Just got my Sansa Fuze 4gig yesterday and after twinking around with the software and firmware update I started to load it up via folders for each music category. I was dissapointed to find that the Sana just decided to do its own thing with organizing the music. Grr… I wanna be able to play songs within specific folders like Rock, Pop, Techno, Soundtracks ect…ect… What can I do so I can sort this music this way as I hate going via titles, music, song, artist blah blah…
The Fuze Navigates based on Id3Tags embedded in your files. Download a program called mp3tag and use it to change ths tags on each file. To navigate based on your personal classifications just fill the Genre with whatever you want, then re add the files to the fuze. Go to the music option and go to Genre and they should be set the way you want them.
Huh???
Use as many folder as you want. Use AutoM3U to generate a playlist in each folder (Latin1 format), then bring up the list of playlists on the Sansa and play away…
Fill in the Genere tag with your music type, using a program like mp3tag, as CB suggested. Then you can play music by a selected Genere. e.g. Rock, Alternative, pop, etc. If these ID3 tags aren’t filled in they will come up as Unknown.
Search the forum for more information regarding Tag Editing for more information.
@mp34me wrote:
Use as many folder as you want. Use AutoM3U to generate a playlist in each folder (Latin1 format), then bring up the list of playlists on the Sansa and play away…
LOL Good idea mp34me 
@freezebyte wrote:
Huh???
My thoughts exactly
Forcing tag based organization on end users is idiotic.
@freezebyte wrote:
Huh???
MP3s have a set of “tags” in every file - artist, song, album, genre. Install MP3tag, then drag the folder to it. Then set the genre to the name of the folder, and save all the songs.
If you use the Fuze default settings (and Windows), you can’t do this on the Fuze - you’ll have to do it on your computer and then drag the songs to the Fuze. You’ll want to delete the folders on the Fuze before you put the songs back on there.
Even though some people think tag-based navigation is “idiotic”, its what all the major players do.
Message Edited by bdb on 02-14-2009 03:26 PM
@bdb wrote:
If you use the Fuze default settings (and Windows), you can’t do this on the Fuze - you’ll have to do it on your computer and then drag the songs to the Fuze. You’ll want to delete the folders on the Fuze before you put the songs back on there.
I have had absolutely no problems whatsoever in editing ID3 tags while on the player, despite recommendations to the contrary.
Maybe it has to do with the fact that I only use MSC mode, I don’t know. But it’s a real time-saver! 
I don’t think that tag based navigation, in itself, is idiotic. It can be quite convenient.
I do think that forcing tag based navigation on end users, instead of allowing both file/folder based navigation and tag based navigation, is idiotic.
Before this turns into yet another Folders vs. Tags tug-o-war let it be known that SanDisk’s firmware developers are working on adding this option via a future firmware update as we speak. Whether or not it will make it in the next one hasn’t been said that I know of, but solely because of the ‘passionate’ folks on this forum wanting this feature (antiquated or not) they are working on it.
Who says big companies don’t listen to or respond to their customers?
Before this turns into yet another Folders vs. Tags tug-o-war let it be known that SanDisk’s firmware developers are working on adding this option via a future firmware update as we speak. Whether or not it will make it in the next one hasn’t been said that I know of, but solely because of the ‘passionate’ folks on this forum wanting this feature (antiquated or not) they are working on it.
Who says big companies don’t listen to or respond to their customers?
This one certainly does!
@tapeworm wrote:
Who says big companies don’t listen to or respond to their customers?
This one certainly does!
I wish you were right, but take a look at the View forums. When was the last time someone from SanDisk was there? Look how many bugs and glitches it has, and tell me if it’s true what Sandisk says that it’s “a mature product” so it doesn’t need any more firmware updates. I just hope that this doesn’t happen to the Fuze.
+1
Hell, they essentially force the end users to suffer through beta testing instead of getting the product right before release. Getting it right almost a full year after release is the least they should do.
Of course it’s not only Sansa that does this. This model of production is ubiquitous throughout industry. If a company were to take the time to properly test, correct, and retest their products until they were solid before release, that company would be bought out by a private equity firm or hedge fund and restructured to match the common model of production and increase profits.
Essentially, much of the cost of beta testing is externalized onto the end users. Where do those cost savings go? To the stockholders. Might still be fair if stock ownership were more evenly distributed, but the top 10% of the population owns 80% of wealth.
It’s an incredibly inefficient externalization mechanism. Think about all of the time you’ve spent struggling with devices because they weren’t thoroughly tested/reprogrammed until solid, then multiply that number across the entire number of people who use those devices. That’s a huge number of man hours. Then compare that to the amount of man hours that would be required to perform a reasonably thorough series of beta tests accompanied by appropriate rewriting of software. It doesn’t even come close.
Message Edited by maxplanck on 02-14-2009 08:02 PM
KEWL! Thanks for the file suggestion. I’ve had a bunch of stuff left over from my previous mp3 player that had some really hosed up Genre tags and I couldn’t figure out how to change it. I just downloaded that tag editor and fixed it all up. Now if I have a list of bluegrass, I won’t get Leon Redbone in there.
@maxplanck wrote:
+1
Hell, they essentially force the end users to suffer through beta testing instead of getting the product right before release. Getting it right almost a full year after release is the least they should do.
So you want the product 100% flawless before it hits the market. And then you want advancements in GUI or playback support? There is no way to make the perfect product. Do you know why? Its because SanDisk could never imagine all the things people want to do with their players. I want a player with perfect ogg support, that will play SWF files (Shockwave/Flash File) No Photo support, AM-FM Radio, FM Transmitter, and wireless internet. SanDisk would have no reason to make a player like I want. There are new requests everyday. On top of that no two systems of PC are identical, so there is no way to forsee bugs in that sense.
I dont want to start the Folder vs. Tags debate again. But you go out to the store and look at the players on the market, the cutting edge ones (Ipod, Zune, And Fuze/Clip), Only The SanDisk Products and the Zune allow Drag and Drop, NONE currently support folder navigation. The Fuze will at some point.
And Oh yeah by the way, in the Next 45 or so days there will be a new firmware.
Message Edited by Conversionbox on 02-14-2009 11:07 PM
@conversionbox wrote:
So you want the product 100% flawless before it hits the market.
100% Flawless is a very vague concept, I wouldn’t use it.
I can define a very reasonable standard that a product should meet before release:
Beta testing with a diverse group of end users, large enough to be representative of the whole, should be performed. None of these beta testers should be saying “Grr, I can’t perform this extremely basic function” when they beta test the final revision of the product. Only then is the product ready for release.
@conversionbox wrote:
SanDisk could never imagine all the things people want to do with their players.
Browsing files/folders is a more basic level of functionality than tag based browsing. The device must recognize the file/directory structure on the drive in order to perform tag based browsing. So this concept is actually one that Sandisk must have imagined in order to have implemented tag based browsing.
@maxplanck wrote:
<–Snip–>
Browsing files/folders is a more basic level of functionality than tag based browsing. The device must recognize the file/directory structure on the drive in order to perform tag based browsing. So this concept is actually one that Sandisk must have imagined in order to have implemented tag based browsing.
I dont disagree, but I dont want or need folder Nav. But I agree that it should be an option. What I am saying is that, the ipod has what like 85% of the market? If it doent have folder nav it would be stupid for Sandisk and Microsoft to put it on their players from the get go. And is the case with the fuze, when the users came out and said hey we want it Sansa said they would add it. This IMO is the smart way to do things like this. If nobody wants a feature why have it?
I agree that both should be an option. If more people prefer tag based browsing, then tag based browsing should be the default. But make file/folder based browsing an option.
I think that optional file/folder navigation would make the Fuze more attractive than the Ipod, Zune, etc. for a lot of people. Consider the volume of traffic this forum sees devoted to complaints about the absence of file/folder navigation.
Just b/c Apple and Microsoft don’t include a feature on their devices doesn’t necessarily mean that the majority of end users don’t want that feature. These companies want to get people away from understanding the directory structure and other aspects of how computers work, because that positions these companies to sell music through their online services to consumers who are too confused to use torrents etc.
Edit: Think about it: All MP3’s that people rip, and many MP3’s that people download through file sharing apps aren’t tagged. By forcing end users to use only tag based navigation, a hassle is created for people who obtain MP3’s via these methods. By forcing end users to use only tag based navigation, Apple and MS can use the fact that MP3’s sold through their services are tagged as leverage to push consumers to buy MP3’s through their services, or else deal with the hassle of tagging your entire MP3 collection.
Most non tech-savy people who just barely can handle file sharing applications will choke on batch tag editing software, if they can even figure out that this is what they need in order to get their untagged library in order.
Message Edited by maxplanck on 02-14-2009 10:24 PM
Message Edited by maxplanck on 02-14-2009 10:24 PM
Probably the #1 reason people install Rockbox firmware (on those players that it’s ported to) and it’s so popular is it’s ability to use the larger capacity SDHC memory cards in the Sansa Players.
The #2 reason I’m sure is the File vs. Database view which is what we’re talking about here (Folders vs. Tags). People have definite ‘druthers’ for one over the other. And that’s all well & good. There are people who are Macs & some who are PCs as the commercials go. Yes, Linux too. 
I believe if your tags are properly edited & correct, it’s just as easy to find a particular song in Database view as it is in Folder view. Yes, I have Rockbox on one of my e260v1’s, and I find myself using the Database view almost 100% of the time, so for me while Folder view is a nice option to have, I find myself not using it as I thought I would.
But as they say, “Your mileage may vary.”
