Wacky behavior after Firmware update

I haven’t actually done anything to try to fix it for 2ish months now(out of frustration), so back around may I upgraded the firmware (not really knowing what I was doing). After that it went to hell in a handbag, it started randomly refreshing my media, but it would still play music… for a Day or two. after that the song would cut off and the device would turn off at the first second. Now it won’t turn on, it will connect to the computer, but it disconnects itself a minute or two later and the soft reset isn’t helping. Prior to this firmware thing there was no problem so I’m thinking this was the culprit, but I could be wrong. help please.

First take out the microSD card to see if the card or slot are creating a problem.

With my two-year-old Fuze, the card will get jostled if I hit the outer edge of the wheel for <<. and it will refresh. It’s a mechanical thing–I just use the inner edge of the wheel.  If your card isn’t staying properly in the slot, you’ll probably have to baby it along or not use the slot, unless it’s less than a year old and still under warranty. If it is still under warranty, call 1-866-SANDISK. 

With the microSD slot empty, go to Settings/System Settings/USB Mode and take it off Auto Detect. Put it in MSC and see if it will stay connected.Depending on how you put your files on, you may or may not be able to see them.  If you can’t, change to MTP and see if that works.

You can find older firmware (or get a newer one) and replace it manually: unzip the file, throw it onto the Fuze, disconnect and let it update.  The upate instructions are here.  if you don’t like the .31 or .33 versions, right-click, copy the link into your browser and where it says .31 or .33, change it by hand to .18 to get the .18 version. 

Message Edited by Black-Rectangle on 07-25-2010 08:22 PM

If your card isn’t staying properly in the slot, you’ll probably have to baby it along or not use the slot, unless it’s less than a year old and still under warranty. If it is still under warranty, call 1-866-SANDISK.  

 no micro SD card and it’s at least 2 yrs old

With the microSD slot empty, go to Settings/System Settings/USB Mode and take it off Auto Detect. Put it in MSC and see if it will stay connected.Depending on how you put your files on, you may or may not be able to see them.  If you can’t, change to MTP and see if that works.

pardon my ignorance but how do I get to “settings”? If it is via the device that’s a problem b/c it won’t turn on for more than a few seconds

You can find older firmware (or get a newer one) and replace it manually: unzip the file, throw it onto the Fuze, disconnect and let it update.  The upate instructions are here.   if you don’t like the .31 or .33 versions, right-click, copy the link into your browser and where it says .31 or .33, change it by hand to .18 to get the .18 version.

I am not nearly computer literate enough to understand any of that paragraph.

You said it would shut off while playing music. But the problem is that it won’t stay on no matter what you do?

If you could get it to stay on, turning the wheel gives you Music, Settings (and FM Radio, Videos).  You could click on Settings/System Settings and roll on down to USB Mode.

But it won’t stay on. So the first thing is to connect.

To force the most basic connection (MSC): With the unit off, slide the power switch down to Hold position (you’ll see an orange dot under the switch). On your computer, open Computer or My Computer (Windows Explorer). Connect the USB cord to the computer. Hold down the << side of the wheel while you connect the cord to the Fuze. With luck, it will pop up in Windows explorer as Driveletter: SANSA FUZE and the next Driveletter: Removable Disk (that’s the slot). 

If that works, let it charge for a while. Maybe that would help it to stay on.

While it’s charging…

Click on the (here: ) link in my previous post. It gives you a link to get the firmware. If you don’t know whether you have a v1 or v2 fuze, try the v1 link because you have a fairly old unit. 

You’ll download a file that is zipped.  (Put it on the desktop so you can find it.) It may say fuze1.02.31.zip or your computer may hide the .zip extension so you just see fuze1.02.31. 

You need to right-click on that file to unzip (Extract) what’s in it, and you’ll get a folder. Inside the folder is FuzeA.bin, the firmware. Copy that onto the SANSA FUZE drive. (If the drive is D:, then just copy it onto D:, not on a folder inside D: ).  Disconnect, and the file will update the firmware again.

If it doesn’t update, connect again, try the v2 firmware (just replace FuzeA.bin). The Fuze simply won’t run the fuzeA.bin program that’s doesn’t match your unit, so it’s OK to try both firmwares.