Hi,
I got a brand new Sansa clip+ 8gb which all looks OK, it connects to my PC, I can drag and drop files across no problem. It has been plugged in for a couple of hours, the battery charge seems set on 98% but I cannot turn it on at all. Pressing or holding the power button, any other button shows no signs of life, no lights.
I have tried holding the power button down for some time, updating the firmware but no joy. Is this a case that it needs a really long first charge from new before it turns on? Or does it seem more like the screen is dead…
Is there any activity on the player’s screen when plugged into the computer? If so, then there’s nothing wrong with the OLED screen itself.
When you say you cannot turn it on, are you attempting this after you have unplugged it from the computer? The way I read your description, it sounds like you are trying to turn it on while still connected, which won’t work.
Holding the power button down up to 30 seconds (while disconnected from the computer) should perform a reset and clear any glitch that may be preventing it from working properly.
No activity at all - not when plugged in or afterwards. I’ve left it plugged in overnight in case it needs a good long initial charge for some reason also to no avail.
I’ve held the power button down several times, from a few seconds to about a minute. Dead as a dodo straight out of the box!
Well, I would contact whomever you bought it from about a replacement then.
Hi, I also just got a new sansa clip+ (4gb). Its screen is not working either. I know the player is still functional because I blindly navigated to some songs and they play fine. The backlight had been working until i transferred songs into the music & podcasts folders. I did this on a mac. When i unplugged the clip, it said something about refreshing my music, and I have not seen a lit screen since. I tried the power button reset & a firmware update (via PC sansa updater).
I’ll keep browsing the forums. Maybe there is a “factory reset” that we can do?
I see there is a factory reset in the settings. Is there a sequence of buttons I can press to navigate there without the screen?
sparkplugs wrote:
No activity at all - not when plugged in or afterwards. I’ve left it plugged in overnight in case it needs a good long initial charge for some reason also to no avail.
I’ve held the power button down several times, from a few seconds to about a minute. Dead as a dodo straight out of the box!
If you haven’t taken (or sent) it back yet, you might try this tip. Don’t know why it works, but apparently it does in some cases. 
Its going back, I think mine was working underneath it all also as lurking in the voice recording folder was an mp3 of me cursing the name of the wretched thing trying to get it to work. So nothing on the screen but i must have pressed the exact sequence of buttons to record my voice…
Amazon are good with returns, I’m better off with an mp3 player that will work out of the box I think. Thanks for all the advice!
sparkplugs wrote:
I think mine was working underneath it all also as lurking in the voice recording folder was an mp3 of me cursing the name of the wretched thing trying to get it to work. So nothing on the screen but i must have pressed the exact sequence of buttons to record my voice…
Oh, that recording might be a keeper! :smileyvery-happy:
