I want to drag and drop files and keep the file/folder structer in tact.
However, I also want to be able to create and use playlists (call me crazy!)
After a half-day’s worth of tinkering, and the use of about 7 different third party software programs, I am left to believe that the only way to do this is using the device in MTP mode and that POS software, WMP.
This is brutal because WMP “re-uploads” all the files on the playlist, and creates it’s own folder structure with the artist name and album title.
It’s only 2GB, so, ya know, I think I am gonna have to pass on having duplicate files for right now…
Is there seriously no way to just drag/drop files, and then create playlists from the files already on the player?
I’ve tried about twenty different ways in both modes… umpteen different ways to set the files, playlist file types, etc… no dice.
Please excuse the tone of the post, I’m just a little cranky after running head on into brick walls for seven hours.
Anyone who can help will bring much joy to a very agitated, but hopeful soul.
WMP does not duplicate files on your hard drive. you can add any folder to the library. this will not put duplicate files on the HDD. once this is done you can create playlists and sync those to your clip. additionally you can create a golist on the device itself.
I can attest to this. I have all of my stuff organized in iTunes as I am a iPod Video user as well and just pointed my WMP11 to the directory that my iTunes points to and all of my music is immediately synchronized when I rip or load anything into iTunes. It is quite impressive and WMP11 shows the new file almost immediately without doing anything.
since I have one directory (with sub directories) with all my music/videos I changed the “Rip Music” folder my iTunes folder and removed all of the other folders that were automatically added so it only loads files in my iTunes directory.
It is not that bad. Also, if you use iTunes and want to sync rating you can use a product called MusicBridge and run it every so often to get your iTunes ratings into WMP. It works quite nicely.
If I open my clip using windows explorer, dump a bunch of songs in the music folder…
Then, if I make a playlist using WMP and sync the playlist… not only will the playlist transfer, but each song on the playlist will be reupped on the player with a new folder structure (artist name / song title) even if the songs are already on the player in a different folder or the root music folder.
So, the only way to avoid that is to use WMP for everything so the folder structure is as WMP treats it. You cannot use windows explorer to drag and drop unless your music is already organized in the same folder structure.
True, but why not just use WMP to load all your music. If you get something from a friend (legally of course) create a seperate folder called New or whatever you want and then next time you plug in copy the files to your WMP directory and delete off Clip and add it to your synch list. I prefer to keep all of my music backed up on my harddrive anyway so if there is a hardware issue I can recover from my harddrive. This is really your only option until someone creates a third party app for the Clip to create playlists.
Use WMP11… once you get over the distraction that “Everything has moved” its actually quite solid.
WMP11 ensures that no duplicates are created on a playlist, by checking to see if that filename already exists on the device… Very nice, and it will quickly solve your issue.
I agree - you should be able to create playlists without WMP. Not everyone uses Windows, and I don’t understand why Sandisk would want to force people to use a Microsoft product when Microsoft is competing directly against them with the Zune. Give us a way to use the mp3 player with the OS and Software we choose.
We all know its compatible with other OS’. I am sure you can find articles about how to get playlists on the E200 using linux or something which will work for the clip too
I understand what it says on the box, but that doesn’t mean that it should be that way. Voicing concern seems to be the best way to drive change, and these forums would seem to be the best venue for voicing concern.
I have the E270 working fine with playlists without using WMP. However, reading on here, it seems that the methods used to create *.pla files aren’t applicable to the Clip. According to some posts here, the playlists are actually part of the music database on the player and are only updateable through WMP10+ - hence the post.
Requirement: Your system has to have WMP11 installed on it
Here are the steps:
Connect your device to the computer
Double click on My Computer to view your device
Now, you will see your device as “Sansa Clip xx” –> double click on that & then double click on “Internal Memory”
Now, you will see a bunch of folders –> you can either drag and drop your MP3 contents here or into the Music folder (it does not matter)
Once the music has transferred to your device –> highlight the songs that you want to put in as a playlist –> then right click on the mouse and it will give you the option to “Create Playlist” –> if you choose that, you can name your playlist and that playlist will contain the songs that you just hightlighted
Now, in the future, if you want to add more songs to that playlist –> just double click on that playlist and add more songs to it
*** It is that simple so have fun with it ***
Note: Once you created your playlist in the device, DO NOT drag and drop it to PC and then drag and drop it back because your playlist will no longer works and you have to re-create your playlist all over again…BEWARE…
Has anyone figured out how to create a playlist in MSC mode? I have tried several tools and none of them work. There seems to be a difference in the pla file that the Clip reads and the pla file that the e200 series Sandisk play because a couple tools that got rave reviews from the anythingbutipod site don’t work for the Clip. I can see the playlist in the “Playlists” option but when I select it all I see is two dots on the left and right of the screen and everything else is blank.
Sansafix or others, any insight into the format requirements of the .pla file that is required to create a playlist in MSC mode?
Clip supports .m3u and . pla playlist formats. I belive.pla files are really just lists of references transferred in MTP mode. So I recommend you try the .m3u format for MSC mode.
thanks sansafix for the info. After much testing and trying different methods I got it to work and here is what worked for me.
These are not specific instructions but test it out and if more info is needed I will see if I can help. I found mp3tag worked the best and was the most straight forward (recommend to download mp3 tag but others worked including Playlister 3)
1. Load all the files you want in MSC
2. Go through the process of creating a playlist in .m3u format and save it to the root folder E:\ (where E: is the drive letter of the Clip). Make sure it does not save it to the E:\PLAYLISTS folder as it will not work.
3. Disconnect the Clip and check it out.
For some reason, placing the file in the “Playlists” folder does not work, even if you use relative path (…\MUSIC\XXX.mp3). Not sure why but this seemed to be the problem I was having. Thanks to sansafix for letting us know the .m3u files work with the Clip. I still can’t get the .pla files working but who cares since .m3u files work great.
That’s great news that the clip supports m3u playlists. That makes it even easier to work with than the E2x0 series since most every software player out there, regardless of os platform, can create playlists in that format.
My clip should be here Thursday. I’m really looking forward to trying this out!
.pla files are working fine for me. I do have WMP11 installed … Creating them either in WMP or directly in the file explorer using the method described several posts above (highlight files, right click, etc.) both work for me.
Just to clarify, .pla files work fine when created in MTP mode but if you want to use MSC mode to manage your music I can’t get the .pla to work. The steps I have taken are for MSC, for MTP WMP11 and manually creating through other methods desribed work just fine.
