Clip Zip weaker player than predecessors, what am I missing?

[hogstandard]

Hello

I own both a Clip Zip and a Clip+ and previously also a Clip. Amazingly the newer Clip Zip is worse buy in almost all respects (except being able to play high bitrate aac files). I have the latest OS according to the the Sansa Updater, even though it is a couple of years old, which I find hard to believe. I am glad to receive tips if there are something I can do to fix the following serious deficiencies.

1. Turning on/off the Clip Zip, there is a ~30 second delay where a green screen is displayed. (You know like a PC blue screen). The first few weeks I did not have this problem. I have done the reset, as it was completely crashed. It happend right in the middle of listening, not when connected to PC.

2. Some files that are properly marked with appropriate ID3v2 tags are labeled as Unknown in Clip Zip, whereas in Clip+ the files of course are labeled correctly.

3. When connecting to my PC (Windows 7), the Clip Zip cannot handle importing files and at the same time e.g. viewing files in another folder. This is no problem with my Clip+ on my older PC (Win XP). True, I have not bothered to switch the cables to eliminate the miniscule possiblity that it is Windows rather than Sansa OS that is causing this. The point though is that I should not have the problem with the Sansa Clip that I am having.

For what it is worth, my rating is Clip was better than Clip+, and Clip Zip is the worst of the three. The oldest is the most reliable and easy to use. WTF, what ever happened to product development???

[tapeworm]

Here is the latest firmware for the Clip Zip.

http://forums.sandisk.com/t5/Sansa-Clip-Zip/Sansa-Clip-Zip-Firmware-01-01-21/td-p/297767

I would apply it manually, whether ot not you already have this version on your player. If it fixes the problems you’re having (particularly the green screen issue), then great. If not, call SanDisk for a warranty replacement if it is still under warranty.

And finally, get rid of that damned Sansa Updater. It’s worthless.

[hogstandard]

Thanks! Mixed success. I updated manually from firmware 01.01.21P to 01.01.21A. Result is the green screen problem is resolved. 

The other two problems stays the same. The Album tag (= audiobook name in the player) in windows simply goes blank then files are transferred to the Clip Zip folder. My gut feeling find it hard to believe this is a hardware problem, but who knows… So you think my player is defect, not the entire Clip Zip concept?

[tapeworm]

Your firmware is the same version; you merely re-applied it. The only difference is that you had the player’s Region set differently before. ‘A’ stands for America; ‘P’ stands for Pacific (as in Asia). But the firmware is identical; the player will add this suffix depending on what region you set it to after updating.

Glad it helped the green screen issue; that was the most critical. The tag issue is obviously an ID3 tag discrepancy. Note that not only does the ID3 tag need to be v2, but it must be ID3v2.3 ISO-8859-1. I’ve heard others claim that the Zip is more sensitive to tags than the other Sansa players, even the Clip+. Frankly, all of them are so strict about it, I find it hard to believe that the Zip would be even more persnickety, but maybe it is.

All I can say is, all the tags on my files are edited/corrected in MP3Tag when I rip them, and the ones on my Zip are tagged the exact same way as the ones on my Plus and I have no tag issues of any kind (and nothing under ‘Unknown’) on either player. But then, I have no audiobooks.

If memory serves, the firmware for the Zip is based on the Fuze+, not the previous Clip model, and I believe there were some changes to the audiobook/podcast storage arrangement. You may want to check into that.

So no, I don’t believe your player is defective. I think it’s something to do with the tags and how they are written. 

[miikerman]

I have sometimes found that simply opening and then re-saving problematic files with MP3Tag fixes tag issues, even though the settings are the same as before.

As I’m fond of saying, gremlins . . . .

[hogstandard]

Got inspired when I got some helpful hints, so I tried some experiments on my own. I figured out that the problem (one of many!) with the Clip Zip is that when importing files that are tagged as Read Only the Album tag is not imported. The programming of these players are like a bad dream!!!

So what have we learned so far about Clip Zip:

1. If you have problems with green screens. Do a manual re-installation of the firmware.

2. If your audiobooks, and probably other files as well, are Read Only in Windows, they will show up as Unknown.

How likely is it that my next player will be manufactured by Sandisk when each player upgrade is worse than the previous player? I urge Sandisk to release new firmware for Clip Zip and Clip+ that has the property so that it is enough to have files with Album tag and this will be the audiobook name. Not how it is right now. That the files in addition must have a Artist tag non empty and a Title tag non empty (Clip+) for the audiobook name to show. That the files to import cannot be Read Only (Clip Zip) for the audiobook name to show.

That was for the programmers. Also the persons writing the user manual could take notice of these things (i.e. including it in the user manual), should the programming task be too difficult… Also to write in the manual that the tags must be ID3v2.3 ISO-8859-1 , not just ID3 as it is presented in the Clip Zip manual.

I expect a new firmware ASAP if Sandisk is planning to restore any confidence.

[tapeworm]

@hogstandard wrote:

I figured out that the problem (one of many!) with the Clip Zip is that when importing _ files that are tagged as Read Only the Album tag is not imported _. The programming of these players are like a bad dream!!!

2. I_ f your audiobooks, and probably other files as well, are Read Only in Windows, they will show up as Unknown. _

Sorry, this is not a problem with (or caused by) the player. Who set your file’s attributes to Read Only? This is not a Windows default, so YOU must have set this preference, so therefore YOU are to blame for your own problems.

@hogstandard wrote:

I expect a new firmware ASAP if Sandisk is planning to restore any confidence.

Sorry again, but if this is your attitude you’re probably going to be “expecting” for a long, long time.

[tapeworm]

@hogstandard wrote:

I figured out that the problem (one of many!) with the Clip Zip is that when importing _ files that are tagged as Read Only the Album tag is not imported _. The programming of these players are like a bad dream!!!

2. I_ f your audiobooks, and probably other files as well, are Read Only in Windows, they will show up as Unknown. _

Sorry, this is not a problem with (or caused by) the player. Who set your file’s attributes to Read Only? This is not a Windows default, so you (or somebody) must have set this preference, so therefore you (or somebody) are most likely to blame for the problems you are experiencing.

@hogstandard wrote:

I expect a new firmware ASAP if Sandisk is planning to restore any confidence.

Sorry again, but you’re likely going to be “expecting” for a long, long time. Firmware updates for old mp3 players are no longer at the top of SanDisk’s priority list. They’ve moved on to other projects.

[saratoga]

@hogstandard wrote:

 

How likely is it that my next player will be manufactured by Sandisk when each player upgrade is worse than the previous player? 

Since it looks like the Zip will be the last mp3 player Sandisk makes, I’d say its pretty unlikely you’ll be buying many more from them. 

[hogstandard]

That makes sense. Why manufacture something that the employees are not using themselves (in which case they would quickly discover design problems).

[marvin_martian]

@hogstandard wrote:

 

I expect a new firmware ASAP if Sandisk is planning to restore any confidence.

Rockbox. Completely transforms the Clip Zip into what it can be…I’ve been using it on Zips since November 2011. 

[tnmats]

@marvin_martian wrote:

---

@hogstandard wrote:

 

I expect a new firmware ASAP if Sandisk is planning to restore any confidence.

---

Rockbox. Completely transforms the Clip Zip into what it can be…I’ve been using it on Zips since November 2011. 

Bingo.  Best advice in this thread.

[hogstandard]

I am willing to try Rockbox, but when installing v1.3.1 it seems I cannot co-install the latest Sansa firmware  1.1.21. Only 1.1.20.

Also when preparing for intallation, I discovered that setting the USB setting to MSC both my problem 2 & 3 was fixed. The setting was previously at Auto, which was autoselected to MTP it seems. MTP causes the unfriendly behaviour of the player. WIthout anything mentioned in the user manual, naturally.

[marvin_martian]

@hogstandard wrote:

I am willing to try Rockbox, but when installing v1.3.1 it seems I cannot co-install the latest Sansa firmware  1.1.21. Only 1.1.20.

 

Also when preparing for intallation, I discovered that setting the USB setting to MSC both my problem 2 & 3 was fixed. The setting was previously at Auto, which was autoselected to MTP it seems. MTP causes the unfriendly behaviour of the player. WIthout anything mentioned in the user manual, naturally.

That is not anything to worry about.  Once you learn how Rockbox works on the player you won’t need to bother with the Sansa firmware anymore. I haven’t seen the Sansa firmware on my Clip Zip in over two years!