mp3 player question

[archeryguy1701]

Hey, quick question for you folks. About a year ago, I bought a Sansa Sandisk Connect 4GB mp3 player. A couple days ago, it started skipping like a scratched CD. Sometimes it will skip for a few seconds then continue with the song, and sometimes it will skip and then go straight to the song. Does anyone have any guess what this means? Any guess on solutions? I think that resetting the device to warehouse defaults and reloading my music might solve the problem, but I want to try something else, anything else, before erasing and reloading all my music. Thanks in advance!

 

[Mr. B]

By skipping do you mean the audio cuts in an out or are there brief pauses in the music? If it's the former, the headphone jack may be breaking.

 

[Jadzia]

By skipping do you mean the audio cuts in an out or are there brief pauses in the music? If it's the former, the headphone jack may be breaking.

Yes, if the disturbance is a temporary 'zero volume' rather than a temporary 'pause', then it's most likely a faulty connection as stated. If the device is failing to decode correctly, it could be a number of things...

0. First try new headphones. Wiggle the connector to see if the plug/socket has bad connection. If it's a physical problem it requires a physical solution.

1. Failing that, if your mp3 encoding is too high quality, the device might not be able to cope. I would try normal 44kHz 128bit/s normal stereo CBR encoding.

2. The song may not be ripped correctly, if you ripped it yourself. (You should always enable 'syncronise the ripping' for high speed drives.) I'd test the skipping mp3s on my PC to see if they play right. But also, the default mp3 encoder you're using might not be standard, and might not be supported on the player. I suggest always using the LAME codecs for mp3s.

3. At one time, when downloading an mp3, the browser sometimes screwed up the file format causing a skip effect to be heard on playback. I don't think that this will be the problem unless you have an old PC / browser software.

4. Failing that it may be corrupt software, on your player. And if it were my player, failing the above, I would restore factory settings at this point.

5. Failing that I'd look on the net if others had problems with this player by searching the make/model and looking on the various forums.

6. If there's still no luck, I'd wonder if the factory settings may be damaged, so I'd download new firmware from manufacturers. (If possible to install new firmware)

7. Failing that it's probably an irreparable hardware fault, as a result of impact damage, or shoddy construction, and so I'd buy a new device. Depending how upset I was, considering whether I took good care of my player, and used it normally, I might avoid buying from that same manufacturer again.

 

[archeryguy1701]

It's a mix between pauses in the song and the music "jumping". On rare occassion, it'll jump from one one part of the song to another, later part of the song. The more common issue, however, is that it'll jump so fast that the music sounds scrambled. And, it does this on head phones, external speakers, and the internal speakers on the player. Like I said earlier, the problem just started 3 or 4 days ago, and the last time I uploaded any music was over a month and a half ago.

I did some experimenting earlier today, and it looks like the problem is isolated to certain songs, and it happens at the same place each time I replayed the song. However, it happens too frequently to go through and listen to every single song to pick out all the bad ones. Sometimes it occurs as frequently as every other song, and other times it'll happen every third or fourth song. And it's happening on songs that I know used to be good. I hope some of this information helps a bit.

EDIT- And, like I said in the Misc thread, unless I hear something to the contrary by this evening, I do plan on resetting the device and reuploading my music tonight.

 

[Jadzia]

The more common issue, however, is that it'll jump so fast that the music sounds scrambled.

the problem just started 3 or 4 days ago, and the last time I uploaded any music was over a month and a half ago.

the problem is isolated to certain songs, and it happens at the same place each time I replayed the song.

I think these ^ are the important points.

My first suggestion is this:

I would first suspect that the songs are gradually becoming corrupt in the flash memory -- you can test if that is the case by copying them from the player to your PC and seeing if they skip in winamp, say. (treat it like it is a usb flash drive) . I would determine this first, before doing any 'repair'.

 

[Alaedhros]

Jadzia, I'm very impressed by all the good suggestions you have. You are so kind! The only addition I would have is that when you copy the files back to your computer, archeryguy, just run a hash function comparing the new and old files rather than listening to them all in Winamp--it should be a little faster and easier.

 

[archeryguy1701]

I am working on finding a few more songs to experiment with right now, but I did find something. I have been using one of the songs that scrammbles for a second then jumps straight to the next song for comparision on the computer and the player. When I copied the file to the computer and played it, it jumped ahead in the song a few seconds at the same place where it starts skipping on the mp3 player. However, unlike the player, the file I copied continued on like usual once it jumped ahead. Like I said, I'm looking for a few more songs to work with, but it does appear like there is a problem with the file, it's just a little more pronounced when played on the device.

 

[archeryguy1701]

Sorry it took me so long to post a reply in here... I got busy and didn't have time to work on fixing the device until about a week ago. And I am having more issues.

Because it only appeared to have been certain songs, I first tried deleting all the media on my device so I could just upload new songs. However, after so many songs, it would come up with a screen saying that there was an error and it would freeze up. It did this a couple of times before I resorted to restoring it to factory defaults. This got rid of everything and I started to upload my songs.

It uploaded about 50 songs, and then my device rebooted. From that point on, it would onl upload 5-10 songs before rebooting again. I decided to use a Device recovery program that Sandisk has, which deletes everything and downloads new firmware. That went through, and I as able to upload all my songs. The problem now is that it started skipping again, and with increased frequency. Anyone have additional suggestions, or am I just going to have to go for a new device?

 

[Jadzia]

It seems like over time, the contents of the flash memory is being damaged for whatever reason. This appears to include both media files and firmware.

I think a new device is the way forward, but there may be an environmental reason for this continuing damage.

Does your player get passed through magnetic fields, or em radiation, or heat?

Such as:
- right near heavy power lines
- passing through magnetic security barriers?
- passing/placement near to a radio transmitter (mp3 -> car radio FM)
- transceivers (mobile phone, car cellphone)
- microwave oven
- induction cooker top
- tesla coil (idk?)
- static discharge (does your home/work buildings or your clothing ever give you little static shocks?)
- x-rays (hospital/dentist radiology?)
- UV (bright sunlight/tanning bed?)
- placed on a CRT television
- magnets (loudspeaker, fire door holder magnet?)
- high current motors (next to a power saw, electric vehicle engines, including public transport like in your bag on the floor of an electric train)
- in anywhere excessively hot or humid (out in the baking sun, sauna, greenhouse, car dashboard shelf, windowsill?)

 

[archeryguy1701]

There are only two possibilities out of the things you mentioned. When I am charging the device, it usually sits on my dresser, right in front of the TV. Also, it has a speaker on it, so I usually set it on the bathroom counter when I take a shower and play it, which might account for the humid theory. I don't remember about the shower, but I do remember that I started having problems again before it started sitting in front of the TV.

Well, if a new device is the best option, hopefully no one buys Circuit City before friday. I have a long list of things that need buying that could benefit from an "Everything must go!!!" sale.