I bought a Sansa Express 2GB on Ebay because mine finally gave up its ghost after 9 magical years. The new Sansa was still sealed in the injection-molded retail plastic box, so I can’t claim tampering.
When plugged into the USB, the display and dog animates “Charged” not “Charging.” Despite some long charges, it still displays in Windows explorer as “Critically Low” and 0%.
I’ve upgraded the firmware to version 1.01.12 on a 32bit machine. The Sansa Express still will not charge off the included USB.
The next step appears to be looking for a bad battery solder?
Lithium ion and lithium polymer batteries degrade over time even if they aren’t used. It is likely that the battery in your player needs replacement. I don’t know why you bought such an old model, or how easily the battery is to replace. Can you return it? I hope you didn’t pay much for it. Next time buy a much newer model.
For the new player, you might try charging via a wall USB AC adapter, and leaving the player alone and charging for a few days–after its extended sleep, the player just may need (seriously) more time to get acclimated to its new life, battery-wise and oherwise.
When plugged into the USB, the display and dog animates “Charged” not “Charging.” Despite some long charges, it still displays in Windows explorer as “Critically Low” and 0%.
What does the device’s display as the charge level? What you’re seeing in Windows Explorer is a known issue when a player is connected in MTP mode. Explorer displays this message regardless of the actual charge level. Microsoft has known about it for years, but apparently believes it’s not important enough to fix.
What does the device’s display as the charge level? What you’re seeing in Windows Explorer is a known issue when a player is connected in MTP mode. Explorer displays this message regardless of the actual charge level. Microsoft has known about it for years, but apparently believes it’s not important enough to fix.
When not plugged into a powered USB, my Sansa Express won’t even turn on. This is day 2 of it being plugged directly in the wall as Milkerman suggested. If on the third day that doesn’t resurrect the battery’s chemistry I’m going to locate a soldering friend and try to find a replacement battery online.
And why? Because I loved that little bugger. Everything about it except, of course, the fast forward.
I guess the love of the Sansa Express is nostalgic. Some newer players are much better though. Imo the best player Sandisk made was the Clip Zip. When Rockbox is installed on it, the functionality is great. The only thing I don’t like about it is that it has only around 15 hours of battery life. If it had 25 hours of battery life it would be much better. Of course more than 25 hours of battery life would be even better, although then the player might have to be larger and heavier. I don’t mind the size of the Clip Sport though, especially since the slightly larger size allows for a larger screen.
