New Firmware Problem

After updating to the latest firmware, Windows Media Player tells me my device won’t play subscription music. Anybody have advice?

Also on Rhapsody: I can’t add a song unless I buy it. I assume that’s the same problem.

I just had the same problem with Rhapsody.  I had tried all of the solutions on the Rhapsody Help pages with no joy.  In fact, one of the steps said to deauthorize the device and reauthorize it.  Problem was, after the deauthorize, the function to reauthorize it did not appear. 

SOLUTION:  put the player in Automatic USB mode.  Voila! The Authorize function appeared as advertised and worked!  And subscription files can be transferred.

Some of the other steps including making sure the Fuze’s clock is correct, a Windoz update patch, and running a dll to fix something else may have also been necessary.  Hard to tell since I had already done the whole list of things to check with no success. 

I’ve not tried using Windoz Media Player to authorize or sync the Fuze, but first thing I’d try would be the Auto USB mode.  It was the first thing the Rhapsody support tech suggested after I told him I’d already run the whole playbook up to the reauthorize road block. 

Ooooops!  Probably should have been the first thing in the “try this” list.

If the device is in MSC mode, subscription or DRM transfers will not work, since MTP mode is required for the WMDRM-10 / Janus DRM system.

You can pop up a Windows Explorer window by pressing [Windows Key] + E, or My Computer, with the Sansa connected, to see which mode is active.

If the device lists with drive letter assigned, under Devices With Removable Media, the Sansa is in MSC mode.

If the device lists under Other, as a media player, the Sansa is in MTP mode.

In the Rhapsody 4 client, the Sansa lists in the left sources pane.  Note that if it appears listed in CAPITAL letters, the device is in MSC mode.  Transfers are indeed possible, but not Rhapsody To Go (subscription) tracks.  You can purchase tracks and transfer them as MP3 from Rhapsody, and pretend you’re on iTunes, while in MSC mode.

I love the To Go service, despite the goofy name.  If you switch your Sansa over to MTP, the To Go content, and the “authorize” function, will reappear.

Bob  :smileyvery-happy:

Since SanDisk packages the Rhapsody software with the Fuze and has integrated Rhapsody into the player, you would think that the MSC vs MTP mode issue would appear prominently in the instructions from both sources.

It would have taken minimal effort from SanDisk, Rhapsody, or both to do something smarter than just disappearing the Authorize function and refusing to transfer subscription media.  A message on the screen “Player must be in MTP or Automatic Mode to transfer Subscription music”  would have been a piece of cake to do and much more helpful. 

The half dozen or more “try this” steps on the Rhapsody help pages never mentioned that the first thing to check was USB mode. 

By the way, I’m almost positive that the transfers worked in MSC mode until Rhapsody &/or SanDisk updated software.  When I first got the Rhapsody software with a replacement Fuze, I’m sure I had put the Fuze in MSC mode.  Up to that point, I always used MSC mode because I preferred using Windoz Explorer to move ripped files to the player.  I tried downloading and transferring a few songs under their free trial period to see if I wanted to use Rhapsody.  Worked just fine.  Problem cropped later when files no longer played on Fuze and could not fix the problem by following steps on help pages.  By then, both Fuze and Rhapsody software had been updated.

Filed under “Now we know” and hopefully making its way to an instruction manual in the near future.

I don’t know about the updating of software, but I agree there should be a pop-up window. Rhapsody is a great idea and I really appreciate their huge library; I wish though, that they would make better program software. I’ve wondered if it is just our network but it is painfully slow to download songs onto my player. Also, errors often occur while downloading songs.