I recently purchased a Sansa Fuze from an ebay store that sells second hand and refurbished electronics. I suspect my player is a lemon, but I thought I’d post here to see if there’s anyway to get it working before I send it back and pay a large amount of postage for the privilege. The player doesn’t switch on, which I put down to the battery having no charge, but it won’t charge when I plug it into either my laptop or PC. Windows XP identifies it as a USB Storage device, but when I try to open it in My Computer, I get a message asking if I want to format it. Saying yes brings up another message stating that the device cannot be formatted (saying no still doesn’t open it).
I have tried uninstalling and reinstalling the driver, but I’m not enough of a computer expert to know what other actions I can take. Any other ideas before I send it back?
The USB ports you’re using may not have enough power to charge it. Laptop ports are often low- (or un-) powered unless you’re running on AC power, and even desktop ports aren’t always powered. Try using the ports on the back of the desktop, they’re more likely to be powered. If you’re using a hub, try connecting directly to the computer.
If the battery is completely drained, it may have to charge for a long time before it will power on or respond to the PC.
Unfortunately, I did leave it plugged in to the back of the desktop while I was at work today (6 hours), with no change. There’s not even an icon or anything to indicate it’s charging. I assume it can’t be a complete brick because the computer reacts when you plug it in, but I have no idea how I might get the player itself to respond.
Thanks for the suggestion though.
i’ve the same with 2 fuze…
You could try calling sandisk’s customer support number at 1-866-SANDISK or email them at support@sandisk.com. If your device is a refurbished one, they may replace it. Or call sandisk’s tech support, but your device with several major issues sounds like it’s only good for a paper weight.
