Sansa Clip+ Music Transfer Problems

[wachenroder]

I just registered to this site because searhcing through all these threads is no longer sufficient.

I’ve had this thing for a few months now.  its a 4 gb+ and I bought a 32gb sandisc micro sd to go with it.  Originally I used auto detect to transfer data and that worked out fine for the 32gb card.  Well not too long abo I bought a 64gb micro sd and thats when the problems started.  First, auto detect no longer works.  I try to transfer my music and inevitably it crashes before it finishes and I can add no more data.  Learned that I need to format in Fat32 and use MSC.  I do that now and thats not a problem.

I still have a couple of problems.

1. I transfer music to the clip but for many of the folders, neither the clip nor any other device reads that it has any data on it despite it still taking up space and me know it is there. Usually if I add the folders one by one, it solves this problems but not always.

2. Many files are ending up in “unknown” category despite painstakingly organizing every single file tag by filename. title. artist, album, album artist etc with mp3 tag,

I have done a full format many times from the clip and it still gives me problems.

What the heck is going on?

[miikerman]

The database on the Clips was not really made for the capacity on large capacity microSD cards.  It could be that you’ve reached the limits of the database, causing it to act erratically (this is similar to what happened to me)–removing some music can fix matters.

Also, you may want to double-check your new microSD card and make sure it’s legit. and not a counterfeit, and otherwise not problematic/faulty.

[wachenroder]

I heard something about the 64 GB having problems.  I bought it on Amazon during Black Friday.  How can I tell if it’s countereit?

[black_rectangle]

I always check new flash memory  with the free program h2testw.

http://www.heise.de/download/h2testw.html

You can also find it on Softpedia. 

http://www.softpedia.com/get/System/System-Miscellaneous/H2testw.shtml

But if the card is good, milkerman is right–you are probably maxing out the database.

There is a limit on how much the database can hold and when you exceed it, the files can be on the unit but it can’t list them for you. It’s not a fixed number of files–it’s about how much tag info is being stored, so shorter tags would list more files. If you have embedded art in every file, or giant comments, taking them out could help you see more files. If your filenames are Track-Artist-Album-Title instead of just Track-Title, you’re also crowding out other listings from the database.

If you go to an album with mp3tag and highlight tracks and the cover art shows up, you’re wasting space with embedded art. You can go to View/Extended Tags and delete all that cover art by clicking the red X. Since the Clip can’t display it anyway, you could gain a lot of space.  

Or if you are computer minded, the alternate firmware at www.rockbox.org should be able to handle a bigger database. It makes the Sansa a dual-boot device–though if you don’t know what that means, you may not want to deal with the  geekness that is Rockbox.  

[wachenroder]

I did try to reduce my tags to just filename, title, artist, album and album artist but I didn’t do that for every file.

Gonna do that right now will look into rockbox and your other suggestions a bit later.

Thanks.  I’ll probably be back with more questions though

[miikerman]

If you have “normal”-sized files in a compressed format (e.g. MP3) and want to have the advantage of a large capacity memory card (especially a 64 GB card), you definitely need to use the alternative Rockbox firmware on your player–the original Clip firmware just can’t handle that sort of capacity of files.  In my experience, the player starts balking and being problematic even with a 32GB memory card full of “average”-sized songs. 

Rockbox takes some time but is not hard to install or get used to.  My greatest advice, every time:  skim through the Rockbox manual prior to installing or using the firmware, to learn what you need to do and what Rockbox has for you.  You then can come back to the manual later for any more detailed follow-up as needed, bit-by-bit to avoid brain overload.  And once you have the basics, Rockbox is no harder to use (or maybe just a tolerable bit more–but it has a lot to offer!) than the original Clip firmware.

Good luck!  And keep us advised–

[wachenroder]

It looks like it may have failed on me.  I didn’t even get the chance to really do anything with it yet.  Just added music and formatted it a few times whene it acted stupid.  Now suddenly it wont even boot up from the Sandisk nor the SD card adapter.

Any suggestios?

[miikerman]

Is it possible that you’re battery charge just ran out?

Sometimes, leaving the player plugged into a power source (that is on and stays on) for a few days can trickle-charge the player back to life.

[wachenroder]

Player is fine.  What happened is I tried to add some music to the 64gb micro sd and it keeps hanging at the refreshing media screen or continuosly reseting .  I take it out and and it boots up with no issue.

I tried to use the SD card adapter too but the computer wont read it on that either.  All my other micro sd cards (32gb) are working fine.

I don’t get it.

[black_rectangle]

So the problem is the card–it’s flummoxing not only the Clip but your computer.

 That’s a drag, but at least you still have your player working. 

Maybe you should go back to 32GB. 

If the card manufacturer has a website or contact number, you might contact them. Or Amazon. 

[wachenroder]

This isn’t an official SanDisk website?

Dang this is annoying.  I’m gonna hit up Amazon and find out if the they can help.

I’m sure i’ll have questions so i’ll be back after I figure out the next course of action.

Thanks.

[miikerman]

Yep, this is an oficial SanDisk website.

And SanDisk Customer Support info., including phone support that you might find helpful:

http://www.sandisk.com/about-sandisk/contact-us/

[tapeworm]

This is a User’s forum, sponsored and moderated by SanDisk, but it is not an official SanDisk “Tech Support” forum. In other words, it is not staffed by SanDisk employees. We are all users of SanDisk products, just like you. Some of us have been around here a long time and have learned a thing or two, but we are not paid tech support people.

The folks here will help as much as we can, but to speak directly to SanDisk personnel about a problem with a product or warranty, use the information contained in the link Miikerman provided to contact the Customer Service Center nearest you.