Aigo A215 4Gb Nightmare

[Kras]

Hi,

I hope someone can give me some suggestions regarding this Mp3 player. All other Mp3 players I have had allow you to drag and drop files in order to play them. This one however, does not. To get files on to it I need to put them on through Windows Media Player. Simple? Hmm... I duly plug USB into PC and a popup appears asking me if I'd like to sync files with WMP, naturally I click 'Yes' only for WMP to tell me no device can be found. I check through device manager to see a problem with 'MTP device', I believe this is Media Transfer Protocol and the drivers for this fail every time. The only possible solution I can come to aside from returning it is to dual boot my PC with Win '98se and use the supplied drivers for that platform. Seems a pain in the proverbial but I was wondering if anyone else had experienced anything similar and knows an easier solution? Any help would be greatly appreciated!

[Goldfish]

too am having trouble with this MP3 player...it seemed such a bargain as well! 1st one I had to return, this one I think I may have killed. I accidently removed it from my laptop while it was still lit, and it hasn't turned on since. It flashes on and then off straight away, I didn't even get as far as trying to load music on to it. I too get the 'MTP Device' problem. Any and all advice is welcome. Thank you kindly.

[Kras]

Still no joy, 11 days after purchasing what indeed seem like a bargain at £30 I still cannot get files on to the damned thing. As for the telephone 'Helpline' number, forget it, you get some message saying all agents are busy and that you can't leave a messsge for anyone to reply to and get cut off. Personally I'm disgusted with Aigo and believe the product is little more use than a paperweight. However, I shall persevere. One can only but assume they are inundated with similar complaints. Me and Aigo ->

[ske1fr]

Hi - I found this conversation while Googling for any info on this beastie.

I've just bought one, and it's a bit weird. When I turned it on without any files or PC connection it just sat there with the logo displaying. When I connected it to a PC it did the same. Oh no I thought, a lemon...As it's a Media Player 10 type device it looked like fun for me (Kubuntu Dapper Drake) but I still have 98SE on a PC so I connected it to that. There wasn't much on it other than database type files, but guess what - as soon as I installed the 98SE drivers and connected it, suddenly it would start up properly and let me into the device settings. Methinks it wants a PC identifier or a bit of a flash from the driver so it's associated with a computer before it'll work.

Now to the fun part - it plays tracks in alphabetical order of ID3v2 title...I've finally sussed out how to make it play in album order, but it's a bit of a faff...

Goldfish, try taking the battery out for 5 minutes then replace it. Try connecting it to the computer then. Try holding the on button in for 5 seconds when you do so in case that reboots it.

It is a bargain from a well-known supermarket chain , but sheesh , alpha order of tags and no respect for folders?

[ethel]

I too bought a215 4gb from Tesco. Have returned it twice now but still can't get the 3rd one working. Aigo support line have not been that helpful and just told me player must be corrupt and return to store, but 3 of them can't be that unlucky can I. I'am running XP sp2 with WMP11.

[sparky71]

I bought a 2GB Aigo to go on holiday a couple of weeks ago. I've had no problems with transferring music or getting the player to work and the battery life is fantastic. The only problem I've got (which is now pretty annoying) is that if you're browsing though the albums trying to choose a particular one, you only have 10 seconds to make your selection - after this it goes back to the main menu again!

This is the same problem whether you're browsing albums, songs, artists etc... Looks like something they've built into the software - though can't for the life of me think why they would do that?!

Has anyone else come across this problem or is it just my player having these issue?

[ske1fr]

Originally Posted by ethel

I too bought a215 4gb from Tesco. Have returned it twice now but still can't get the 3rd one working. Aigo support line have not been that helpful and just told me player must be corrupt and return to store, but 3 of them can't be that unlucky can I. I'am running XP sp2 with WMP11.

Describe the problem, ethel. This is a peculiar device that has foibles, like the behaviour in the menus! Yes, me too sparky71. Keep moving while in the menu...or try reverse order (the left search button).

[kenhanley]

I have the same problem with navigation. I have tried contacting Aigo on their web site but have had no reply. I have now taken to sending a new help 'ticket' every day to try and get their attention.
Keeping moving through the list of albums and changing direction has no effect it still times out and you have to start again. I think we are stuck with it until they come up with a software update to download (if this is possible).
Meanwhile I have entered the album name on the hardest to reach albums in the Genre field and can access those albums by scrolling through the Genres.

[Kras]

Hi all,

My wife took this overpriced paperweight back to Tesco today as I threatened to 'drag and drop' it in the bin. Despite innumerable messages on Aigo's helpsite, innumerable telephone calls to a useless helpline that cut me off, a complaint registered with BBC's watchdog, downloading Microsofts MTP Porting kit all to no avail I'd had enough. The wife took the offensive item back minus a reciept (it had been bought with weekly shopping and consequently lost) Tescos gave us a refund. Apparently (I have no concrete proof of this) Tescos did a product recall as the player was borked from the start. Regardless of that, I am more disappointed with Aigo as a whole and consequently will not be purchasing any product with their name in it, ever. I can only suggest you all take the POS back to the place of purchase and get your money back.We can all learn a lesson from this 'You get what you pay for', though I've had lesser nightmares after 12 pints of Stella Artois.

As for me, I consider the thread closed.

Thanks for all your input though guys and good luck!

[Kras]

Originally Posted by kenhanley

I have tried contacting Aigo on their web site but have had no reply. I have now taken to sending a new help 'ticket' every day to try and get their attention.

One can only but assume this is due to the fact they are innundated with complaints. At least you got your files onto the damn thing in the first place!!

[ske1fr]

Sadly my own requests for assistance to Aigo went unanswered too. In the end I worked out the fact for myself that play order was based on the ID3v2 title tag.

Amazingly I was about to say that there was nothing on the Aigo website about this player's problems, but I go to the site to double-check this morning and what do I see? An upgrade for A215's! I think I'd be more inclined to use this upgrade if

• the accompanying instructions mentioned a different firmware version to that already on the player, but they show the same 215.3120.101 that I already have. Normally you increment the version number if a change is made.
• the instructions confirmed compatibilty with Windows 98SE, as this is the only remaining Windows version I have at home...Kubuntu Dapper or Feisty all the time now.
• the instructions didn't include manually copying files from one folder to another before triggering a flash upgrade. This looks a bit kludgey...

I'll hold off on this update until I get a response to my query about 98SE compatibilty from Aigo (should I hold my breath?) or until I see a few successful reports. I can actually live with the player right now, given the faffing about with ID3 taggers required, so I'm in no hurry to break it - much less have to retag all the files I've loaded and reload them. I don't blame any of you for shooting these things back to the retailer though.

[smart63]

Hi,

under XP ensure that the disk lock on the player is not engaged and connect via the supplied USB extension cable. For some reason connecting the device directly will cause the device installation to fail. Select option to sync using windows media player and Windows will detect the device. Drag tunes to the sync list and sort files as required, then sync to device.

Hope this helps.

[kenhanley]

Hi,
I can confirm that the flash upgrade on the aigo.co.uk site is the same version as is already on the A215 mp3 player. Not only that but the files that you are asked to copy into the folder of the flash update software are identical to those they are replacing.
I am still trying to get a response from someone at Aigo. So far I have identified 5 individuals' e-mail addresses and have taken to sending them daily e-mails until one of them responds. I am working my way through a name list to find other addresses now that I know the format of their e-mail addresses.
At least we now know that flash updates are possible.

With regard to the playing order, I thought all mp3 players used the track number tag as the playing order for playing an album, so noone is wasting their time ensuring the tags are correct. If you want to play all tracks by a particular artist in a specific order you then have to do something with the track name tag to ensure it plays in the order you want.

[ske1fr]

Originally Posted by kenhanley

Hi,
I can confirm that the flash upgrade on the aigo.co.uk site is the same version as is already on the A215 mp3 player. Not only that but the files that you are asked to copy into the folder of the flash update software are identical to those they are replacing.

I thought so - not the old "the original files are corrupted so reinstall them" dodge? Shades of old Matrox graphics cards with volatile firmware...let's hope it's a manufacturing fault, not poor memory retention .

Originally Posted by kenhanley

I am still trying to get a response from someone at Aigo. So far I have identified 5 individuals' e-mail addresses and have taken to sending them daily e-mails until one of them responds. I am working my way through a name list to find other addresses now that I know the format of their e-mail addresses.

Ouch. Don't hold your breath. I've two "tickets" in with them and not a single response.

Originally Posted by kenhanley

At least we now know that flash updates are possible.

I'm in no hurry to brick what was a great value purchase! None on sale in the local Tesco now, just the Technika with half the capacity and AAA battery life for the same price.

Originally Posted by kenhanley

With regard to the playing order, I thought all mp3 players used the track number tag as the playing order for playing an album, so noone is wasting their time ensuring the tags are correct. If you want to play all tracks by a particular artist in a specific order you then have to do something with the track name tag to ensure it plays in the order you want.

You're right. Shame this player needs tracks with title frames like "10905 - If I Can't Dance" and "10906 - Distance Between Us" (for example) to keep albums in the right order.

[Kras]

Sorry to hear you guys are still having a nightmare with this thing. As I stated before, Tescos have withdrawn them from sale due to the number of problems associated with the thing. It would appear the Aigo are trying to quietly ignore this problem and hope it goes away. They certainly appear to be in no hurry at all to address it with individuals who are experiencing issues. Personally I got a 4Gb Logic player from PC World that allows you to 'drag and drop' or use MTP. Works fine with no problems at all, weighs in at £19 more expensive (£49.98). Also as far as I am aware due to the problems with the Aigo Tescos are accepting returns regardless of whether you have the reciept or not.

I can only hope my complaints to BBC's Watchdog show don't go unnoticed and that Aigo get their backsides kicked.

[kenhanley]

Finally got rid of it. I took it back to Tesco and got my money back.
I discovered another problem with it as I added more tracks. There seems to be a limit to the number of tracks it recognises (probably 999) even though there was space for more. So I started again, getting rid of tracks that I wouldn't play very often to get all the stuff I definitely wanted on the damned thing. Half way through copying the tracks WMP reported stopped on all the tracks it was copying. When I disconnected and turned it on it said Flash Error and wouldn't turn off without removing the battery. I re-installed the software using the flash 'upgrade' and tried again, Same thing happened. That was the last straw so I got rid of it.
I did finally get a reply from someone at Aigo who said they would pass my comments on to the relevant department but I have heard nothing since.