Sansa and Timex clock radio no longer play together nicely

I unplugged and removed the batteries from the clock radio and even the remote, although there’s no way outside of the Twilight Zone that the *remote* could be the problem…!  Left them out for several minutes.

I reformatted and soft reset the Sansa.  Then I took *its* battery out and left it out for several minutes.

Copied a backup of my song files that has never had the offending (I’m assuming) Amazon downloads in it, ever.

Same old, same old.

Did some searching here.  Found what looked like some similar problems with subscription services, fixed by Sansa.fmt.

Then I found this (message 4):

http://forums.sandisk.com/sansa/board/message?board.id=e200&message.id=29468&query.id=341095#M29468

Fortunately!  I was about to try the Sansa.fmt thing, but I see here that’s only v1, and that the only thing I can do that I haven’t done for a v2 is to format in MSC mode through Windows.  (I got the impression somehow, previously, that that was not a good thing to do, but I am becoming desperate.)

Will that (formatting through Windows) do anything I haven’t already done? 

What I want is to get the thing back to the state it was when I bought it (you know, when it worked…), but either I haven’t been able to accomplish that or something is permanently broken…  :frowning:

After formatting your v2 via Windows, you simply optimize the memory by using Settings > Format > Yes.

I wish I had the Timex here to experiment with it, as it looks like a promising little guy.  Not very many cool e200 gadgets out there.  Try the “double” format (Windows then e200 onboard command), load a few songs, and see what happens.

Bob  :cry:

I’ll try that, thanks.

The clock radio is (was) very nice for my purposes.  I’ve seen some complaints that you can’t wake to music from the Sansa, but what I did with it was listen to random tracks a little while at bedtime.  Don’t even know if it has a “sleep” for the Sansa, as I was just turning it off myself. 

My needs are very simple - it plays music, I’m happy…!  ;->  So it takes a lot to make me *un*happy - like it stopped playing music…!  :frowning:

Well, the last resort didn’t work.  The clock radio recognizes the Sansa (or the Sansa recognizes the clock radio) to the extent of turning on if I put it in the dock when it is off.  No sound through the speakers, no response to the remote.  Guess I’ll go back to the trouble ticket I put in, refer them to this thread, and take the battery out so I can get the serial number to give them.  Not a lot of hope on my part, though, unless there’s some kind of reset only a tech can tell me.  At least it still works standalone.

If it turns out I have to buy a whole new mp3-clock radio combination, any recommendations…?  :cry:  (I’m scared to get another Sansa and plug it into the clock radio, or another clock radio and plug the Sansa into it, as I’m afraid I’d just wind up with another semi-dead electronic item - 'cause I don’t know which killed which…!  :angry: )

I found this:

http://forums.sandisk.com/sansa/board/message?board.id=e200&thread.id=26270&view=by\_date\_ascending&page=1

But it looks like it’s for v1?  It looks like maybe it’s just the format thing that I can’t use on v2?  (Can’t tell exactly from the message, reluctant to try it unless I know it’s OK for v2.)

The e200 series v2 devices boot up with a SanDisk logo with reflection, and a blue sansa logo below that.

The v2 devices have a different processor than the v1.  The v2 processor is the same as in the Fuze and Clip, the Austria Microsystems processor.  This new family of devices uses a firmware binary file, compared to the mi4 format firmware of the earlier machines.

Bob  :smileyvery-happy:

Thanks, Bob.  I appreciate all your help.

I’m going to try just one more time.  I’m going to pull the SD card out and format it separately.  I’m not going to put it back in until I’ve done all the other steps (not that it’s where the offending tracks ever were - I’m just going to do belt and suspenders, one last old college try…).  Then I’m going to format the internal memory via Windows and via the Sansa itself.  Then I’m going to do a reset with the power button.  Then I’m going to take the battery out and put it back in.  Then I’m going to install the firmware *again*.  Then I’m going to do a reset with the power button.  Then I’m going to take the battery out and put it back in.  Then I’m going to format the internal memory via Windows and via the Sansa itself.  Then I’m going to copy over the backup that never had the offending tracks in it, from a *location* that never had a backup with the offending tracks in it.  Then I’m going to unplug the clock radio and take the batteries out and leave them out a *long* time.  I’m going to take the battery out of the remote and leave it out a *long* time, just in case I am in the Twilight Zone. Then I am going to put the batteries back in the clock radio and remote, plug the clock radio in, hold my breath, and plug the Sansa in.

If this does not work, I am *not* going to throw them across the room, as the Sansa still works with the earbuds and the clock radio still works as a clock radio.  I am sure going to *want* to, though.

Well, somebody congratulate me for my self-restraint. The clock radio and the Sansa are still in one piece.

As you may have guessed, after doing my best to take it back to square one, and copying songs so pristine they had a date of last November, long, long before I made my big mistake, they *still* do not play together nicely.  And they still work separately just fine. 

In other words, exactly the same as when I first observed the odd behavior.

Well, I have an open trouble ticket.  I guess I’ll go add this latest piece of information to it, FWIW.  And prepare myself to buy another mp3 player/clock radio combo, probably… 

Huh.  Did some Googling.  Rhapsody is related to RealPlayer in some way?  I wonder if there’s anything I could do through *that* that might convince it I do not have and never *have* had a subscription to Rhapsody, and that those tracks I bought have nothing to do with Rhapsody…?

*Not* that the tracks from Amazon are on it now - I’m never touching them again…!  I just suspect they are the genesis of the problem…

Say, do you suppose there’s anything I could do through the Rhapsody software to straighten it out?  I’ve never had the software installed, never had a subscription, know nothing about it, but I continue to grasp at straws…

If you have already tried re-installing the firmware and also formatted the device, then all the other junk should have dissappeared and it should not know anything about any subscription music (like from Rhapsody) unless you actually put some back onto it.

Although it is possible that something broke for the dock connection in the player, overall though, since it sounds like the player is working correctly otherwise (when not connected to the Timex) I’d suspect the problem is with the Timex clock radio and not your Sansa player itself.

In all honesty, since the problem only occurs when connecting to the Timex, the very first thing I would have done was to replace the Timex (and not even have bothered trying to fix a problem that was not occuring with the player itself otherwise).

I think you are probably right about that.  I’m just not totally convinced that I totally took the Sansa back to square one, plus there was that fleeting Rhapsody message on the Sansa itself (and I never saw any reason the clock radio should care about Rhapsody - *not* that I ever had any subscription music on the Sansa at all!).  It seems to me the clock radio should be back to square one as well, having been unplugged with its battery out for over an hour, but who knows.  I hate problems that involve multiple items.

I’m currently trying to locate another v2 e280 (which turns out to be difficult) and clock radio.  I’m afraid to  get a new clock radio and plug the old Sansa into it, in case Sansa breaks the new clock radio.  Same for a new Sansa with the old clock radio.  Besides, I have concluded that the e280 is the most perfect mp3 player ever made and I wouldn’t mind having a spare, if I can locate a v2.

Well, I just solved my problem by locating one of the few remaining v2’s and ording it.  Now for the clock radio.

Elvis is in the building!  Great find!  Is it an e280?

Bob  :smileyvery-happy:

Yes, it is, or so I am assured.  One of the last ones on the planet, it seems.

I think I’m going to get the Sansa dock for the old one and hook it up to my stereo.  (This is working on the assumption that the clock radio is the problem - I’ll cross my fingers when I plug the Sansa into it…!)

Thanks again - so much! - for the help.  If I hadn’t asked here, I wouldn’t even have known that I definitely wanted a v2.  And I wouldn’t have updated my firmware…  ;->

Well, I did a dumb-dumb, but what else is new…!  Bought the clock radio for a reasonable price (fortunately - people are starting to list ridiculous prices on both the clock radio and the e280), but *then* I saw this combo - free Sansa!  (Even if it is 2G and refurbished.)  Phooey.  Posting link in case anyone else is interested.

Speaking of cool clock radios, here’s my pride and joy, although in a new incarnation (never could fix the old one -parts issue - still trying - but did get a duplicate).

http://groups.google.com/group/rec.antiques.radio+phono/browse\_thread/thread/29da20771025ae8/4b2260013af5b5cf?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&q=ge+computeradio#4b2260013af5b5cf

Received my new clock radio and e280, which play together nicely! I am a happy, though poorer, camper.  I really missed hearing a few of my favorite songs at bedtime.

Now I just need to get up my nerve to update the firmware on the e280… (Which I am downloading as I type - I have the best of intentions, though much trepidation.  After all, right now IT WORKS…!  ;-> )

I’m thinking about getting the least expensive e-series I can find to try with the old (possibly insane) clock radio - do the lower-capacity ones have v1 and v2 like the e280?  Darn, I wish I’d ordered that combo I mentioned in my previous post, but I didn’t see it until I’d already ordered just the clock radio.  Ah well, such is life…

 'Course, I *could* try the old Sansa with the new clock radio, and vice versa, but I’m petrified I’d wind up with *two* non-functioning combos instead of one…!

I’m going to put the clock radio in the spare bedroom in any case - it’s a *good* clock radio, even without the Sansa. 

Woo hoo!  I am much poorer, but I have two functioning clock radio/Sansa combinations!

Just received my second v2 refurb (I am now the proud possessor of *three* e280’s…!) and it plays nicely with the original clock radio!  And both the refurbs were pristine - only way you can tell is the “REFURB” on the back.

I’m not terribly unhappy about the outcome (except for the money, of course), because now I have my bedroom unit, I am giving my husband the other unit for his garage (I’m copying music he likes to it as I type), and I have a dock on order to connect the original Sansa to the family room stereo, where I expect to enjoy it a great deal.  When 16G cards get cheap enough, I’m going to get one for the family room unit and get absolutely all the music I own on that one.  I also ordered a couple of spare batteries, because I want my Sansas to last forever.

I still don’t know if the original will *work* with the dock, of course, but I suspect it will.  I think something in the original clock radio got set to reject that particular Sansa and was impossible to reset.  That clock radio has always been a little touchy, even before the falling out with the first Sansa.

The two refurb Sansas are newer firmware than was on the original when I bought it, but not .16a.  And I’m leaving that just the way it is, because it WORKS…!  ;->

Thanks again to everyone for your help - especially for leading me to recognize that what I wanted was a *v2*, and that if I wanted to get one (or two…!) I’d better do it *now*! 

Oops - meant to hit “accepted solution” on the one just above this - hit it without looking, not realizing I’d run this to four pages…!  If a mod notices, could you switch the “accepted solution” designation to that one? 

Message Edited by vncoffman on 06-12-2009 05:12 PM