went to best buy last week to buy a ipod. I’m not some electronic dweebe. i’m a health care professional who works with high tech electronic equipment that keeps people alive. i expect when i turn something on it works with out spending hrs and i mean hrs searching forums, time i don’t really have, trying to get a player to work. i opened itup. lplgged it into my puter, charged it up. checked for udates, none,i have a video called mine to remember, i didn’t download and 19songs i didn’t download. might have come loaded in the fuse, but they won’t play and i can’t delete them and even after multiple attempts to reformat, they’re still there.any buton itouch now locks my screen up and take 10-15 seconds of holding the power button off to shut off everytime. anybody have a fix or fixes or this piece of ■■■■ is going back. havn’t contacted sansa support yet.sounds like from the forums this thing is full of bugs
The Fuze is an excellent audio player, however it is not a great choice for playing videos. Video needs to be converted first before the player will play it.
What format are your songs in? Are they MP3, WMA, FLAC, OGG, or ?
Be sure that they are in a format supported by the Fuze. The Fuze will not play protected itunes downloads.
Push the power button to the down(locked ) position. Hold the center button down while connecting the player to the pc. Keep holding it until the player is recognized. Next format the player via the pc as FAT32.
After disconnecting the player, format the player again via the player’s menu. Next choose USB mode on the player, and select MSC.
Now you are ready to start over again. This time, make sure that files are in formats the player recognizes before transferring them to the player. Use Windows explorer to copy and paste folders of songs to the player’s music folder.
Message Edited by JK98 on 08-23-2009 10:28 AM
Message Edited by JK98 on 08-23-2009 10:28 AM
Sorry to hear about your experience with your Sansa Fuze. I just bought one a day ago as well. I LOVE IT. The thing I don’t love is the video converting. If you want to video convert it takes TONS of time. And if you do video convert you’ll want to convert using RHAPSODY…NOT Sansa Media Converter (SMC). Why? B/C RHAPSODY doesn’t crash half as often. And secondly RHAPSODY’S “TO GO” service ROCKS over iTunes ANYDAY! Image as much music as you can download for less than $15 per month. If iTunes does this please let me know…cause the don’t…yet. Oh and THIRDLY…RHAPSODY’S final video file comes out to be ONE THIRD the size of the orginal file compared to SMC, which only shrinks the file by 10% (terrible!).
Btw, i’m running my Sansa on a Windows XP machine.
I installed the firmware update by downloading the Sansa updater software on Sandisk’s website. Here’s the link. Error
I downloaded rhapsody @ rhapsody.com
Maybe you have a bad Fuze. I dunno, but mine is alive and well. I would NEVER get an ipod nano over a Sansa View or Fuze. Sandisk price is better and Rhapsody blows the socks off iTunes (there are some secrets about having Rhapsody that only the true “tinkers” have tapped into that Apple iTunes clients will NEVER have the opportunity to have. I can’t post it here, but it’s AWESOME!
Anyhow, update your firmware #1 and get rhapsody #2. Good luck.
Ok, It sounds you have a bad one, a lemon(I still love that word!). I had two. But rest assured, they have wonderful customer support. Call Sandisk. I think it’s 1-800-SANDISK. And those songs and video were already on there. Those are samples. Weird samples, but yes, they’re samples.
Also, the reason why it seems the forums are filled with people having problems, is because that’s what these forums are here for. You have a problem, post it here for an answer. No one comes here just to say how good the Fuze is, although one or two may have.
Get an iPod. They work perfectly every time. Not to mention the sound quality, memory-card capability, FM radio, voice recording…
and photos…
Message Edited by Black-Rectangle on 08-23-2009 08:22 AM
I’d take it back to BestBuy. Be quicker then contacting Sansa.
@smatjack6900 wrote:
went to best buy last week to buy a ipod. I’m not some electronic dweebe. i’m a health care professional who works with high tech electronic equipment that keeps people alive. i expect when i turn something on it works with out spending hrs and i mean hrs searching forums, time i don’t really have, trying to get a player to work. i opened itup. lplgged it into my puter, charged it up. checked for udates, none,i have a video called mine to remember, i didn’t download and 19songs i didn’t download. might have come loaded in the fuse, but they won’t play and i can’t delete them and even after multiple attempts to reformat, they’re still there.any buton itouch now locks my screen up and take 10-15 seconds of holding the power button off to shut off everytime. anybody have a fix or fixes or this piece of ■■■■ is going back. havn’t contacted sansa support yet.sounds like from the forums this thing is full of bugs
- Check again for updates. If you just bought it, trust me there’ll be one. Here’s the latest.
- I’d also suggest reading the User’s Guide if you haven’t already. A copy of it doesn’t come with the player (saving paper & trees, don’t you know).
- The songs & video ‘you didn’t download’ are already loaded on at the factory. If you poke around, you’ll also find some sample photos. If you don’t want them, a simple format will clear everything off. You said you tried multiple times to do this, but you didn’t say how. The easiest is to use the on-board Format function in the Settings menu (I don’t have my Fuze in front of me at the moment; you may have to go 1 step further into the System Settings). If the ‘songs remain the same’ [blatant Led Zep pun], switch the USB mode (also in Settings > System settings) to MTP mode. That’s the mode they were loaded in, so the Format should clear them out.
- What do you mean “they won’t play”? Does the progress bar move & elasped timer count down? Is the green play icon lit (>)? Or is it on Pause ( || )? If yes, try pushing in (real hard) on the earphone plug. These things come with an extremely tight jack out of the box and many, many people have come here with the same complaint. 99.9% of them were corrected with a little more muscle.
- If after you upgrade the firmware & re-format, you still have problems with freezing, or ‘locking up’, then by all means take it back to BB. You shouldn’t have to deal with this on a brand-new device. Get a pod if you want; but realize that no matter what you get, there’s still the chance you could get a dud.
Message Edited by Tapeworm on 08-23-2009 12:51 PM
@black_rectangle wrote:
Get an iPod. They work perfectly every time. Not to mention the sound quality, memory-card capability, FM radio, voice recording…
and photos…
Message Edited by Black-Rectangle on 08-23-2009 08:22 AM
Great post!
thanks for all the feed back. i sleep with the user guide, have V02.02.26a installed, have reformatted multiple times. i havn’t loaded anything yet as this player went crazy from the beginning.won’t shut off, unless i hold the power button on for 10-15 sec. sometimes it shuts off and the blue ring comes back on and the player comes back on with a sansa screen showing :mine to remember:music or video that won’t play or be deleted.i have a creative zen nano i’ve had for 6 years that worked from the first time i put a battery in it and still does now. had digested every song i put into it without a peep beep or lock up. the battery life is terrible and the screen is only 1/4 by 1inch. many friends have ipods with the nice big screen and a great user interface. this fuse has alot of great features if it ever works. just interested in music, audio book, video, like not. no desire to watch vids on a little screen. i see too many doofesses in my ER that crashed while watching vids or text messeging while driving. thanks all for the feed back. i’ve gotten more reliable help from forums sometimes than the" support people". sounds like i need to go back to bb
It does sound like you got a bad unit. Take it back, switch the new one to MSC mode when you get it, update the firmware and drag some albums on. You should be fine from then on.
The only real catch with the Fuze–and I think it’s worth it for the sound quality, memory slot, etc.–is that it is finicky about tags. If you do have trouble with “Bad track” or no information displayed, and you know your files are mp3s (not iTunes m4a or m4p), then read this about ID3 tags.Conceivably you might have to take 20 seconds per album to run it through mp3tag.
If the albums you drag over simply play, then don’t even worry about that.
@smatjack6900 wrote:
went to best buy last week to buy a ipod. I’m not some electronic dweebe. i’m a health care professional who works with high tech electronic equipment that keeps people alive. i expect when i turn something on it works with out spending hrs and i mean hrs searching forums, time i don’t really have, trying to get a player to work.
Dude! I’m a healthcare professional too! And an “electronic dweebe” as you so graciously put it.
I know what you mean about the electronics equipment that should “just work” - the number of times I’ve seen ventilators go **bleep** up (to the point that a patient’s breathing has to be supported by another human being rather than a machine), I’ve seen defibrillators fail to produce current (or too much), I’ve seen hospital computer systems running Windows for god’s sakes! Yeah, the whole department went down on more than one occasion because of that particular OS. And don’t even ask me about the x-ray systems or the CT Scanner which only works a few days at a time
Trust me, I totally understand that when compared to “high tech electronic equipment that keeps people alive”, a slightly broken MP3 player really is the end of the world. Sounds like you got a really raw deal. And a broken keyboard, by the looks of that post - your equipment just works, eh? Good job that keyboard doesn’t keep people alive
If you don’t have time to search a forum, your day must be really full doing all this healthcare thing you do. I wish I worked where you do, I’d love to be able to listen to my player at work.
All joking aside, you’re going to get grief from all sorts of electronic hardware no matter which brand you possess. As has been posted earlier, iPods regularly ■■■■ out on people (more than the fuze does, if forums are anything to go by) and they even actually blow up. Investing a little time to learn about the hardware you’ve bought - even including doing a little research before you buy it, even - will pay off in spades. The fuze has pretty much the best sound quality you’re likely to hear from a PMP, and is worth every penny of it’s very cheap asking price.
D.
@smatjack6900 wrote:
thanks for all the feed back. i sleep with the user guide, have V02.02.26a installed, have reformatted multiple times. i havn’t loaded anything yet as this player went crazy from the beginning.won’t shut off, unless i hold the power button on for 10-15 sec. sometimes it shuts off and the blue ring comes back on and the player comes back on with a sansa screen showing :mine to remember:music or video that won’t play or be deleted.i have a creative zen nano i’ve had for 6 years that worked from the first time i put a battery in it and still does now. had digested every song i put into it without a peep beep or lock up. the battery life is terrible and the screen is only 1/4 by 1inch. many friends have ipods with the nice big screen and a great user interface. this fuse has alot of great features if it ever works. just interested in music, audio book, video, like not. no desire to watch vids on a little screen. i see too many doofesses in my ER that crashed while watching vids or text messeging while driving. thanks all for the feed back. i’ve gotten more reliable help from forums sometimes than the" support people". sounds like i need to go back to bb
I smell a rat. How can you tell that the Fuze has terrible battery life if you haven’t loaded anything yet? Also, how can you compare the Fuze to an IPod and say the IPod has “a nice big screen”? The comparable IPod has a 2" screen, vs. 1.9" on the Fuze, and is twice the price. IPod’s with bigger screens even moreso. I suspect your Fuze is defective, though it’s hard to be sure you know what you’re doing. I would take it back to Best Buy, let them determine if it is indeed defective, and get a replacement if it is. I would have them show me how to work it as well.
@smatjack6900 wrote:
went to best buy last week to buy a ipod. I’m not some electronic dweebe. i’m a health care professional who works with high tech electronic equipment that keeps people alive. i expect when i turn something on it works with out spending hrs and i mean hrs searching forums, time i don’t really have, trying to get a player to work. i opened itup. lplgged it into my puter, charged it up. checked for udates, none,i have a video called mine to remember, i didn’t download and 19songs i didn’t download. might have come loaded in the fuse, but they won’t play and i can’t delete them and even after multiple attempts to reformat, they’re still there.any buton itouch now locks my screen up and take 10-15 seconds of holding the power button off to shut off everytime. anybody have a fix or fixes or this piece of ■■■■ is going back. havn’t contacted sansa support yet.sounds like from the forums this thing is full of bugs
OK…It’s time to get real. After reading this thread, I get a sense that most responders think you should give a fuze a try, once you take the unit back and get one that works properly. Well, I would suggest you to take a deep breath and ask yourself if the fuze is the best player for you before you leap. No one Digital Media Player is right for everyone. Do want a unit that will play music and the occasional video with a miniumum of fuss, or do you want a player that requires a bit more messing about? The fuze is a good player, but it is one that isn’t the most user friendly I have ever seen. Video support also isn’t the greatest as well.
I have a couple of fuzes, and haven’t had any major issues with them; but I’m also one that doesn’t mind fussing around getting everything “just right”. My wife on the other hand simply hated them, and refused to use them. So, it’s really up to you to decide if the fuze will serve your needs.
Just because you are a health care professional doesn’t mean that you want a unit that isn’t the easiest to use. My wife is a paralegal, and is no dummy and just couldn’t cope with the fuze. She wanted a unit where she could plug the thing in and a dedicated software package did everything for her, including rip music to be added to her player. I found her such a unit,and she is beyond pleased.
I’m not saying the fuze isn’t the right fit for you, but just realize that it is a somewhat fussy player. If you go in accepting that, you well could enjoy it very much. If you want more of a “plug in and use” device, you may want to look around further…
Good luck in whatever you decide.
can’t listen to music at work, might miss all the beeps,peeps, and crashes lol barely have time to eat or pee most of the time. just hope i can get the unit working
i breath deeply all the time. didn’t mention i was a heath care pro to prove i was a rocket scientist or sumpin.just a statement!maybe you’re right, maybe this player isn’t right for me as i expect something to work, out of the box. fine tuning or customizing is one thing,but flat out not working right is another.if you’ve had “several” fuzes, have they died or not bad?. i’m sure ipods aren’t full proof either. think i’ll dust off my walkman lol
@smatjack6900 wrote:
i breath deeply all the time. didn’t mention i was a heath care pro to prove i was a rocket scientist or sumpin.just a statement!maybe you’re right, maybe this player isn’t right for me as i expect something to work, out of the box. fine tuning or customizing is one thing,but flat out not working right is another.if you’ve had “several” fuzes, have they died or not bad?. i’m sure ipods aren’t full proof either. think i’ll dust off my walkman lol
I have a couple of fuzes, and haven’t had any major issues with them; but I’m also one that doesn’t mind fussing around getting everything “just right”.
If you get one that’s not defective, I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised. Especially if you just use it in MSC mode and don’t subject yourself to the quirks of Windows Media Puzzler.
I’ve been banging around my Fuze (and before that an E260, still going strong) for quite some time. The E260 got some bad files once, probably from a shady place or a foreign-language ripper, and had to be ChkDsk’ed–a 3-minute process in the FAQs. The Fuze has been completely trouble free.
But I do now fix my tags before any files go onto the unit, which means opening the folder in mp3tag and running the Track Numbering tool with Leading Zeros (because so many ripping/tagging programs number 1/12, etc.). I’ve got mp3tag set to write the correct tags by default, so the numbering also saves the tags in the correct version, ID3v2.3 ISO-8859-1. It takes well under a minute.
You’re a health-care person. Think of it as a routine hand-washing.
@black_rectangle wrote:
If you get one that’s not defective, I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised. Especially if you just use it in MSC mode and don’t subject yourself to the quirks of Windows Media Puzzler.
I’ve been banging around my Fuze (and before that an E260, still going strong) for quite some time. The E260 got some bad files once, probably from a shady place or a foreign-language ripper, and had to be ChkDsk’ed–a 3-minute process in the FAQs. The Fuze has been completely trouble free.
But I do now fix my tags before any files go onto the unit, which means opening the folder in mp3tag and running the Track Numbering tool with Leading Zeros (because so many ripping/tagging programs number 1/12, etc.). I’ve got mp3tag set to write the correct tags by default, so the numbering also saves the tags in the correct version, ID3v2.3 ISO-8859-1. It takes well under a minute.
You’re a health-care person. Think of it as a routine hand-washing.
For the record, there are some players that don’t require you to open up mp3tag to operate correctly, each and every time.
If fiddling with tags doesn’t bother a person, go for a fuze…but it drove my better half nuts. Now she has a player that is a bit more user friendly in that regard…
what player did you go with to make your wife happy?
smartjack, you beat me to the exact same question.
