Hey i bought a sansa clip for my girlfriend and it froze. So i decided to return it and get another one and now this one is not being recognized by the computer. Ive tried holding down the center button with the clip on hold while plugging it in and I have formatted it and everything. It also has the most recent version of the software for it. How do I get the mac to recognize the clip? please help
It seems there are several unresolved “brickings” of the Clip here on this forum - all after being connected to a Mac. I do know that Macs (even OSX) drop some extraneous / hidden files and folders onto USB flash disks when they are mounted; sometimes filenames have characters that are invalid on a FAT volume, etc.
Could be that the Clip balks at some of this filesystem flotsam??
We’re a cross-platform household and do have a PowerMac here as well as XP boxes, but I’ve been hesitant to connect my Clip to the Mac after reading some of these reports.
For now, how about providing some additional information:
Are you running FW V1.01.18 and is the Clip’s Settings/USB in MSC mode?
What OS are you running on the Mac?
Did the first Clip work OK on the Mac (before it “froze”) ? For how long and what, if anything, seemed to cause the lockup?
Are other USB devices (flash drives etc.) detected/mounted OK? Very important, as Macs sometimes “lock out” USB ports after a fault…
Does it show as charging when plugged in? If so, is it FULLY charged?
Do you have access to a WinXP machine to try accessing it (in MSC Mode)?
i was running v 1.01.18, the os on the mac is the most recent, the first clip did work for about a day before it froze. the clip was fully charged and i did access it on winxp in msc mode.
Purchased 3/7/08
software version 1.8
Loaded some files from my MacBook with USB 2, no problem in MSC mode. Worked fine for a day.
After connecting my 2 Gig Sansa Clip to a Mac with USB 1 second time to put 1.2 Gig of mp3 files in music folder, I clicked on eject (for the clip) and disconnected the Clip from the Usb.
Now It will not wake up completely. It freezes up and cannot be used.
My Clip wakes up with “not enough room for database, free up 30 Mb” error message,
Then shuts down, every time you power it up.
I have tried holding power switch on for 30 seconds and no reset happens.
Still crashes on wake up.
Unit will no longer be recognized by Mac computer when plugged in.
Holding center button down, with power sw in Hold, when connecting to Usb, did not help.
When plugged into the USB port, The clip displays charging and connected messages.
Unable to reset clip, unable to delete files from clip, unable to update firmware, unable to use.
Must return to Best Buy for exchange. I will try to update firmware during first connection after I exchange this one. Seams unnecessarily buggy. Power up reset should clear any problem.
Hope Mac compatability is improved in the future. This could be a real “S__fle” replacement with it’s display and features.
Please, Please, add FLAC support ! and of course make it less buggy in MSC mode.
More user EQ presets.
Purchased 3/7/08
software version 1.8
Loaded some files from my MacBook with USB 2, no problem in MSC mode. Worked fine for a day.
After connecting my 2 Gig Sansa Clip to a Mac with USB 1, a second time to put 1.2 Gig of mp3 files in music folder, everything seemed ok, then I clicked on eject (for the clip) and disconnected the Clip from the Usb.
Now It will not wake up completely. It freezes up and cannot be used.
My Clip wakes up with “not enough room for database, free up 30 Mb” error message,
Then shuts down, every time you power it up.
I have tried holding power switch on for 30 seconds and no reset happens.
Still crashes on wake up.
Unit will no longer be recognized by Mac computer when plugged in.
Holding center button down, with power sw in Hold, when connecting to Usb, did not help.
When plugged into the USB port, The clip displays charging and connected messages.
Unable to reset clip, unable to delete files from clip, unable to update firmware, unable to use.
Must return to Best Buy for exchange. I will try to update firmware during first connection after I exchange this one. Seams unnecessarily buggy. Power up reset should clear any problem.
I took the Clip back to Best Buy, where there Geek Squad could not get there own computer to recognize my clip, so they replaced it with a new one.
Good customer service.
Glad I didn’t buy this on the internet.
Will see how long this one lasts. I have 30 days to see if this will work reliably with my MacBook, before I am stuck with it.
Frozen Clip Freezes
Purchased 3/7/08
software version 1.8
Loaded some files from my MacBook (OS 10.5) with USB 2, no problem in MSC mode. Worked fine for a day.
After connecting my 2 Gig Sansa Clip to a Mac (OS 10.4.11) with USB 1, a second time to put 1.2 Gig of mp3 files in music folder, everything seamed ok, then I clicked on eject (for the clip) and disconnected the Clip from the Usb.
Now It will not wake up completely. It freezes up and cannot be used.
My Clip wakes up with “not enough room for database, free up 30 Mb” error message,
Then shuts down, every time you power it up.
I have tried holding power switch on for 30 seconds and no reset happens.
Still crashes on wake up.
Unit will no longer be recognized by Mac computer when plugged in (Usb 1 or 2).
Holding center button down, with power sw in Hold, when connecting to Usb, did not help.
When plugged into the USB port, The clip displays charging and connected messages.
Unable to reset clip, unable to delete files from clip, unable to update firmware, unable to use.
Must return to Best Buy for exchange. I will try to update firmware during first connection after I exchange this one. Seams unnecessarily buggy. Power up reset should clear any problem.
I took the Clip back to Best Buy, where there Geek Squad could not get there own computer to recognize my clip, so they replaced it with a new one.
Good customer service.
Glad I didn’t buy this on the internet.
Will see how long this one lasts. I have 30 days to see if this will work reliably with my MacBook, before I am stuck with it.
Update:
After plugging the replacement Clip into the Usb 2 port on my MacBook (OS 10.5), it was recognized as SansaClip flash-drive on my desktop and in my finder.
I installed the firmware update per the Mac instructions at
http://forums.sandisk.com/sansa/board/message?board.id=clip&thread.id=3744
This firmware update helps with Mac compatibility.
Then I copied the same Mp3 files to the replacement Clip, as I had tried to put into the original one, and now it seams to be working well.
I remember how excited I was when I got my first Cassette Walkman for $200.
I remember how excited I was when I got my first computer with a hard disk in it
(40 Meg, and the size/weight of a brick $!!!).
The Clip is my first Mp3 player.
(Yes, I waited a long time to upgrade from CD player).
The Sansa Clip and the other Mp3/vid/pic players in its class, BLOW MY MIND!
Sure, thats not so hard to do, but these things are really amazing.
The ability to organize your music with a MacBook and stick it on a Clip in a matter of minutes, with such ease and good sound quality, in such a small device, is incredible.
Thanks SanDisk.
Improvements I would like to see:
I really like this little Mp3 player so far, I just wish it had Better Mac/iTunes, FLAC and Ogg. support.
(Not likely, as I imagine one of the Clips main reasons for existing at Best Buy, is to promote the sale of there online music subscription services).
Very happy to see the ongoing firmware updates, and hope for future improvements.
It would be cool if you could place a text file in the Clip, so that it would scroll across the display when it powers up, until you press a button. This text could contain a “This Clip Belongs to Joe Shmoe at (123) 456-7890. REWARD FOR RETURN” or any message or reminder you like (medical alert / emergency contact information!).
Add a clock with URVMA (user recorded voice message alarm) and timer for recording radio programs and it would be perfect. Someday a device this small will also incorporate Blue tooth (wireless stereo headset with mic), WiFi internet radio access, voice recognition, still/video camera and cellphone capability with 1 terabyte of storage. It will cost $59.99.
Happy Trails 
I’m having the same problem, is there any way to fix it w/o getting a replacement? I bought mine over 4 months ago from best buy, but I highly doubt they will give me a replacement since I no longer have the box or a receipt for that matter.
Try pushing and holding the power Sw on and wait 60 seconds.
If that dosent work, try this:
Before plugging it into a PC, put the power switch on “hold”, and press and hold the main select (center) button.
Then plug it into the PC. It’s an awkward motion but it may get the device to be recognized by the PC.
Then, right click on the device under My Computer and format it.
See also this thread:
http://forums.sandisk.com/sansa/board/message?board.id=clip&message.id=168
If ou get it working, update the firmware before using it.
Hope this helps
Happy Trails
It worked! Seriously thanks a lot, I was ready to give up (i.e. throw it out my window). =]
Hi, I have been having problems with my Sansa Clip since last night, using my Mac. I used an itunes script to load the songs, tried to eject it normally, and it said it was unable to eject, even though there wasn’t anything open that was connecting with the Clip, so I just removed it; immediately, the Clip displayed “disconnected” on the screen, and was stuck at “refreshing database”, with it half loaded.
I tried to reconnect it to my mac, and when it would connect, it would freeze my mac. I connected it to a windows pc at college where I am now, and it would say “USB device recognized”; at least two times I got it to be recognzed, but when I tried to move or delete files, it would say an error message, and when I tried to reformat using the windows utility, it would say reformat failed.
I then tried to connect it to an iMac, which I am typing now, and it again froze it for the duration of when it was connected. However, after disconnecting, after a few minutes it actually refreshed the database and it appeared to be working normally! I reformatted it on the device, but the player froze when I reconnected to the mac.
Since then, I have tried to reformat it using Disk Utility, but it has been displaying i/o error, and this is what appears in the Console output:
9/2/08 9:27:23 AM Disk Utility[940] Partition Scheme: Unformatted
9/2/08 9:27:23 AM Disk Utility[940] 1 volume will be erased
9/2/08 9:27:23 AM Disk Utility[940] Name : “SANSA CLIP”
9/2/08 9:27:23 AM Disk Utility[940] Size : 1.9 GB
9/2/08 9:27:23 AM Disk Utility[940] Filesystem : MS-DOS (FAT)
9/2/08 9:27:24 AM SystemUIServer[743] Error: ACInterfaceGetPower() called with invalid interface
9/2/08 9:27:29 AM SystemUIServer[743] Error: ACInterfaceGetPower() called with invalid interface
9/2/08 9:27:34 AM SystemUIServer[743] Error: ACInterfaceGetPower() called with invalid interface
9/2/08 9:27:39 AM SystemUIServer[743] Error: ACInterfaceGetPower() called with invalid interface
9/2/08 9:27:44 AM SystemUIServer[743] Error: ACInterfaceGetPower() called with invalid interface
9/2/08 9:27:49 AM SystemUIServer[743] Error: ACInterfaceGetPower() called with invalid interface
9/2/08 9:27:54 AM SystemUIServer[743] Error: ACInterfaceGetPower() called with invalid interface
9/2/08 9:27:57 AM kernel USBF: 185265.122 AppleUSBEHCI[0x3ed2000]::Found a transaction past the completion deadline on bus 0xfa, timing out! (Addr: 4, EP: 1)
9/2/08 9:27:59 AM SystemUIServer[743] Error: ACInterfaceGetPower() called with invalid interface
9/2/08 9:28:04 AM SystemUIServer[743] Error: ACInterfaceGetPower() called with invalid interface
9/2/08 9:28:09 AM SystemUIServer[743] Error: ACInterfaceGetPower() called with invalid interface
9/2/08 9:28:14 AM SystemUIServer[743] Error: ACInterfaceGetPower() called with invalid interface
9/2/08 9:28:19 AM SystemUIServer[743] Error: ACInterfaceGetPower() called with invalid interface
9/2/08 9:28:24 AM SystemUIServer[743] Error: ACInterfaceGetPower() called with invalid interface
9/2/08 9:28:28 AM kernel USBF: 185296.123 AppleUSBEHCI[0x3ed2000]::Found a transaction past the completion deadline on bus 0xfa, timing out! (Addr: 4, EP: 1)
ad nauseam… please help! :(
Message Edited by maluze on 09-02-2008 06:44 AM
