MP3 Player Problem

[Hot Tub]

I have a little MP3 player which I use for learning basslines, and I've been using it for a while with no problems whatsoever. Last night I added a couple of tracks to the playlist I use in Windows Media, then dragged the playlist in its entirety into the "Sync" panel. This is my usual procedure, and normally it'll run through the playlist and bring up "already on device" in the "Status" column and sync the new track(s). But this time it generated errors on every track and the MP3 player showed "Unknown Format" on its display. I've tried formatting the MP3 player and reinstalling it, but still getting the same problem.

Anyone got any ideas on how to fix this?

Many thanks in advance!

[Delberthot]

what make of mp3 player is it? is it a hard drive or flash memory one?

I'm usually pretty good at fixing these kind if things

[bnt]

Could Windows Media Player be converting the files to Windows Media Audio? Check:
- with the player connected, right-click on it in the left-hand column, and select Advanced Options
- On the "Quality" tab, the "Convert music..." option should be unchecked.

I never understood why they did that. Converting files from one lossy format to another lossy format is stupid - can never improve the sound, and causes the sync process to take much longer. It's very rare to find a MP3 file that any decent player can't handle by now.

---

PS: I've found it's easier to use Playlists to manage the tracks on a player, especially when it comes to removing tracks:
- create a playlist with a suitable name e.g Basslines
- put a track or two in the playlist, by drag and drop, or right-click -> add to playlist
- sync that playlist to the player: with the player connected, right-click on it in the left-hand column, and select Set Up Sync. Add the new playlist to the player, and remove any of those auto-generated playlists you don't want. Check "Sync this device automatically".

After that, you can manage the playlist at any time, even when the player is not connected. Add tracks as above, and to remove them, go to the playlist, select the tracks, right-click and say "Remove from Playlist" (not Delete).

Edited September 3, 2008 by bnt

[Hot Tub]

Cheers bnt - I'll have a shot at that.

Delberthot - It's a cheap little Goodmans GMP31G5 thingy.

[Kev]

if your mp3 player isn't wma compatible, then thatl be the problem. anything windows media player syncs to a mp3 player is converted to wma first

Edited September 3, 2008 by BassManKev

[bnt]

[quote name='BassManKev' post='276212' date='Sep 3 2008, 01:02 PM']if your mp3 player isn't wma compatible, then thatl be the problem. anything windows media player syncs to a mp3 player is converted to wma first[/quote]
Only if you leave it on default settings - I was describing how to fix that.