Reinstalling Software after formatting

I want to format my Sansa Clip+ to NTSF so I can use it transfer a large file (>4gb).  Once I’m done, I’ll reformat it back to fat32.  My question is how do I reinstall the Sansa software so I again can play music. 

With a “regular” reformat, you don’t need to reinstall the SanDisk firmware–it remains there, unaffected.  I don’t know if your NTSF format will be different and affect matters–you might want to think on that some/possibly check it out…  

If you need to reapply the firmware, it is available in the firmware upgrade sticky thread at the top of the forum, with instructions as to how to manually apply it.  But again, I’m not sure if an interim NTSF reformat somehow will affect matters and reapplying the SanDisk firmware.  I’m guessing no, but haven’t done what you’re doing before.

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You didn’t give a reason for wanting to put a >4GB file on the player. If it’s just for transfer to another computer, you might be better off getting a dedicated flash drive that you can also use in the future, or a memory card with a card reader. Yes, they would still need to be re-formatted to NTFS for the larger file as even the larger capacities are still FAT32.

If this file is a music or audio file (like a book), I doubt very much whether it will play on your Clip+. It’s not designed to handle such large files.

As mentioned though, formatting doesn’t have anything to do with the firmware or how it operates. Formatting affects the (available) memory space only and the firmware is protected in a hidden partition.

You might be better off getting a dedicated flash drive that you can also use in the future, or a memory card with a card reader. Yes, they would still need to be re-formatted to NTFS for the larger file as even the larger capacities are still FAT32.

As mentioned though, formatting doesn’t have anything to do with the firmware or how it operates. Formatting affects the (available) memory space only and the firmware is protected in a hidden partition.


Edit: Just happened to notice this new post. Even though it involves a different player, it suggests (at least to me) that formatting in NTFS could wipe out the hidden partition and the firmware with it, so you may want to re-think your strategy.

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You stole my thunder. No offence to the poster, but it puzzles me why we would want to use the Clip for other than it’s intended purpose.

My guess is you could format to NTFS, do what you want, then reformat, then load back your music. But what a lot of bother! plus I’m guessing and sometimes I guess wrong.

I got a 8gb flash drive for around $10, Meritline are now selling a 16GB for not much more with free shipping, how can you go wrong.

I might have added once formatted to NTFS I don’t see a compelling reason not to leave it that way. All mine are fat32 because they came that way. I can’t think of a downside to NTFS unless there is a difference in overhead, I would have to check.

I’m cheap and didn’t want to buy another flash drive just for this one use.  There is btw a Data folder on the Sansa and I’ve used it many times for transferring files, just that this time the file exceeded the fat32 limit.  Reading that one post from Tapeworm I decided to forego this idea, and did it the old fashion way and burned a DVD.  Thanks for the help.

Glad you figured it out, fredtal. Using a DVD was a good idea! :smiley:

@fredtal wrote:

I’m cheap and didn’t want to buy another flash drive just for this one use.

It’s almost as if we were related!

Anyway, I don’t know if anyone is interested, but there’s a free program called “7-Zip”, which can not only compress  your data to a smaller size, but also slit the file into small byte-sized pieces. If you wanted to, you could make files small enough to fit on a floppy drive, althouth you might need several disks, depending on the original files’ size.

But that’s just my two sense. Fredtal, I’m glad you found a solution.

I will to receive for instance pertaining to a person’s reapply a firmware, them also comes in a firmware improvement sticky bond opening into a message board, by using information in order to ways to yourself pat it. Nonetheless just as before, I’m just confused if perhaps a strong interim NTSF reformat mysteriously is going to have an affect on makes a difference plus reapplying a SanDisk firmware. I’m just questioning virtually no, nonetheless did not executed just what exactly that you are executing in advance of.