Danno
15-02-2006, 10:21 AM
Basic MP3 Player Troubleshooting
Below you can find a number of simple steps that will cure the most frequent problems you might encounter on your MP3 player.
The LCD displays nothing after turning on the MP3 player:
* Check whether the battery has been inserted, and make sure that the internal battery is sufficiently charged.
* In case the player does not have an internal battery: check to see whether the battery needs replacement: Try re-inserting the battery correctly or replace it by a brand-new one.
* Update the firmware of the MP3 player using the Firmware Updater.
Some music files cannot be played:
* Check the specifications of your MP3 player to verify which formats are supported:
o The MP3 standard includes: tracks encoded in MPEG 1 layer 3, MPEG 2 layer 3 and MPEG 2.5 layer 3.
o Most players only supports IMA ADPCM WAV files. Do not store unsupported WAV file formats in the root directory or the Voice folder of the player's disk as this may cause the player to shut down. To store other WAV file formats in the player, please set up a new folder and store the WAV files in it.
o For more information on difficulties playing back WMA-files, please see below.
* Try to play back the music files on a computer to ensure they are not corrupted.
The player is running slowly:
* When using or deleting files frequently over a long period, fragments will be generated in the flash memory. These will cause the player to run slowly. If this is happening, it is recommended to format the player within windows.
The memory size displayed on the computer does not match the figure on the device:
* Windows reports less memory for an MP3 Player than is specified. When, for example, an Audiokey is specified to have 128MB of memory, Windows XP only reports approximately 124.500.000 bytes (118MB).
Solution
* A part of the memory of an MP3 player is used to store the firmware. Depending on the model of the MP3 player this can be between 3 and 10 MB.
My MP3 Player cannot play a specific WMA-files.
Details
WMA (Windows Media Audio) supports Digital Right Management (DRM) to prevent audio files to be copied, written to CD etc. In order to play the file, you will need a license for that specific WMA-file. This technology is very often used in online audio stores to protect the downloads. The level of protection can differ. Some licenses only allow you to copy the file to a portable media player once, where others might allow you to do so several times and/or write the song to a CD. This depends on the shop where you bought the file. In addition, WMA-DRM exists in 2 versions: version 9 and version 10 (similar to the Windows Media Player versions). More information on DRM can be found here: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/drm/
Solution
First of all, check if you have a license for the WMA-file that allows you to copy the file to a portable player. Use the synchronisation feature of Windows Media Player (versions 9 and 10) to copy the protected file to your MP3 player. Check the specifications of the MP3 player. Some players will not support WMA-DRM, whereas some others only support WMA-DRM version 9. Use Windows Media Player to check if a file is protected or not, and with which version DRM. To do so, right-click the file in a playlist in Windows Media Player (version 9 or 10), and select Properties. In the window with the properties, check the tab License to get more information on the license type.
Below you can find a number of simple steps that will cure the most frequent problems you might encounter on your MP3 player.
The LCD displays nothing after turning on the MP3 player:
* Check whether the battery has been inserted, and make sure that the internal battery is sufficiently charged.
* In case the player does not have an internal battery: check to see whether the battery needs replacement: Try re-inserting the battery correctly or replace it by a brand-new one.
* Update the firmware of the MP3 player using the Firmware Updater.
Some music files cannot be played:
* Check the specifications of your MP3 player to verify which formats are supported:
o The MP3 standard includes: tracks encoded in MPEG 1 layer 3, MPEG 2 layer 3 and MPEG 2.5 layer 3.
o Most players only supports IMA ADPCM WAV files. Do not store unsupported WAV file formats in the root directory or the Voice folder of the player's disk as this may cause the player to shut down. To store other WAV file formats in the player, please set up a new folder and store the WAV files in it.
o For more information on difficulties playing back WMA-files, please see below.
* Try to play back the music files on a computer to ensure they are not corrupted.
The player is running slowly:
* When using or deleting files frequently over a long period, fragments will be generated in the flash memory. These will cause the player to run slowly. If this is happening, it is recommended to format the player within windows.
The memory size displayed on the computer does not match the figure on the device:
* Windows reports less memory for an MP3 Player than is specified. When, for example, an Audiokey is specified to have 128MB of memory, Windows XP only reports approximately 124.500.000 bytes (118MB).
Solution
* A part of the memory of an MP3 player is used to store the firmware. Depending on the model of the MP3 player this can be between 3 and 10 MB.
My MP3 Player cannot play a specific WMA-files.
Details
WMA (Windows Media Audio) supports Digital Right Management (DRM) to prevent audio files to be copied, written to CD etc. In order to play the file, you will need a license for that specific WMA-file. This technology is very often used in online audio stores to protect the downloads. The level of protection can differ. Some licenses only allow you to copy the file to a portable media player once, where others might allow you to do so several times and/or write the song to a CD. This depends on the shop where you bought the file. In addition, WMA-DRM exists in 2 versions: version 9 and version 10 (similar to the Windows Media Player versions). More information on DRM can be found here: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/drm/
Solution
First of all, check if you have a license for the WMA-file that allows you to copy the file to a portable player. Use the synchronisation feature of Windows Media Player (versions 9 and 10) to copy the protected file to your MP3 player. Check the specifications of the MP3 player. Some players will not support WMA-DRM, whereas some others only support WMA-DRM version 9. Use Windows Media Player to check if a file is protected or not, and with which version DRM. To do so, right-click the file in a playlist in Windows Media Player (version 9 or 10), and select Properties. In the window with the properties, check the tab License to get more information on the license type.