Clip Sport Songs Order & Album Mix-ups

Hello people

Instead of using some strange fat sorters just format you SD card with exFat. Of course it will only work in folder mode. One annoying thing of this mode is that the player won’t go to next folder when last song finishes, you have to do it manually.

@tkm wrote:

Hello people

Instead of using some strange fat sorters just format you SD card with exFat. Of course it will only work in folder mode. One annoying thing of this mode is that the player won’t go to next folder when last song finishes, you have to do it manually.

And formatting with exFat will erase all of one’s content, which is not the intent here.  Rather, using one of the FAT sorters above, each of which is well-regarded, will re-order one’s collection, alphabetically or otherwise, what people are trying to do.

Thanks for discovering that dead link in the article and finding a working link to the Fat Sorter 1.0.4 software for PC.

I never re-checked that site since I discovered it several months ago.   I need to be more careful like you !!!

@dfeld2005 wrote:

Thanks for discovering that dead link in the article and finding a working link to the Fat Sorter 1.0.4 software for PC.

I never re-checked that site since I discovered it several months ago.   I need to be more careful like you !!!

Thanks, but lol–just a “lucky” catch as I wanted to download the FAT sorter myself!   :wink:

Hi there, newbie here.

for those who are looking for a workaround that does not involve using the Folder view: 

My workaround is to include the track number (with leading zero) in the title tag:

This is done easily with a “Tag - Tag” conversion in Mp3tag:

Field: Tag

Format string: %track% - %title%

then delete all Track tags (still with Mp3tag: select all, then delete the Track field on the left bar, and save.)

Without track tags, songs are sorted by title (alphabetically, therefore following the now embedded 2-digit numbering).

This way, the track number is also displayed during playback or browsing through an album, which I like.

I must say that I’m highly disappointed in this player. On top of this issue, I had to fiddle a ton with album arts (resolution limit, size limit, jpeg options, etc…). Basically you must carefully reformat everything you put on this player if you want it to play it right. (and yes, I have the latest 2.09 firmware).

I won’t start listing the features I would like to see, as it barely performs the most basic tasks for which users are interested in a color screen in the first place.

Sorry for the rant, at least I proposed my solution. It’s a hassle, but it works…

1 Like

Thank you for contributing an excellent work-around for the track tag numbering problem with the Clip Sport Plus (FW 2.09).

This track tag numbering problem does not apply to the original Clip Sport (FW 1.17 and beyond).

      I find best results using 2-digit track tags, 00-99.

For album clip art, I find best results using jpg files with these parameters:

-> I use 200 x 200 pixels up to 300 x 300 pixels

-> I use 72 dpi 

-> When saving, click “Show options dialog”, clear all EXIF checkboxes

The Clip Sport will optionally display the album art file without embedding into the mp3 files.

       ->If you use the filename  folder.jpg  and save into the album folder with the related mp3 files.

      

Good job, thank you. Finally something that worked.

So the track tag actually messes things up instead of improving it. I didnt painstakingly edit all the tags perfectly on thousands of files for this to happen.

In my experience if companies make basic software errors like these then they won’t improve, so I will return this product while I still can. 

I suddenly stopped hating iTunes :wink:

In my experience  using the Clip Sport (not the plus version), 2-digit track tags (00-99) work perfectly if the album tags are identical and the critical information appears within the first 16 characters of the album tag.

If you have thousands of files and do not want to mess around with track tags, then try using Folder mode.

And take a look at these ideas about playlists I posted here last week.

        Batch File Command for Playlists

When the Disc tag and Track tag aren’t used properly and pretty much all software like windows explorer, mp3tag, ITunes, Winamp (old version from 2003), Foobar and lots more can all sort my ebooks properly (most of them by default), if only 16 characters of some tags are used and the problem persists for years, then someone is not doing a good job.

All it takes is to replace the shuffle option with a ‘Sort By’ option:

  1. track# tag  (default. first check for a disc tag, then check for track tags,  leading zero’s should not be needed and tags like 3/10 should ignore the /10 bit)

  2. title tag       (default when (some of) the track tags are missing)

  3. filename     (sort alphabetically, default when (some of) the title tags do not contain numbers AND (some of) the track tags are missing)

  4. random      (shuffle)

I think this covers every possible scenario. This is how proper software works. If your programmers can’t even handle unkown strings then replace them, I could do this in a few days if I had known how mp3 tags were read.

Okay, I have made an account on this forum just to reply to this post, if anyone’s still following it, unless this solution has been posted.

So it seems that SanDisk released a firmware upgrade for the Clip Sport, version 1.38. It’s noted in the Sansa Clip Sport user manual, which is where I found the link, but if you don’t have that, it’s here.

This firmware upgrade seems to fix the alphabetical order mishap, and according to SanDisk, adds some other features, like a lock button (hold the back button), battery notifications, and other bug fixes. Seems they were listening to us, after all.

Good luck with your players, if you haven’t all discarded them by now!

I put numbers in front of each song title, i.e. 01Elenor Rigby, 02 Yellow Submarine, etc. and it still will not play in that order.  It randomly picks even though I have shuffle off.  Help.

It is not fixed in version 1.38. At least what many are asking for in this thread was not addressed in the latest firmware. “Songs” formatting does not recognize folders. If you have two folders of music, say two albums, the folder separation will be ignored by your Clip Sport and all songs from the two albums will be sorted in one list of files that will be played according to an inscrutable goofball logic. Sure in alphabetical order but geez you are going to load only one album??? Then what are you going to do with three or four albums rename each file??? Who wants to spend time doing that??? Let alone trying to figure out what sort of filing format to use? Also, you can’t know the result until after loading the files and viewing them on your device.

If you load two albums and sort via “Songs” all files will be shown, sorted by some goofy logic others have tried to solve in this thread. If you look at those via “Folders” the formatting does not sort according to conventional numbering. I didn’t realize the value of Rockbox until dealing with this. It’s just that there are no easy work-arounds and there should be. Highly disappointing to say the least.

Files named 01_ABC_ through 12_ABC_ Do not sort properly in Folder view.

Files named 1through 13 Do not sort properly in Folder view.

Files named cd0track01 through cd0track12 sort properly in Folder view. I guess you could rename all your files this way. Joy.

“Songs” just screws up these files from multiple albums by throwing them all together.

So, thanks to all the advice here, I have just spent the last couple of hours renaming, renumbering and resorting my music using mp3tag and a file sorter, and it’s mostly worked; my music is now in the order I want it to be in (with a couple of exceptions which don’t seem to be working no matter what I do).

I like this little device; the sound quality is good and it’s small and light; it was bought as a replacement for my old, and much loved Sony Walkman as the battery was beginning to die.  Had I known that there were all these issues with it, I’d probably have opted for another Sony, but at least it seems to be working OK now.

So my complaint is exactly stated here: https://www.schauenburg.nl/posts/2017/08/10-sansa-clip-sport/

The Request: The default ability to sort files alphabetically in Folders (without resorting to tagging fixes and the like). This might allow one to easily load albums and have those files play according to their intended order (the order originally determined by the musicians).

Surely SanDisk can accomplish this in a firmware update??

the sorting algorithm has not changed in a very long time and likely will not change. best advice is to use a program like MP3 tag and make sure all the ID3 tags are filled out correctly in the files and use the music option in the menu to view them. 

using files will be sorted alphabetically but any new added files will be sorted at the bottom of the list. as they are new additions to the FAT. If you want the files option sorted alphabetically you would have to load all files again each time anything new is added. 

I have been thinking that preparing and curating audio files for a Clip Sport / Clip Jam is like driving a car with manual transmission with no instruction manual.  And SanDisk does not provide a global, all purpose, dedicated software package like iTunes that hides all the inner workings of their players behind a bunch of colorful pop-up windows.

I hope that new owners will take a deep breath and try to read through the various helpful discussions and solutions that are contributed by an amazing variety of patient owners throughout this helpful Forum.

AND, here is an interesting & educational explanation of the FAT table sorting problem that causes Folder Mode access problems for the Clip Sport & Clip Jam.

        http://www.softpedia.com/get/System/File-Management/FAT-Sorter.shtml

        

I have been thinking that preparing and curating audio files for a Clip Sport / Clip Jam is like driving a car with manual transmission without a detailed instruction manual.  And SanDisk does not provide a global, all purpose, dedicated software package like iTunes that hides all the inner workings of their players behind a bunch of colorful pop-up windows.

I hope that new owners will take a deep breath and try to read through the various helpful discussions and solutions that are contributed by an amazing variety of patient owners throughout this helpful Forum.

AND, here is an educational explanation of the FAT table sorting problem that causes Folder Mode sorting problems for the Clip Sport & Clip Jam.

        http://www.softpedia.com/get/System/File-Management/FAT-Sorter.shtml

drlucky,

Thank you for taking the time to reply. I understand it is unlikely there will be any changes in firmware coding. I don’t mean to be rude or untoward by also mentioning what follows. It may help prompt SanDisk in present or future coding improvements.

These devices come with an enormous amount of internal memory and have the capability to add more externally. A very large amount of music can be stored on them. So lets’ say one wants to store the set of Beethoven piano sonatas. Beethoven wrote thirty-two of these. Most have three or four movements. So that would amount to 32 Folders of three or four files each. If these are .wav files internal memory use would leave approximately two gigabytes with the ability to use more on an external memory card. If the user prefers MP3 format memory capability can be increased four or fivefold. So you may also want Chopin’s Nocturnes on there, along with a few Van Halen albums for good measure.

If we put the thirty-two folders (the sonatas), each with three or files, a normal user would expect them to be sorted in alpha/numeric format as may be stored on a hard drive. The user does not want to have to re-name or tag each of these files (167 in this case) and the user most certainly does not want to listen to these files in any other order than intended by the composer. While the order may not be so important for pop music I think most users would prefer the option to sort this way. And it is crucial for classical music files to be played in a particular order as I think most people understand. So even if there are “fixes” in tagging techniques or in what would be a monumental task of re-naming files, I am not satisfied. This issue should be fixed the proper way through coding so that it works properly right out of the rigid plastic shipping container.

In all other respects it’s a fine player; otherwise I wouldn’t take so much time here.

Most respectfully,

Flunky.

I think it may be possible to accomplish the requirements of new member Flunky with the quick execution of a simple batch file command directly inside a subfolder of Music in the player or the micro SD card.

For example, in Flunky’s Clip Sport there can be a subdirectory named “Beethoven”.  And this subdirectory contains all the 32 folders (each with 3 or 4 audio files). And when Flunky uses Windows File Explorer to view this subdirectory collection, all 32 folders are properly named so they are displayed in the exact desired order of playback. (And the internal 3 or 4 audio files can be displayed in the desired order.)

Then Flunky can create this simple 2-line text file (using Notepad) and save it as “Playlist.bat” in the Beethoven subdirectory.

@echo off
dir /o:n /s /b *.mp3 *.wma *.wav> Beethoven.m3u

Then use Windows File Explorer to double-click on the bat file and the Beethoven.m3u file will be automatically created within 3 secs or less. Then use Playlists mode from the MUSIC menu or the CARD menu to start your playback.  Make sure all the possible shuffle commands are set to “Off” for your desired linear playback.

If you decide to repeat this process with other subfolder collections, make sure you use different  names for the “m3u” files

Hi everyone.

I’m testing the the folder mode (firmware 1.39) and it seems that, in my case,  it works randomly.

Example 1 OK (MP3):

01 - Melendi - Mi Rumbita Pa Despues - EMG

02 - Melendi - Desde Mi Ventana - EMG

03 - Melendi - Se Lo Que Hicisteis - EMG

04 - Melendi - Sin Noticias De Holanda - EMG

.

Example 2 not OK (FLAC):

03  Brick England (feat. Pet Shop Boys)

15 Swipe for this

06  Here For You (feat. Gary Numan)

01  The Heart of Noise, Pt. 1 (feat. Rone)

.

Example 3 not OK (FLAC):

  1. Oxygene, Pt. 4

  2. Oxygene, Pt. 5

  3. Oxygene, Pt. 6

  4. Oxygene, Pt. 3

  5. Oxygene, Pt. 2

.

Example 4 not OK (MP3):

05 Stay

14 Detach

15 S.T.A.Y

13 Coward

11 Running Out

.

 I hope Sandisk fixes this soon. It’s really anoying.

Thanks.