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geekhack Community => Other Geeky Stuff => Topic started by: mr_a500 on Tue, 08 June 2010, 18:49:39

Title: Sansa 8GB Clip+ $40 at Dell
Post by: mr_a500 on Tue, 08 June 2010, 18:49:39: I just got a 4Gb Sansa Clip+ for $39 Canadian. I don't worry about the difference between 4Gb and 8Gb because it has that microSD slot.

I think it's great - especially the fact that you can copy to if from any computer and don't need that crap iTunes. I just copied music to it using an Amiga 3000.
Title: Sansa 8GB Clip+ $40 at Dell
Post by: mr_a500 on Wed, 09 June 2010, 00:07:03: I don't ever listen to the radio, so I'm not worried about that. I'm a bit disappointed about the sound quality. I've read everywhere that the sound quality is supposedly great, but with every earbud headphone I've got, it sounds hollow and distant. With full-sized headphones it sounds good. Luckily, I bought this to use with full sized headphones. I want to find a way to somehow integrate the Clip into a pair of good headphones so I can have an all-in-one unit with no frigging wires dangling to tangle me up. It's going to be tricky though. I could end up with a all-in-one pile of useless junk that used to be a Clip and good headphones.
Title: Sansa 8GB Clip+ $40 at Dell
Post by: Hak Foo on Wed, 09 June 2010, 00:39:56: I loved my E250; however, their newer line was less appealing- no Rockbox, no wheel. I wish I had it still-- the wheel went stiff and I let a co-worker's kid have it.
Title: Sansa 8GB Clip+ $40 at Dell
Post by: EverythingIBM on Wed, 09 June 2010, 00:55:55: Quote from: ripster;191109
This drives me nuts.

(http://www.babeled.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/driving-me-nuts-781x1024.jpg)

(http://www.crazy-jokes.com/pictures/nuts.jpg)

(http://www.istockphoto.com/file_thumbview_approve/1101709/2/istockphoto_1101709-you-drive-me-nuts.jpg)
Title: Sansa 8GB Clip+ $40 at Dell
Post by: ricercar on Wed, 09 June 2010, 05:31:11: Crasher squi
Title: Crasher squirrel crashes avatars!
Post by: ricercar on Wed, 09 June 2010, 05:56:40: There may be only one, but he's everywhere, he's everywhere!

(http://geekhack.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=10852&stc=1&d=1276080249)(http://geekhack.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=10853&stc=1&d=1276080616)(http://geekhack.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=10854&stc=1&d=1276080837)(http://geekhack.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=10855&stc=1&d=1276080984)(http://geekhack.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=10857&stc=1&d=1276081338)(http://geekhack.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=10858&stc=1&d=1276081649)(http://geekhack.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=10860&stc=1&d=1276084482)(http://geekhack.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=10861&stc=1&d=1276087085)(http://geekhack.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=10862&stc=1&d=1276087162)(http://geekhack.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=10863&stc=1&d=1276087614)(http://geekhack.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=10864&stc=1&d=1276088917)
Title: Sansa 8GB Clip+ $40 at Dell
Post by: mr_a500 on Wed, 09 June 2010, 08:36:51: You could have at least made an attempt to stay on topic by putting a Sansa Clip+ in one of those squirrel pictures.
Title: acculturization lesson for the day
Post by: ricercar on Wed, 09 June 2010, 15:50:13: (http://geekhack.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=10883&stc=1&d=1276117122)
Title: Sansa 8GB Clip+ $40 at Dell
Post by: mr_a500 on Wed, 09 June 2010, 16:52:24: Quote from: ricercar;191355
Show Image
(http://geekhack.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=10883&stc=1&d=1276117122)

Whew. Thanks for that. :eyebrows::yo: :llama::bounce:
Title: Sansa 8GB Clip+ $40 at Dell
Post by: mr_a500 on Thu, 10 June 2010, 09:46:36: Has anybody noticed a problem with the "voice recorder" on the Clip+? Half the time I record something, save it, but don't get the "Recording Saved" message - and it's not saved. It's totally inconsistent and doesn't depend on the length or sound recorded. That makes the recorder a bit useless because you never know if what you recorded will actually be recorded.

And while we're talking about the Clip, does anybody know what format of playlist it is expecting? Can somebody post a piece of a working playlist? If I can figure out the format, I can create playlists on my Amiga. I tried to make a test M3U file. The Clip displays it, but shows it as "Empty".
Title: Sansa 8GB Clip+ $40 at Dell
Post by: mr_a500 on Sat, 26 June 2010, 13:15:53: Can't somebody help me by posting a bit of a sample Clip-compatible playlist? I still haven't figured out the proper format. No matter what I try, my playlists are always "Empty".
Title: Sansa 8GB Clip+ $40 at Dell
Post by: kishy on Sat, 26 June 2010, 13:50:56: I don't know specifically about Sandisk products but m3u is pretty much a standard thing...and most media player software should be able to produce one.

Edit: just Googled it, it looks like the Clip is specifically capable of supporting M3U playlists.
Title: Sansa 8GB Clip+ $40 at Dell
Post by: mr_a500 on Sat, 26 June 2010, 17:12:17: I don't use Windows or OSX (or even Linux) and don't have software capable of creating M3U playlists. I read about M3U format and tried to manually create a playlist in a text editor, but it doesn't work. I read that the Sansa Clip expects paths to be in Windows format with backslash and need Windows linefeed to work properly. There must be something else in the format I'm missing.

All I need is for somebody to post a piece of a playlist known to work in the Sansa Clip+ so I can see what I'm missing.
Title: Sansa 8GB Clip+ $40 at Dell
Post by: instantkamera on Tue, 20 July 2010, 12:30:48: Quote from: mr_a500;196741
I don't use Windows or OSX (or even Linux) and don't have software capable of creating M3U playlists. I read about M3U format and tried to manually create a playlist in a text editor, but it doesn't work. I read that the Sansa Clip expects paths to be in Windows format with backslash and need Windows linefeed to work properly. There must be something else in the format I'm missing.

All I need is for somebody to post a piece of a playlist known to work in the Sansa Clip+ so I can see what I'm missing.

First thing is first, check your firmware and make sure you have the latest.

I checked and relative paths are working for me. For instance, in a given directory, I can just make a text file with .m3u extension that contains a list of the songs I want to play and it works:

Code: [Select]
aaron@ant:/media/0123-4567/MUSIC/Contrived - Pursuit Of Plots$ for f in * ; do echo $f >> contrivedplaylist.m3u;done &&cat contrivedplaylist.m3u 01 - Contrived - Concentric.mp3 02 - Contrived - Expletive Deleted.mp3 03 - Contrived - Ultimatum.mp3 04 - Contrived - For Matt.mp3 05 - Contrived - Get To Your Stations.mp3 06 - Contrived - This Is It.mp3 07 - Contrived - A Reason To Live.mp3 08 - Contrived - Silhouette.mp3 aaron@ant:/media/0123-4567/MUSIC/Contrived - Pursuit Of Plots$

Where the root of the device is "/media/0123-4567/" and "MUSIC" is one of the main directories on the root of the clip+.

when you unmount the device it will rescan and pick up this playlist, and it works. Other than that though, this method is pretty ****ing useless, as it does the same thing as browsing to a given directory and playing those songs (it doesnt allow for artist shuffled lists unless your directory is a huge collection of random songs in the first place).

However, I have had luck moving the playlist up a directory, so it resides in the parent and appending a relative path (windows '\', not POSIX '/', path standard). So the playlist resides in "MUSIC" and looks like:

Code: [Select]
Contrived - Pursuit Of Plots\01 - Contrived - Concentric.mp3 Contrived - Pursuit Of Plots\02 - Contrived - Expletive Deleted.mp3

so on and so forth...

hope that helps.
Title: Sansa 8GB Clip+ $40 at Dell
Post by: microsoft windows on Tue, 20 July 2010, 12:58:25: Quote from: mr_a500;196741
I don't use Windows or OSX (or even Linux) and don't have software capable of creating M3U playlists. I read about M3U format and tried to manually create a playlist in a text editor, but it doesn't work. I read that the Sansa Clip expects paths to be in Windows format with backslash and need Windows linefeed to work properly. There must be something else in the format I'm missing.

All I need is for somebody to post a piece of a playlist known to work in the Sansa Clip+ so I can see what I'm missing.

What operating system do you use?
Title: Sansa 8GB Clip+ $40 at Dell
Post by: instantkamera on Tue, 20 July 2010, 13:55:36: Quote from: microsoft windows;204544
I can't read!!! (http://geekhack.org/showthread.php?p=191631&do=comments&highlight=amiga#post191631)

No ****?
Title: Sansa 8GB Clip+ $40 at Dell
Post by: chongyixiong on Tue, 20 July 2010, 22:38:34: Quote from: ricercar;191355
Show Image
(http://geekhack.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=10883&stc=1&d=1276117122)
That pretty much sums up the experience here in GH.
(Not saying it in a bad way, it's pretty entertaining)
Title: Sansa 8GB Clip+ $40 at Dell
Post by: mr_a500 on Wed, 21 July 2010, 18:43:21: Quote from: instantkamera;204538

However, I have had luck moving the playlist up a directory, so it resides in the parent and appending a relative path (windows '\', not POSIX '/', path standard). So the playlist resides in "MUSIC" and looks like:

Code: [Select]
Contrived - Pursuit Of Plots\01 - Contrived - Concentric.mp3 Contrived - Pursuit Of Plots\02 - Contrived - Expletive Deleted.mp3

so on and so forth...

hope that helps.

Thanks. It looks like exactly what I have: relative paths with Windows backslash in paths. After some reading, I think I've discovered the problem: the M3U file must be using Windows1250 charset. (now I just need to find a way to get my Amiga text editor to use the Windows1250 charset)

So, even though this is one of the most "platform neutral" MP3 players you can get, it still uses Windows paths, Windows charsets and you need Windows to use the firmware updater.
Title: Sansa 8GB Clip+ $40 at Dell
Post by: instantkamera on Wed, 21 July 2010, 18:52:46: Quote from: mr_a500;205032
discovered the problem: the M3U file must be using Windows1250 charset.

Code: [Select]
aaron@ant:/media/0123-4567/MUSIC$ file -bi contrivedplaylist.m3u text/plain; charset=us-ascii

not the case for me.
Title: Sansa 8GB Clip+ $40 at Dell
Post by: mr_a500 on Thu, 22 July 2010, 15:14:56: Quote from: instantkamera;205037
Code: [Select]
aaron@ant:/media/0123-4567/MUSIC$ file -bi contrivedplaylist.m3u text/plain; charset=us-ascii

not the case for me.

OK, so that's not the problem then. I wonder what is.

I better check to see that I'm using Windows linefeed. (CR+LF)