Sansa e250 playlist help

Anyone out there have one of these nifty little mp3 players? Has anyone been able to transer an actual playlist and have it show up on the player in music->playlists part of the player along with the infamous "on the go" playlist? I asked sandisk support for help and they were anything but helpful, saying that they don't officially support that feature. What good is a $150 player that can't play playlists? The sandisk support said to create a playlist in wmp, save it as a "m3u" playlist. Then edit the playlist using notepad so that only certain lines are remaining. Then the part that was really hazy was just to transfer each song individually. If any of you are like me your music is probably scattered throughout several folders. Are there any other players out there that make transfering playlists as easy as the ipod. I really don't want to have to get one of those things.

Thanks

 

I ran into the same problem as you, I really needed to be able to put playlists onto my new Sansa E250. I found the following text at cnet.shopper.com (in a review at this link: http://shopper.cnet.com/4014-6490_9...ctype=msgid;cmsgid&commentMessageID=2070516).

I followed these steps pretty much verbatim (including [bold]formatting[/bold] my new device, and it worked like a charm. I hope this helps!

here is how to FORMAT, UPDATE FIRMWARE and CREATE MULTIPLE PLAYLISTS (in media player10)
If your firmware is already version 12 (check settings\info in the Sansa menu) jump to multiple playlists creation...

To format your Sansa E200 series MP3 player:

1. Open "My Computer."
2. With the player plugged into the USB port, right-click on the player (if in MTP mode) or the drive letter for your player (if in MSC mode) and select "Format" from the right-click menu.
3. Press "Start."
4. You will receive a warning that the format process will erase all data on your device.
IMPORTANT: Make sure you have backed up all of your data from the device before continuing with the format. Procedure will erase everything off the player. Agree to the warning.
5. The format will complete. Close the format window and your player should be ready to use.

After the format, please install the latest firmware update for your player. Please visit the following link to download and upload the Firmware on your Sansa E200:
http://www.sandisk.com/Assets/File/Downloads/firmware/e200fw01.00.12.exe

PLEASE NOTE: All files will be deleted. Backup your files. Your MP3 player must be in MSC mode before installing the Firmware update.

To set your player in MSC mode, please do the following:

1. When the player is turned on, press the “Menu” button.
2. Navigate to the “Settings” menu.
3. Navigate to “USB”.
4. Under the “USB” menu, go to “MSC”.
After changing the player to MSC mode, reconnect it to your computer. The screen on the MP3 player should read “USB Connected” and ‘MSC.”
You can now complete the Firmware update download from SanDisk.com on your device.
Installation Instructions:

1. Unplug any other USB flash drives that's connected to any of your USB ports.
2. Download the firmware to your PC
3. Plug in your e200
4. Double-click on the downloaded firmware (e200fw01.00.12.exe) and follow instructions
5. Unplug your e200
6. Device will do it's own update process and will restart.
The device should be ready to be used again.

After formatting and downloading the firmware upgrade for the device, let's try to add the playlist again.

To add a playlist to your Sansa e200 player, please follow these instructions:

First, make sure device is showing as an "audio device" and in MTP mode. Next create a playlist by right clicking a song in the library, add to>additional playlists>new or by saving a now playing list. Select the Sync tab and click "Sync settings". Check "Synchronize device automatically". Set "View" to "All Playlists". Place a check next to the playlists they want to transfer to device. Media Player should then sync those lists once you hit ok.

 

Somewhat along those same lines.
I find it really annoying that I have a mix of songs I like, I put it in a playlist, and then in Albums, it has all the different albums for just the single songs that I have in my mix/playlist. Is there a way to make all those single songs into one album? Or does it have to be a playlist?
For example, I have the newest Dashboard Confessional CD, and I ripped it and I copied it over to my mp3 player, and the album is there, but I also want my mix of a bunch of the songs that I like, under one album, rather than a billion little albums, so I don't have to scrolling through to find my Dashboard CD. Or would I have to make a Dashboard Confessional playlist?
I hope this makes at least a little sense.
Thanks a bunch!

-Tysonator

 

I just needed to do the last part of wla2000's post:

I think this is because I already had the latest version of the firmware. The firmware download was for version 1.00.12A. That happened to be the version I had on my e250 so I skipped the whole re-formatting step.

To check the firmware version on your Sansa e250 (and I would assume and e200 Sansa):

1) Go to the main navigation menu
2) Select "Settings"
3) Select "Info"
4) your firmware version is listed as "Version" on the Info screen.

 

Hi,

I have been facing the same probs with my Sansa MP3 player.
Can you tell me which application you were using to create the playlist?

I have been trying to use Windows Media and Rhapsody and going nuts.

Also, how do you see these playlists?
In the even that you want to add or delete something from it?

Thanks
Bidhan

 

Here's what I do. There are probably <i>lots</i> easier ways. I
have struggled with the non-intuitive interface of Windows Media
Player and this is the best I can do. Maybe somebody else has a
simpler method
- Click on File|Open - select all the files you want to include. They will start playing. You can click on Stop if you don't want
to listen just now.
- Click on Now Playing
- Select all tracks (control-A)
- Right click any song.
- In the context menu left click on Add To->, then left click on Additional Playlists...
- Left-click on New, then type in the name of the playlist and hit return
- Left-click on OK. That will save the playlist to a file named <playlist name>.wpl in a folder named C:\Documents and Settings\<profile name>\My Documents\My Music\My Playlists.

Then follow the directions in the last paragraph of my post above: Select the Sync tab and click "Sync settings". Check "Synchronize device automatically". Set "View" to "All Playlists". Place a check next to the playlists they want to transfer to device. Media Player should then sync those lists once you hit ok

I hope this helps!

 

EASYIST WAY TO DO IT!

1. Using Windows go to My Computer and Sansa shows up as other devices. Explore it and go into the "playlist" folder.
2. Add a PLA playlist file using copypaste an old one..or WindowsMP into the playlist folder in the Sansa.
3. Right Click on the playlist file and press Properties. Go to References.
4. Now you can Drag, Drop, Delete, and Sort mp3's as you want them on ur playlist. better then using programs and wasting time.

 

heyy all i just want to know something i lost all my information on my computer a couple of days ago and it tooke off the software i need to use my mp3 player and i no longer have the cd to put it back on i think the software is called arcosoft media converter or something but i was just wondering do i need that particular program or is there another i can use? or does any one know where i can down load it? i went to sandisk.com and they had a whole list of prgrams except the one i need....... i really need help with this

 

The software you are referring to is probably the Sansa Media Converter by Arcsoft. You do not need this software to run your Sansa e200 series MP3 player. You only need it if you want to convert photos or videos so they will be compatible with the MP3 player. For other purposes, Windows Media Player works fine.

If you want the Sansa Media Converter anyway, my guess is that Sandisk will help you out. Submit a support request at their web site, be patient, and they'll get back to you. I've done this once, and got satisfactory service from them.

 

thanx i just submitted it and i just waiting fro a responce only thing is everbody tell me i can use windows media but it doesnt work for me lol idk they all say something about sync i have to sync the music but im not sure how to do that

 

The Sansa Media Converter program will NOT help you get music on your e250 - just pictures and videos.

Syncing should really be no big deal with Windows Media Player. The instructions I gave on 30 August at 20:32 really work fine. (Unfortunately I was not able to get Indyballr's instructions to work - when I "explore" the playlist folder on the Sansa nothing happens - it doesn't expand at all.). Look carefully for the "sync" tab in WMP and click on the "sync settings" button, and check (or un-check) your playlists. Hit OK with sync automatically checked and you should be fine.

 

Hey Corell031
Are you getting a message something like "Sync music to continue your music subscription" or something like that?
It sounds like a problem I was having as well
I had ripped songs off some cd's (had nothing to do with any subscription music)
anyway I had ripped tracks using WMP10 and it synced and transferred the music onto the sansa and then I got the message
I kept getting that message and nothing would play
So instead of letting WMP do the sync etc I just ripped the cd's
stopped the WMP from sync when the sansa gets plugged in and just dragged and dropped the music and I havent gotten that message anymore

It might not be the easiest way or the neatest but then again I am listening to music instead of messing with this mp3 player
Good Luck, hope you get it worked out, and if you need any help I can try to give you a hand

 

i just tried that and it's still saying i have to sync the music idk all my music is on there and everything it just wont play, keeps saying i have to sync it though

 

are the tracks listed twice on your sansa?
also
if you "explore" the sansa see if the tracks are listed once in the Music folder(that hidden folder)
And once in their own folder like Pantera would have its own folder

and did you look into those programs in the other thread?

 

i think i only have them listed once so should i copy them n paste them in the pantera folder?

 

I found the perfect way to use Playlists on the Sansa e250:

Use Winamp.

Create A Playlist.

Right click on playlist and choose Send To -> Sansa e250

The playlist WILL copy across, but your Sansa won't see it unless it rebuilds the database. To do that:

Switch to MSC mode (under settings -> USB Mode).

Connect to your PC.

(Safely, once the PC has finished trying to read it) Disconnect from the PC.

There you go! Playlists on your Sansa e250. Easy as pie!

 

I tried to make a playlist doing the Sync process as outlined above, and it doesn't work. There is also no "playlists" folder on my Sansa e260 (or any "Media" or "Music" folder for that matter...) I don't know if that makes a difference?
I have firmware v..12 so I did not format the device first, should I do that anyway even though the firmware is up to date-- would that help the playlists to work? I tried with two different playlists and neither of them show up on the device under music>playlists
The music from the playlists transferred to the Sansa but the playlist did not.

Any other advice??

 

Reddwolf:
If I look at my Sansa with Windows Explorer there is a Playlists folder in the Media root folder. However, it appears to be empty. But when I look at the Sansa's main menu (when it is not plugged into my computer), and select Playlists from the Music menu, I can see all the playlists I've synced up. I'm not sure what you are looking at, but if you are trying to navigate with Windows Explorer that might not be the best thing to look at.

When you mentioned that you followed one of the many sync processes shared in this thread, you didn't say you got an error message, so my guess is it worked. You should have seen some progress bars from Windows Media Player (or Winamp or whatever) indicating per cent completion, and it should have taken at least several seconds to complete, depending on how much audio material you were syncing.

Best luck!

 

Yep, it looked as if the playlist sync was working, but when I checked in the Sansa player under "playlist" it still only shows the "to go" one.. All the music files that were in the playlist did transfer to the Sansa but it just is not showing under "playlists".

 

Have you tried switching the player to MSC mode under the settings, then plugging it into the PC and unplugging it?

This forces the player to rebuild the file database from scratch, where it should include the Playlists in the playlist option.