how can i fix a glitching mp3 player?

my mp3 player glitches whenever i try to plug it in to my mac mini. as it gets read and appears on the desktop, everything on the desktop simultaneously disappears for about a second, then reappears for a second, and repeats until i unplug the mp3 player. i am not able to put any files on the mp3 player, due to the disappearing of the desktop. i dont know what caused this to happen, but i think one of the files i put on there may have had a virus. i wiped the memory via itself, but the problem continues. it is a 1GB trutech mp3, can i fix it, is it worth my time/money to fix, and how can i?