Clip Sport Podcast folder gets corrupted

I’m running the latest firmware (version 1.39) on my Clip Sport. I tend to listen to a lot of podcasts. Some of them are quite long, exceeding an hour. I always listen to podcasts in Fast mode, in case that matters. I also

When I get to the end of a long podcast, say longer than an hour and fifteen minutes, then occasionally as the Clip Sport tries to cycle around to the beginning of the podcast again, it will corrupt the Podcasts file. I lose all of the podcasts (but not music or other things). If I connect to a PC and look at the file system, the Podcasts directory has one file in it, a gibberish file name with a .POS extension. That’s the only thing in the directory. Attempts to actually listen to any of the podcasts (which still appear in the menus) fail with File Format errors. My usual recourse is to rename the Podcasts directory to something else (because I can’t delete it), then create a new Podcasts directory and transfer podcasts into it, which works until I unpredictably hit the problem again and lose all podcasts.

It’s not the same podcast files each time. A re-format of the entire drive didn’t solve the problem.

This really seems like a software or firmware issue. Anybody else seeing this? Any recommendations on resolving this?

  • mvd

I use my Clip Sport to listen to Podcast mp3 files that I download using iTunes. I copy the iTunes subfolders into the Podcasts folder of the micro SD card in my Clip Sport.  I use a 16 gb micro SD card (Samsung Class 10, FAT32).

    The problems you describe are not normal and should not be happening under normal use.

    You should normally never need to reformat the internal memory of the player

    If you are describing problems with an external micro SD card, then maybe try a new / different card?

    What type micro SD card are you using (size, format, class)?

I’m not using a card, just the player itself.

OK. So what is the source of your Podcast files?   What file type and format are you using?   What compression are you using?  

    The Clip Sport and Jam really do well with mp3 files. I have various problems with m4a files. Likely someone else can comment on wmv files.

What file type are you using (mp3 or other)?   What compression are you using (128 kbps) ?  Mono or Stereo?

The Clip Sport and Jam really do well with mp3 files.

    I have various problems with m4a files.

    Likely someone else can comment on wmv files.

I’m using MP3s, usually obtained from standard iTunes podcast feeds. These are typically 128kbps or 192kbps, usually Stereo or Joint Stereo. I’d been using my Clip Sport for a year or so with no problems, then I had some issues and learned there was a firmware update (1.39), so I installed that. Ever since, I’ve got this odd problem. My guess now is that it’s either bad memory internal to the Clip Sport or the firmware update introduced a bug.

I have been a bit skittish about updating the FW on my Clip Sports. (Still using beta FW from Dec. 2015).

Here is a link with instructions for installation of FW 1.38 (from 3/20/2017)

http://forums.sandisk.com/t5/SanDisk-Clip-Sport/SanDisk-Clip-Sport-Firmware-1-38-released/td-p/358900

I’ll give that a try when I have a chance.