Backlight/Tick Problem

MP3 players Sansa Fuze
1

8gb Fuze, V01.01.15a firmware.

When the backlight goes off, the audio picks up a fast tick-tick-tick sound. 

I’ve tested it on all the various backlight timer settings up to an hour and when the backlight goes off, the tick comes back. If I press a button to pull the backlight back on, the tick goes away. I can work around it with the 60min setting on backlight – keeping the light on all the time – but it’s playing hob with my battery life. 

Firmware fix?

Thanks. 

2

It’s possible that your Fuze has small allocation clusters as formatted.

Windows has a nasty habit of formatting the device as FAT32 with wee 4KB clusters.  On the Fuze, the device’s onboard Format command optimizes the memory with proper 32KB clusters.

You can check the cluster size by connecting in MSC mode and running chkdsk from the command prompt.  Note the allocation size; if it’s wee 4KB clusters, Bob’s your uncle.

Please note that formatting the device will erase all data from the machine, so be sure to have backup copies of your music before proceeding.

Bob  :smileyvery-happy:

3

Are your files VBR MP3s?

If so :

“VBR fix is on the list for the next update.  The problem is the VBR parsing does not accurately select a high enough clock speed for certain tracks.  An improved parsing is under development.”

from this thread

4

32k allocation units.

So that’s not it.

And, no, all fixed rate – some 96, others 128, but all at 44khz.

So that’s not it, either.

UPDATE: Just on the off chance – I formatted the device and reloaded with a couple 128/44’s. Same issue. When the backlight goes out, the ticking begins. If I light it up, the ticking stops.  

Message Edited by nlowell on 11-22-2008 07:56 PM

Message Edited by nlowell on 11-22-2008 08:17 PM

5

Any other suggestions?

Do I have a faulty Fuze?

Other than this one issue, I like it a lot … but this ticking is irritating.  

6

You could try reverting back to the previous firmware to confirm (or deny) that it is firmware-related. There’s a link to the older version here on the forum. I don’t have the link to the post handy, but you should be able to search for it. The manual install directions are with the link.

7

Is this ticking fairly obvious or only audible on quiet passages with high volume? I’m not hearing it on mine.  Do you have EQ set?  There is another playback issue that goes away when EQ is set. 

8

I’ll look at the firmware reversal. I remember seeing that post - just need to find it again.  

It’s pretty obvious – shows up most when there’s a sustained tone … singer sounds like she’d being tapped on the chest … but even on spoken passages.

  

9

I backed the firmware down to 01.01.11 using this post as a basis. It cleared up the ticking problem.

As I was going thru the firmware update, it looked different from the process I remembered from doing the 01.01.15a upgrade. Specifically, during the original 01.01.15a upgrade, after several minutes of “firmware upgrading” message, the machine shutdown. When it came back up, I just started up again. What I did NOT see was a “pick language” prompt, not did I get a “refreshing” message.

So I ran the 01.01.15 upgrade again and this time it’s clean as a whistle. Update took less than a minute, when I rebooted, the prompt for language came up and I got a fast media refresh. Playback is clean even with the backlight off. 

D’oh!

Seems pretty clear that the problem was related to a failure on the initial firmware grade that I didn’t recognize because it was the first one I did and there was no real indication that there was any problem with it.

Thanks for all your help, folks.

Now … to reload this ■■■■■■ … :slight_smile:

Message Edited by nlowell on 11-23-2008 11:58 AM

10

Dang!

I thought it was the upgrade failure, but it appears to be the firmware 01.01.15a firmware.

I’ve backed off to 01.01.11a and that seems to clear up the tick-tick-tick problem … the backlight is off now and I’m listening to clear sound for the moment.  

11

So you are saying that after you re-loaded the .15 firmware and it ‘took’ the 2nd time, coming up with “Select a Language” afterward, that your ‘time-bomb’ is still ticking?

And it does not with the .11 firmware version?

Odd . . .  maybe Sansafix (resident SanDisk-paid liason/guru/engineer/programmer/development team leader) will see this thread when he gets back to work this week, and have a solution and/or comment.

At the very least he should be made aware of it, so if nothing else he can add this to the Fuze’s ‘fix-it’ list.

12

@nlowell wrote:

Dang!

 

I thought it was the upgrade failure, but it appears to be the firmware 01.01.15a firmware.

 

I’ve backed off to 01.01.11a and that seems to clear up the tick-tick-tick problem … the backlight is off now and I’m listening to clear sound for the moment.  

So you are saying that after you re-loaded the .15 firmware and it ‘took’ the 2nd time, coming up with “Select a Language” afterward, that your ‘time-bomb’ is still ticking?

And it does not with the .11 firmware version?

Odd . . .  maybe Sansafix (resident SanDisk-paid liason-guru-engineer-programmer-development team leader and all-around nice guy) will see this thread when he gets back to work this week, and have a solution and/or comment.

At the very least he should be made aware of it, so if nothing else he can add this to the Fuze’s ‘fix-it’ list.

13

Yes. this is correct.

.11a works – no tick-tick when the backlight goes out.

.15a has starts tick-tick’ing as soon as the backlight goes off … same tracks

Update: I checked the tracks. They’re not variable rate, but the ticking sounds like the same as reported in another thread.  

Message Edited by nlowell on 11-23-2008 02:23 PM

14

Well have this fixed in the next release.  Its starting in QA testing and this issue will be verified.

15

Thanks. Good to know.