NLS DTB blank cartridge, top view.
Questions: How do you burn to the NLS digital player blank cassettes? How do you copy a new talking book onto a blank NLS cartridge? Answers follow. Here we give instructions for copying digital talking books Tt NLS player cartridges from your computer that you downloaded from the BARD web site.
The blank cartridges available for the digital talking book (DTB) players from the National Library Service for the Blind (NLS) are actually just USB thumb drives housed in bigger-than-typical cases. We bought some 2GB units for approximately $11 each. Their larger size makes them easier to handle for people with arthritis and other ailments of the arms, hands, and fingers.
These easier-to-hold memory cards come equipped with a USB A-style connector on the end opposite the finger hole. So, you can copy files to and from them just as you would a CompactFlash, SD, SD HD, or other external storage device. However, you need a USB-A cable for this, which you must purchase separately. Further, your computer must be USB2.0-ready to get the fastest data transfer rates. This really speeds things along if you’re copying long NLS books. So avoid using USB1.1 ports if possible.
When you connect these cassette-like memory cards to your Windows computer, you should hear the ba-blunk sound of a new USB device coming online. Then, some seconds later, a new drive letter will appear in your Windows Explorer folder list once the system installs the drivers for the card. At this point, you can use copy-paste, drag-and-drop, the command prompt’s COPY or XCOPY commands, or any other valid Windows key stroke sequence to transfer files to and from the card.
You can store any files on the card you wish; they need not be NLS DTB files. However, in this piece, we focus on transferring the DAISY-formatted DTB book files from the National Library Service for the Blind, Recordings for the Blind, and other vendors. So we do not discuss other file types further here.
To copy a DTB recording onto these flash-style memory cards, perform the following steps.
First, download the book (as a ZIP file from the NLS BARD web site or other similar provider). You must set up an account on the BARD site first through your nearest regional library for the blind. But once you receive your account information, you can browse the library’s collection through your broadband Internet connection (recommended). Then, you can download any number of books to your computer as long as you have enough space on your hard drive for them.
Once you get a DTB book to read, connect a cartridge to your computer as discussed above.
Then to reduce confusion, delete any files and folders on the cartridge (say, from other books that you’ve listened to already).
Then, in Windows Explorer, find the ZIP file of the book you with to copy to the cartridge.
Right-click that file, and a context menu will appear. On that menu, choose the Extract All… item. This runs the extraction wizard.
Click the Next button. This brings up a window that allows you to choose the place to extract the DTB files in the original ZIP file to.
The Select a destination window should then pop up.
In that window, navigate to the My Computer folder and open it. Then, find and select the drive letter of the DTB cartridge you just connected above.
The Select a destination windows closes, and you’re taken back to the Extraction Wizard window.
You should see the drive you chose appear in the Files will be extracted to this directory edit box.
This begins the extraction process to the cartridge.
At this point, a progress bar appears, and the files in the ZIP file are decompressed and copied to your blank DTB cartridge. The time it takes to perform the extraction depends on the reading time of the book. The longer the book, the bigger its files are. he bigger the files, the longer the extraction will take. Average-sized books extract anywhere from within five to fifteen seconds.
Next, disconnect the card from your computer but first, it’s safest to use the Safely Remove Hardware wizard first to make sure that any open files on the card have been properly saved and closed before you unplug it.
Insert the card into your NLS DTB player and power the player on. After a short pause, the title of the book should be announced. If so, then you’ve successfully copied a talking book to your card, and you can then read and navigate through it just as you would the already-populated cartridges you get from NLS.
Purchased the Mayfair 1B5109408 No Slam Commode Seat, #1B5109408, by Bemis Manufacturing Company, and we…
Purchased the No Slam Toilet Seat Mayfair Wooden 1B5109408 model, by Bemis Manufacturing Company, and…
Toilet seats today, with typical to moderate use and no abuse, rarely break or otherwise…
Toilet seats today, with typical to moderate use and no abuse, rarely break or otherwise…
Here, we show how to factory reset Alexa Echo Studio, to put it back to…
This post explains How to Connect Alexa Studio to WiFi. Plus, this routine works for…