For Christmas of 2008, I received a red Sansa Fuze 4GB. Outside of a few weird glitches that I’ve gotten used to, it’s acted fine, even after I accidentally dropped it in a bucket of water one day last year (which actually seemed to cure some of the glitches, but I don’t recommend trying it).
Last Friday, I was listening to it like I normally do. It had plenty of battery power (70% or somewhere in that area), and it was not too full; I turned it off and didn’t pick it up again until Monday. On Monday, it was a pain to get on and when it finally did come on, my settings were all screwed up (in particular the lighting. Some months earlier, I’d changed the settings so that the screen would go dark after five seconds or so of disuse, and it had never given me a problem before; now the screen refused to go completely black, despite trying to change the settings). I turned it off again, and that night it refused to come on once more. On Tuesday, I tried again, with my computer reluctantly acknowledging it (the comp has recognized it ever since May of this year), but it kept claiming that the Fuze was disconnected. Not only that, but after unplugging the Fuze, it started turning on and off randomly for several hours even though I wasn’t doing anything to it. Today, I can’t even get the Fuze to turn on and no computer is recognizing it at all.
I’ve tried everything. The battery is charged, and I can’t turn it on while pressing the home button or the play button while pressing the on button. I really don’t want to have to buy another MP3 player, and I don’t know what to do.
Any suggestions? I’m going a bit crazy over here trying to figure it out. Any help will be appreciated. Thanks!
Try reinstalling the firmware. You’ll have to do it manually. There are instructions on how to do that in the same post as the firmware download link.
If your computer still can’t recognize the sansa, you can force an msc connection by sliding the power switch to the hold position with the fuze turned off, hold down the rew (<<) while you are connecting the fuze to your computer.
So, it just now started doing this? How long has it been since you “watered” it?
It was “watered” in August of 2009, well over a year ago.
Well, I can’t try uploading even manually because it still refuses to turn on for more than two seconds.
@thistlewriter wrote:
Well, I can’t try uploading even manually because it still refuses to turn on for more than two seconds.
The fuze does not need to be turned on when you connect it to the computer, _ ever _. I never turn my fuze on when I connect it to my computer and it always establishes proper communication and also charges.
Forcing msc mode is done only when the player has problems establishing communication with the computer, which your fuze does.
After forcing msc mode (like I posted above), and if there is communciation with your computer, reinstall the firmware manually. Make sure you’re installing the correct version, either version 1 or 2. If you don’t know which one it is, try first version 1, then version 2. The fuze will only accept the correct version and no harm will be done if you try to install the wrong one.
If reinstalling the firmware doesn’t fix the issues, then your player is having hardware problems and heading for the dustbin.
Sorry, I should have clarified. I meant that I cannot get the Fuze on at all or get it to connect to any computer (when it worked, it automatically turned itself on when being charged/ music was being added).
Have you tried contacting Sandisk Support? If you live outside the U.S., then you may have a two year warranty.
I contacted them earlier this week, but I’m not expecting a response within the next month. Shame… I live in the US :cry:
That’s a bummer. My player is about as old as yours is and, not knowing how much longer it’ll last, I’ve been looking around for a refurb.
