FM radio not working

Just got my Clip Zip yesterday.

The FM radio worked when I first got it, but I don’t use that feature much.

Loaded it up with music, downloaded the firmware updater, installed the 01.01.18 update the updater presented…

Today, I fired up the fm radio and it is not working.  preset scans take FOREVER and changing channels is also dog slow…

I can tune to a local station I know the frequency of, but get no sound.

Music files play fine…

I tried manually downgrading to 01.01.12, no difference, did a power 20-sec reset, no difference, formatted internal and external card memory, no difference…

any advice appreciated…

What _ region _ did you select after updating the firmware? It used to be the FM radio function was disabled in the previous models if Europe was selected as your region as there were certain countries within that area where it was not permitted. It may be the same on this model.

If you live outside of the US, I’d select Rest Of World and see if the FM returns. You can do this without updating or re-installing the firmware by just Resetting Factory Settings. Note you’ll have to reset all your personal settings, including assigning FM presets.

You also might try reapplying the latest firmware manually, in case there was some corruption in the earlier firmware. See the firmware upgrade sticky thread at the top of the forum–it’s very easy to do.

Tried all suggestions, redid firmwar, no joy, thanks!

Then call SanDisk Tech Support about a warranty replacement.

Check two things regarding the FM radio:

While the radio mode is active, look in the upper right hand corner next to the battery icon. Is the device “paused” (no audio), or is the “play” icon showing?

You can change the frequency steps from 200 kHz, odd intervals (North America / US) to 50 kHz intervals (0.05 MHz) (World).  Here in the US, either mode will currently pick up local broadcasts.  As a footnote: many fitness clubs have TV audio fed through small FM transmitters for patrons to watch while trying to beat that treadmill into submission.  Pity, many of those transmitters are off-band, broadcasting on the even frequency steps (they were not set up properly).  If you have crappy audio in this situation, the Sansa can be set to “world” for better sound.

The FM receiver in the Clip Zip is a new type that can feed digital output to the Clip-s processor, as opposed to the Clip / Clip+ which uses the analog output exclusively.

I think the gain level of the FM could use a little tweaking, as it’s a little “hot”.  If your FM has ceased following the firmware update,first try checking the regional settings under Settings > Radio options, and see if teh device is muted / paused during playback.  You can try reinstalling the current firmware manually, or revert to the previous version to see if operation is restored.

Sometimes, things do indeed break.  For this situation, contact Support, as the little guy does have a warranty.

Bob  :stuck_out_tongue:

Sent the ClipZip back to Amazon, received a replacement.   Did exactly the same upgrade actions as the first one with the exception of not ever inserting a external card until after the upgrade.  All is well.  No idea if the card being in during the first upgrade on the original unit was the issue.  Note that I upgraded initially with the autoupdater and if failed, but no errors given…  Next time it worked, tried manually upgrading, etc.   Maybe just a bad unit…

With these devices, I always make a point of testing them in a worst-case scenario, so firmware installation gets tested with the microSD card mounted- but it is a good idea to perform firmware updates with the card removed.  When the carsd is removed, you’re sure to transfer the firmware file to the correct memory, and the device refreshed faster following the firmware installation.

I am glad you have a working FM again!  I like the added RDS feature, do I can look up something new based on the actual song title that appears when listening to the radio.

Bob  :smileyvery-happy:

how do you turn on the FM receiver to start with?

That is what I use this device for the MOST

@beaufortwolf wrote:

how do you turn on the FM receiver to start with?

 

That is what I use this device for the MOST

Is this a trick question? :confounded:

If this is what you “use this device for the MOST”, then you already know how to turn on the FM radio.

If by chance I mis-understood you, and this is a player you just got and are unfamiliar with it, but intend to use the FM the most, it’s pretty simple and anyone should be able to figure that out by just pressing buttons while in the Main menu and then pressing the center or Select button when you come across the FM Radio icon.

If you do not see the FM Radio icon in the Main menu, perhaps it somehow got turned off in the Customize option. Go into Settings > System Settings > Customize and turn it back on. The Customize option isn’t named very well, but what it does is turn off the Main menu items you don’t use, or wish to see, like maybe Recordings, Sports, Books, etc. You can always turn them back on so they are visible should you ever want, or need to.

The User’s Guide should also explain a bit more about the player, but always feel free to ask here if you don’t understand something.

Just no trick questions, OK? :laughing:

Bottom line is the factory reset work perfectly prior to that I had no radio on my new SanDisk player once I read this post did the reset working perfectly now thank you…