Sansafix, how close to a new firmware that fixes the song limit? (up from 4120)

I thought the alpha scrolling/search was the ‘toughy’.

Sansafix said on 10/3 at 2:09pm in response to Avalon’s post that immediately preceded it:

“The song limit is as you described,  we will raise it at the next update.”

I haven’t found anything yet after 10/3 that Sansafix reposted that conflicted with this statement, Sansa?

You’re right, he DID say that:

http://forums.sandisk.com/sansa/board/message?board.id=sansafuse&message.id=4910&query.id=126510#M4910

but I still wouldn’t be surprised if it wasn’t included in the next update.

We are working on it,  but it wont be in the next update,  more likely the following one.

It’s the biggy for me. Unfortunately, I didn’t find out about it until after purchase but in my defence, I never for a moment imagined that a player designed to have 40GB storage could be limited in such an odd way. My collection is already approaching 6000 tracks.

However, I’m heartened by the reasonably regular updates and hopefully the one after next won’t be too far away.

Thanks for the update Sansafix.

But I still would like some confirmation. When the limit is hit…any items added over and beyond the magic 4120 would not show up in ANY of the indexes? OR just not in the SONG index itself?

@sansafix wrote:
We are working on it,  but it wont be in the next update,  more likely the following one.

 

Are there any plans (I hope) to also release this ‘fix’ to the e200v2 series players?

There are no future updates to e200v2,  sorry.

The Fuze was originally designed to support 8 GB internal and up to 8 GB external content.

There is no a 16 GB card and we are working to upgrade the number of songs supported.

The best way to use the extra space of the larger card for now is to use higher quality content ie 256K or FLAC,  etc content.  This will improve the audio quality and still allow up to 4K songs.

Another option is to load more videos on the player.

The 4K limit will eventually come down,  but as I stated before,  its a longer term development effort.  

@sansafix wrote:

There are no future updates to e200v2,  sorry.

 

The Fuze was originally designed to support 8 GB internal and up to 8 GB external content.

 

There is no a 16 GB card and we are working to upgrade the number of songs supported.

 

The best way to use the extra space of the larger card for now is to use higher quality content ie 256K or FLAC,  etc content.  This will improve the audio quality and still allow up to 4K songs.

 

Another option is to load more videos on the player.

 

The 4K limit will eventually come down,  but as I stated before,  its a longer term development effort.  

 

In which case, I think the limitation (and it is a serious limitation) should be made made clearer to potential buyers by stating something like ‘supports up to 4120 songs’ in the product features. Every review I’ve read makes much of the fact that the Fuze will support 32GB cards which Sandisk is expected to produce. The vast majority of DAP users rip to rates which would allow much more than 4120 tracks on a 8GB Fuze with 16GB card, let alone a 32GB. I’m aware of no other DAP which provides the option of this much storage with such a low track limit.

Sorry, but to suggest that the best use of such storage is for video or high bit rate tracks is not helpful. People who rip to 256k or use FLAC on a portable device are a tiny minority and the Fuze is marketed as an audio device, not a PMP.

@sansafix wrote:

There are no future updates to e200v2,  sorry.

 

The Fuze was originally designed to support 8 GB internal and up to 8 GB external content.

 

There is no a 16 GB card and we are working to upgrade the number of songs supported.

 

The best way to use the extra space of the larger card for now is to use higher quality content ie 256K or FLAC,  etc content.  This will improve the audio quality and still allow up to 4K songs.

 

Another option is to load more videos on the player.

 

The 4K limit will eventually come down,  but as I stated before,  its a longer term development effort.  

 

OK, if the Fuze was only designed for 8 + 8, SanDisk obviously knew (even at that time) that they were going to develop the higher capacity cards (16 -32), so what did they have in mind market-wise for these larger cards? Surely not just cameras & cell phones!

Is there a newer, improved, super-duper Sansa model that’s waiting in the wings that will be able to take advantage of the technological jump in flash storage micro-memory cards?

C’mon Sansafix , give us a ‘teaser’. :wink:

@sansafix wrote:

There are no future updates to e200v2,  sorry.

 

The Fuze was originally designed to support 8 GB internal and up to 8 GB external content.

 

There is no a 16 GB card and we are working to upgrade the number of songs supported.

 

The best way to use the extra space of the larger card for now is to use higher quality content ie 256K or FLAC,  etc content.  This will improve the audio quality and still allow up to 4K songs.

 

Another option is to load more videos on the player.

 

The 4K limit will eventually come down,  but as I stated before,  its a longer term development effort.  

 

OK, if the Fuze was only designed for 8 + 8, SanDisk knew (even at that time) that they would be developing the larger capacity 16 - 32 GB cards. What did they have in mind, market-wise to be compatible with this technological jump in micro-memory card storage? Surely not just cell-phones and digital cameras with SD adaptors.

Is there a new, improved, super-duper Sansa model waiting in the wings?

C’mon Sansafix , give us a little ‘teaser’! We promise we won’t breath a word of it. :wink:

People who write bilge like that have no business acting as a spokesperson for the company.  They are doing a DISservice to the customers with idiotic statements provided as excuses rather than giving us some idea when this stupid design decision will be fixed.  Yes STUPID since, as previous post points out, SanDisk MAKES and markets memory and should have known that a 4K song limit was just plain dumb.  128k audio is overkill played thru anything likely to be connected to a portable player.  If your ears are over 25 years old you probably can’t hear the difference anyway.  No response would have better than his suggestions.

And give me a break!  I’ve worked in the electronics industry longer than I care to admit and already know the answer, but I’d like to hear a SanDisk response:  

How many programmer MINUTES are required to change the size of the table space for the song index and make sure the pointers can handle a 16 bit number?  If they haven’t already committed to yet another stupid design decision, I’d make the next version handle 16 bit numbers and allow the table space to grow as needed.  So you argue the table will get too big?  The problem occurs because of bigger memory so USE SOME OF IT. Duh! The table will only ever get as big as it needs to be and we’ll never have this conversation again.

Is anyone in SanDisk marketing or management monitoring any of this?

Message Edited by fbtjr1947 on 11-14-2008 06:20 PM

@fifer wrote:


@sansafix wrote:

 

The Fuze was originally designed to support 8 GB internal and up to 8 GB external content.

 

There is no a 16 GB card and we are working to upgrade the number of songs supported.

 

The 4K limit will eventually come down,  but as I stated before,  its a longer term development effort.  

 


In which case, I think the limitation (and it is a serious limitation) should be made made clearer to potential buyers by stating something like ‘supports up to 4120 songs’ in the product features. Every review I’ve read makes much of the fact that the Fuze will support 32GB cards which Sandisk is expected to produce.

:angry:If the song limitation was stated in the product description, I would have looked for something else.:angry: Since I’ve already bought it I’ll wait (a short while) for the limit to change. Hopefuly they will change so it will at least handle the 32GB card.

Message Edited by TXMike on 11-14-2008 07:19 PM

I see I’ve started up some trouble at the forum…didn’t mean to…

But since people are talking…I still would like to know  the answer to my previuos posts…is the limit of 4120 refer to just the song list/index…or will anything added over this limit also NOT show up in ANY index/listing, such as artist/album etc?

@sansafix wrote:
We are working on it, but it wont be in the next update, more likely the following one.

The 4K limit will eventually come down, but as I stated before, its a longer term development effort.

Could you please provide a rough time range for when the “following one” update could be expected? Could you please define/quantify what “longer term development effort” means?

I appreciate the good faith shown by your monitoring these forums, addressing issues, regularly updating/upgrading Firmware etc. I’m trying to see the pledge to correct this as glass half full. However, saying “longer term” really sets off alarm bells…

Finally, I take from this that there will not be a 16gb Fuze released anytime soon, since the file limit would surely have to be addressed for that release (otherwise the sd slot would be essentially useless). Any hints you can give would be helpful. :wink:

@txmike wrote:


:angry:If the song limitation was stated in the product description, I would have looked for something else.:angry: Since I’ve already bought it I’ll wait (a short while) for the limit to change. Hopefuly they will change so it will at least handle the 32GB card.

Message Edited by TXMike on 11-14-2008 07:19 PM

Me too. But we are where we are and can only hope that Sandisk see sense and prioritise this fix. FWIW, I see this not as an enhancement, but a fix. The current situation is unnacceptable for a high capacity DAP.

@fbtjr1947 wrote:
And give me a break!  I’ve worked in the electronics industry longer than I care to admit and already know the answer, but I’d like to hear a SanDisk response:  

 

How many programmer MINUTES are required to change the size of the table space for the song index and make sure the pointers can handle a 16 bit number?  If they haven’t already committed to yet another stupid design decision, I’d make the next version handle 16 bit numbers and allow the table space to grow as needed.  So you argue the table will get too big?  The problem occurs because of bigger memory so USE SOME OF IT. Duh! The table will only ever get as big as it needs to be and we’ll never have this conversation again.

Then maybe you will also realise that the Sansa DAPs use a bought in chipset that probably comes with all the low level software, including the  internal filesystem. It is possible, therefore, that the limit is not directly under Sandisk’s control, and maybe a matter of negotiation with AMS.

And if you have ever developed software for commercial products, you will realise that the ill thought out ‘2 minute hacks’ are the ones that most often cause the most trouble during regression testing and after product delivery.

So give Sansafix a break. There are many other product fora where manufacturer staff never darken the doors. At least Sandisk are listening and bringing out fixes.

Message Edited by daytona955 on 11-15-2008 10:47 AM

Not by the VIEW. They are ignoring every single comment about the VIEW since at least March, if not longer.

The View is an older product and has lower sound quality than the Fuze or Clip. My guess is that Sandisk might  release an updated version of the View with sound quality at least equal to the Fuze. Sandisk really needs a player with high sound quality that is a step up from the Fuze in terms of battery life and capacity. I hope an updated version of the View has sound quality at least equal to the Fuze, at least 50 hour battery life for music(or at least 10 hours for video) and a full sized SDHC card slot.

Message Edited by JK98 on 11-16-2008 01:07 AM

A fifty hour(!) battery?  Has anyone made a player that comes even close to that?  And a full size SDHC slot?  That thing would be a monster, not the cute little slim and trim device everyone seems to prefer these days.

I’m just glad to know my Fuze hasn’t been abandoned by its maker.  Though like others I await the raising of the song limit before I can even consider laying out the bucks for a 16gb card, which I’ll want to be able to use fully.

“A fifty hour(!) battery?  Has anyone made a player that comes even close to that?  And a full size SDHC slot?  That thing would be a monster, not the cute little slim and trim device everyone seems to prefer these days.”

Not a monster, but perhaps just slightly larger than the Fuze in two dimensions, but around twice the thickness. Not a monster, but not ultra slim. It would need a touch screen so that it could have a decent sized screen but also not be so large. It could also have a few tactile buttons on the side that are programmable for the most frequently used functions(to use while the touchscreen is in hold mode).There is already such a product(I won’t name it here) with a 2.5" touch screen. This product isn’t perfect, but it does have features that most other players lack, such as browsing by folders or by tags, very long battery life, high power output to the headphone jack that can power most full sized headphones adequately, and a full sized SDHC card slot. I would like to see Sandisk make a product to compete against it. If so, Sandisk’s product might be better, less expensive, and much more widely distributed.

“I’m just glad to know my Fuze hasn’t been abandoned by its maker.”

The Fuze is a good form factor for many who want something that is similar enough to an ipod Nano but also better and much less expensive. It doesn’t satisy the desires of all mp3 player users though. There are those who want large storage(perhaps 64 gigs or more) but also want a flash memory based player, perhaps one that is much better at playing video than the Fuze.  I guess Sandisk’s strategy for the Fuze is to gain market share especially via price. Some dealers sell the 4 gig Fuze for $70 or less. Now that the Fuze is priced so low, there is room for a player with longer battery life, a larger screen, much better video playback, a full sized SDHC card slot, and also sound quality at least as good as the Fuze. While the View may have seemed like a nice player when it was introduced, it seems a bit old and outdated now. I guess the sound quality of the View isn’t that bad, although compared to the sound quality of the Fuze it doesn’t seem to really hold up.

Message Edited by JK98 on 11-16-2008 10:37 AM