Sansa Media Converter Build 4.256 & 4.263: Download Details and Release Notes

I agree - stop screwing around with the small stuff. Fix the stuff that’s broken, rather than making with the pretty-pretty.

  1. Remove the requirement to “run as administrator” on Windows Vista. What on earth do you think you need to administer my computer for, if the only goal is to convert one set of bits to another and then write them out to a USB-connected drive to which I, as a non-administrator user, have access writes?

  2. Fix the audio sync - it’s intolerable trying to watch a movie that’s been copied to the device.

  3. How about adding the ability to convert media _without_ the Sansa present? I want to convert, say, a dozen movies, and have them handy for copying onto the Sansa at a later date.

I bought this Fuze as an alternative to the ipod. After spending 3 days trying to figure out how to transfer pics and videos to this product, I am on the verge of taking back for a refund.

There is NO WAY that this process should be so complicated.   Proprietary usb cords may be understandable, but having to use that useless SMC software (that won’t even load on my 13 Gig laptop because it says that there’s not enough space), then installing it on my PC and STILL not being able to convert (greayed out convert button) is the last straw.

 It is ridiculous that you can’t just use the fuze as an external HD and move files manually.  

No, I can see a need to do a couple of operations:

  1. Rotate the video pi/2 radians.

  2. Reduce the resolution to match that of the screen, and the frame rate to match the abilities of the device.

  3. Tag with time marks, so that the audio and video don’t get out of sync (hint!)

It would be a nice idea, too, if the device itself was able to remember where you were in the video when you turn it off, so it comes back to the same spot later.

Howdy, folks:

Just got a Sansa Fuze and am very frustrated after trying for 1.5 days to convert and upload a video. Have tried many different avenues, including the Sansa Media Converter, but that program keeps flaking out and refusing to work with any of the formats I’ve tried. It just keeps the CONVERT button GREYED OUT, and keeps saying something about format not accepted and other codecs are needed… This is very irksome.

  1. What has worked, using VISTA and the Sansa Fuze, to get a video that is presently in .VOB format into an MP4 format so that Fuze will accept and play it? The .VOB video is rather long (about 1.3 G), considering the storage limit is 4G on this Fuze.  It is basically just a slide show with some music on it.  Why is this so hard for Fuze to recognize and deal with? Can someone please advise? Thanks.

  2. Cannot find what MODEL NUMBER this Fuze is. Can’t seem to find any reference to a model on any of the printed materials, the box, nor the Red Sansa Fuze itself. Where is the model number?

Thanks for any help!

Hi

I purchased Sansa e270, downloaded sansa media converter, But was unable to convert video files as the covert button is greyed out… Please Advise…

Regards,
Ashok

@ashokdinakar wrote:
Hi
 
I purchased Sansa e270, downloaded sansa media converter, But was unable to convert video files as the covert button is greyed out… Please Advise…
 
Regards,
Ashok

does this answer your qeustion?

Will not convert my files convert button not even clickable  

Hi again, folks.

 

After a lot of “futzing around” and a call to Sansa “Help” (in India) (who wasted more time & energy and provided no help at all), I was able to solve the dilemma about GREYED OUT CONVERT BUTTON on Sansa Media Converter *simply* by plugging in the Fuze (via USB cable) to my computer. As soon as I plugged in the Fuze, the Convert button “lit up,” enabling the conversion of files to Sansa-readable format. This was on a VISTA machine.

 

Good luck to those of you struggling to make sense of Sansa’s software. Sansa *really* needs to UPDATE and CORRECT its software, because end-users should not have to struggle for days on end, just to get a program function like the Convert button to work!

 

Further, it seems risky and sloppy for Sansa software and the Fuze to require you to plug the Fuze into your computer before it will convert a file, because AS SOON AS it converted, it also WROTE the file to my Fuze! That seems rather presumptuous and risky. I was expecting the program to convert the file and allow me to save to my hard drive first, so I could verify that it was what I wanted, before it went ahead and wrote the file to my Fuze, without asking me first.

 

Oh well, at least the software now works (sort of).

 

BTW, after all that hassle, the video that got converted and written to my Fuze is so TINY that I probably won’t bother to put additional videos on the Fuze. Not worth the bother, since it is hardly legible…

 

Good luck, folks.  Enjoy Sanza’s music capabilities–which is where it really “shines”!

:-) 

P.S. Apparently there is NO MODEL NUMBER for the Fuze.  The FUZE identification is simply “FUZE.”

My favorite thing about the Sansa Media Converter is the way it literally quadrupals the size of all the media files it converts.  It just makes you wonder - how DO they do it?  I guess the same way the program itself is over 100mb!!!

Your LINK takes me to a blank page with a yellow Shiled down in the bottom left hand corner with DONE written by it

Is there anything that Sansa can do properly or do they make a balls up with their websites as well as their firmware,

software & Hardware

Tony Arnold (Director)

www.helios-electronics.com

Dear Slotmonsta

                      Your LINK

Download Sansa Media Converter   

Takes me to a blank page with a yellow shield down in the bottom left hand corner and the word DONE written beside it

Is there anything that Sansa can do profesionally ?

Tony Arnold (Director)

www.helios-electronics.com

@arny wrote:

Dear Slotmonsta

                      Your LINK

Download Sansa Media Converter   

 

Takes me to a blank page with a yellow shield down in the bottom left hand corner and the word DONE written beside it

 

Is there anything that Sansa can do profesionally ?

 

Tony Arnold (Director)

www.helios-electronics.com

For a Driector of a compny which I have used in the past and is very good ( I had a great experiance), I expect more from you… Do you have a pop-up blocker? I bet you do and if you turn it off that link will work. There is no text on the page it is a about:blank page that opens and a download window pops up. This is how most professional companies do it.

@arny wrote:

Dear Slotmonsta

                      Your LINK

Download Sansa Media Converter   

 

Takes me to a blank page with a yellow shield down in the bottom left hand corner and the word DONE written beside it

Most likely your firewall or anti-virus software is blocking it from downloading. I get a yellow bar across the top of IE and a warning sound. I just have to click on the bar and tell it to download. Then it does fine.


Arny wrote:

Dear Slotmonsta

Is there anything that Sansa can do profesionally ?

Tony Arnold (Director)


well i bet they can spell professionally correctly unlike you.

Hi, is this program compatible with Vista 64 bit?

I have not been able to install the program itself on my Vista 64-bit PC. I get the message, “Internal Failure, Error Number 0x80040707, Description: (none provided)”  followed by another dialogue box that says, “Severe, Error loading DirectX DLL (0x100)” 

I have had no problem installing the program or using it on my XP computer.

I’m suspecting that this may be yet another program that doesn’t work on 64 bit Vista… :s

Thanks.

Message Edited by moonstar on 02-06-2009 05:51 PM

It works with 32 bit Vista Ultimate. I am thinking that you are right this is another program that wont work with 64 bit. Try some of the work arounds on this board. Try any video converter (That is the name), to make a file that is compatable with your fuze.

PLEASE allow SMC to function (_as the help file specifie_s) when the player is NOT attached to the PC.

I had no problem converting videos to my FUZE until I used up my space on my internal memory.

When connecting my FUZE and running SMC, the external memory is not recognized.

The help section said that if the player was NOT connected that SMC would save the output file to the temporary directory.

I was going to try this and then transfer the output video manually to the external card (copy&paste thru Win-Explorer)

This doesn’t work either as the  CONVERT button is grayed out if the player is not plugged in.

I guess I can find another conversion program to do what this is supposed to do since according to the previous posts; SANSA is not responding to the SMC program complaints.  This is an easy fix – Just allow the program to save the output file to the local drive.

FYI (to other users reading this and want to try another convertor):

Output: Video DivX, 224 X 176, 20 fps;  Audio MP3 128k

After scouring the net I found: Rhapsody is compatible with FUZE and can be used as an alternative transport/conversion program for the SMC.

Message Edited by daryl_daniels on 03-01-2009 01:04 AM

@spido wrote:

 

Good luck to those of you struggling to make sense of Sansa’s software. Sansa *really* needs to UPDATE and CORRECT its software, because end-users should not have to struggle for days on end, just to get a program function like the Convert button to work!

 

 

I totally agree to that - I have tried several alternative video converters with many different settings now, without any success.

The original SMC software is total ■■■■. The support hotline suggested to use “Any Video Converter Free” as an alternative, but this does not work either. The e200 V2 is definitely the last MP3 player from SanDisk I bought.

@alectronic wrote:

 

I totally agree to that - I have tried several alternative video converters with many different settings now, without any success.

The original SMC software is total ■■■■. The support hotline suggested to use “Any Video Converter Free” as an alternative, but this does not work either. The e200 V2 is definitely the last MP3 player from SanDisk I bought.

You have a v2. So do I. I used to think like you, not anymore. All my converted videos have been perfectly in sync for the last few months. Have you looked at this thread: http://forums.sandisk.com/sansa/board/message?board.id=smc&thread.id=1447

For the record, I have been using WinFF and the settings in the post Arseno linked too and also Avidemux he was kind enough to share knowledge of. I haven’t done any 2 hour movies, but I have successfully converted approx. 100 half-hour TV shows and various downloaded .flv videos using these tools and then finalizing the conversion and transfer with SMC to external memory cards. They play perfectly fine on both my e280v2 and Fuze players.

I have linked to this thread myself many times in helping others having video difficulties. It may not be the only solution, but it is one that works. And both the suggested programs are free to download.

A big round of applause and heart-felt thanks should go out to both ArsenoLupino and themichael for sharing their knowledge, expertise and experience in these matters.