30G Zunes stopped last night at midnight?

[Tess]

We purchased a Zune for our son for Christmas. He, my husband, and I worked for days trying to get the darn thing to function. The software would download to the computer without an issue, but then wouldn't find the Zune device even though it was clearly there. We did all the troubleshooting and got no where. Our son took the device to his computer at college and thought he'd give it a whirl there--same result, the Zune would not function.

After many, many hours of fighting with the darned thing--he finally returned it and got an Ipod and it was up and running in minutes. . .needless to say, we were cursing MS.

 

[bicker]

That's a shame, since the iPod doesn't offer a subscription service. I recommend, to folks who wish to get an MP3 player other than a Zune, to instead look for a Rhapsody-compatible device. You never know -- you might want to have a subscription service someday soon -- and it would be nice if that happens if you had a device that offered that type of service to you.

Here's a link to Rhapsody-compatible devices:

http://learn.rhapsody.com/devices?src=learn_rhap_devices&pcode=rn&opage=learn_rhap_devices

 

[rcraw45425]

Just found this on CNN.com:

http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/12/31/zune.player.failures/index.html

 

[bicker]

My wife is recharging her Zune 30 now.

I've already read messages from some Zune 30 folks reporting that the problem has indeed gone away.

 

[JCJRSmith]

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2044776

 

[bicker]

What a shocker--a Microsoft product is having massive product wide problems. I can't believe they stay in business.

My Ipod is working fine

Gee, I hope none of those folks who are always saying how people who get iPods are stupid because they're just paying for hype and advertising and the zune is just as good, blah, blah, blah won't be affected. They might have to change their tune.

Some folks apparently have a very short memory. IPods have had their share of troubles, and some far more long-lasting than this self-correcting issue with the Zune. AAMoF, there was a class-action suit against Apple's iPod that established that Apple made material misrepresentations and omissions in its advertising regarding the lifespan of the iPod’s battery, a lawsuit that Apple settled, forcing them to replace millions of dollars worth of batteries.

Consumer electronics is hardly ever perfect. In reality, a situation like this, where a time-related problem simply goes away, within an extremely short period of time, is remarkable in a positive way, especially in contrast to something like the iPod situation, which was a defect that was not remedied for customers until many months had gone by.

 

[sherry7]

Anybody have some luck yet? I have both of ours charging right now, but they don't have sufficient power to turn on yet.

Happy New Years everyone!

 

[bicker]

My wife's Zune 30 is working fine, this morning.

 

[Jeninindy]

All of our 30gb Zunes are up and running again. No loss of content.....

 

[sherry7]

My wife's Zune 30 is working fine, this morning.

Thanks Bicker. How long did you have to charge it before it came back on? Any difference between plugging it into the computer, or the wall?

BTW, are you the same Bicker who posts on CruiseCritic?

 

[JuneChickie]

Our Zune is home in the drawer. We're in Disney for the holiday.

so I guess our Zune took a little vacation too.

 

[bicker]

How long did you have to charge it before it came back on?

It came back on within 30 minutes, but you really should let it go at least 90 minutes before synching.

Any difference between plugging it into the computer, or the wall?

Plugging it into the wall is always better if you need a stronger charge (and in this case, you do).

BTW, are you the same Bicker who posts on CruiseCritic?

Posted. I just didn't enjoy cruising enough...

 

[sherry7]

It came back on within 30 minutes, but you really should let it go at least 90 minutes before synching.

Plugging it into the wall is always better if you need a stronger charge (and in this case, you do).

Posted. I just didn't enjoy cruising enough...

Thanks....I'll try to be patient while it charges.

I thought I recognized your screen name. I wish I were on a cruise right now, it's freezing here!

 

[bicker]

I wish I was on Honeymoon Beach on St. John USVI. That's really the issue for me: Rather than cruise, I'd love to find a comparable hotel on land, next to some sparsely-populated Caribbean beach, and just plant ourselves there for the full week, rather than all this back and forth with the ship...

Ahhhhhhhh

 

[bicker]

It has been confirmed that the problem that affected Zune 30s on December 31 was not a problem with Microsoft software, but rather a problem with a driver written to support the clock in the Zune 30, and affected devices other than Zune 30s, specifically the Gigabeat S Series.

http://www.anythingbutipod.com/arch...scale-bug-affecting-toshiba-gigabeats-too.php

 

[bicker]

It has been confirmed that the problem that affected Zune 30s on December 31 was not a problem with Microsoft software, but rather a problem with a driver written to support the clock in the Zune 30, and affected devices other than Zune 30s, specifically the Gigabeat S Series.

http://www.anythingbutipod.com/arch...scale-bug-affecting-toshiba-gigabeats-too.php

 

[bicker]

It has been confirmed that the problem that affected Zune 30s on December 31 was not a problem with Microsoft software, but rather a problem with a driver written to support the clock in the Zune 30, and affected devices other than Zune 30s, specifically the Gigabeat S Series.

http://www.anythingbutipod.com/arch...scale-bug-affecting-toshiba-gigabeats-too.php

 

[bicker]

It has been confirmed that the problem that affected Zune 30s on December 31 was not a problem with Microsoft software, but rather a problem with a driver written to support the clock in the Zune 30, and affected devices other than Zune 30s, specifically the Gigabeat S Series.

http://www.anythingbutipod.com/arch...scale-bug-affecting-toshiba-gigabeats-too.php

 

[JCJRSmith]

It has been confirmed that the problem that affected Zune 30s on December 31 was not a problem with Microsoft software, but rather a problem with a driver written to support the clock in the Zune 30, and affected devices other than Zune 30s, specifically the Gigabeat S Series.

http://www.anythingbutipod.com/arch...scale-bug-affecting-toshiba-gigabeats-too.php

I saw a blog post linked from Slashdot about the source code used. The programmer used the wrong arithmetic operator on a simple comparison against the number 366 (number of days in a leap year) and it put the Zune 30 into an infinite loop until the battery died.

http://www.aeroxp.org/2009/01/lesson-on-infinite-loops/

 

[Laura]

It has been confirmed that the problem that affected Zune 30s on December 31 was not a problem with Microsoft software, but rather a problem with a driver written to support the clock in the Zune 30, and affected devices other than Zune 30s, specifically the Gigabeat S Series.

http://www.anythingbutipod.com/arch...scale-bug-affecting-toshiba-gigabeats-too.php

I thought something like that might be the case, since the 30GB Zune is based on the Toshiba Gigabeat. The newer-gen Zunes are all-Microsoft and weren't affected.