Newbie can''t get PC to see files in Sansa. Sansa just keeps saying "Connected".

SanDisk MP3 players Sansa® Fuze™
1

Got a e260v2 primarily to record interviews, intending to move the recording files to a PC where I can transcribe them.

Figured out how to make recording. Can play them back in the Sansa.

When I plugged the USB cable from Sansa into my PC Sansa screen just stays at “Connected” showing green bidirectional arrows between icon for Sansa and icon for PC. I pulled out the USB plug, reinserted it just now and now Sansa says “Connected” with no animated green arrow action.

But it does not show up as a mass storage device in My Computer.  During earlier experiments trying to connect it the PC lower right kept popping up the message “Found MTP device.”

I see no way to access my recording or anything in the Sansa via my PC.

My PC is XP home with SP3, all updates,and is generally clean, solid and well maintained.

My Sansa was purchased refurbished and came with no documentation.

I read the FAQ  here saying –

"The Fuze can connect to the computer in 2 different modes these are:

  1. MSC: In this mode the computer will recognise the Fuze as a mass storage device, just like a flash or external drive. It should appear in Windows Explorer as the next available drive. When you have an microSD card in the Fuze it will appear as a second seperate drive.

  2. MTP: In this mode Windows will recognise the Fuze as a “portable device”."

While I’m not sure what MTP mode is, or why I’d need it, and not sure if maybe the Sansa IS right now connected in MTP mode,

it seems to me that what I want is MSC mode. ;-).

Here’s what I’ve already tried:

Just an addendum to my own post:

I read somewhere that if one turned off the Sansa (hold menu button in) and turned it back on that I could get into the settings menu and and change the USB mode to MSC.  I did so. When I go back into settings and doublecheck it does indeed appear to show that it is holding the setting MSC.

Then I, feeling optimistic that this should do it, plugged the Sansa back into the PCs USB port.

But I get the same screen on the Sansa SAYING connected, yet don’t see it present in my computer.

And, unlike I expected/hoped, the PC does not beep and say “found new mass storage device” or anything like that.

I also tried on the PC going into Computer/Manage/DiskManagement to see if I could see the Sansa from there, but disk-managment just keeps saying “Connecting to logical disk management service” and not showing any of my disks even after I disconnect the Sansa. This is not its normal behavior, so I wonder if plugging in the Sansa has thrown my PC a curve ball.

I also saw a tip that suggested going into add new hardware and trying to manually install the Sansa,

but then I go into that routine (in controlpanel of course)  I get the message

“You can only install one device at a time. Another device installation is underway…”

And I get that whether the Sansa is plugged in or not.

I fear that somehow the first/early attempt to plug in the Sansa has my PC in some netherland

halfway into an install of the MTP device.

Any ideas?

All help appreciated.

Alex

P.S. Being new here, I not sure whether if someone posts a reply the system will email me telling me so.

If NOT, and if replying you’d be kind enough to shoot a note to t*e*m*p*3@fastmail.fm  (without the *'s in there) so I know someone’s replied, that would be great.

Message Edited by acensor on 12-13-2009 09:51 AM

Message Edited by acensor on 12-13-2009 09:56 AM

2

Please ingnore this. I was going to post addendum to my own post(above), but then realized that I could just edit my original post with the extra details.

I don’t seem to have any way to delete this unnecessary reply.

Alex

Message Edited by acensor on 12-13-2009 09:53 AM

3

Hmmm. If you are sure it is in MSC mode then your computer should see it. The MSC connection is the same USB driver built into Windows for thumb drives, cameras, etc. It should show up under Devices with Removable Storage. 

Connect it again and go to Device Manager. In Windows XP the path is Start/Settings/Control Panel/System/Hardware/Device Manager. If you’re not on XP, look up Device Manager in Help.

It should show all connected devices and if there’s a problem then there should be a yellow triangle with an exclamation point. Right click and Uninstall (not Disable) that one, disconnect the Sansa and reboot. Windows will fix its USB driver and it should connect.

Otherwise it could be something as basic as a bad cord. There are different connectors for charging (which is what you are seeing) and data. The data pins are a tiny bit shorter, so push (gently but firmly) to make sure that connection is being made. Or if you have a friend with a Sansa, borrow their cord.  You can get another cord on Ebay or Amazon for under $5–make sure it is an E200 or Fuze Sync cord. It doesn’t have to be made by SanDisk, but it does have to be specifically for those players. 

There are other connection tricks on the page of Answers in my signature.

Also, take out your email address. Spambots look for them. 

Message Edited by c1u31355 on 12-13-2009 12:33 PM

4

Hey Thanks!

Turns out here’s what the trick was in MY case:

AFTER putting the Sansa into MSC mode I just had to reboot my PC to get it out of the weird mode it had hung itself up in apparently while trying to install the Sansa earlier as an MTP device (and failing to do so.)

After the reboot I plugged in the Sansa and the computer as expected said Found new mass storage device.

I can now easily drag and drop files in either direction between the Sansa and the PC. :wink:

But, perhaps you can (if it’s not too time consuming) educate me about a few items:

TWO drives appeared in Computer with the Sansa plug in. One (E:  ) has all the goodies/files that are on the Sansa.

The other (F:  ) appears to be a device with no media in it. Does the Sansa have a place where one can plug in some sort of flash card that might be what would be in the F ?

When if ever might I miss (or want) the MTP mode? (A link explaining that would do.)

My Sansa appears to have a few folders of music already on it. Is that sample stuff that comes with all Sansas or leftovers because I purchase a refurbished one?

And:

How can I check if my Sansa has the latest firmware, and if not would you suggest updating it?

(Generally I’m of the “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it too much school.”)

Alex

Message Edited by acensor on 12-13-2009 10:26 AM

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Glad to see your Sansa is communicating.  I see you have a related device, the e260v2.  This Sansa model is no longer in production, with the final firmware revision being 03.01.16.

The v2 version e200s are very similar to the current Fuze, with the same processor family installed, so they will exhibit many common behaviors with the new model.  I would install the latest firmware, as it is quite nice- and you will have a USB Mode option in the settings menu.

Files transferred in one mode (MSC versus MTP) are not visible from the PC when connected, though the Sansa itself sees all files.  The original sample tracks were loaded in MTP mode.  These tracks can be deleted individually from the player if desired (pull up the song, press the bottom submenu key, and select “delete”. )

The additional drive you see in Windows Explorer is the External Memory, the µSD card slot.

To check your installed firmware version, go to Settings > Info, and the firmware version is listed at the top.

µsansa

Message Edited by microsansa on 12-13-2009 10:35 AM

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Thanks for your reply!

My current firmware version (which I viewed per your directions) is apparently 01.02.18A  so I guess updating it to 03.01.16

is probably wise. But I don’t have a clue where or how – or if the firmware update is risky at all. (In the bad-old-days, which I come from,

everytime one updated their computer BIOS they took a chance that it might lock up and disable the PC. Scary stuff.)

Any advice on those two issues?

By the way: Even my current firmware DOES have the USB mode option in the settings menu…

So I am a little confused when you say the latest firmware has that.

I’m still am unclear why I, or anyone, might need, want, or miss having the MTP mode? From what you say I would only conclude

“why would anyone want a mode in which the files are not visible in the PC?” There must be something I’m missing here  :wink:

Finally: So my e260 is not called a Fuze? What is it called, and do you know where I can download a manual?

Alex

7

@acensor wrote:

Thanks for your reply!

 

My current firmware version (which I viewed per your directions) is apparently 01.02.18A  so I guess updating it to 03.01.16

is probably wise. But I don’t have a clue where or how – or if the firmware update is risky at all. (In the bad-old-days, which I come from,

everytime one updated their computer BIOS they took a chance that it might lock up and disable the PC. Scary stuff.)

Any advice on those two issues?

 

By the way: Even my current firmware DOES have the USB mode option in the settings menu…

So I am a little confused when you say the latest firmware has that.

 

I’m still am unclear why I, or anyone, might need, want, or miss having the MTP mode? From what you say I would only conclude

“why would anyone want a mode in which the files are not visible in the PC?” There must be something I’m missing here  :wink:

 

Finally: So my e260 is not called a Fuze? What is it called, and do you know where I can download a manual?

 

Alex

 

 

The e260 is called exactly that, an e260. You can find the manual (along with the firmware) on the e200 board. That is also where you should post any further questions or comments on your player.

Also, if your firmware is 01.02.18, you can only install firmware that starts with 01 as well. There are two different hardware revisions, commonly called “v1” and “v2”, and each revision has it’s own firmware that won’t work on the other revision. And it’s true that there’s some risk to updating the firmware, but the risk is pretty small.

Finally, one important reason for MTP mode is transferring DRM-protected tracks. The licenses don’t transfer in MSC mode, only in MTP mode. Without the licenses, DRM’d tracks won’t play.

8

1.x firmware is v1. Maximum microSD is 2GB–UNLESS acensor wants to use Rockbox. 

The very first firmware that came with the v2 didn’t have a USB mode switch, acensor, but that’s irrelevant to you. You already have the final firmware version, so you are good to go.

Me, I’d download a copy onto my computer just to have around for emergencies, from the Firmware Update sticky on the E200 page.  If you ever install it, it will switch you back to MTP until you go into Settings again.

MTP mode can be seen from your computer, but you can only see (from your computer) one mode at a time, while the Sansa itself doesn’t care–it just looks for files.

To sync into MTP mode you need Windows Media Player 10 or 11. As noted, it’s basically there for DRM music, but SanDisk wanted to give people a pairing like iTunes/iPod, so it made Windows Media Player/MTP the default setting.

Many of us here prefer MSC, and for syncing and other fun in that mode you can use Media Monkey from www.mediamonkey.com . You do need to replace the  Media Monkey version of lame_enc.dll, which times out in 30 days,  with the official freeware one that you can find from LAME or a lot of other places. 

Message Edited by c1u31355 on 12-13-2009 09:07 PM

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@c1u31355 wrote:

acensor’s firmware is 3.x, so that’s a v2 unit. 

 

Look again, my foggy-eyed friend.

@acensor wrote:

Thanks for your reply!

My current firmware version (which I viewed per your directions) is apparently 01.02.18A  so I guess updating it to 03.01.16

is probably wise.

10

Right you are, GWK.

Let’s hope he hasn’t ordered that 32GB card yet…

11

I see a conflict here.  If you are looking at Settings > Info and see 1.02.18, your machine is indeed a v1 Sansa e200.

In your initial post, you stated it was an e260v2.  The correct version if your player is shown conclusively by the Info screen; version 1.02.18 will do just fine, as it’s a toss-up between 1.02.18 and 1.02.24 for most users (no real problems with either version).

It happens regularly, often enough to come to mind, that v2 version rear cover plates end up on some refurbished e200v1 machines.  The dark plating looks cool (the original plate may have been scuffed), but the little v2 logo is quite misleading.

The problem of “no USB mode selection” was unique to the first version of the e200v2, hence the recommendation to update the firmware. 

The v1 device has been quite popular.  In fact, a large number of current Fuze owners may have had an e200 first, so you’ll find plenty of advivce in various individual forums here.  Here’s a link for the e200 Users Guide, click on the v1 link, it’s Number 3: e200v1 User Guide.

The v1 machine uses a different processor than the v2 / Clip / Fuze, from PortalPlayer. 

Bob  :smileyvery-happy:

12

>The e260 is called exactly that, an e260.<

Let me straighten out some confusion. According to someone who apparently knew what he was talking about (elsewhere on this thread): I purchased a refurbished e260. The confusion was that the refurbisher apparently put on a back cover for a v2 while (per the firmware version shown in setup) mine is a v1.

I went to Sansa’s autoupdater and it fairly smoothly identified my unit and updated me to the latest firmware mine will take which is now 10.02.24A. So that’s a done deal.

13

>Me, I’d download a copy onto my computer just to have around for emergencies, from the Firmware Update sticky on the E200 page.  <

Hmmm. It didn’t appear to me that the Sansa site would let me do a plain download of the firmware, but wanted to take charge of itself and download to some temp folder and install in the Sansa. But I’ll check again.

> If you ever install it, it will switch you back to MTP until you go into Settings again.<

I discovered that the hard way ;-)   Thanks, at least now I now WHY I found myself back in MTP mode.

>MTP mode can be seen from your computer, but you can only see (from your computer) one mode at a time, while the Sansa itself doesn’t care–it just looks for files. <

I’m still in newbie confusion about this. Are you saying files that have DRM on them can’t be seen unless the device looking at them is in MTP mode?

>To sync into MTP mode you need Windows Media Player 10 or 11.<

I guess syncing means the Sansa and the PC give each other files that one has but the other lacks? So both end up with the same music collection? 

>As noted, it’s basically there for DRM music, but SanDisk wanted to give people a pairing like iTunes/iPod, so it made Windows Media Player/MTP the default setting. <

So what music is likely to have DRM on it? iTunes music? Does that mean that some MP3 or other music files out there (ones from iTunes?) have DRM copy protection on them? That I might not be able to play or move without MTP mode???

I didn’t reallly want to have to deal with this MTP mode because, like other folks who have posted here, I was having a bit of a nightmare trying to get my Windows XP to recognize and install proper drivers (or whatever it needed to do) to talk to recognize the Sansa when it was in MTP mode.

But if someone convinces me either that there’s a substantial advantage to running in MTP mode, or explains to me a scenario where I’d suddenly be either annoyed or stopped by not being in MTP mode, I’ll go back and beat on that problem ;-(

 Right now I’m still not clear on that.

>Many of us here prefer MSC, and for syncing and other fun in that mode you can use Media Monkey from www.mediamonkey.com .  <

I guess I prefer MSC mode if only because I don’t understand MTP mode and because of the problem I have getting my PC to recognize the Sansa in MTP mode. 

Am I hearing correctly that if I get Media Monkey (which according to www.mediamonkey.com appears to do everything including walk on water) I wouldn’t miss having MTP mode?

Sorry for what are probably dumb questions. If someone wants to just send me to an FAQ or a page that’ll educate me about MTP etc, I’d gladly settle for that.

Alex

You do need to replace the  Media Monkey version of lame_enc.dll, which times out in 30 days,  with the official freeware one that you can find from LAME or a lot of other places