My two-months old SansaExpress suddenly turned off during use yesterday and now it doesn’t turn back on. The battery was full at the time, and occasionally when I try to turn it on, the SanDisk logo would show up briefly, only to abruptly turn off.
When I connect it to the computer, an animation shows on the screen of the player that is different from what I’ve been seeing on it --before, it was a dog thing running across the screen, but now it’s simply two arrows being exchanged from the computer to the player. Also, when connected, a dilogue shows up that reads “synchronize with windows media…” but when I open up My Computer, the player doesn’t show.
I no longer have the package or the receipt in possession, but still have all the accessories. If repair is difficult/impossible, am I still elligible for RMA?
Thanks in advance.
I have exactly the same problem with my one month sansa express
Hello! I Welcome both of you to the SanDisk Sansa Community Forums!
This seems like something that SanDisk Technical Support can assist you with further.
Please Contact us at:
1-866-SanDisk
1-866-726-3475
7 days a week:
4:00 am. - 10:00 pm. (PST)
7:00 am - 1:00 am (EST)
call sandisk. if they verified that your device is defective, they’ll replace it.
i heard a rumor on a different forum, that if a micro SD card is inserted into the express, it will turn on, then off instantly. They said they fixed it, by removing the card. They had mixed answers about it.
i am interested to see if thats true
just a rumor… if you insert a card then turn it on, the screen will say ‘refreshing database do not remove card’ or something… the player will still turn on… i believe if you remove the card while its refreshing its database, it may corrupt the loaded song but not ruin the player.
I bought My Sandisk Sansa Express 1 Go 10 days ago, and I have exactly the same problem now, it dones’t work anymore. I wanna know what was the solution suggested by the company support? did they solve thye problem? how?
thanks in advance
Is your Express recognized by the computer? If so, then you may want to try the Sansa Updater to install the latest FW to your device.
I heard that many of the early versions of the Express were having death issues after a short period of use. Apparently new fw addressed this issue.
Unfortunately it’s not recognized by the computer. I hear a sound like if there is something is plugged in, but nothing in windows shows that Sansa is connected. I don’t see anymore the two arrows on the Sansa now, all I see is the Sandisk Logo. there is no way to update the firmware by SansaUpdater. 10 days of use it’s not too much 
My friends did just about the exact same thing. We went searching around the web(much like you guys are now) and was able to find a suggestion of inserting a MicroSD card into the unit. The capicity wasn’t really specified so my friend and I figured why the heck not.
So we took the memory card out of his phone and put it in the device.
He just so happen to have those 3 in 1 SD cards. It starts as a microSD and has adapters for mini and standered SD.
Once we did that, the unit turned on fine, without an issue. He might have plugged it into the computer with the MicroSD card in the player, I’m not 100% sure. I don’t believe he had to do that though.
I figure this is pretty useless to those who don’t happen to have a MicroSD card but I figure its good to know. Maybe stopping by a local electronic shop and ask them to test the card in your device. Beats waiting 7-10 days to get your player replaced.
Enigma wrote:
My friends did just about the exact same thing. We went searching around the web(much like you guys are now) and was able to find a suggestion of inserting a MicroSD card into the unit. The capicity wasn’t really specified so my friend and I figured why the heck not.
So we took the memory card out of his phone and put it in the device.
He just so happen to have those 3 in 1 SD cards. It starts as a microSD and has adapters for mini and standered SD.
Once we did that, the unit turned on fine, without an issue. He might have plugged it into the computer with the MicroSD card in the player, I’m not 100% sure. I don’t believe he had to do that though.
I figure this is pretty useless to those who don’t happen to have a MicroSD card but I figure its good to know. Maybe stopping by a local electronic shop and ask them to test the card in your device. Beats waiting 7-10 days to get your player replaced.
if anyone has a micro SD card can they give this a try and confirm if it works?
I just bought a quantity of 2 of the 1gb sansa express. 1 for myself; the other a gift. Let me tell you how long the product worked. I connected it to my computer: all was fine. I let it charge for a few hours…cool. I added 17 songs…alright. I disconnected the express and hit play…went to ■■■■. Screen is blank and no buttons or combination thereof change that. I tried connecting/reconnecting/disconnecting all the while hitting any number of buttons…nothing. So I have ended up here. I saw the microSD card trick and I happen to have a spare lying around…cool. I incorporated it into my connecting/button pushing melee…nothing. I’m taking both players and the armband i bought back to the store. This is ridiculous.
My SansaExpress did not power on after I finished charging it from my computer’s USB port. I contacted Sansa Tech support and they told me to do the following:
Press the Select button and the + Volume button at the same time for only 10 seconds. That performs a reset. Then press the Menu button to power it on.
This worked for my Express.
The technician’s explaination of what happened was that the Sansa can get to much of a recharge when charging the battery. Performing the Reset procedure above removes some of the charge and allows it to power up again. At least that is what I understand from his explaination.
Good Luck.
i dont think you can “overcharge” your player. Maybe im crazy
Sounds like I have the same problem. I do not have a added memory card. After trying 2 computers, I plugged into a 3rd that I had not connected to before. It recognized the device, but it shows that the device is unformatted. I may try to reformat.
Mark
Yes, you can overcharge a player. But the result will be a damaged battery or player.
All Sansa’s with a rechargable battery have an “Auto Off” for the battery. But back on topic…
Try to press and hold the Volume UP and press the Select (center square) button. This should force the player off. Once you do that, you can turn it on… if it still wont turn on, as previously mentioned that worked for some people was inserting a Micro SD Card, may have to perform the reset first, before attempting to power on the player.
If you have not yet contacted SanDisk Technical Support, please do
1-866-SanDisk
This worked great! Mine died after recharging so I can believe it was due to an overcharge. Anyway the ‘select/+volume’ reset allowed me to turn it on again.
Enigma wrote:
i dont think you can “overcharge” your player. Maybe im crazy
Agreed
done. ive tested it.
