Format a clip + through computer with ubuntu?

After figuring out a problem with putting the correct type of files on my player, it was working great and I enjoyed using for a few days.  I now have a different problem.  Every time I try to turn it on, I get the message “not enough space for music DB please free 90 mb”.  From what I have read on the forum, it now needs to be formatted.  If this it true, is it possible to format it through my computer?  I am using Ubuntu Linux.

I also thought of trying to plug the player into my husband’s laptop which has a Windows partition to see if I can access the player.  I did notice in the trash file there are files that I had deleted, but it won’t let me delete them and there is nothing on the player at this time.

Could this have been caused by using .ogg file types?  I am getting a little bit frustrated. . .even though the first problem was user error. lol.

Here is info. from the SanDisk knowledgebase on what to do when that message appears.  Perhaps it will help, as alternatives (but for one of the alternatives, you’ll need to use a Windows machine, it appears).

http://kb.sandisk.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/848/kw/not%20enough%20space%20message/r_id/101834

I believe you will have to find the appropriate Terminal commands, try using Google to search, to format your player using Ubuntu. I am way too much the Linux novice to help with that. Could fix it in a heart beat with my Mac, or at least think I could. Do you have any Mac friends?

Message Edited by wplj42 on 08-07-2010 02:17 PM

The “not enough space” error message can appear in two primary situations, either a FAT corruption, or if a few music files have a problem.  You can format in the Ubuntu / Linux environment, simply format as FAT32 if the device is over 2GB capacity (2GB can be formatted as FAT).

Formatting is the “nuclear option”, clearing all music from the device.  Remember, if the device starts normally, you can format using the onboard format command at Settings > System Settings > Format > Yes.

Quite often, the device does not need to be cleared, simply repairing the FAT is possible using the Windows chkdsk utility.

Mounting the device in MSC mode, the Clip+ will be quite happy working with Ubuntu.  Ogg format files should be no problem.

microsansa