Sansa Clip Dead Dead

Though I have seen other threads where the Clip works when plugged into a computer, my Clip 2GB is dead dead.  It went dead when I was running last night and I assumed the battery had died.  Hooking it up to a PC that it has been connected to before to charge it did nothing.  The PC did not even recognize it.  Nothing appeared on the Clip screen either.  I have tried the all of the resets suggested on other threads (10, 15 & 20 power switch hold with and without pressing the volume control).  I updated the firmware about two months ago and it had been working fine.  I may have had it a little less than a year, but am not sure.  I don’t see any kind of serial number on it so would I have to have an original receipt to get the warranty repair??? If not under warranty, any suggestions short of a dumpster???

Thanks in advance for the collective wisdom…

I have had the EXACT same problem. I’ve tried all the fixes and no luck. And no answer?

Try a wall charger, that may bring it back to life, it is possible that you ran the battery down too low and that it cannot generate the power needed to connect to the computer. Also try the soft reset again make sure you hold it all the way up for 20 seconds.

Tried both…Thanks for the ideas and I welcome more.

Had the same problem once. Tried nearly everything, nothing happened. Tried to recharge it with the computer but the clip showed no sign, then tried again with a bought charger (the thing you plug in the wall socket)… seemed that nothing happened as well. But then I could switch it on again. I also think that it might have been to empty. Perhaps just try to plug it in two or three times, altough it doesn´t seem to work. Hope it helps!

I have the exact same problem.  Sansa Clip less than 6 months old.  Has always worked fine.  Battery was (very) low this morning.  Connected to PC to charge.  Disconnected 6 hours later… and NOTHING.  Can’t get it to turn on.  My PC doesn’t recognize it.  I sent a letter to tech support and am awaiting a reply.  Have any of you resolved this problem?

I decided to try to reset mine again.  Within 5 seconds of holding the on button up, the power came on again!  Somehow I managed to lose the book I just downloaded and am getting error messages, but the Sansa Clip appears to be charged and working…  Pure luck, I think.  Hopefully, it will continue to do so.  I’ll make sure I don’t let the battery get too low next time!  Thanks to those on this page that let me know I’m not alone with this issue.

The thing to remember is that the batteries in the fuze and the clip like to be charged more often than not. So top it off instead of draining it out.

I have this exact same problem! My battery was not low though. It was about 3/4 charged. I wish someone from tech support would answer my e-mail.

My clip 1gig died after a couple of months.  I use it while jogging and it gets very wet.  Another thread suggested that these clips do not like moisture so I attempted to dry it out by laying it on top of my cable modem which gets very warm.  Voila!  It started coming back to life slowly.  First, the blue ring illuminated but not the screen.  When the PC recognized it, I reinstalled firmware 1.29a several times after erratic behavior like refusing to turn off (turn off and it would come back on by itself).  Long story short, it works fine now.  Oh, I now place my clip in a ziplock while running.  Maybe this will help someone else.  Lord knows you folks who share on boards like this have saved my bacon many times.

My husband has now killed three clips while running. One was my silver clip which I have learned they dont make anymore. Does anyone have a solution to the moisture issue? At least, we bought the replacement insurance from Best Buys on the last one.  Its just a real pain to have to return them.  I have read about the ziploc bag idea but he is not sold on running with it in a bag.  Why doesnt sansa address this issue?

Dang, your husband must be an athletic god to be working out so hard that he wears out three Clips in a row!   :wink:

Would a silcone case for your Clip(s) help? 

http://cgi.ebay.com/3-SILICONE-SKIN-CASE-FOR-SANDISK-SANSA-CLIP-1GB-2GB-4GB_W0QQitemZ370208769195QQcmdZViewItemQQptZOther_MP3_Player_Accessories?hash=item56322984ab&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=65%3A12%7C66%3A2%7C39%3A1%7C72%3A1205%7C240%3A1308%7C301%3A1%7C293%3A1%7C294%3A50

(By the way, if your earlier Clips were under a year old, it’s likely that SanDsik would replace them under the company’s 1-year warranty; you can contact SanDsik about that.)

Message Edited by Miikerman on 06-27-2009 08:12 PM

Hi, All!  A month or so ago I  bought a Sansa Clip 2GB at Woot, based on a recommendation from another forum, and I love it.  Yesterday I added an audiobook, listened to another for a while, and when I stopped, noticed that the battery power was about half gone.  So I plugged the Clip back into the desktop PC (port in the back, no problems with other devices), and, as mentioned, was working earlier in the day.  When I came back, there was no visible change in the battery level, and it was ready for me to push Pause to continue with my book.  So last night I used the little cord to plug it into the wall, using my iPod charger block.  No difference in battery level again this morning. 

I’m trying it again right now and I’ll check on levels in a while.  I’ve read all the posts in this discussion, most of which seem to involve a Clip that was run down to empty battery levels.  That’s not the case with mine.  The only thing I changed yesterday was to add an audiobook, which leaves only about 150Mb of space left.  Is it possible that this low memory level could somehow be the cause of the non-charging?  

TIA for your advice.

@jwwright1949 wrote:

My clip 1gig died after a couple of months.  I use it while jogging and it gets very wet.  Another thread suggested that these clips do not like moisture so I attempted to dry it out by laying it on top of my cable modem which gets very warm.  Voila!  It started coming back to life slowly.  First, the blue ring illuminated but not the screen.  When the PC recognized it, I reinstalled firmware 1.29a several times after erratic behavior like refusing to turn off (turn off and it would come back on by itself).  Long story short, it works fine now.  Oh, I now place my clip in a ziplock while running.  Maybe this will help someone else.  Lord knows you folks who share on boards like this have saved my bacon many times.

A similar thing happened to me today…I was walking along, my sansa was clipped onto my shirt, next to my skin which was very hot, and it just died. I knew that the battery was getting a bit low but I assumed it had run out so I plugged it into my PC to charge when I got home.

At first my PC recognised it, but the Sansa remained dead and wasn’t flashing ‘connected’ as it usually does. I disconnected then reconnected it and then the PC wouldn’t recognise it at all. I tried about four or five times and then got a message saying that the new device had been installed and that I need to re-boot the computer. Weird.  I then nearly threw it out of the window. Once I’d calmed down I found this forum and found out how you reset these things (thanks!) as the pdf. user guide that comes with it has the most useless troubleshooting section on the planet. So, I pushed the on button up for 10 seconds and hey presto! Back to life! Yay.

It’s now charging happily and still remains on when I disconnect it and play it.

So…it could have been the moisture that killed it today…plus I usually only use it for running so it maybe it gets damp then too although I usually keep it in my pocket. 

I’m going to charge it more often though as recommended by someone here.

Well, fingers crossed it it continues to work…it’s only 3 months old!

@catbookmom wrote:

Hi, All!  A month or so ago I  bought a Sansa Clip 2GB at Woot, based on a recommendation from another forum, and I love it.  Yesterday I added an audiobook, listened to another for a while, and when I stopped, noticed that the battery power was about half gone.  So I plugged the Clip back into the desktop PC (port in the back, no problems with other devices), and, as mentioned, was working earlier in the day.  When I came back, there was no visible change in the battery level, and it was ready for me to push Pause to continue with my book.  So last night I used the little cord to plug it into the wall, using my iPod charger block.  No difference in battery level again this morning. 

 

FWIW, I also got one of these refurbished Clips from Woot, and it arrived defective.  It would turn on when plugged into external power (USB or wall charger), but wouldn’t power on under battery power.  My guess is that I got one of the Clips that was susceptible to having one of the battery leads come unconnected.  I think I may have read somewhere in this forum that there was apparently was a manufacturing run that produced these Clips.

 

Not sure if jogging/running could cause the battery lead to disconnect also, though that would make sense.

 

Unfortunately Woot has no more Clips to replace defective ones, so all they can do is give you an RMA so you can get a refund.  You get to pay S&H to ship your defective Clip back to them.  :neutral_face:

To add to the story line, i got caught in a thunderstorm running with the Clip in a nylon belt pouch that got soaked - I didn’t think to turn it off and it died and has not recovered. I’ve tried the forced reset methods and may continue with the rice method, but I’ve checked and ordered a new Clip+ from TigerDirect,at Cdn $43 incl tax and shipping, half what I paid for the Clip. I consider the death my fault. The sandwich bag idea is exactly what I had already thought I will do in the future - I use sandwich bags for camera and computer equipment when out and about and should have thought of it before.

Sigh; sorry to hear that.   :frowning:

But now you get a capacious new Clip+ (and see the posted frys.com deal for a 16GB microSD card for $18 after rebate–but I don’t know if Frys ships to the northland).   :slight_smile:

Oddest thing, last night I pulled the dead Clip out of the rice bowl and it turned on after the forced MSC routine - I hooked it up to USB and it died again while charging. Maybe there is hope for it - back in the bowl for a while. i wouldn’t mind having two, one with workout music and the other for the car and travel where I like audiobooks and podcasts. Hope beats eternal.

These little Clips have shown a surprising ability to come back to life.  I’d leave it to dry out for a good many days–as you know, trying it when still damp can have pretty severe consequences.

It’s baaack. Another day in the rice bowl (five total) and it’s playing fine. The Clip+ “replacement” for it has also arrived - I’m thinking that if the old one keeps working I’ll just keep new one in the car.