I used to have an old 2gb sansa clip that I was very satisfied with, so I purchased the new 8gb with FM radio this last week. I got the device, loaded it with some music in MSC-mode, and everything worked fine. Then, yesterday, I charged it, loaded it with some more music, and now it’s dead. Dead as in, totally dead. No reaction whatsoever!
Well, that’s not totally accurate:
If I connect normally, windows tells me “one of the USB devices is malfunctioning”, but the player itself makes no sign of life.
If I force MSC-mode using Hold + Hold the center button while connecting, I find a new “USB mass storage device” under “my computer”, but if I try to open it, windows tells me that I need to format it.
If I try to use the sansa firmware updater, it won’t let me past the screen that says “In order to continue, you need to plug in your sansa MP3 player. Wait until it is recognized by windows and press continue”.
Oh, I use Windows XP by the way.
I’m not sure what to do. Could I use windows to format the device, and then perhaps it will work?
I’ve never encountered a more frustrating problem, this is even worse than that red ring of death on xbox 360s!
Have you tried doing a reset (hold power button down for 15 seconds)?
Before attempting a Windows format, I’d suggest determining whether it’s a USB problem. Are you using the same USB cable you were using with your old Clip? Does the cable appear damaged in any way? Try other USB ports on your system, including the ones on the back of your system case.
It’s remotely possible that adding new files somehow corrupted the file system so nothing is accessable. You could let windows try to format it since it offers to do so, but my guess is windows is lying and won’t be able to actually do the format. You can’t hurt by trying. People will tell you that you shouldn’t format the device in windows (as is also stated for camera media), and you should only use the built in function. I agree, one should use normally use the built in formatter, but the end result is the same either way. It’s the firmware on the device that creates device specific directories either after the format is complete and the unit is disconnected or as needed.
As to why the file system might be corrupted (if indeed it is), it’s difficult to say. As you already know, the unit itself takes some time rebuilding it’s database after a disconnect, but that process seems to be fairly solid, the unit won’t shut off while that is in progress. The other possibility is disconnecting while file transfer is still in progress. Always use the ‘safe to remove hardware’ notice on the task bar.
I’m not sure what may have caused the possible corruption of the file system, and I did use the “safe to remove hardware”. Thanks for your deep thoughts though
If windows is unable to format it, is there no hope at all?
I’m not sure what may have caused the possible corruption of the file system, and I did use the “safe to remove hardware”. Thanks for your deep thoughts though
If windows is unable to format it, is there no hope at all?
Yeah. If you did everything properly, and your clip doesnt work, return it as a defect and get a new one. Adding a corrupted file will cause problems but should not keep it from powering up.
Message Edited by Conversionbox on 08-24-2009 12:12 PM
Since it does show up as a USB storage device if I force MSC mode (Hold power up for 15 seconds, put it into hold, hold centre button) I opened the format dialog in windows, where it shows the capacity as 4.03 mb, quite a bit off from the 8gb it’s supposed to be. Oh, it’s not possible to format it. Time to return it (will be quite a hassle since I bought it over the internet)?
Format it as Fat32 via the pc. Let it charge for a while. Try disconnecting it then turning it on. If it will go on, then format it again via the player’s menu. After that, you can reconnect it and add your music.
