seperate program just for one player, although these days most of these programs are volountary. Microsoft's Zune player is one of extremely few players who only supports proprietary software these days, after Sony finally gave up on its SonicStage. These proprieatary softwares are often buggy and less advanced than universal ones, and normally provides player specific video conversion and synch options along with other features. Voulountary software does somewhat the same, but at least you don't HAVE to use it. Seeing these softwares are so different, there are both bad and good ones, but most users will find them adequate for their purposes, for example video conversion.

[derf]

From what I read, the Kenwood players also use proprietary software. The device itself is UMS/MSC, but the software creates a database and the device reads from the database. I'm not sure, but I think Apple does the same thing.

[Muffinwalker]

Of MTP and MSC/UMS:

Mass Storage Class(MSC)/Universal Mass Storage(UMS):
First, the technically correct name of this protocol is MST, though UMS is understood to mean the same thing. Under MSC, a player acts just like a USB storage device, and nothing else. It's simple, clean, requires no special applications, and is universally supported. However, it does not support many of the features that MTP does.

Media Transfer Protocol (MTP):
Though the MTP specification was created by Microsoft, it is completely OS-independant. However, because it is newer than (and more specific than) MSC, it is less-widely supported. However, it provides support for many features that are unavailable under MSC, such as better synching, computer control of the player, playlists, recently played history, and others. Also, the Windows Media PlaysForSure DRM system, which is itself not a part of MTP, requires MTP to function (PlaysForSure tracks will not play if transferred over MSC).

[AgedArt]

For a player that uses MTP / Windows Media Player, will the WMP appear on the mp3 device screen the same way as it appears on the PC desktop with all the same menu items? Specifically, can you go to your mp3 device, pull up the WMP and adjust playback speed Under the "Now Playing" menu on WMP? Thanks

[invertedskull]

There was another thread dedicated to this topic, and I am having trouble finding it. Does anyone know where it is? Apparently one of the guys who worked for or with Microsoft and helped develop MTP posted this thread originally...

[Marvin the Martian]

Originally Posted by invertedskull

There was another thread dedicated to this topic, and I am having trouble finding it. Does anyone know where it is? Apparently one of the guys who worked for or with Microsoft and helped develop MTP posted this thread originally...

It's right here

[Ashen]

[quote=Cptnodegard;201624]

MTP
MTP is developed by windows and so using it on other OS-es isn't that easy. In windows XP SP2 and above you just plug it in, and it shows up as a portable media device. MTP is basically a dumbed down UMS, it's technically drag and drop but has some limitations as to what goes where on the device, for the sake of being user friendly. MTP is also compatible with a variety of media players like Windows media Player, media monkey etc, and allow you to synch with these programs, create playlists and so on.

so wrong, its not dumbed down, and doesn't require any 3rd party apps, and the worst you will get if you try and put unsupported data/media on the device is a warning that the device doesn't support that format but that you can send the data do the device for transport.

and this isnt locked to windows, I have used MTP mode on osx and linux, tho only noobuntu currently comes with MTP support out of the box, it is not hard to install in my experiance, I got it working on VectorLinux and even slax very quickly, and im not a linux guru.

UMS
UMS is basically exactly what it says - universal mass storage. It installs itself on any USB compatible OS (Windows 98SE and above, Linux, OS-X, and USB On The Go capable devices such as USB DVD players, car stereos etc). It shows up as a removable drive, and it's up to the user to put stuff where it belongs. This is preffered by many because of the OS independency, while others prefer to have the synch options of MTP.

correct term is MSC, nobody is 100% sure where UMS came from but its not and never was the proper term for these devices.

please people stop with the CRAP about MTP mode being inferior to MSC or "dumbed down" ITS NOT, Infact it offers alot of things MSC mode CANT OFFER.

MTPz as used by the Zune(pos) is locked into use with spicific software/hardware that has a secure encrypted handshake, and it SUCKS, but this is not how MTP mode is on non-ms/apple devices.....

I have posted a pic/screenshot of my use of MTP mode, it shoud make it clear that MTP is no worse (when properly used/setup) then msc mode.



note normal windows explorer file/folder structure, if you need i can show what happens when i drop an exe or another unsupported media type on the device, theres no problem dropping any file in any folder i like......

this is true for my samsung and sansa players.