I’ve been having a few problems with my two-year-old 4 GB Clip. It was last used a week or two ago, and the memory was only about 1/2 full.
Today I went to turn it on, and it got stuck on the screen with the “four-leaf clover”. I tried turninig it off and pushing the other buttons, but there was no response. The only way I could get the clip to turn off was to hold the on-off switch for about 10 to 20 seconds.
I tried connecting to my PC, the way I have many many times in the past. The PC did not recognize the clip. A warning message came up - “USB Device not recognized. One of the USB devices attached to this computer has malfunctioned and Windows does not recognize it.”. I tried looking for the Clip through Windows Explorer, but it was not listed.
I left the Clip connected to the PC, thinking maybe it just needed to be charged, and eventually this message appeared on the screen of the Clip: “Not enough space for Music DB. Please free 30 MB.” I’ve done some research here about this error message, but none of the solutions suggested (e.g., deleting files, reformatting the Clip) seem to be an option for me, because I can’t access the data on the Clip via the Clip itself nor via the PC.
I’ve tried several times to slide the on-off switch up and hold if there for as much as 30 seconds, but that hasn’t corrected these problems.
My fear is that it has died and is beyond repair, which I would not expect after 2 years of rather gentle use.
Can anyone offer any suggestions?
Music player has been working normally since I bought it about 4 months ago until now
Player froze up while I was loading tunes…player was about three quarters full…couldn’t shut it down or do anything
Let it sit overnight and the next day was ok…would boot up but all of the tunes had been erased…I lost all the tunes I had previously loaded
Tried to reload with new materiel and at 45 songs the player froze again…could not move up or back on songs…
Tried Re-set as suggested in Manual…but that did nothing…when starting the player would start at the 4th song and when advanced to the next tune it would not go to the 5th song but instead fast spooled to the very end to the 45th tune and you can go no further from there…Player is now stuck on the 45th song and it will only shut off and turn on …that’s all the player will do
I give up…is there anything I can do to make this thing work normally.
@saxcymbal wrote:
Music player has been working normally since I bought it about 4 months ago until now
Player froze up while I was loading tunes…player was about three quarters full…couldn’t shut it down or do anything
…when starting the player would start at the 4th song and when advanced to the next tune it would not go to the 5th song but instead fast spooled to the very end to the 45th tune and you can go no further from there…
If the player worked normally as you say, up until the time you loaded this last batch of music file then (as Spock was fond of saying), logic would dictate that there’s something about one or more of these files that are causing the problem.
Could be corrupted files, or could be ID3 tags loaded with crapola (foreign characters, Comments field stuffed to the gills with who-knows-what, etc.) or a format of tag that the player cannot read.
This forum is filled with posts from others with problems as you are experiencing. More times than not, it boils down to one of these 2 things, ususally the ID3 tags. Poke around, use the Search function here, get (and use) MP3Tag to edit your ID3 tags (and format to ID3v2.3 ISO-8859-1 ) and you will be rewarded. 
Which is worse ?..the problem or the cure ?
Thank you for your help…believe me I appreciate your taking the time but I haven’t a clue what you are talking about…it’s not your lack of knowledge it is mine…
I tried downloading MP3Tag and saved it to temp…but what you do with it and how you access it’s functions is not clear to me…
It sounds like fixing this $42.00 nightmare is pretty hi-maintenance and labour intensive not to mention learning curve exigencies. Since I am not an MIT grad or someone of similar stature technologically this little gadget is way beyond my capabilities…
I can’t make a claim for warranty because my son bought it for me as a gift and I don’t know where the proof of purchase is…so I’ll trash this 4 GB unit
I bought an 8GB Sansa Clip + and I will try to load that and see if it works any better…
Thanks anyway for taking the time to respond…
Bernie
Thanks again for taking the time
I will do as you say and check out the rest of this forum and see what I can pick up…will also try to work with MP3Tag within reasonable time frame…it’s all a time thing…and how much of it you have for this kind of activity…
Thanks again…
After thinking about it some more I changed my mind…this whole MP3 thing is not for me…I’m a musician amongst other things and I haven’t time for all that this stuff requires…I’ll load up the 8Gb and use it till it freezes than bye bye…when you buy these gizmos they should tell you on the package what to expect in the way of shortcomings…it is almost a truth in labelling issue with perhaps legal implications…but hey who has time for that fight…forget it…anyway so endeth my exccursion with MP3 players…Sansa Clip was not a good experience…I will go back and read again all of those positive reviews on CNet and PC world etc and/or whatever about the Sansa Clip +and enjoy a helluva good chuckle …geeezus what planet are these guys from ?
So anyway…if you want my 4 GB player you are welcomed to it…if you can make it run more power to you…and enjoy…my E mail address is tjbernard@rogers.com …send me your address and if you don’t live too far away I will gladly send you this little 4 GB horrific nightmare at my expense…
Cheers
Bernie
@saxcymbal wrote:
So anyway…if you want my 4 GB player you are welcomed to it…if you can make it run more power to you…and enjoy…my E mail address is <e-mail adress removed> …send me your address and if you don’t live too far away I will gladly send you this little 4 GB horrific nightmare at my expense…
Check your PM’s (private messages) here on the forum.
@saxcymbal wrote:
So anyway…if you want my 4 GB player you are welcomed to it…if you can make it run more power to you…and enjoy…my E mail address is (edited ) …send me your address and if you don’t live too far away I will gladly send you this little 4 GB horrific nightmare at my expense…
Cheers
Bernie
Um…Bernie, it’s usually not a good idea to post your email address on a public forum. Spammers will love to make use of it and you may also get a bunch of emails from people claiming to be Tapeworm. Alot of people just love to get something for free.
You can send Tapeworm a PM or Private Message by clicking on his name, and then on the right side of his profile, there’s the words “Send this person a private message” or something like that. Click on those words to PM him.
Also, about the clip+, it has a folder browsing option. I’m not sure if the original clip has it or not, but folder browsing will make finding your music much easier when the tags aren’t all in place.
