Sansa Fuze Firmware Update

So, let me get this straight, you want the firmware to be open source? So that means that SanDisk releases the source, and a few days later, they get an e-mail from DaRKLoRD73 or whoever saying, “Hey, I fixed your firmware, here it is.” And SanDisk says, “Hey Great! Thanks!” And they put it on their website for everyone to download. And then when it screws up everybodys Fuze because it’s poorly written or purposely has a bug or virus or whatever, do you think people are going to go screaming at DaRKLoRD73? No. They’re going to go screaming at SanDisk. But hey, they should thoroughly check it before they post it on their site. Well, if they have to thoroughly check it, why don’t they just write it themselves?

Dose anybody know how to downgrade? I updated my fuze and now my pause button doesn’t work.

I haven’t heard of the latest firmware killing the pause function. But if you want to try anyway, do a manual install (the updater software only installs the latest firmware, and even then only if you currently have an older firmware). Instructions and links to the previous firmware are in the first post of this thread (click on the “All Regions” link for your version, v1 or v2).

@rookcifer wrote:

Sandisk,

 

I think it would be in your (and our) best interest if you would open-source the firmware so that we can have real hackers fix these issues (the issues would be fixed within a week if you let the world see the code).  Ever noticed how quick the bug fix turn around time is for open-source projects like Firefox or the Linux kernel?  Much better than anything in the closed source world where limited resources and manpower are the norm.

 

Open source = future.  Many cell phone manufacturers have already figured this out with Android.

 

P.S.  Can anyone tell me what the latest stable, working firmware is?  Has the Replay Gain issue been fixed yet?

Message Edited by rookcifer on 12-02-2009 03:32 AM

And the evil Micro$oft will release virus for sansa, so people who hate ipod, has no where to go, except to the sh1tty zune =p

Love my Sansa Clip+ and Fuze; but you have obviously not tried the Zune HD before you flamed it.  It’s also a righteous piece of equipment.

@hgoldner wrote:
Love my Sansa Clip+ and Fuze; but you have obviously not tried the Zune HD before you flamed it.  It’s also a righteous piece of equipment.

Nah, I tried my friend’s Zune HD several times, I must admit that it’s quite good, but there is only 1 reason that keeps me from buying it, because it’s made by micro$oft, it’s evil                  Years ago, when I still young, I got Creative Zen Touch as a birthday present I really love it, adore it, up until micro$oft and their cruel “play for sure” propaganda ruined my beloved mp3 player firmware, and made my Zen Touch player sounds horrible, I can’t even downgrade the firmware, so I left my beloved creative zen touch to eat dust in the warehouse, from that moment on, I realized one thing for sure, that micro$oft is evil, very2 evil, do not be seduced by any products they released =)

@paleskin wrote:


@hgoldner wrote:
Love my Sansa Clip+ and Fuze; but you have obviously not tried the Zune HD before you flamed it.  It’s also a righteous piece of equipment.


 

Nah, I tried my friend’s Zune HD several times, I must admit that it’s quite good, but there is only 1 reason that keeps me from buying it, because it’s made by micro$oft, it’s evil                  Years ago, when I still young, I got Creative Zen Touch as a birthday present I really love it, adore it, up until micro$oft and their cruel “play for sure” propaganda ruined my beloved mp3 player firmware, and made my Zen Touch player sounds horrible, I can’t even downgrade the firmware, so I left my beloved creative zen touch to eat dust in the warehouse, from that moment on, I realized one thing for sure, that micro$oft is evil, very2 evil, do not be seduced by any products they released =)

What a trauma with M$ has had this guy…

Well, I don’t think they’re evil. They just try to make the most money they can, without caring about the way they do it. They have they particularly effective strategy known as the 3 Es, “Embrace, Extend, Extinguish”, which has been very noxious to the computing ecosystem, but has lead MS to the top of the software industries. 

I personally don’t like the way the make money, nor their products i’ve tried (the vast majority of them have, at best, mediocre quality, but they solve it just making huge efforts into tying the user in the ignorance and letting him think there’s no alternative to their software). but that doesn’t mean they are evil. They’re there just for bussiness. And creating artificial need for their products is one ofthe things they can do better. But even Apple beats them on this…

@odellkevin wrote:
So, let me get this straight, you want the firmware to be open source? So that means that SanDisk releases the source, and a few days later, they get an e-mail from DaRKLoRD73 or whoever saying, “Hey, I fixed your firmware, here it is.” And SanDisk says, “Hey Great! Thanks!” And they put it on their website for everyone to download. And then when it screws up everybodys Fuze because it’s poorly written or purposely has a bug or virus or whatever, do you think people are going to go screaming at DaRKLoRD73? No. They’re going to go screaming at SanDisk. But hey, they should thoroughly check it before they post it on their site. Well, if they have to thoroughly check it, why don’t they just write it themselves?

LOL.  Obviously you don’t understand and I don’t feel like explaining the merits of open-source.  Let’s just say that Rockbox is open and much more feature rich than most standard firmwares.  If the firmware is open it does NOT mean that Sandisk has to “approve” the changes.  It will fall back to the community, much like it does with Rockbox.

At any rate, I see here were are almost 3 months after the replaygain bug was found and still no fix.  i guarantee if the firmware was open, it would have been fixed a long time ago. I bet Sandisk has like one guy working on the firmware part time.

Message Edited by rookcifer on 12-11-2009 12:21 AM

rookcifer wrote: 

 

 

At any rate, I see here were are almost 3 months after the replaygain bug was found and still no fix.  i guarantee if the firmware was open, it would have been fixed a long time ago. I bet Sandisk has like one guy working on the firmware part time.

Message Edited by rookcifer on 12-11-2009 12:21 AM

Then you obviously have no clue how business works.  Or what Sandisk is for that matter. You are dealing with an ENORMOUS Multi-National Company, that is responsible for THOUSANDS of products, not the least of which are their mp3 players ALL 6 of the active ones (assuming the View and Clip are still active products). So the Development team is working on 6 products, AT LEAST. So you can probably figure that fixes take time.

 

AND Oh yeah… The Firmware Release Schedule is based on a 3 month rotation. So Here we are 3 months out and no fix yet… BE PATIENT! 

I don’t care about how busy they are or how many projects they have.  The fact remains if the firmware was open this would have been fixed by now.

@conversionbox wrote:

Then you obviously have no clue how business works. 

You have a point about big corporations possibly taking more time for certain things.

Many other big corporations utilize enthousiast though for beta testing their software (including firmware) catching many issues before finalizing a release.

I’m quite sure that the more advanced users (like many of the people here on the forum) would be happy to test and report on new versions knowing they are testing a beta and not expecting perfection. This way, testing is done on a far bigger scale than Sandisk’s engineers or Q&A can ever do themselves.

The result will be better software.

Message Edited by 7o9 on 12-11-2009 02:52 AM

7o9 wrote:


@conversionbox wrote:


Then you obviously have no clue how business works. 


 

You have a point about big corporations possibly taking more time for certain things.

 

Many other big corporations utilize enthousiast though for beta testing their software (including firmware) catching many issues before finalizing a release.

 

I’m quite sure that the more advanced users (like many of the people here on the forum) would be happy to test and report on new versions knowing they are testing a beta and not expecting perfection. This way, testing is done on a far bigger scale than Sandisk’s engineers or Q&A can ever do themselves.

 

The result will be better software.

Message Edited by 7o9 on 12-11-2009 02:52 AM

I have thought about that before, and agree it would be a good idea UNTIL the day when a firmware beta is released that is nothing but a brick. Some testing would need to be done internally to ensure that the player is not ruined by the beta, and we still play the waiting game. 

I would consider Trekstor a big corporation, and this is exactly what they did. They are the largest manufacturer of DAP’s and Hard drives in Germany.

They utilized the user base to test FW releases for them and take ideas from us to implement into the FW. A feature I asked for was put into the FW. Talk about creating brand loyalty! I would have bought ANYTHING from them after that, but their supplier went out of business and they no longer produce that wonderfull DAP.

Now it DID take almost a year for them to start doing this after the Vibez was released but once they did they were releasing updates every week, clearly marked BETA. A dev from Trekstor was on the forum asking for input. 

Here’s the thread. Defector was the guy from Trekstor tweaking the FW for us in preparation for the release of the next product.

http://www.riovolution.org/thread/794;nocount

rookcifer wrote:
I don’t care about how busy they are or how many projects they have.  The fact remains if the firmware was open this would have been fixed by now.

You could be right, but since it ain’t gonna happen you might as well relax on the subject.

Ah, I see.  It looks like DaRKLoRD73 is linked via Google, and he may be busier purging the Dark Realm of evil with his Class 4 Plasma Rifle at the moment.  (Disclaimer:  Don’t bug the DaRKLoRD, as I am sure that the name was randomly chosen.)

Personally, I have faith in the engineers at SanDisk.  Over the last few years, I’ve seen many improvements both in software and in devices.  They are good folks, and they are doing their best , despite conspiracy theories, global warming, black helicopters, and occasional fried carafes at the office coffee machine.

New firmware releases must go through the requisite approval process.  That’s just the way it goes.  If an open source code makes your Sansa go poof, well, that’s all there is to it.  Official releases must be tested, as a manufacturer must deal with real, physical products, and a real, physical warranty to go with it.

Bob  (Battle ready!  Headphones on.)  :smileyvery-happy:

I am following the Sansa Fuze Firmware 02.02.28 download and installation instructions. When I get to • Once extracted, drag the file to the root directory of your Sansa Fuze. I clicked “my computer” and it shows Sansa Fuze 8GB listed under Other. When I try to drag the file to it, it will not let me. It will let me drag the file, but when I get to the Fuze I cannot drop it there. I have tried using the Sansa Updater, but it says “Sansa Updater is currently checking for updates… Please Wait” and never seems to find the update. My Fuze shows it is version 02.02.26, so I should need the update, right? How can I get it to work?

Make sure you’re in MSC mode before you try to drag-and-drop the firmware file.

Another thing, if you’re using XP, your device should be listed under “devices with removable storage”.

skhoffman wrote:

I am following the Sansa Fuze Firmware 02.02.28 download and installation instructions. When I get to • Once extracted, drag the file to the root directory of your Sansa Fuze. I clicked “my computer” and it shows Sansa Fuze 8GB listed under Other. When I try to drag the file to it, it will not let me. It will let me drag the file, but when I get to the Fuze I cannot drop it there. I have tried using the Sansa Updater, but it says “Sansa Updater is currently checking for updates… Please Wait” and never seems to find the update. My Fuze shows it is version 02.02.26, so I should need the update, right? How can I get it to work?

 

if you are in mtp mode drag the file to the internal memory directory.  

im on a v 2 2.0.26 or whatever it is also, but ive read that the 28 firmware has bugs so is there any reason to upgrade to it? does it fix anything with being able to get videos on it (which i still havent been able to do after trying like 8 methods)   what exactly is the replay gain, i dont think i need it really but just wondering what the pros and cons are of the new firmware

edit: (nevermind i found out what replay gain is) im ok without it but just wondering if anything else is improved with 28

Message Edited by mj76 on 12-15-2009 07:33 PM

The biggest improvements I see in the .28 firmware are related to video playback.

If you have a revision 2 Fuze, firmware version .26 should do just fine, unless video resume and bookmarking are needed.  Plus, these wee bugs:

Bugs Fixed:   

·         Rating info is lost following database refresh on songs loaded in microSD

·         Deleting video from microSD card doesn’t clear file from database

·         FM playback stops when microSD card is ejected

·         Device hangs if powered down during video playback

·         Some language strings are incorrect

·         Audiobook/Podcast count is not correct at Information screen

I didn’t notice that before, but the video resume isn’t specifically mentioned in the release notes.  It has been restored.

Bob  :smileyvery-happy: