I load music from by CD’s and no problem, but when I go back to load more, the ones I did earlier disappear. I know this is just something stupid that I’m doing, but someone help me please!
For someone to help you, more information is needed. How are you loading the music? By syncing with WMP or some other program or are you dragging-and-dropping?
What USB mode is the player in – autodetect, MTP or MSC?
Are all the artist, album, title, etc. info filled in in the song file?
I’m using WMP and ripping the cd’s and then synching them onto the clip by dragging and dropping them.
Avoid syncing, and instead force MSC mode and drag the files in yourself. The issue is that if you connect to the computer in MSC mode, you cannot see the files added by WMP in MTP mode. It’s dumb, but unavoidable, which is why you should just force MSC all the time.
Perhaps, if you could clarify what you mean by “disappear”. Are the previous transfers not showing up when viewed from the PC, or are they missing on the device?
Lately, I’ve been using WiMP both in “automatic” and “manual” sync modes, with different devices. For a good while, it’s been simple to plug in each device and “let the fur fly” by just letting WiMP update podcast playlists, and swap a few albums when needed. Have to have a little variety on occasion.
Swapping USB modes is a common choice, as many do indeed like to use MSC mode, simply grouping albums over. Most don’t realize that the same options are available in MTP mode, as the interface was designed (MTP) to allow manual drag and drop just as in MSC, where the device is addressed as a flash drive.
The main point of contention is that files transferred in one mode cannot be seen from the PC when the device is communicating in the alternate mode. Wiht the Sansa, this is the case. The solution, naturally, is to stick with one mode that works best for you.
There are several misconceptions concerning using WiMP and either mode. WiMP can transfer and sync music files using either mode, it’s just the way the device is displayed that may change. With the Sansa, you’ll see the Internal and External memories listed at the right (the icon), as alternating separate devices, swapped by clicking on next device. Right here, if you are adding tracks to the sync list on the right, we might have your problem. If the device icon is inadvertently clicked, and you have a microSD card mounted in the Sansa, your files “disappeared” onto the external memory, and you won’t see them when looking at the device later, unless you click over to the card.
MTP mode is needed for protected content such as Rhapsody, Napster, Audible, or Overdrive audiobooks, for example. The license data is transferred over with the files. Building playlists is simple with WiMP, as you may have found. In MTP, you actually can enjoy the same simplicity using Windows Explorer, just as you would use when doing everything manually, in MSC perhaps, as many folks like to do. In MTP, you have a cool playlist option available via a right-click of the mouse.
MTP is a virtual mode (MSC is the core of it, actually) supported by Windows Media Player. You don’t have to use the player to use MTP mode, as you still can drag and drop till the cows come home.
While I’m sitting here, drinking the coffee in my evil lair, and watching several radar feeds at once (the wet season is beginning in northern California), I better mention another possibility, the dreaded Auto Detect function. Nothing wrong with it, actually, since its purpose is to try and help the majority of users simple connect when plugging in to different PCs. If you are plugging in to the same computer as your music files reside on, there’s a simple little “evil” hiding in there:
Murphy’s Law, of course. Sometimes, the computer might be moody, and the device will try and solve a communications isssue automatically, my swapping to MSC mode. If this happens, the Device Manager is where you can repair the driver.
Before delving too deep into that one, if you are curious as to the current communications mode, simply open Windows Explorer (My Computer or Computer), and look at the Sansa. If it is listed under “other” as a single device, you’re in MTP, and if it is listed as a flash drive (or two) with drive letters assigned, you’re in MSC. How would the bobster recommend solving this quirk? Simly go to Settings > USB Mode > (choose one) MSC or MTP , and leave Auto Detect disabled.
In these cases, it’s a registry error on the PC that is the real culprit. Hey, driver glitches are commonplace, as USB gizmos proliferate that bus. Well, there’s more to that, as Windows Update makes changes, and software vendors offer updates regularly. Any one of these things can make changes to your registry entries, and the Sansa might get “punted”.
Bob :smileyvery-happy:
