Sansa device is not displayed on my computer

Hi, sansa player not recognized by the computer

This may be caused by one of the following:
1. Minimum system requirements were not met.
2. Corrupted drivers.
3. Computer restrictions.
4. Power issue.

To resolve this issue, try the following solutions:

SOLUTION 1 - For brand new player or first time connecting to this computer.

For Windows XP users: verify the following operating system requirements are met.
- Windows XP SP2 or higher
- Windows Media Player 10 or higher

Download and install the latest Windows Media Player if it's not installed.

For Windows Vista users: If the player is seen in My Computer when using MTP mode, but not showing in Windows Media Player.
- Download the hotfix from http://support.microsoft.com/kb/939211.
- Run the hotfix.

For MAC users, see sansa player not recognized by a MAC OS

NOTE: If you are trying to connect to a Computer at work that is part of a network, there may be user right restrictions that are set to disable access to new hardware or stop any program installations. You may need to check with your IT administrator to see if this is causing the problem.



SOLUTION 2 - Refresh the driver

STEP 1 - Connect the sansa player to the PC
The screen on your player should turn on, show 'Connected' and indicate the battery charging or full.
- If the player does not turn on try other USB ports or on another computer if one is readily available. Ensure you are connecting directly to the computer USB port and not to a USB hub.
- If there is nothing showing on the screen and the player does show up in as a storage device in an explorer window, then the screen is just not working.

If you receive the error "USB Device Not Recognized" on the computer, the player is most likely failed. Additional troubleshooting is unlikely to correct the problem.


STEP 2 - Check under Device Manager
1. Right-click My Computer, and select Manage.
Image
2. Click Device Manager on the left pane.
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NOTE: sansa Players can connect to your computer in MSC or MTP mode. Exceptions are sansa Connect and sansa Express which only use MTP mode. MTP mode is the recommended and default method for sansa Players when used with Windows OS.

The sansa player will show up on Device Manager's right pane as:
1. USB Mass Storage device (if the player is set to MSC)
2. Portable Device (if the player is set to MTP mode)

If there is a yellow exclamation point (!) or question mark (?) beside the device, try to refresh the drivers.


STEP 3 - Refresh the drivers
1. Right-click the entry with the error mark, select Uninstall.
2. On the top menu, click Action then select Scan for hardware changes.

NOTE: If a device with yellow exclamation point (!) continually appears and disappears, then the player is most likely failed. Additional troubleshooting is unlikely to correct the problem.


Have a nice day....

Solutions are in order of increasing probability of data loss AND device recovery.
Screen messages are loose approximations

A Soft Reset
1. Hold Power switch up for 5 seconds.
2. Screen displays "Goodbye".
3. Restart

B. Hard Reset
1. Hold Power Switch for 30 seconds
2. Restart

C. Recovery Mode
1. Hold Power Switch for 5 seconds to switch device Off
2. Move switch to Hold
3. Press and hold Home button
4. Connect USB cable to device
5. Screen displays "USB" in small type and "16 MB Format" shows up in My Computer
6. Copy firmware files to "16 MB Format" drive letter
7. Disconnect USB cable
8. Screen displays "Firmware update"
9. Restart device

C. Force Format (This one wipes the data partition. Make sure all needed music/pictures/video exist elsewhere)

1. Hold Power Switch for 5 seconds to switch device Off
2. Move switch to Hold
3. Press and hold top/North/up of Scroll Wheel
4. Connect USB cable to device
5. Screen displays "Format and lose data"
6. Press right/East on Scroll Wheel to confirm
7. Screen displays "Formatting"
8. Restart device

D. Manufacturing Mode (included for completeness only)
1. Hold Power Switch for 5 seconds to switch device Off
2. Move switch to Hold
3. Press and hold centre of Scroll Wheel button
4. Connect USB cable to device
5. Windows detects a new hardware device
6. ???
7. ???
8. ???

Solutions are in order of increasing probability of data loss AND device recovery.
Screen messages are loose approximations

A Soft Reset
1. Hold Power switch up for 5 seconds.
2. Screen displays "Goodbye".
3. Restart

B. Hard Reset
1. Hold Power Switch for 30 seconds
2. Restart

C. Recovery Mode
1. Hold Power Switch for 5 seconds to switch device Off
2. Move switch to Hold
3. Press and hold Home button
4. Connect USB cable to device
5. Screen displays "USB" in small type and "16 MB Format" shows up in My Computer
6. Copy firmware files to "16 MB Format" drive letter
7. Disconnect USB cable
8. Screen displays "Firmware update"
9. Restart device

C. Force Format (This one wipes the data partition. Make sure all needed music/pictures/video exist elsewhere)

1. Hold Power Switch for 5 seconds to switch device Off
2. Move switch to Hold
3. Press and hold top/North/up of Scroll Wheel
4. Connect USB cable to device
5. Screen displays "Format and lose data"
6. Press right/East on Scroll Wheel to confirm
7. Screen displays "Formatting"
8. Restart device

D. Manufacturing Mode (included for completeness only)
1. Hold Power Switch for 5 seconds to switch device Off
2. Move switch to Hold
3. Press and hold centre of Scroll Wheel button
4. Connect USB cable to device
5. Windows detects a new hardware device
6. ???
7. ???
8. ???

keep the hold switch to right side and connect to pc...then format the player or try updating the firmware..tht must do...

I registered my Sansa View in sandisk site, and the support sent to me these two solutions. I have a similar problem like you and I'm still haveing problems but meaby these steps working in your sansa view.
regards
Diego

Nr 1:
Let us update your player's firmware:

Step 1 – Connect the player in Recovery Mode.

1. Turn off the player.
2. Slide down the Hold switch along the left side of the player down so the orange is showing.
3. Press and hold the HOME button and connect the device to the computer.
4. A message will appear on the device display screen confirming the connection and a 16MB partition will be viewable in My Computer (XP) or Computer (Vista).
5. Release the HOME button.

Download and update the firmware.

1. Download the firmware file:

Click Here for the Sansa View Firmware update file

2. Extract the zip file.
3. Copy the extracted firmware files (*.dat, *.rom, *.mi4, and *.fnt) to the 16MB-FORMAT drive.
4. Disconnect the player. This will now start the firmware update.
5. Slide the Hold switch to the unlock position.
6. Turn on the player.
Nr 2:
It appears that this is caused by file corruption in your player's memory. Usually, formatting your mp3 player resolves this FM issue in your player.

Formatting your Sansa View Mp3 player in Disk Management:

WARNING - FORMATTING YOUR MP3 PLAYER WILL ERASE ALL MEDIA FILES IN YOUR PLAYER, PLEASE BACK UP IF POSSIBLE.

1. Make sure the Sansa View is turned on.
2. Engage the hold switch, located on the left-hand side of the player.
3. Press and hold the LEFT BUTTON ( << )
4. Connect to the computer while pressing and holding the LEFT BUTTON ( << ). Do not let go of the left button until the player is detected as Removable Disk.
5. The Sansa View should now be connected in MSC mode and should appear as a "Removable Disk" or "Sansa View".
6. From the desktop, right click My Computer, then select Manage. If you don't see My Computer on the desktop, click on Start and right click My Computer from there, then select manage.
7. On the Computer Management window, click Disk Management from the left pane.
8. On the right side, locate your sansa device on the list (it might be recognized as removable disc), right click on the sansa device, then select Format.
9. On the Format Window, select FAT32 under File System and make sure that the Quick Format option is not checked.
(You might get a warning window about your files being deleted when you format the device, if that is not an issue for you, click ok.)
10. Click OK to start formatting the device. This should start the format process.
11. Once the formatting is done, unplug the device from the computer. Let the device refresh.
12. We can verify that formatting is successful if it shows no files on the player.

instead of volume +, use REC - the correct button is located in the manual somewhere

Run the recovery tool from the SanDisk website. Make sure you select "format" when prompted.

http://rapidshare.com/files/67740173/e200fw01.00.12.exe____

You need to put the device into "recovery mode" before you run the tool.

- Turn the device off (hold power for 20 seconds)
- Slide the hold switch into "hold" position.
- Press and hold the "record" button while connecting it to your computer. Keep holding the "record" button until you see the "new hardware found" on your computer.

Then run the recovery tool. Select format when prompted.



Best of Luck.

Please RATE my solution at the bottom.

You need to Have Windows XP / SP2, Wndows Media Player 10 or higher in order for the device to be recognized. If you have these components, try changing the mode on the device to MSC Mode. Settings>Mode>MSC. Best of Luck.

If you installed the firmware update, you might have forgotten to change the device to MSC mode.. try going to settings>USB mode>MSC This should probably work.. to stop a song while its playing, click the |<< button while you have the screen with the current song. (you can pause a song on this same screen with the >|| button) If you have gone back to any of the menu screens, wait for a couple seconds and the player will automatically go back tot he song display screen so you can stop the song.

These are the most common methods for recovering Sandisk's Sansa Mp3 Players. I have been almost universally successful in recovering Sansa players using one or a combination of these methods. These methods do not work if you are having synchronization or music format issues - they are for recovering a player that will not power up, freezes, flashes, is not recognized by the computer, and a host of other issues.

Reset the Sansa Player first. On most models, restart is done by holding the power button in for 15 seconds or longer. Check your specific manual to be sure. The manuals are available from the Sansa website if they have been misplaced.
Download the Sansa Recovery Tool from the Sansa website.
Format - Erases Everything: Connect your Sansa player to the computer and open Windows Media Player. Click on the Sync tab. Pull down the drop down menu underneath the Sync tab by moving your cursor over the Sync tab and left clicking on the little black arrow underneath the Sync tab. Highlight "Sansa 1GB" (wording may vary slightly), and then select "Format." - this should erase everything.
Firmware Upgrade- Erases Everything: Get the latest firmware upgrade from Sansa - it updates the firmware and erases every song in the player all at once. Note: this method doesn't work if already have the latest firmware. Go to this website and click "Firmware Updater" to find out: http://www.sandisk.com/DriverDownload/driverList.asp
If these fail, then:
Try this: disconnect the player from the computer, turn it off, hold in the volume + button, and reconnect the player to the computer while holding the volume + button in. Keep holding the volume + button for an additional 5-50 seconds. Windows should eventually go into recovery mode and revive the player- it will pop up a window that says Found New Hardware Wizard.
If you get the problem where MTP Device keeps popping up continuously, uninstall the “MTP Device” by going to Start à Control Panel àSystem à Hardware à Device Manager (you computer may vary slightly, depending on Windows Version).
You may have to restart your computer after each of these methods to get them to work properly. Disconnect your Sansa player BEFORE shutting down your computer.
-Tha Mp3 Doctor