Guys (and ladies) how do I do this from Windows Media Player?
I’m dragging and dropping all songs in the order they are listed and then sync them to the player. However, when I play them back, they are in shuffle mode even though shuffle mode on the player is turned off?
Can you set me straight, please?
Thanks
Q
Are they playing in random order, or are they playing in alphabetical order?
I don’t use Windows Media Player or have a Sansa, but here are some possibilities:
What can happen is that on your computer, the files are handled by directory order, i.e. the order that they were created. This is the order the songs were on the album.
When you copy them to the Sansa, Windows may sort the files before copying them, so they end up on the Sansa with a different directory order, so they play in a different order. Or, the Sansa may ignore directory ordering and just use alphabetical ordering.
Usually, the solution is to have a track number identifier in the file name so that when sorted in alphabetical order, the tracks reflect the album order
i.e.
01 - Song 1
02 - Song 2
…
or
Band Name - Album name - 01 - Song1
Band Name - Album name - 02 - Song2
…
A consistent approach to song naming really does help with this. The best tool I have used for this is Media Monkey - they have a free version and is is really very good (and I am pretty obsessive about such things).
Also, if the Sansa does not support long file names, they may be truncated to pretty random short file names.
Finally, the Sansa may be using the internal MP3 tags of the files. These could be pretty messed up. Media Monkey can fix that, too.
Si
I’d recommend trying to create a playlist, either manually in Windows Media Player, or by copying a filename listing into a blank text file and saving it with a .m3u playlist extension.
Then you can sync the playlist to the Sansa clip using media player, and it will play the list in order. 
Sansa Clip plays files using the MP3 tags.
when you select songs to play do you see files grouped by artist or album?
i don’t use Windows Media Player method to transfer music to my player.
I have a different model of Sansa (not a Clip), so I don’t know if it works the same way for mine as for yours, but in case it does:
When you play music, you have several options: you can play Albums, Artists, Songs, Genres, Playlists, etc.
If you select an Album (or, I think, an Artist), it’ll play the songs in Track Number order. The track numbers should already be assigned correctly to the tracks on the album, from when you ripped or downloaded it, but if they’re not, you can check and change them in Windows Media Player.
If you select Songs, it’ll play all the songs on your device in alphabetical order of title (starting with the one you select), unless of course you choose shuffle mode.
Back when I had a Sansa, it would play ALL tracks marked 01 first, then all the tracks marked 02, etc. So it would play the first track of my Animals album, then the first track of my Beach Boys, then the first track of my Beatles and so on down the line.
I use WMP to get my files and a program called Mp3tag to rewrite the tags and the file names so that they are sequential and play in the correct order. It tool me a while to find the correct tools in Mp3tag, but now that I know what they are the process takes only about a minute. You can get Mp3tag through cnet.com.
For future reference, the guys at these 2 forums can answer just about anything about Sansa Clips
forums.sandisk.com — good for anything sansa/sandisk
or
FreemattandGrace.Com — good for any mp3 player except ipod
both have a forum specifically for the clip and clip+ and a whole lot of knowledgeable people.
Hey Everyone,
Thanks for coming to my rescue. I’m just in from the track, where I used my Sansa to do some power-walking and that thing is ALL messed up.
The songs would play in Alphabetical order, and then not even the whole song. The music would totally STOP and the next song would start and so forth.
I had the folder set for “Song” in media player, and also for song on the Sansa. I am right now listening back to the music after having set the Sansa to ALBUM and it is playing back correctly so far.
This music is very important because it’s steps per minute-rhythm and changes from 4.5 to 4.6 mph (30 minutes each).
Also, guys (and ladies); I had my browser open when I synced last night, so could that have interfered - like a program trying to break through or something?
Plus, I may have started the sync wrong. I dragged and dropped, and may have caused the first song to begin playing while the rest were being transferred.
As I continue to listen, one song went to the other in a very raggedy fashion, but still in correct album order.
Thanks for helping me out on this!
Q
i don’t use Windows Media Player to transfer files to my MP3 player. i transfer files in a mode where it appears as a disc drive.
a damaged file could stop playing short. the file could be damaged in creating the MP3 or in the transfer. playing while transferring will mess things up.
I finally got it all figured out, guys and here’s what I’m doing:
These cd’s are at set speeds, so to keep from confusing myself as to pacing, I will always only keep one cd on the Sansa, and I am hoping repetition of syncing to “album” instead of “song” will keep everything in order and all segues correct.
I know I can keep up with the cd’s and their speeds by storing them under different names, but just keeping one at a time on there will work out better for me. As my speed increases, I’ll just delete the previous one before I load the next one.
I really appreciate all of you willing to go the extra mile for me and your willingness to be patient while I “get it”. That’s a “friend thing” and more than once I’ve caught myself thinking “You have better friends on The Dope than you do in real life, Q”.
I know it should be the other way around by most peoples’ standards, but I don’t question it, I’m just glad that’s the way it is.
Thanks, everyone!
Bill