Sansa Clip+ 32gb MicroSDHC class 6 problems

MP3 players Sansa Clip | Clip+
1

So I got this Sansa Clip+ for Christmas with the desire to get a 32gb microsd card for 40gb of storage space.  I then Rockboxed the Clip+ for the ability to play FLAC files.  All went well with the Roxkbox and I have been using it with my 8gb full.  So I bought a Sandisk 32gb microsdhc class 6 card so i could add more files.  Well when I first put the disk in I had trouble and got an error.  When I tried to transfer getting an error that said could not read the source disk.  So I formated the microsd with windows, that took forever.  Now I am able to transfer files fine, I even check that the files are on the disk before I disconnect.  Now when I go to select the file from the files->microSD1 in rockbox there is nothing there but the file folder.  Some of the albums did transfer just fine, but if I erase them and try to transfer them they do what I mentioned above.  I then plug the Clip+ back into the PC and the album I just copied is no longer there.  The file folder is the only thing that remained and the memory of the microsd is smaller by the volume of the album, by this I mean the album is on there I just can not see it any more all I can see the folder.  All the FLAC files that were transfered are now not visible but are still on the disk because the space is still taken up.  I can not seem to get this to work correctly.

I formatted using windows explorer.  I have the Clip+ in USB mode MSC, so I can see the Clip+ as a drive and the Microsd card.  I did a right click then format.  I formatted to FAT 32 and left the allocation size as Default Allocation size. 

What am I doing wrong?

2

There is no SanDisk 32GB class 6 card…the only SanDisk one is class 2. I think you bought a fake card.

3

Great.  So that probably is my problem?  I can see it as a 30gb card though even if it is fake.  Will it still work? Or is the card I have a POS and that’s my problem?

4

Actually, we have a few issues at play.  There is no SanDisk 32GB card badged as a Class 6 currently, though they have been qualified as a Class 4 recently.  There are utilities available to test the card like this one.

If you are formatting this card, especially in light of its capacity, be sure to use 32kb allocation (cluster) size, and FAT32 of course.  Windows has an affinity for tiny 4kb clusters, which makes for a huge FAT on the card.  The Sansa likes 32kb, which is optimal for the device.

Using a card reader, be sure that your reader supports SD HC , as some adaptors out there have issues with the high capacity media.  I bypass this issue by sticking with SanDisk readers.

There are special SD card formatter utilities out there, which may help, though a basic Windows formatting should normally suffice.  Using the manage function (right click on My Computer), you can check the drive for errors, or go old school, and use the chkdsk utility from a command prompt.  Chkdsk also verifies the cluster allocation size for you.

When using a microSD card in a reader connected to the PC USB port, it is addressed in MSC mode as a flash memory device.  If you then mount this card in the Clip+ , and it’s connected in MTP mode (where the Clip is addressed as a portable media device), Windows Explorer will not show the files transferred in MSC.  They appear to be lost.  This is a quirk with the MTP/MSC system when using the device.

Both Rockbox and the original Clip+ firmware (be sure to have the latest firmware build installed) support FLAC.  Be sure that your FLAC files have proper track information in the form of ID3v2.3 ISO 8859-1 (Latin-I) tags.  The player locates your files based upon this information, unless you are using folder browsing, in which case the filename is used.

Try having a look at the card using the original firmware.  Under Settings > System Settings > Info, the capacity of the mounted SD card will display.

Bob  :smileyvery-happy:

5

@qualm wrote:

So I got this Sansa Clip+ for Christmas with the desire to get a 32gb microsd card for 40gb of storage space.  I then Rockboxed the Clip+ for the ability to play FLAC files. 

 

The Clip+ plays FLAC files natively without the need for Rockbox. Although they do need to be 16, not 24-bit.

 

But in regards to your problem, it does sound like you could have a counterfeit card. Did you buy it on eBay? There’s alot of bad cards being sold there. I’d test it as suggested by neutron-bob.

6

Just to make a slight correction to Marvin Martion’s reply above: I purchased a 32gb microSDHC card directly from the SanDisk website and the card is stamped with a “4” indicating it’s a class 4 card.  So, to state that the only  32gb card SanDisk sells is class 2 is incorrect.

7

Yes I bought it through ebay.  Ebay actually sent me a message stating, “We’re writing to let you know that we removed the listing for the following item that you bid on or won:

270691658590 - NEW SanDisk 32GB MicroSD Memory Card

Most items listed on eBay are legitimate, and there are many things we do to protect our members from buying items that aren’t. One thing we do is remove items reported to us as allegedly infringing through the eBay VeRO program.

In this case, we removed the listing because the copyright or trademark owner of this product reported that they believe the item may not be authentic.”

This happened the day after I bought it.  I was not aware of fake or counterfit Microsdhc cards, now I am.  It even came in a red sandisk box and all.  I will file through ebay to try and get my money back.  Should be pretty easy to prove it is fake considering it has C6 printed right on it.  I should have researched further, I guess.


8

I am testing it right now with H2testw, wait just got the results and they do not look good.

Error writing file ‘F:\12.h2w’, offset 0xfc00000.
It is still possible to verify the test data written up to this point.
(The request could not be performed because of an I/O device error. Code 1117)
Warning: Only 31779 of 31780 MByte tested.
Writing speed: 3.00 MByte/s
H2testw v1.4

Looks like I got a ■■■■ disk.

9

I’m sorry to see you ran into problems locating a 32GB card!  The latest device is a prime target for counterfeit sellers, as the big size is in demand.  You can check with eBay if there may be any recourse possible with the seller.

The price of the genuine article has been falling as they become more readily available.  Sometimes, the online price of the counterfeit card is low enough that it matches a normal 4 or 8GB card (which may happen to be what was shipped).

I’m paranoid with the little guys, preferring to buy from a known vendor, or the SanDisk site directly.  Those dollars in my pocket are hard to come by.  Cards sold through authorized vendors have a full warranty too, definitely worth the cost.

If any doubts arise with a card or the packaging, you can photograph it and contact SanDisk support for assistance.

Bob  :wink:

10

@mlip wrote:

Just to make a slight correction to Marvin Martion’s reply above: I purchased a 32gb microSDHC card directly from the SanDisk website and the card is stamped with a “4” indicating it’s a class 4 card.  So, to state that the only  32gb card SanDisk sells is class 2 is incorrect.

Fair enough! I wasn’t aware of that.:smiley:

11

@neutron_bob wrote:

<snip>

 

There are special SD card formatter utilities out there, which may help, though a basic Windows formatting should normally suffice.  Using the manage function (right click on My Computer), you can check the drive for errors, or go old school, and use the chkdsk utility from a command prompt.  Chkdsk also verifies the cluster allocation size for you.

 

<snip>

 

Bob  :smileyvery-happy:

The SD(HC) card formatter utility provided free by SD Association at

http://www.sdcard.org/consumers/formatter/

is the one you want for formatting micro SDHC card, I think.  The page above states

“SD or SDHC memory card file systems formatted with generic operating system formatting software do not comply with official SD memory card requirements and optimum performance may not be experienced.”

I have used this SD Formatter on several SDHC cards up to 32GB, and also the 16GB micro SDHC card currently in my Clip+ (using micro to SDHC adapter).

12

@sandclip wrote:

 

  

I have used this SD Formatter on several SDHC cards up to 32GB, and also the 16GB micro SDHC card currently in my Clip+ (using micro to SDHC adapter).

What format options did you use on the 32GB card?  Was it the Quick, Full (erase on) or Full (erase off)? 

And did you use the format size adjustment?  And how long did it take to format the card?

I was going to use the SD Formatter for my 32GB card, but if it’ll take a couple of hours, like it took H2testw to write to the card, I’ll pass and just keep on using Window’s formatter.  I may not get my card’s optimal performance, but it works well enough.

13

@mags1230 wrote:

@sandclip wrote:

 

 

I have used this SD Formatter on several SDHC cards up to 32GB, and also the 16GB micro SDHC card currently in my Clip+ (using micro to SDHC adapter).

 

What format options did you use on the 32GB card?  Was it the Quick, Full (erase on) or Full (erase off)? 

 

And did you use the format size adjustment?  And how long did it take to format the card?

 

I was going to use the SD Formatter for my 32GB card, but if it’ll take a couple of hours, like it took H2testw to write to the card, I’ll pass and just keep on using Window’s formatter.  I may not get my card’s optimal performance, but it works well enough.

 

I’ve used the Quick format, size adjustment off, on my two 16GB cards, and also the internal memory of my four Sansas…works a treat and is fast.:wink:

14

@mags1230 wrote:

@sandclip wrote:

 

 

I have used this SD Formatter on several SDHC cards up to 32GB, and also the 16GB micro SDHC card currently in my Clip+ (using micro to SDHC adapter).

 

What format options did you use on the 32GB card?  Was it the Quick, Full (erase on) or Full (erase off)? 

 

And did you use the format size adjustment?  And how long did it take to format the card?

 

I was going to use the SD Formatter for my 32GB card, but if it’ll take a couple of hours, like it took H2testw to write to the card, I’ll pass and just keep on using Window’s formatter.  I may not get my card’s optimal performance, but it works well enough.

 

I used Full (Erase Off), no format size adjustment.  It took maybe 10 minutes to do my 16GB micro SDHC card, or thereabouts.

Does it matter if you use e.g. Windows generic formatter or SD Formatter to format an SD(HC) card?  Who knows?  The SD Association says it does, on the SD Formatter page.  I have not tested extensively to compare different formatting methods/tools for SD.

15

The SD(HC) card formatter utility provided free by SD Association at

http://www.sdcard.org/consumers/formatter/

So I ended up using this to format the card then scanned with H2testw here is the latest testresults:

Warning: Only 31787 of 31788 MByte tested.
The media is likely to be defective.
983 MByte OK (2013184 sectors)
30.0 GByte DATA LOST (63086592 sectors)
Details:0 KByte overwritten (0 sectors)
0 KByte slightly changed (< 8 bit/sector, 0 sectors)
30.0 GByte corrupted (63086592 sectors)
0 KByte aliased memory (0 sectors)
First error at offset: 0x000000003c678000
Expected: 0x000000003c678000
Found: 0x0000000000000000
H2testw version 1.3
Writing speed: 3.03 MByte/s
Reading speed: 5.61 MByte/s
H2testw v1.4

All 30gb corrupted.  I have filed with EBAY so hopefully I will get my money back.  Then I will buy a real card and not from some untrustworthy source.

thanks for the help.

17

@marvin_martian wrote:

  I’ve used the Quick format, size adjustment off, on my two 16GB cards, and also the internal memory of my four Sansas…works a treat and is fast.:wink:

@sandclip wrote:

 I used Full (Erase Off), no format size adjustment.  

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Thanks guys.  I used the Quick format, it was faster, and there was a very slight improvement in speed.  Hardly enough to be worth mentioning. 

Perhaps the benefits of using the SD Formatter over the generic Windows one will show up when there’s a glitch occuring on the card or when someone wants to use the same card in different devices.