Clip+ won't turn on or show any signs of life, not even when plugged into computer

Yesterday my 8GB Clip+ suddenly shut off while I was listening to music and I couldn’t turn it back on. I assumed it just ran out of batteries, but when I went to plug it into my computer the screen did not light up or tell me it was charging or anything, it looks completely dead.

I’ve tried using a different USB cable, plugging it into a different computer, and tried different USB ports on the two computers I have access to. I’ve tried holding down different buttons for 20+ seconds, both unplugged and plugged into the USB, but nothing I do makes my Clip+ show any sign of life whatsoever. Is it just completely dead?

I got my Clip+ in November 2009 as a birthday present, but I didn’t start using it until maybe 6 months to a year ago. I don’t believe it’s still under warranty.

Something to try: plug the player into the wall AC via a USB AC adapter and leave it there for a few days (2-3, or more); this sometimes has been know to bring a seemingly dead player back to life, a joyous event! As to warranty: if you’re in the U.S., you’re past warranty–it’s 1 year (but if you used a credit card that doubles the warranty to buy the Clip, you’d still be covered–something to check out (this has saved me on at least one occasion)?); EU is 2 years.

@ghost wrote:

I’ve tried holding down different buttons for 20+ seconds . . .

Would one of those different buttons be the power button on top of the unit? That’s the one that performs a reset when held continuously for 20 seconds or so.

I don’t have a USB AC adapter to try this with. Do you know if you get the double warranty if you use a debit card to buy the Clip, or just a credit card?

Yes, I tried the power button, the home button, and the button in the middle and none of these do anything.

Well, for what it’s worth. this just happened to me too.  Earlier today my Clip+ abruptly stopped playing.  I do have one of those USB AC adapters and that didn’t bring it back to life after about 3 hours.

Then I saw this thread and noticed the advice about holding the power button down for 20 sec to force a reset. 

It worked!!

However the reset didn’t occur until after I unplugged the power adapter.  So here’s the entire sequence:

  1. Clip+ plugged into USB AC adapter (not computer); charged for about 3 hours

  2. Power switch held down for 20+ seconds

  3. Unplugged adapter (I was going to switch it to the computer USB plug to try that)

  4. Sansa splash screen appeared, paused a little longer than usual, then the player resumed working - even picked up playing in the track where it had been when it died.

Looks like the hard reset with the power button, followed by a USB disconnect, is the way to go - at least in my case. 

Hope that info helps,

Big Al Mintaka

You can get an AC USB adapter for under $5, on eBay, at meritline.com, etc. 

You also can try this charging “fix” using your computer.  If you are using a laptop, try a USB port at the back of the laptop–sometimes more powerful than those at the front of the laptop.

An extended warranty sometimes is added as part of a credit card’s offerings.  I haven’t seen this with a debit card, though, although it could be, I guess–depends on the service provider (although unlikely).