Creative MuVo MP3!!!!!!!

Manxman_in_exile · 20 March 2019 at 7:36PM

Hi guys

Please don't laugh but I'm trying to adhere to the principle of money saving. (Although I suspect the answer will be "spend some money)!

I've got two Creative MuVo MP3 players. I know they're both about 12 or 15 years old, but I only use them when I'm out running - not for anything else.

Recently they have both developed what seems to be the same fault. They both stop playing after about 15 minutes and they both seem to freeze on the same track (different tracks on each one).

If I plug them into the USB port on my laptop all the tracks are there that there should be, and I can play them all on the laptop.

I'm wondering if I should simply delete the tracks on each where they freeze, or whether I should delete them all, reformat, and then download the tracks again. But I'm suspecting that this won't work as there doesn't seem to be a problem with the tracks themselves, but rather it's a (terminal?) fault with the MP3 hardware.

Any (non-rude) suggestions, or do I simply have to face up to the fact that I need to get some up to date kit?

(PS - I'm a confirmed techno-phobe so don't really want to learn how to use something new if it can be avoided).

Backbiter · 20 March 2019 at 8:51PM

I have two of those and they are both excellent. 12-15 years service is damned good.
Nothing to lose by deleting your music and reinstalling everything.

Manxman_in_exile · 20 March 2019 at 11:00PM

Backbiter wrote: »

I have two of those and they are both excellent. 12-15 years service is damned good.
Nothing to lose by deleting your music and reinstalling everything.

Yeah - I really like them and they are perfect for running with little clip holder you can attach to clothing. They are so simple and basic I thought nothing could go wrong!

I think you must be right - nothing to lose!

I like to get the most value I can out of anything and run everything into the ground...

esuhl · 21 March 2019 at 12:17AM

Manxman_in_exile wrote: »

I like to get the most value I can out of anything and run everything into the ground...

I'm the same. :-) And I also have a pair of these, and agree -- they are excellent in every way!

---

Have the tracks been on there for a long time? Flash memory fades after a while. Mabe worth deleting and copying over the files again to refresh the memory.

The memory itself degrades over time too, so it's possible that the flash memory has become degraded.

Or maybe there's a problem with the tracks themselves? Have you tried deleting them and seeing if different tracks are affected at the same ~15 minute mark?

Manxman_in_exile · 21 March 2019 at 12:46AM

esuhl wrote: »

I'm the same. :-) And I also have a pair of these, and agree -- they are excellent in every way!

---

Have the tracks been on there for a long time? Flash memory fades after a while. Mabe worth deleting and copying over the files again to refresh the memory.

The memory itself degrades over time too, so it's possible that the flash memory has become degraded.

Or maybe there's a problem with the tracks themselves? Have you tried deleting them and seeing if different tracks are affected at the same ~15 minute mark?

Yeah - they've been there for years. (I'm very stuck in my ways!)

Think I'll try deleting them and reformatting (? I've still got the manuals and original disk somewhere) and try to copy them back on.

Thanks

esuhl · 21 March 2019 at 4:19AM

A reformat is probably a good idea.

I think you can just right-click the drive in Windows and choose "Format...".

Just make sure you tick the "quick format" option.

Cisser · 21 March 2019 at 7:22AM

But all the data on the computer will be removed if you format it.

Manxman_in_exile · 21 March 2019 at 9:29AM

I think esuhl means formatting the MP3 USB stick not the laptop's hard drive.

At least I hope so...:)

Manxman_in_exile · 22 March 2019 at 10:15PM

Well - I'm surprised to be reporting back that they both seem(?) to be working now!

I haven't actually used them for almost a year because I've been ill (no running). But I know when I last used them they both had the fault outlined in post #1.

Thought I'd test them both tonight before trying any deletion/formatting. To my surprise the one with the lower memory played straight through all the tracks on it for 2 hours 10 minutes. But the other one was still cutting out and turning off after 10 to 15 minutes.

I compared the settings on both of them and the only difference I could see was on the "Idle" setting. The one that was working had a setting of 30 minutes but the other (that wasn't working) had Idle turned off. I changed it to 30 minutes as well and it seems to be working properly now. Seems counter-intuitive to me, but maybe I don't understand how the "Idle" setting works.

(When the problem first manifested itself I did play around with the Idle setting. Looks like I fixed one of them without realising it!)

Manxman_in_exile · 26 March 2019 at 1:53AM

Spoke too soon! One working OK (it seems) but other keeps freezing after a few minutes. Will try re-format.

Creative MuVo MP3!!!!!!!

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