Firmware Destroyed My Clip!

My Sansa Clip WAS working beautifully. Until I downloaded the firmware.

Now when I open the device in Windows I can see all my songs, but when I plug my headphones into it and try to play my music all the folders are empty.

Thanks for nothing Sansa. 

Try a system reset?  (On button in uppermost position for 10-15 seconds.)

Or try a reformat, using the Settings/format option (copy over any files you want to save to your computer first).

Hopefully, one or the other of these will work–do report back.

Ahhh…REFORMAT he says!!

Now THAT sounds like an option. I’ll give that a shot.

What blew me away yesterday was that I had this brand-new FUZE that will not respond to any inputs from the navigation buttons. All it will do is ‘Play All’. I downloaded the firmware to try and get the thing to work, to no avail.

It did, however, automatically jump to Language Selection - French, so now all the commands are in French. I’m returning the unit to Costco tomorrow.

After giving up on the FUZE I noticed it was time to recharge the battery in the Clip. When I plugged it in a pop-up appeared on my computer desktop saying that new firmware was available for the Clip and did I want to install it (?). So I clicked yes.

No big deal, right?

I’m starting to think that perhaps it installed the firmware for the FUZE into the Clip.

Is that even possible?

You can always try to manually reinstall the Clip firmware in MSC mode as outlined in the sticky threads above.

Message Edited by puddleglum on 12-03-2008 02:46 PM

@monkbiker wrote:

After giving up on the FUZE I noticed it was time to recharge the battery in the Clip. When I plugged it in a pop-up appeared on my computer desktop saying that new firmware was available for the Clip and did I want to install it (?). So I clicked yes.

 

No big deal, right?

 

I’m starting to think that perhaps it installed the firmware for the FUZE into the Clip.

 

Is that even possible?

I doubt the Updater could install the firmware for the Fuze onto the Clip. It isn’t that smart!

But you make a good argument for doing away with the Updater altogether and just updating manually when YOU deem it necessary!

Most of the ‘old-timers’ on this board (me included) hate the “Nag-Ware” behavior of the Updater. You’ll hear here first of any updates, and you can wait & see if any are any associated bugs with it, before you decide to update it or not.

The Sansa updater identifies the connected Sansa, and will display this information at the left side of the pop up window.

Now, I haven’t tried plugging in TWO Sansas, both with an early version of the firmware (both will be seen as needing an update), one a Clip, and one a Fuze, to see what happens.

I may warp the fabric of space and time.  Screeching tires may be heard outside as the traffic lights all turn green, and the radio may go dead.  It will be an interesting experiment.

It’s probably best to plug in one device for update at a time.

Bob  :stuck_out_tongue:

Message Edited by neutron_bob on 12-03-2008 07:58 PM

I found the “Format” command and started that running last night. After about 2 or 3 hours a message popped up saying “Not enough space for Music DB. Please free 30 MB.” There are no other messages or menu items, the unit shuts down after it displays that message.

When I plug the device into the USB port on my computer I can navigate to a “Format” command. Which leads me to my question. If I format my Clip that way, I’ll then need to re-install the software that was originally supplied with the unit.

Does SANSA have that software available on their site? Or does someone here have a link to that software along with some relatively ■■■■■-proof instructions on installing it?

1.  Format the device using the players GUI. 

2.  Put a few songs on the device first,  then unplug and see if it plays.

If that works,  then connect and fill the device up.

Somtimes if you format in MSC mode and fill to capacity,  the device wont have space available to build its database.

So try a power cycle after formatting to ensure the playse goes thru the “refresh database”  cycle at least once after the format.

Whoa! 2 or 3 _ HOURS _? Formatting only takes a few seconds. Any longer than that and there’s something wrong! I don’t have a Clip, so I can’t say for sure of there is an on-board Format function in the SETTINGS menu like there is on the Fuze & e200v2’s. If there is, that’s the best and simplest one to use.

The other way is to have Windows do it for you:

  • Connect in MSC mode.
  • Right-click on your player in Windows Explorer.
  • Select Format… from the context menu.
  • Make sure it set for file system FAT32 (should be on by default, but check anyway).
  • Do Not select the “Quick Format” option.
  • Click the Start button.
  • Verify that this is what you want to do and click OK.

Formatting will only delete/erase contenet put on by you, the user. It will not erase the firmware or any needed operating files, so it is safe. You will have to re-laod all of your music, etc. though, which can be a PITA. Thankfully you only have a 2GB Clip so it shouldn’t take long. :smiley:

Yes, it sat there for hours while I went and did some other things. I couldn’t get at any other menu’s so the on-board Format function was not an option.

Tapeworm - thanks! Your suggestion worked perfectly! It appears to be operating normally again. I put Robin Trower’s “Too Rolling Stoned” back on after the format just to see if it worked, and it did.

YOWZA!

:smileyvery-happy:

I’ll re-load my music and I should be good to go.

I appreciate your help. A lot. I had given up on it, really. 

You da man!

@tapeworm wrote:

Whoa! 2 or 3 _ HOURS _? Formatting only takes a few seconds. Any longer than that and there’s something wrong! I don’t have a Clip, so I can’t say for sure of there is an on-board Format function in the SETTINGS menu like there is on the Fuze & e200v2’s. If there is, that’s the best and simplest one to use.

 

The other way is to have Windows do it for you:

 

  • Connect in MSC mode.
  • Right-click on your player in Windows Explorer.
  • Select Format… from the context menu.
  • Make sure it set for file system FAT32 (should be on by default, but check anyway).
  • Do Not select the “Quick Format” option.
  • Click the Start button.
  • Verify that this is what you want to do and click OK.

 

Formatting will only delete/erase contenet put on by you, the user. It will not erase the firmware or any needed operating files, so it is safe. You will have to re-laod all of your music, etc. though, which can be a PITA. Thankfully you only have a 2GB Clip so it shouldn’t take long. :smiley:

 

It wasn’t firmware that destroyed my clip, I had a corrupted music file somewhere, I think, but the “search” function directed me here so I could format properly…many thanks :wink:

Ahha . . . “It was beauty that killed the beast.”

(From the last scene in King Kong) :smiley:

Ahhh . . . “It was beauty that killed the beast.”

(From the last scene in King Kong) :smiley:

:smileyvery-happy:

Your title reminded me of this!

Bob  :stuck_out_tongue:

I did the same thing.  I upgraded to the new firmware and the clip wouldn’t recognize any songs on the player.  It didn’t delete the songs, it just didn’t know they were there.  The problem is the music database didn’t refresh when the new firmware was installed.  What I did was just copy another song from my PC to the music directory on the clip.  The database then automatically refreshed and recognized all the songs that were on the player.  Problem solved.  I love my clip!

Tapeworm - I just searched for, and found this post from way back when. I followed your instructions AGAIN and fixed the same problem on both of my Sandisks. 

I also copied your instructions and saved them in a Notepad file for future reference.

Thank you again!!!

My pleasure monbiker! Glad to hear you were able to dig it up and solve your issue.