I unplugged my e280 from my computer, and it locked up. I have tried to do a soft reset, and the Sansa will power down. When I try to start it again, it looks like it will start, with the SanDisk logo coming up for a few seconds. Then, instead of going to the main menu, the screen goes blank except for a few pixels in a line near the bottom of the screen, and the blue wheel stays on. I’ve done a soft reset several times, and it still is doing the same thing. I don’t know for sure which version/firmware I have, since I can’t get to the settings.
use the appropriate firmware at the top of the board, and use the picture tutorial I made to make the sansa.fmt file, and then you put those on the player in recovery mode.
Done… 
I can easily figure out HOW to make the sansa.fmt file, but I don’t know WHERE to save it, and more importantly, HOW to get it onto my player, since my player is frozen. Even when connected to my computer, and turned on, my computer is unable to find my sansa (due to it being frozen).
With thanks to Grylas, who posted what he got from Sansa Tech Support:
We should be able to fix your player. Disconnect the player from the computer if it is connected.
Please copy and paste the following link into your web browser address bar, and then click Go or hit your
Enter key. When prompted, choose the option to Save the file to your Desktop.
NOTE: THIS IS FOR A V1 SANSA. IF YOU HAVE A V2–LOOK ON THE BACK–THEN GET THE 3.x FIRMWARE FROM THE V2 LINK IN THE STICKIES.
http://www.sandisk.com/Assets/File/Downloads/firmware/e200fw01.00.12.exe
Once you have downloaded the file, please follow these instructions.
-
Double click on My Computer so that you can see it on your screen.
-
Turn the player off.
-
On the top of the player is a Hold switch, move it to the right (toward the headphone jack) so you see
Orange. -
On the left hand side of the player is a Record button, press and hold it while connecting the player to
the computer. Continue holding the Record button until you see a new icon under My Computer called
16MB FORMAT. Once you see that icon you may release the Record button. -
Double click the file you downloaded earlier and run it. Follow all of the on-screen instructions, and
when you get to the prompt where it asks you whether you would like to Format it, choose Yes. Once it
is done, click Finish. -
Disconnect the player and look at the screen. Several things will be displayed, and when you see Key
Lock, System Shutdown, move the Hold switch on the top back to the left. -
Turn the player on and watch the screen. If you see a Refresh Database Fail error, you will need to
follow steps 1-7 again until you do not get the error. If it does not work the first time, it could take up to
3 times for it to work.
Message Edited by c1u31355 on 02-22-2008 08:38 PM
Thank you, c1u31355 !! That seems to have done the trick! I’ll re-load the player tomorrow, and see how it works from there! Thanks again!
is there another way to reset the e280 back to beginning? I’m getting “ERROR! The downloaded image is not compatible with the connected device.” Yes, I have the right version for my device, and I even downloaded the latest version from: http://www.sandisk.com/Assets/File/Downloads/firmware/e200fw01.00.12.exe.
I’ve had these instructions for awhile for my version 1 e280 and have followed these instructions several times to just clean up synchronization issues.
So, what else can I do to reset everything to factory setting?
I think you need to unzip the contents of the download, hence the incompatibility.
Look at the SIZE of the two files:
The PP5024.mi4 image, if still compressed, will be 5757KB- this should be a tad larger (unzip it!)
The BL_SD_boardSupportSD.rom image, if still compressed, will be 86KB (unzip this too!). The bootloader file is squished more than the firmware is.
The 16MB partition that opens up in the v1 needs the uncompressed files. That’s why the partition is 16MB wide.
Uncork those files, and I think your sansa will be a happy camper!
Bob :smileyvery-happy:
Message Edited by neutron_bob on 07-13-2008 08:57 PM
thanks, got it now
i have been having some problems with my sansa e280 mp3 player. It has froze and will not undo itself no matter what ive tried. it will not refresh itself after its been charged and will stop a short way into it. ive tried what you suggested for other peoples mp3 players but it still will not work. any ideas what else i can try?
Try inserting a(n) SD chip into the player and then try restarting. If it gets stuck on the refresh database screen, plug it into your computer. It’s the only thing that unfroze my e250.
I also have a frozen e260. It was working fine when all of a sudden it turned off while scrolling through a menu. When I tryed to turn it back on, nothing would happen at all, as if the battery was completely dead. So I plugged in the usb to recharge it, but again, nothing happend. Next, I removed the battery and put it back in aproximatly a minute after. Now when I pressed the power button, the jog wheel lit up but nothing further. Also now when I plug in the usb, only the jog wheel lights up. To turn it back off, the only thing that works is holding the power button for 15 secs. I have tryed the above steps but it doesn’t work. All that happens is the jog wheel lights up. The computer doesn’t recognize it at all. Is there something else I can do before I trash my mp3 player?
I found that I had to replace the battery. I have two of these and used the battery in the other to verify that it was not the MP3 player and in fact the battery. Don’t toss it - just replace the battery. That was a good feature of the 280. It was cheaper than trashing and buying new one; and it’s cheaper than having to send in an ipod for them to replace the battery for you. This user replaceable battery feature from SanDisk is a good one.
btw - can’t remember anymore where I got it but you can find them on the internet – that’s where I searched (probably used bizrate) and found a supplier to mail me a replacement battery.
Thanks. I’ll order a new battery and give it a try. I was reading on some forums on how to unbrick the player using manufacturing mode. I’ll give that a try in the morning… I’ll post back with the results.
Thank you SO MUCH for posting your response. I have been working on my e280 for the last 24 hours and NOTHING worked except for what you suggested. I have formatted, changed out the battery, downloaded drivers…just about anything you can think of minus throwing it against the wall.
THANK YOU AGAIN. You seriously saved my sanity!
Ok, I’ve tryed a new battery, same problem… but I did manage to get into recovery mode to uploaded the firmware but the player just ended up freezing up sometime during the upload, I left it for a several min to see if it would come out of it, but it didn’t. So I held the power button to turn it off. now when I turn it on I am unable to enter recovery mode or even manufacturing mode. only the jog wheel light turns on. Any suggestions?
OK, try this – I had this happen once too, but where the screen was dimly lit, still battery issue… lock the e280 so it doesn’t start when you connect the cable. Then plug it in for several hours to ensure the battery has some kind of charge sufficient to power the device. Then unlock it, and try to start it up.
If you were able to get into the recovery mode, either you have intermittent hardware problems or the battery isn’t fully charged. The above is for this latter case. If this doesn’t work, I’d post a trouble ticket online with SanDisk but provide them a link to this and other forums you’ve been getting help so they can review everything you’ve done so far.
Thank you c1u31355. Funny how I tried to reset my Sansa around 8 months ago. I tried all the variations and never seemed to get anywhere. I just kept getting the start up screen which would then slowly pixilate? and then try to restart again. It would never get past this. I tried a number of methods which did not work and then put the player aside. I came across the player this morning and said lets see if we can’t try this one more time. So I tried the method you stated and low and behold it worked! Wow. I even had my old files which I thought were lost. I cannot thank you enough. Even I now have other mp3 players I was always fond of the Sansa. Thanks again for keeping this post up.
Thank you c1u31355. Funny how I tried to reset my Sansa around 8 months ago. I tried all the variations and never seemed to get anywhere. I just kept getting the start up screen which would then slowly pixilate? and then try to restart again. It would never get past this. I tried a number of methods which did not work and then put the player aside. I came across the player this morning and said lets see if we can’t try this one more time. So I tried the method you stated and low and behold it worked! Wow. I even had my old files which I thought were lost. I cannot thank you enough. Even I now have other mp3 players I was always fond of the Sansa. Thanks again for keeping this post up.
