missing or hiding space..?

[novocain]

Hi,

yesterday I’ve noticed my sansa clip contain 3 write-protected folders and i hadnt known that i cant delete or their contents. so i looked up this problem, and found i have to format the device in order to get rid of these folders and files. before i did that, i manually deleted in the device these files, but after the folders were already there, so i decided to format with the built in format process. it went well, and after format the folders disappeared. so the device is totally empty.

BUT now from 1.8GB (its a 2GB clip and i assume these are the tricky wasted space) it is missing 65MB. i’ve look both msc and mtp mode, but all i can see a couple mb is used and i havent seen my device empty about 1 year, so i cant remember is it ok, and a firmware or else using this 65mb from the useable 1.8GB or the formatting or deleting that i did, wasnt success, and somehow the files remained hiding.

can anyone helping me? i now its “not so much” space, but i dont want to lose my space eventually if i will encounter also a write-protected folders or files

thanks in advance!

[dave61430]

Formatting will remove all user added files. After the unit is powered up, the firmware will create some dedicated folders. The various system tables such as file directory and fat tables will subtract from the nominal capacity. I believe, but can’t be sure that when you purchase a 350 gb hd, that is the unformatted raw capacity to which you can throw in the normal confusion of 1k vs 1024 bytes. The long and short of it is there is nothing we can do about these numbers. I rely on the stated available free space as a guide. The numbers you quote look about right.

[drlucky]

here is a knowledgebase article regarding this question. 

answer 

[novocain]

i think drlucky you misunderstand my problem. I’m aware i can only use 1.8G as a real capacity, not the full 2G. My problem is i cant use about 65MB from the 1.8G and i wondering why.

[tapeworm]

I think it’s an MTP/MSC issue. When in MTP mode, it ‘reserves’ an extra bit of memory that you cannot store music in, as it needs this extra buffer when communicating with WMP or whatever other software you’re using to ‘manage’ your device. MSC mode makes your player appear to your computer as just another dumb storage medium, so no extra space is required.

I always use MSC mode and, wanting to get my full money’s worth keep some of my players (and memory cards) loaded to the gills. I mean there have been times when I had only kb’s worth of free space available. That’s pretty darn full! One time, I was trying to duplicate a condition described here on the forum to see if I help the poster with his problem. In doing so, my player had to be in MTP mode. As soon as I did this, I got the dreaded & infamous “Not enough space for music DB, Please free XX MB” message.

I had to force MSC mode, delete some files, disconnect and manually switch back to MSC mode on the player, and re-transfer those files. I went through this twice just to make sure it wasn’t something else causing the “Not enough space” error.

I also noticed that the available free space as shown on both the player in Info and on the computer in Properties showed noticeably less when in MTP mode than in MSC.

Bottom line though, I wouldn’t worry too much about a difference of 65 MB. I rip my songs from CD’s at 256 kbps. 65MB is about a half an album (5-8 songs). At 128kbps that would equate to maybe 1 full album. Not that much in real life usage.

[novocain]

hmm, i’ve looked in MTP and MSC mode and both showing the same used space: about 65mb from 1.8G, so i dont think its connected to either mode… i know its “not so much” but what if it’ll increase? i just wonder can anybody say me its ok and normal, the new one and empty device is using the same MB for sure? or somehow the protect-writed songs remained? so i just dont want to waste my space in the long run.

Message Edited by novocain on 05-28-2010 11:21 AM