Fixing a locked up SanDisk Sansa e250 audio player

Wed, 07/26/2006 - 21:36 — sebastian

SanDisk doesn't publish the steps to accessing the recovery mode on the e250 flash player. So when mine had some filesystem corruption, I eventually ended up with a device that would not boot. It went into database refresh mode, and stopped partway through, frozen.

Initially SanDisk suggested I format the drive from Windows, but since it wouldn't boot, I could not mount it. (Good to know, though, that the drive can simply be formatted without ill effects.)

Please hold down the power button for 20 seconds in order to soft reset the player.

If that fails to resolve the issue then we may need to format your device. Please connect the unit to your computer, go to my computer, right click on the removable drive associated to your player and select format. This will erase all data off the unit and correct errors from it; making the unit usable again. Before clicking on start make sure that the file system is on "FAT32" and that the format options are all unchecked.

Please know that you need to back up your important files first by transfering them from your device to your computer as formating will permanently erase all the data from your device.

Anyway, that didn't help me with my problem, because mine would not even boot to be mounted.

The second suggestion was much more interesting!

Let us try to put the player in recovery mode. Please turn the player off (hold the power button down for 20 seconds if you have to), then put the hold switch ON. Now hold the record button while you connect it to the computer, keep holding it until it finishes installing the new device. Now attempt to do the firmware update again.

The firmware update he mentioned is here.

This did the trick for me, although I actually had to do it twice.

So I'm posting this for anyone else who may be having a similar problem, and wants to reset their player to factory defaults. It's worth noting that I was pleased with SanDisk support. There was a decent turnaround by their support system, each response was less than eight hours in coming after my request message went off.

One last note: This is the only Sansa player I have, but it's possible that the above procedures will work with an e230, e240, e260, or e270. Of course, please try it at your own risk. :)

Comments

Fri, 01/05/2007 - 04:27 — Ken Gingras (not verified)

Sansa e250

THANK You a million times over.

My 15 yo daughter was having a fit when her mp3 player flipped out. You saved the day!

Cheers!

-Ken

Mon, 04/30/2007 - 04:07 — Daniel (not verified)

Thanks a bunch man. mine

Thanks a bunch man. mine froze up and i was gonna freakin throw it, but i found this page on google. thanks SOOO much

Thu, 10/18/2007 - 16:06 — Anonymous (not verified)

AHHH YOUR THE BEST THANK YOU

AHHH YOUR THE BEST THANK YOU SOOOOOOOOOOO MUCH!!!!

i thought i was going to have to trash mine or spend alot more money to get it repaired!!!!

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU

Sun, 11/04/2007 - 21:18 — Zenu (not verified)

THANK YOU

DUDE i could NOT find out how to delete all the crappy songs my frined had when he gave it to me. THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! FINGER ELEVEN NOW!

Fri, 11/09/2007 - 18:43 — Anonymous (not verified)

awesome!

thanks a bunch. very helpful in restoring the player.

Tue, 11/20/2007 - 16:59 — Hayleymay (not verified)

WAIT YOU DON"T HAVE TO REFORMAT!!!

Hey, my sandisk locked up and I thought I would have to reformat, but I found something else that worked: flick the hold button on, then press the center button and the play button for 30 seconds, then still holding the center button, push the fast fwd button for 30 seconds. I don't know why, but it worked- the player turned back on and my music was there like nothing had happened. This works both when the player locks with the power off or on.

Thu, 07/31/2008 - 10:42 — Anonymous (not verified)

MUCH QUICKER SOLUTION ! - N0 REFORMATTING !

I agree completely with Hayleymay! with the player OFF, I held the centre button and the play button pressed together for about 10 seconds, then without releasing those 2, I presses play and it was back to life !

Mon, 12/31/2007 - 05:23 — Anonymous (not verified)

THank you

Ohh my gosh thank you so much,
i was going to take mine back and get a new one.
thanks!!!!!

Thu, 01/24/2008 - 12:35 — Anonymous (not verified)

no dice

Thanks for the tip, but it didn't work for me. Nothing happened after I plugged it in. Blue light came on, but the PC did not recognize the player. Any other tips?

Fri, 02/01/2008 - 01:42 — Junque (not verified)

How long should this take?

hi- i did all the steps... the updater launched and is scrolling in the sys tray actively.

its been 20 minutes? i don't see a status, should it take this long?

I have an e250 2 gb.

Thanks!!

Fri, 02/01/2008 - 02:38 — Junque21 (not verified)

this guy rules!! it works

http://www.mobileplanet.com/ft.aspx?k=83439
MrSinister27

Try this:

Please copy and paste the following link into your web browser address bar, and then click Go or press the Enter key. When prompted, choose the option to save the file to your Desktop.

http://www.sandisk.com/Assets/File/Downloads/firmware/e200fw01.00.12.exe

Once you have downloaded the file, please follow these instructions.

1) Double click on My Computer so that you can see it on your screen.

2) Turn the player off.

3) On the top of the player is a Hold switch, move it to the right (toward the headphone jack) so you see Orange.

4) On the left hand side of the player is a Record button, press and hold while connecting the player to the computer. Continue holding the Record button until you see a new icon under My Computer called 16MB FORMAT. Once you see that icon you may release the Record button.

5) Double click the file you downloaded earlier and run it. Follow all of the on-screen instructions, and when you get to the prompt where it asks you whether you would like to Format it, choose Yes. Once it is done, click Finish.

6) Disconnect the player and look at the screen. Several things will be displayed, and when you see Key Lock, System Shutdown, move the Hold switch on the top back to the left.

7) Turn the player on and watch the screen. If you see a Refresh Database Fail error, you will need to follow steps 1-7 again until you do not get the error. If it does not work the first time, it could take up to 3 times for it to work.

Mon, 02/04/2008 - 06:49 — Anonymous (not verified)

Thanks!! i had some phantom

Thanks!! i had some phantom files that wouldn't delete. Now its all fixed.

Sat, 02/16/2008 - 03:59 — Anonymous (not verified)

Hey, thanks a bunch! I COULD

Hey, thanks a bunch! I COULD KISS YOU thank you ^^

Sun, 03/02/2008 - 02:37 — DEE (not verified)

SANSA fixes

Hello! Thank you all for your great advice. I tried the easiest first, which was to open back and take out battery then re-insert. This fixed my issue and the SANSA is up and running. I have the 4G.

Thanks again! Dee

Thu, 03/06/2008 - 21:13 — Shannon (not verified)

THANK YOU!

Thank you soooo much, I thought my poor mp3 player would never come back to life! D= I'm so glad to have it back to normal. Thank you sooo much!!!!!
=D

Mon, 03/10/2008 - 18:01 — Ankit (not verified)

Thanks man!

Hey I don't know how many people would have benefited from your post and not mentioned it in the comments. But i made sure to thank you :) since you relieved me of any tension since my mp3 player wasn't working...

Now its up and running just fine. As much credit goes to you as to google :)

Tue, 04/29/2008 - 22:46 — Anonymous (not verified)

how can i thank you

how can i thank you soooooooo much

Thu, 08/07/2008 - 05:24 — Anonymous (not verified)

You absolutely rock. That

You absolutely rock. That quick solution saved me hours of hassle.

Thanks!

Tue, 08/19/2008 - 06:17 — chubchubdotcom (not verified)