I hardly ever post to forums but after hours of frustation and finding a solution to my connection issue, i figure I would post. I think many others are having the same issues.
Ok here is what happend.
First time plugging in the mp3 player, it seemed like it was going to work, found new hardware, found sansa express. But then, I hear the disconnect sound, then the connect again several seconds later, then a disconnect. It might repeat several times. Finally, it would stop. (Give it several minutes). I go to device manager, under USB controllers, it would have a yellow exclamation mark on mass storage device. (I then tried several different things to get it working, only one thing worked.)
Right click the USB mass storage device, Update Driver
Select, not at this time, for the windows updater, Next
Select Advanced,
Select Don’t search, I choose to install Drivers.
Make sure, show compatible devices shown,
select Next.
It will then reinstall some drivers or something, then plug the mp3 player back in. Give it time and it should pick up.
Be patient here, also be patient when it is not working, so windows will give you the bad mass storage device item.
I’m open to receiving payments for this support. :-)
looks like your experiencing a power issue on the usb port… its not enough power for the device to work in MTP Mode, so you changed the device over to MSC (Which uses less power) so it is more stable.
I also had issues with my sansa express which was constantly connecting and disconnecting, but I found a fix. I figured out that it was a USB port power issue. Below are intructions I found online to help figure out how much juice each USB port is using and also to block Windows XP from disabling any device (like the Sansa Express) which uses a good amount of juice. If the case is that you have a bunch of power hungry USB devices connected to your computer than a Self powered USB 2 hub is most likely your best bet instead.
Find out how much power is being used by each USB port—or more accurately, each root hub—on your PC. Open Device Manager by going to Start , right-clicking My Computer , selecting Properties , and selecting the Hardware tab. Click Device Manager.
Scroll down the list and double-click Universal Serial Bus Controllers. It’s usually the last entry in the list.
You should see one entry for each root hub on your computer. Double-click the first USB Root Hub listing (see Figure 1) and select the Power tab.
Under Attached Devices you will see each device attached to a port on that root hub and next to it the maximum power requirements for that device. The sum of the power requirements shouldn’t exceed 500 milliamps (see Figure 2).
If a USB root hub is drawing too much power, try moving one of the devices to a different port on a different root hub. If all your USB ports are in use, buy a USB hub (see Figure 3). A hub expands one USB port to two, four, or more ports.
PROBLEMS WITH SUSPEND MODE
If a mouse or other USB device won’t work or causes your computer to crash after you’ve brought your computer back from Standby or Suspend mode, there may be a conflict between USB and your computer’s power management. Here’s what to do:
Update Windows to Service Pack 1. To check which Service Pack you have installed on Windows XP, open Windows Explorer by right-clicking Start and selecting Explore. Click Help | About Windows.
If a Windows update doesn’t do the trick, try disabling power management for each USB root hub. On each of the Root Hub Properties screens select the Power Management tab and uncheck the Allow The Computer To Turn Off This Device To Save Power box (see Figure 4). Click OK.
