Wierd - Installed but Nothing Happens? (Sansa Clip+)

[xuyf]

Hi,

I have a new Sansa Clip+. Its fresh out of Amazon, and is currently at the latest build according to the updater.

I got the utility program, extracted and ran it. I then chose the device location and the device name itself.

It was labelled as Sandisk Sansa Clip+ (Stable) in H drive.

So now, I click 'Complete Installation'. It pops up the error about the bootloader requires me to have the original firmware.

But as I checked my device, there are no .bin files in it.

Only folders, .sys and version.sdk file.

Anyway, I went  to the top bar, action>installation>rockbox.

Managed to download, and extract the program.

I can now see a .rockbox folder inside my clip+.

However, when I restarted the clip+, nothing happens.

It is still the same firmware.

Guys, any ideas?

Thanks.

NOTE: I didn't install the bootloader. Can't find the original firmware.

[Llorean]

I'm not sure what's so "weird." You didn't actually install a required part and now it's not working. You need to get a copy of the original firmware bin file so that the bootloader can be installed. I think RBUtil may even tell you where to find one in that message, I'm not sure.

[xuyf]

Thanks.

Didn't understand how to install rockbox.

Now I understand.

The firmware do not have to be ON the machine, but on my PC.

[[Saint]]

The original firmware .bin can be anywhere...as long as you can point RbUtil to it...

It doesn't *have* to be anywhere in particular.


[St.]

[bluebrother]

Rockbox Utility tells you where to get the firmware file. Is there anything unclear with the dialog that explains this?

[Mark Colan]

As a beginner to RU, I found the link in question.  It was clear, EXCEPT that it assumed that going to the page was enough.  It took me awhile that there are two links on the page - and the one I need says "Firmware Download for All Regions".  It is the last link on the page, so it is not intuitive.  Of course, this is a Sansa page, and you can't make it clearer, but you could give the hint in the dialog to look for that text string.

The manual could be revised to clearer about how this works.  It describes the Automatic and Manual procedure for installing Rockbox in section 2.02.  But it isn't until the END of the section, top of page 15, where it says you need to have the OF.

Suggestion: put a step-by-step procedure into section 2.1 of the manual

Step 1: Put the player in MSC mode.  To do this, start the player, navigate the menu Settings -> System Settings -> USB Mode.  You are given the choices of Auto Detect, xx, and MSC.  Choose MSC.

Step 2: You need to have the original firmware (OF) for the installation procedure.  Go to http://forums.sandisk.com/t5/Clip-Clip/SansaClip-Firmware-Update-01-02-15/td-p/150227.  Look for "Firmware Download for All Regions", and click Click Here to Download.  This will download a zip file.  When downloaded, extract the two files (a .dat file, and a .bin file) to a directory you can find when asked by RockloadUpdater.

Now you are ready to start RockboxUtility.

[Llorean]

If we put a description of their page, it would also mean we'd need to constantly check their page for updates so that we could update the description.

Besides, as you noted, all the information was there for you, you just didn't actually read it before you started. You also didn't read the message that told you to go to the page. Then you assumed that Rockbox would still work even though you skipped a step. Frankly, this amount of user error can never be skipped. I'm amazed you skipped a step during the install, then asked "Weird, installed but nothing happens?" like you thought the install might have completed anyway.

If users aren't going to read what we write in the first place, such as your skipping the notice to download that file, there's no point in writing it any clearer - no matter how clear it is if it isn't read it doesn't matter.

[bluebrother]

If we put a description of their page, it would also mean we'd need to constantly check their page for updates so that we could update the description.

Personally I wouldn't even put a link to any non-Rockbox website in Rockbox Utility. I'd link the Rockbox Wiki only instead.

If users aren't going to read what we write in the first place, such as your skipping the notice to download that file, there's no point in writing it any clearer - no matter how clear it is if it isn't read it doesn't matter.

While this isn't wrong I can also see a problem here: users tend to be impatient (and honestly, at times I'm too ). Now with a tool like Rockbox Utility the impression that all this isn't complicated at all isn't too far fetched, which in some way makes it more likely for a user to skip reading up on the process first. As a consequence we need to blame ourselves to some degree for making installation too simple Since making the installation more compilicated isn't a suitable solution the only remaining one is to try making it clear enough -- and deal with the people that still get it wrong.

I'm open for other suggestions on how to handle this but that's what I can think about.