After more than 4 years, my Philips GoGEAR MP4 player SA2VBE16K ViBE stopped working: at the start up it remained in the splashscreen and I wasn’t able even to switch it off!! I tried to reset it using the little reset hole, but that allows me only to succeed to switch it off, nothing more … at the next switch on nothing changed!

Therefore I started to search for a solution on Intenet, as usual 😉 … and it was not so easy because it is an “old” product: the solution that worked was the one explained in a document I found in the Philips site, where I registered my MP4 player: All products -> Portable entertainment -> Portable MP3 players -> Flash audio/video players -> Philips GoGEAR MP4 player SA2VBE16K ViBE 16GB* with FullSound™

Before I entered in the client site with my credentials, I didn’t succeded to find my “old” MP4 player model in the Philips site, … so I suggest you to enter as an authenticated user.

In the page of the product there is a link (sa2vbe16k_02_psb_aen.exe) to install the Philips SongBirds program that, at the end, was the one that allowed me to reset the player to factory settings with a procedure I found in the Troubleshooting section of the FAQs: “What can I do if the display freezes, or the player does not respond?“: in particular I succeeded with the method 3 they described (I already tried the previous ones …).

In the following I reported all the 3 methods they suggest:

Method 1: Reset the player

1. Insert a pen tip or other small object (such as a pin) gently into the reset hole. (You can feel a “click” once you successfully press on it).
   
2. Switch on the player.

If the display still freezes, or the player still does not respond, proceed to the following.

Method 2: Format the player
Important note: Files stored in the device would be deleted after formatting.

1. Start Philips Songbird in the computer.
2. Connect the player to your computer.
3. On the left side of the Philips Songbird window, click on the device.
   
4. Click on the Tools tab.
   
5. Inside the Tools tab, click on Format to format the internal storage.
   

If the display still freezes, or the player still does not respond, proceed to the following.

Method 3: Repair the player 
Repairing erases all the files in the player and restores the player to factory settings. 

1. Make sure your computer is connected to the Internet.
2. Start Philips Songbird in the computer.
3. Connect the player to your computer.
   Note: Make sure you start Philips Songbird before connecting the player to your computer.
4. Under the Tools menu, select “Repair my Philips Device”.
   
5. Choose your device on the pop-up box.
   Important note:
   Make sure you chose the CORRECT device on the pop-up box. Choosing an incorrect device would cause permanent damage on the device. The model number of your device is printed on the side or on the back of the device.
6. Follow the instructions on the screen to perform the repair process.

The procedure described choosing the “Repair my Philips Device” is to switch off the MP4 player, run the Tools -> Repair my Philips Device, connect the PM4 player to the PC maintaining the “volume +” pressed on the player (at the top of it) till a reset progress bar  appears in that tool window … then the update waiting roll started to appear on the MP3 player screen and after that everything started to work again!!!

I loose all my files in the player but I have always a backup 😉