Sansa clip zip 8gb suddenly hiding my files

Hello there, 

I’ve had my Sansa Clip Zip 8GB for about 4 years, along with a microSD card. Recently, when I plugged it into my computer to put some files onto it, I got the shock of seeing NOTHING there…not on the the internal memory, nor on the card. When I disconnected the mp3 player, I could see everything was there, as it was…just it wasn’t showing up on the PC.

Upon a friend’s advice, without thinking too much of it, I switched from the mode I was using, which I have been using pretty much since I got the Clip Zip (MTP, the mode which DOESN’T treat it like a regular flash drive on a pc), to the other mode, which may have had one or two files on it from when I first got the mp3 player. I *might* have tried the auto-detect setting once, again not thinking it would cause any further harm. In any case, what resulted was twofold; I was now able to see the contents of my card when plugging the player into my pc, as usual…though still nothing on the internal memory’s structure. O objects.

And now, where I had been able to see everything that was on the player, on the player itself, now it shows no files whatsoever from the internal memory…just files from the card. All mp3s, files, folders and playlists I’d made, and even the podcasts that came with the thing, from the internal memory are no longer are accessable, either on the player or via the PC. I have tried switching between MTP and MSC once or twice, and no joy, however, what’s intriguing, and giving me hope, is that the mp3 player itself shows exactly the same amount of used space on the internal memory as it had before this all occured (just 97 mb free of the total of 7535 mb internal memory). I therefore believe there has to be a way to set things right…without formatting the thing. There are several files, podcasts and playlists I would want to recover, as I’m not sure I have backups.

I considered that it might be a random issue, as it had occured out of the blue, and perhaps relating to the microSD card. I am wondering if taking it out would fix the issue,  possibly. The other possible thing I was hoping for,  was to be able to at least see the files, somehow…perhaps through a recovery program. The toughest part of all this is that I’m not sure exactly what I stand to lose here, as I seem to have foolishly backed up only the card’s contents, and not everything from the internal mem.

If it makes a difference, the card is 30424 mb, and has 6121 mb free. I would have no problem formatting the clip zip’s internal memory, but obviously only once I knew what was on the internal memory, and hopefully be able to access the files properly.

I hope some kind soul can assist me, I can try and recall anything else I may have missed of importance, thanks.

That certainly is strange, given that it had been working normally for 4 years. Don’t know if it will help, but it can’t do any harm is to update (or reload if current) firmware. Do it manually. Here’s a link to the most recent firmware version for your player:

This won’t affect the content, but will clear out any glitches that may be occuring in it’s operation. Remember to remove the SD card before updating the firmware. Also note that the USB mode will revert back to the default Auto Detect mode after updating. Leaving it this mode has never been recommended; it’s better to use either MTP or MSC mode manually. You will want to use the mode that the player was in when you orginally transferred your files onto it in order for your computer to “see” them.