Synchronise to Continue your Music Subscription...say what??

MP3 players Sansa Clip | Clip+
1

Here is something interesting…I bought 2 Sansa-clips 2 months ago, one for me and one for the wife…1GB model.

I had a 30 day subscription for downloading mp3 music via Rapsody.  I downloaded 915mb for our trip to our

Winter home. Today Dec 19 and for the past week the bleep thing flashes  “Synchronise to continue your music subscription” which of course the 30 days has expired.

None of the music that I down loaded will play after the 30 day expiration. 

 I can see all of the songs when I plug it into my Laptop.  Each song

will play on the laptop using Rapsody.  The Sana-clip will not play a single song.  The computer that I downloaded

the music on is 3000 miles away.    How do I fix this problem…??  Songs that I have downloaded to the laptop

using something other than Rapsody and moving it to the Clip  will play just fine, nothing will play that was loaded using

Rapsody…  Am I hosed?..any feed back to fix this problem is appreciated.

The FAQ  that I have read don’t really address the fact that the songs   Won’t Play…thank you…Ron

2

Ah, the key to your troubles is in that PC far far away.  This is the trouble with DRM and authorized computers, plus the portable device.

When you log in to Rhapsody, and authorize the computer, a unique license is created on this PC.  Then, you transfer music to the Sansa.  These leaf licenses in each track are based upon the host computer’s authorization, plus the unique device ID.  This is the way the system was designed, and isn’t unique to the Rhapsody service.

So here’s the problem.  When you sign in to Rhapsody at home, and the home PC is authorized, the new leaf licenses are based upon the unique ID of your home computer.  Rhapsody allows a unique advantage, in that three computers and three devices can be authorized on one account.  The problem is that files transferred from one of those authorized computers have to be resynchronized from the same computer as the one they were loaded from.

The newest release of the Rhapsody 4 client may have improved in the way this dilemma is handled, by repairing the licenses when the authorized device is plugged in.  Try the following trick.  Right click on the device, deauthorize it, then authorize it again.  You’ll see the green progress bars as the device is reset.  Unplug, and see if it plays the tracks.

Otherwise, retransfer the tracks using the home PC, pulling the songs from your online library.

This whole mess brought to you courtesy of Windows Media DRM.  It’s quirky, but once you understand how WMDRM works, it makes sense.  At least you can pull the tracks from the library.

Bob  :smileyvery-happy:

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I sympathise, really…  but I always have to laugh at Microsoft naming this scheme “Plays for sure” :cry:

I prefer to call it “Pays for sure”

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Or for those trying to use it, “Prays for sure.” :smileyvery-happy:

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Well Bob I guess I’ll buy a Round Trip ticket to fly home to get my Clip synchronize!!..just kidding of course.

I appreciate your feed back and now I understand the issues. Thank you for your in depth explanation.

I hope this info will answer others you experience the same type of problem…

This is a good Forum for info…Ron

6

Hi Bob…forgot to ask you about an Item reference your feed back.  You said

 

Try the following trick.  Right click on the device, deauthorize it, then authorize it again.  You’ll see the green progress bars as the device is reset.  Unplug, and see if it plays the tracks…

 

How do I do this Authorizing thing.??  I plugged my clip into my Laptop and “Right clicked”  didn’t see the “Authorize” option.  Do I need to log into the SanDisk web site or where is this done…Ron 

7

Ok…I found the “Authorize”  option it was on the  Rapsody page after I plugged in my Clip.