SOLVED: The infamous Sansa m2xx startup freezing problem!

[amakorkos]

Hi there!

I've got a brand-new solution to this Sansa m2xx dead-end problem.

Notes:

• You'll need another similar BUT working player. (I've tested only on identical ones, but suppose similar models will work as well.)
• You'll need opening the cases for both players. If you can't afford breaking the healthy one, think twice.
• Opening the player cases was not easy. It took about ten minutes to understand how to open them without breaking them. I've opened the second one in about three minutes. I was careful and managed not to harm them at all. I used a screwdriver and a kitchen knife to do the job.

First about the problem I've got:
I've tried renaming an audible .m4b file to .aa to see whether it will work or not (I know it was a silly test ) After disconnecting, the initializing window was frozen (the second screen "Sansa m230 512MB".)

When connecting to the USB port, the player didn't make to the second screen and stayed frozen.

I've contacted with the Sandisk support, which was quite helpful and friendly but couldn't solve my problem. They've suggested a replacement but we didn't need to get there...

From the multiple postings in several forums, I've found that most frequent reason for this symptom is synchronization related, i.e., problems with handling the new files and updating the internal library.

Solution:
Here's what I've done to unfreeze my Sansa m230:

1. I've opened the cases of both our Sansa m230s.
2. Connected the healthy one (which was in MTP mode) to the computer via USB.
3. After it was connected I've hot-swapped the "Samsung k9k4g08u0m-pcb0" memory chip with the one, which was causing the problem.
   This chip is kind of hard to detach. Examine it carefully before applying to much force on it.
4. Finally, I've formatted it through WMP10.

Only synchronizing in MTP mode using WMP11 since.

Hope that helps to some of you.
Please drop a line to tell us about your results.

Amakorkos Armenicus

[dudu999]

Thanks Amakorkos. Your solution work like a charm to me. After change 02 M240 under warranty now I can solve by myself.

[joethma]

my m240 doesnt have any chips i can see to remove without desoldering the smt. any ideas? I've disconnected the internal battery to see if it'll reset.

[RCM]

What generation do you have, if it's a v3 or v4 there is no chip to disconnect

[joethma]

its v4, looks like I'm screwed and a have a couple of them...

[RoadRanger]

Someone on the Sandisk company forum posted that you can just pull the chip quickly as it boots up, then replace it when you get an error. Trick is you have to get it disconnected before the player stops looking at it. Once I figured out the "quick" part I was able to reformat my player! Do this with the battery out and pull that chip quick after plugging it into your USB port. It helps to loosen it a bit before you begin. I bricked my player by trying to "fool" it into using bookmarks on a ".mp3" file by renaming it to ".aa" kinda like someone earlier in the thread did.
http://forums.sandisk.com/sansa/boar...thread.id=1501

[turbodog]

Yup, worked for me, too....

Originally Posted by RoadRanger

Someone on the Sandisk company forum posted that you can just pull the chip quickly as it boots up, then replace it when you get an error. Trick is you have to get it disconnected before the player stops looking at it. Once I figured out the "quick" part I was able to reformat my player! Do this with the battery out and pull that chip quick after plugging it into your USB port. It helps to loosen it a bit before you begin. I bricked my player by trying to "fool" it into using bookmarks on a ".mp3" file by renaming it to ".aa" kinda like someone earlier in the thread did.
http://forums.sandisk.com/sansa/boar...thread.id=1501