First expirience with Sansa Clip Zip issues.

Hello there. Today i recieved my zip clip from amazon and the problems started with me getting the wrong usb cable so i went to go buy a new one at the electronics store. anyhow, i came home and plugged the Clip Zip into my computer and the device was not recognized and failed to show ever on my computer regardless of usb port. I tried to start up the Zip Clip and after abour 20-30 seconds of holding the power button i was presented with a screen that looks similiar to this somewhat http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_2FzsnsH0t5I/TB57tVMW7VI/AAAAAAAABZg/hRTTntbPlf4/s400/bad+screen3.jpg but with more of a plaid consistancy.

UPDATE: Now it just dosent even go to that screen it just stays black no matter how long i hold the button. is it dead already? Im putting it to charge (for the first time ever) using my phone charger that uses the same micro USB connection maybe it was the low battery??? im pretty dissapointed because i needed this mp3 for tommorow :confused:

Please note that in performing a reset by pressing and holding the power button for 20-30 secs. you must then release it and press the power button again momentarily to turn it on.

Some people have also had luck in pressing the HOME or BACK button at the same time.

Sadly the clip will not even power to the error screen anymore. It just stays black even after holding for 20-30 seconds. is it officially dead?

You bought the player from Amazon? Some of the first batches of Clip Zip players were accidentally packed with the wrong cable. Those were made around two years ago. I have not heard of that problem happenening recently. If charging with the cell phone charger doesn’t work, then send it back to Amazon for replacement.

At this point, I would contact Amazon about a replacement, especially given the fact that the wrong USB cable was included. Amazon is very responsive and quick to returns/exchanges.

If the player starts up again, or with a replacement, recommended that you set the player to USB MSC mode under the player’s System settings–it just works easier.  (Note:  if you’re using protected files, such as with library holdings, you’ll need to set the player to USB MTP mode.) 

Also note:  the Clip comes with a few songs from SanDisk, they were put on the player under USB MTP mode.  You want to avoid having both MSC and MTP mode songs–your computer can only “see” the mode of song that the Clip then is set to.  And so, if you want to keep the songs and are going to use MSC mode, set the player to MTP mode, transfer the songs to your computer, delete the song copies on the player or just reformat the player, set the player to MSC mode, and transfer the songs back.  Or just skip all this and reformat the player to begin with, to delete the songs, or just ignore the fact that your computer won’t be able to see them if the player is set to MSC mode–there are only a few of them (6 or so).