512MB MP3 Player shows 119MB after formating ????

Shakensoul

Skilled
Dec 22, 2005
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I have a strange situation here and I am sure this has been posted before but was unable to find any relevant post.

My friend bought a chinese Sony :eek:hyeah: Mp3 USB player. He gave it to me to upload some music files, when I was trying to transfer some songs, it gave an error after which I decided to format the drive. Initially when I checked the properties, it was showing 512MB. When I opened the format window, opened My Computer>right click Removable Drive>the drive capacity was indicating 119MB. But still I decided to go ahead with the format thinking that windows might be detecting it wrongly. But to my dismay it shows 119MB now....any answers. :S :S
 

Vince

Boogie-Man
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Jun 11, 2005
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wordsunchained.blogspot.com
@Params7: the re-format didnt work...

@Superczar: Flash? as in Flashing the firmware?? where do i go for a cheap-o chinese make drive's firmware???
And his too said "Sony"!! i think Shakensoul is talking about the same model of mp3player...
 

superczar

Skilled
Mar 17, 2005
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@Superczar: Flash? as in Flashing the firmware?? where do i go for a cheap-o chinese make drive's firmware???

yepper...

Eh, BTW did you try formatting it in FAT16?

Plz do that befoire doing anythng else

If that doesn't work, Try this ( at your own risk :p )

http://www.mydrivers.com/cgi-bin/Digital/1410,1.htm (list of several makes)

http://www.xundu.com/english/download.asp (the most common generic chinese playeron inidan markets)

However, what I'd advice is opening the player, noting the chipset and google for the firmware...

Also, the player may have come with a CD that would have the original firmware on it

Chinese MP3 Player.

Says enuf.

GF, the generic chinese players aren't particularly bad, esp. if you are running on a budget ....

it's the bundled earphones that are screwed...Just pair em up with a decent pair of earphones and they give you surprisingly good sound quality..

(BTW I didn't quite get teh logic behind putting that post)
 

Shakensoul

Skilled
Dec 22, 2005
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So for the guys who have the chinese made mp3 players...a piece of advice " Never format your flash drive". :no: :no:

And if you want know if after formatting the drive size will decrease, when you right click on the Removable Drive in My Computer and select Format, it will show you the total size of the drive before formatting.
 
Mar 18, 2006
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Hey mate...

Many flash drives come with formatting drivers or softwares. Check that at your end. Formatting such drives directly can cause problems...
 
Mar 18, 2006
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Hmmm...Then the drive's media is done with.

To lower the cost of a drive, manufacturers use bad quality flash RAM, which shows a higher amount of memory but after formatting, much of the RAM is rendered useless.

My advice...go for brands, not for cost. It helps, specially if the product comes with warranty too. And chinese products...strict no no for me.
 

hellfire

Adept
Mar 17, 2005
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Ummm...can't really help you here but I just wanted to post that this is not necessarily a cheap chinese stuff issue. My REAL Sony Microvault also gave capacity problems when I formatted it just like that in Windows. It was only after I used a special formatting tool from Sony website that it was restored to full functionality.
 
Mar 18, 2006
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I am just saying that atleast you get support for Sony and warrantee too. I agree you get all drivers and stuff for other non branded products, but how much important time you waste just searching for such stuff.

And about that chinese stuff thingy...didnt wanted to offend anybody, just my personal opinion.