I have a e280 with the latest firmware update. I recently bought a Sandisk 8GB microSDHC card. I filled the card with about 2000 songs and put it in the player. For some reason, the player recognizes and plays about 1830 of the songs but not the remaining 170. When I look at the player contents under info it shows the memory card as full but only lists 1830 songs. However, if I look at the contents of the card through either Windows Explorer or WMP, all of the 2000 songs are in fact on the card. I’ve also noticed that the 170 songs that the player is not recognizing (but that are definitely on the card) are the ones that were the last ones copied onto the card. I’ve tried reformatting the card and then reloading the songs but I get the same problem. Any ideas?
Doesn’t the OF only allow for 2 gb additional memory (of only music no video) on a Micro SD card? Seems like I read that…I’m going to be ticked if it allows more I just ordered a 2 gb card. Rockbox allows up to 12 gb.
V1 only allowed 2GB. I think the limit is higher on v2.
My e280 (for my daughter, actually) won’t be here until tomorrow so I can’t speak from experience. However, I’ve been studying these forum posts for a few days to get ready for problems if they do occur.
I know that it is quite likely that I’ll experience the very same problem that you are having. So, let me share your pain. I’ll stick my nose in with a response since you don’t seem to be getting many hits.
If I encountered that problem whereby approximately 1800 songs are recognized and approximately 200 are not, I would first try rebuilding the database. Look at this forum post to see how that is done: Database Refresh in e200
If that doesn’t work, I’d try asking some of the gurus here if there are maximum file restrictions. Like, is there a maximum number of file names that can be contained in a directory (folder)? Do we have to break it up into subdirectories (folders)?
I hope the Sansa e280 v2 is not like a RCA MP3 player that I threw into the garbage. It would accept removable flash memory cards but the cards were a waste because the player could only access a limited number of files regardless of much storage you had. In other words, it had about a 256 file limit even though it could max out at 2 gigabytes of memory. So, I had only one choice and that was pick my favorite 256 songs. Even at 320Kbps CBR, there was all sorts of room left over that I couldn’t access. I really, really, really, hope that the Sansa players don’t max out at approximately 1700 entries! Surely not. I think I’ve read in these forums that people have put more songs that that on their players. Although, maybe they were using the Rockbox firmware instead of the Sansa firmware to get more than a limited number of songs on the player? I don’t know. It will take my daughter and me several weeks to get 1700 songs converted from CD-ROM for my daughter’s Sansa so I won’t really even get close to any of those limits for quite some time.
Are you using MTP (Media Transfer Protocol) mode for connection to the PC or are you using MSC (Mass Storage Class) for connection to the PC. Are you using Windows Explorer or Windows MediaPlayer 11 (WMP) to transfer songs?
Based on what I’m reading in these forums, MTP using WMP 11 gives the best odds for success–even when deleting that mentioned file for refreshing the database. Once the Sansa gets here, I’m planning on using WMP11 through MTP until I discover that method churns up as much muddy water as using MSC through Windows Explorer.
Please let us know if you find a fix. I’m especially interested because if ever anything can go wrong a device, it surely happens to me at one time or another.
Good luck. Now, I’m just waiting for FedEx to get here tomorrow. (They say they will deliver a standard shipment on Saturday. Saturday? I guess so. We’ll see.)
Message Edited by Rusty on 04-04-2008 07:42 PM
Message Edited by Rusty on 04-04-2008 07:43 PM
Which mode you use depends on what kind of a user you are.
I use nothing but MSC because it does what I tell it–nothing more or less. You drag a folder over, you look at it Windows Explorer, there it is. Just like a USB drive that happens to also play music when you unplug it.
I rip my CDs separately into my computer first, or I use a program (like iTunes) that will rip mp3s directly into a folder on the Sansa because it thinks the Sansa is one more drive on my computer. Which, in MSC mode, is all it is.
MTP is for people who like automation or, unfortunately, have bought music files with DRM (Digital Rights Mortification). Windows Media Player via MTP mode is needed to send over the DRM information. It also synchs playlists (sometimes automatically, because people haven’t checked their settings) and organizes your music library if you want that kind of organization. Personally, I think it creates more problems than it solves, because so much of it is automated.
There are programs like Media Monkey that will do playlists in MSC mode. I’m not a big playlister, so I don’t bother.
From what I read, Windows Media Player and MTP mode also won’t use the MicroSD card because, heaven forbid, you might move that card to another unit–maybe your phone–that wasn’t digitally licensed to use the DRM files. Or something like that.
For easy, transparent, logical use, MSC mode is the way to go. It’s MTP mode that gives people trouble, mostly because Windows Media Player default settings lock down the music with DRM.
I have tried rebuilding the database by deleting mtable.sys. I have also tried deleting and adding files to the microSDHC card in both MTP and MSC modes. Nothing works. No matter what I try, I can’t get the player to recognize the last approximately 200 songs that are copied onto the card. (And each time I delete the songs and start over, it is always a different set of 200 songs that isn’t recognized – namely, the last 200 songs copied onto the card.) The player is behaving as if there is either (a) a maximum number of files (songs) that it can access (no matter how much memory you have available) or (b) an issue with accessing a certain part of the microSDHC card (namely, the portion of the card where the last 200 songs get copied into). (a) doesn’t seem to make sense because why have the capability to add memory if you can’t access everything on the memory?, and (b) doesn’t seem to make sense because if there was a “bad” sector of the microSDHC card then I would expect that the files themselves either wouldn’t be able to be copied onto the card or else when copied they would be corrupted in some way (e.g., bad ID3 tags, etc.) I’m baffled.
I’m equally baffled. You ought to call 1-866-SANDISK and see what they say.
There could be something wrong with the ID3 tags on one of the songs, possibly prematurely ending the refresh database process before it can get to the later files. Use a tag editor like Mp3tag to check the tags. Set Mp3tag to use ID3v2.3 - ISO-8859-1 format. Pay special attention to the comment tags. Sometimes invalid characters can lock up the database refresh, though I think that bug was fixed in the latest firmware update. Even so, there could still be a bug causing a premature abort instead of a lockup, I suppose. It’s simple enough to just blank out all the comment tags in one go. I would say just delete the last song the player recognizes, but I have no idea what the sequence is in terms of which files get parsed first during the database refresh.
What is the version number of your firmware? If it’s 3.something, you have a v2, which is theoretically compatible with the Sandisk 8GB microSDHC card (one would think). If it’s 1.something, you have a v1 player, which is theoretically incompatible with the microSDHC cards (sans Rockbox, that is). It could be that you have a v1 player and it is only seeing the first 2GB of data on the card, but that seems improbable. Verify that the player detects the full 8GB of memory through the Settings -> Info menu.
I know on CD ROMS there is a limit to the number of files you can put in a single folder (99, I think). There is also a limit in FAT32 (you did format in FAT32, didn’t you? FAT16 would be limited to 2GB per partition, as I recall), but it has more to do with the size of the folder information file than with any arbitrary file count limitation. It wouldn’t hurt to try putting the extra tunes in a separate folder, e.g. Music2\Artist\Album, etc. instead of Music\Artist\Album.
I checked the ID3 tags via Mp3tag and didn’t see any problems (all of the comment tags were blank). I have a v2 player and the latest firmware (3.01.16A) And I did format the card in FAT32.
@spiralarchitect wrote:
I have tried rebuilding the database by deleting mtable.sys. I have also tried deleting and adding files to the microSDHC card in both MTP and MSC modes. Nothing works. No matter what I try, I can’t get the player to recognize the last approximately 200 songs that are copied onto the card. (And each time I delete the songs and start over, it is always a different set of 200 songs that isn’t recognized – namely, the last 200 songs copied onto the card.) The player is behaving as if there is either (a) a maximum number of files (songs) that it can access (no matter how much memory you have available) or (b) an issue with accessing a certain part of the microSDHC card (namely, the portion of the card where the last 200 songs get copied into). (a) doesn’t seem to make sense because why have the capability to add memory if you can’t access everything on the memory?, and (b) doesn’t seem to make sense because if there was a “bad” sector of the microSDHC card then I would expect that the files themselves either wouldn’t be able to be copied onto the card or else when copied they would be corrupted in some way (e.g., bad ID3 tags, etc.) I’m baffled.
No doubt I agree with everything you say. If nothing else, we definitely think alike.
Just got the e280 v2 yesterday so I haven’t had much time to mess with it. It’s actually for my daughter. Just got her computer tweaked and her tutored so she’s now loading stuff on her own.
But … while we loaded a few songs together, I was thinking about your post. We named our files as most people do I guess like: Artist-Album-Track#-TrackTitle.mp3. As we know, those file names get to be quite lengthy. Multiply that times 1700 to 2000. I wonder if that causes a problem? Or, maybe not. The Sansa organizes by ID3. Maybe it actually ignores the file name. But, how could it entirely ignore the file name?
What if that is the problem? Too many total characters? I wouldn’t know any way of checking it except to rename a few hundred files to something short and see if I could then cram more songs on there. There’s lots of renaming utilities. You’ve probably got a few already.
I agree with your thinking, though. It’s not specific songs that are a problem because now you find that it’s a different bunch of songs that don’t show.
I’m sad to say, it actually seems as though you’ve discovered that there is simply a maximum number of files that it can manage. Maybe the gurus in these forums have some other ideas.
So, you can address 85% of the sectors. I wonder if it will be that way for all cards? In other words, I wonder if every plug-in card can only be addressed to 85% of it’s capacity? Or, maybe it’s just the max size of 8GB that presents the limitation?
There is hope, though. I have heard that the Rockbox firmware might some day be ported to v2 models. Have you heard of Rockbox? I don’t know much about it. There’s links in this forum to other forums on the web. Rumors are something like 16GB cards attainable in a Rockbox firmware in the e280 v2.
Or … maybe a future firmware update from Sandisk is all we need?
I’ll keep watching this thread. I won’t be able to help much for weeks. It will take that long for my daughter to fill the 8GB internal. I’m not shopping for a plug-in card until she’s reached that limit.
I have run into the same problem. I have an e280 v2 (firmware V03.01.16A) w/ a 16gb microsd. Internal memory has 2019 music files, and there are another 4104 on the microsd. However, after rebuilding mtable.sys, I only get about 3900 music files (it changes, based on deleting and/or copying files, but seems to always include all files stored in internal memory). I noticed that mtable.sys stayed a consistent 1313kb. As an experiment, I deleted all files from the internal memory, just using my microsd, and I still get approx 3900 music files (3892). I double-checked all ID3 tag info - all tags are ID3v2.3, and “comment” fields for all the files are blank.
It appears that there is currently a maximum database size, no matter how much storage you have available. I sure hope SanDisk can fix this soon!
@capecodvalet wrote:
I have run into the same problem. I have an e280 v2 (firmware V03.01.16A) w/ a 16gb microsd. Internal memory has 2019 music files, and there are another 4104 on the microsd. However, after rebuilding mtable.sys, I only get about 3900 music files (it changes, based on deleting and/or copying files, but seems to always include all files stored in internal memory). I noticed that mtable.sys stayed a consistent 1313kb. As an experiment, I deleted all files from the internal memory, just using my microsd, and I still get approx 3900 music files (3892). I double-checked all ID3 tag info - all tags are ID3v2.3, and “comment” fields for all the files are blank.
It appears that there is currently a maximum database size, no matter how much storage you have available. I sure hope SanDisk can fix this soon!
There is a 4000 (+/-) total track database limit, including both memory sources.
Help from SanDisk unfortunately, will not be forthcoming as this model has been discontinued for some time and there won’t be any further firmware updates.
4000 song limit, but support for enough memory to handle 6000? That’s a shame.
Anyone know if Rockbox will handle 6000+ songs?
D’OH … I did some searches and see that Rock Box doesn’t (yet?) support e280 v2. Oh, well. Anyone know what the database capacity is for the Sansa View?
The Fuze (e200 series NextGen) just got a firmware update raising the same database limit up to 8000. The Fuze is alos available in 8Gb and has the micro-SD card slot too. It will even play FLAC & OGG files, thanks to a previous firmware update.
I still prefer my e200 series players though. And with all the complaints and lack of firmware update support for the View, I’d think twice before going that route.
The Fuze (e200 series NextGen) just got a firmware update raising the same database limit up to 8000. The Fuze is alos available in 8GB and has the micro-SD card slot too. It will even play FLAC & OGG files, thanks to a previous firmware update. They even added folder navigation.
I still prefer my e200 series players though. And with all the complaints and lack of firmware update support for the View, I’d think twice before going that route.
The Fuze (e200 series NextGen) just got a firmware update raising the same database limit up to 8000. The Fuze is also available in 8GB and has the micro-SD card slot too. It will even play FLAC & OGG files, thanks to a previous firmware update. They even added folder navigation.
I still prefer my e200 series players though. And with all the complaints and lack of firmware update support for the View, I’d think twice before going that route.
