Hello all, I bought my Fuze about 2-2 1/2 months ago, been using it daily since I bought it without any problems. I went to turn it on this evening (I usually leave it in the console in my car), and the screen turned on and was completely white. Except for a small portion on the bottom right hand side. Looks weird to say the least, looks almost like a tear in the screen…
I did have it in my back pocket, but I didn’t sit on it as others have reported doing, it was in there when I made the move from desk -> car with minimal stops. The Fuze itself still seems to work fine. Music still plays, forwards/reverse, pause/play, volume, etc all work properly.
I’ve tried a simple restart, hard restart, put it on charge (still fully recognized by computer) and it seems to be working fine. I’ve also attempted a reload of the firmware, obviously can’t quite say if it was a successful load, but the screen is still white, regardless.
There are probably hundreds of postings on that white screen problem on this forum… Just slide the switch button up and keep it in the fixed upper position for over 30-40 seconds. The Fuze should switch itself off … now try to switch it on the usual way.
I managed to get it to reformat. I checked before doing so via my computer, showed 450 songs, managed to navigate to the reformat option, computer now shows nothing, so I’m assuming it reformatted.
The reformat itself didn’t bring the screen back, so I figured “why not” and attempted another firmware refresh. Still no fix. I’m starting to assume it’s a hardware issue. Probably going to give Sandisk a call tomorrow afternoon, see what they can do (if anything).
did you try a hard reset. Holding the Power button on for 30 seconds.
If it still doesn’t work. Sorry but you can try to get it replaced if it is less than a year. Sansa replaced mine. I also got one replaced by Best buy.
Yes, I attempted a hard reset with no luck. I ended up contacting SanDisk support, went through their troubleshooting and supposedly I’m now awaiting for an RMA to be approved to get the shipping label. So hopefully I’ll be able to get back to listening to my music in the car in a few weeks or so.
Not to bust a bubble but maybe you will want to try the Sony Walkman also. I couldn’t do without a player for a period of time so I bought one while waiting for my Fuze to make its trip in the mail. It works great also. A little more expensive by 10 dollars but I love it too.
That way I get to evaluate both. After a while you could do like I did. Offer to let your spouse or friend listen to a book with you. Makes for a great friendship maker. I have created quite an audiobook following at the BB store and have made a lot of new friends with stories to tell.
I wouldn’t mind being able to go and buy a new player in the meantime like you did, unfortunately cash is tight at the moment. Figured that a $10 fee for shipping (RMA) would be less of a hit then having a $70 or so bill in the mail. Figured I could handle listening to the radio for a few weeks… Been waiting for a couple days on whether or not the RMA was approved, may email them again on Monday.
I’ve never personally been into audiobooks, just something that never quite stuck with me, unfortunately. Would have saved me a lot of time over reading the books! I may end up attempting to try audiobooks again, but that’s up in the air I suppose.
I have found a possible problem. The FUZE seems to drop into the white screen of death when you try to change out the chip. Haven’t checked the manual so don’t scream at me about it. Just thought it could happen to anyone to forget to turn it off.
I was able to regain acess by plugging into the computer and holding the hard reset.
Worked fine but I think that gives anyone a easy way to cause the WSOD and lock the Fuze by accident.
Just for any tech that is looking at the forum to check
I have found a possible problem. The FUZE seems to drop into the white screen of death when you try to change out the chip. Haven’t checked the manual so don’t scream at me about it. Just thought it could happen to anyone to forget to turn it off.
I was able to regain acess by plugging into the computer and holding the hard reset.
Worked fine but I think that gives anyone a easy way to cause the WSOD and lock the Fuze by accident.
Just for any tech that is looking at the forum to check
That could be a possible explanation for my problem. Didn’t think of that… Ever since I bought my Fuze, I’ve noticed the power switch will stick in the “up” position. Meaning it will stick to the top of the slide every time I turn it on (doesn’t slide down to center?). I don’t know if this was a problem with just mine or if it’s an overall problem. I could have forgotten to push it down.
Just tried holding the hard reset position while plugging in/unplugging, but it doesn’t seem to do much besides give me a random red line on the screen that goes away after a few seconds. This almost sounds like the firmware went faulty and caused it to harm the Fuze physically (maybe it tried to input/output to much power?), but I’m not much of a hardware tech so it’s just speculation.
Message Edited by TheRocket on 10-28-2009 12:00 PM
I’ve been having problems with the screen on my Fuze fading to white after power on. This has been happening more and more frequently over the last few months and recently I reached a point where the device was unusable.
I found that if I opened up the Fuze that the screen would function normally so suspected that the issue was due to an undesirable electrical contact being formed when the plastic front, screen, PCB, battery and plastic rear were all squished together.
Through trial and error I found that the issue appears to be due to the fine wire gauze along the bottom of the screen coming into contact with similar gauze that is attached to the underside of the front part of the plastic case. If I keep these separated by a sliver of paper then the screen no longer fades to white every time I turn the device on.
Hope others are able to avoid the WSOD using this method.
Just slide the switch button up and keep it in the fixed upper position for over 30-40 seconds. The Fuze should switch itself off … now try to switch it on the usual way.
