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How do I format the memory on my Rio MP3 Player?

I have a Rio Carbon MP3 player which I really like, but I'd like to reformat the memory in the device so I can wipe all my old music and start afresh. How do I do that?

Dave's Answer:

After what seemed like an extraordinary amount of effort, I finally landed on the Rio Web site (it's rioaudio.com in case you're curious). The confusion is that the Rio players used to be made by Diamond Multimedia, but then spun out a different firm without checking to see if anyone would ever be able to find them on the Web. Ah, not such a good business strategy.

Anyway, it's pretty easy to grab a new copy of the Rio Carbon User's Guide [PDF] or the documentation for just about any other Rio player, for that matter, from their Rio Support Center.

By perusing the User's Guide, I learned that you can't reformat the device itself without having it hooked up to a PC. If you do have a PC connection, however, here's a handy tip from the troubleshooting section that answers the question directly:

Reformatting the disk on a Rio Carbon MP3 Player

Note that since you're hooked up, you can also utilize the Rio Music Manager [.EXE download] on your PC to delete all the tracks, if that's all you need. With that program running and your Rio Carbon plugged in, however, you can click on the Rio Carbon on the left, press Control-A to select all the tracks, and click on the DELETE icon (the red 'x') in the program. That'll delete all the individual tracks on the device, but it won't format the disk from scratch.

Hope that helps you out!

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Categorized: Sony PSP, MP3 Players, Etc. (Article 6523)
Tagged: mp3 player, mp3 players, rio audio, rio mp3 player
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Comments

Hi Dave! Your formatting scheme above would work but i cant find the icon on My Computer. Maybe it is because i dropped it that one time... Anyways i cant see it on My Computer at all and now i cant stop it using the device stopper thingy. I need help!

Jim

Posted by: Jim at June 18, 2006 12:49 AM

This sounds like the problem I'm having with a Logik 2GB MP3. It's as if the computer simply can't see it, so I can't take the first step to format it or transfer files. I've tried using another computer, with same results. The 60 bundled tracks on it work fine (ugh) so I know the MP3's alive. I'm using XP.

Posted by: Paul at August 17, 2006 3:59 AM

Further to my previous message - the dealer thinks it was an assembly fault, not software or user! Free no-quibble replacement unit did the trick.

Posted by: Paul at August 17, 2006 12:04 PM

my pearl has the rio logo on and wont turn on or off. computer wont recognize unit either.

Posted by: neil riewer at November 14, 2006 12:47 PM

every time i turn my rio on, it says "internal memory uknown. connect USB and reformat" so i followed the steps and it doesnt work, i also checked the properties of my rio and it saysd there is no free or used space : / little help would be cool

Posted by: Al at May 5, 2007 3:05 PM

My problem is like Paul's. My mp3 is working properly itself but it is no longer detected by any pc. This mp3 does not support self-formatting function. So, I can't find a way to format it. Please help me.
p.s. I use XP.

Posted by: circle at July 5, 2007 12:22 PM

I tried reformating my rio forge by following your instructions. but when I try to download a song it comes up failed to transer (then the name of the song) then error 0X80045011. What is wrong Please Please help!!

Posted by: Chairbear at January 30, 2008 5:27 PM

I have a lot to say, but ...

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I do have a comment, now that you mention it!