People with 30 gb Zunes

[Vampiress_Miyu]

How did you get your Zune working again? I had it working briefly yesterday... But it's back to getting stuck on the loading screen... Any tips?

[Commander 598]

Well, I just purged mine of everything, reinstalled the firmware, and am currently resyncing everything. It seems to be working. I've probably had the case cracked open about fifteen or more times over the past three days trying to deal with this... (My warranty's been out for quite some time)

[JLTucker]

My Zune 30 is frozen. What should I do?

Follow these steps:
1. Disconnect your Zune from USB and AC power sources.
2. Because the player is frozen, its battery will drain—this is good. Wait until the battery is empty and the screen goes black. If the battery was fully charged, this might take a couple of hours.
3. Wait until after noon GMT on January 1, 2009 (that's 7 a.m. Eastern or 4 a.m. Pacific time).
4. Connect your Zune to either a USB port on the back or your computer or to AC power using the Zune AC Adapter and let it charge.

Once the battery has sufficient power, the player should start normally. No other action is required—you can go back to using your Zune!

From here.

[Phantasee]

Wait, what? The Zune freezes up because of the New Year?

So what happens if you're having a party and you're using your Zune to put music to your stereo?

[Bounty]

Wait, what? The Zune freezes up because of the New Year?

So what happens if you're having a party and you're using your Zune to put music to your stereo?

It's a problem with the way leap years are implemented in the built-in clock.

If you're having a party... well, the Zune won't work. What else is there to say about it?

[Losonti Tokash]

Wait, what? The Zune freezes up because of the New Year?

So what happens if you're having a party and you're using your Zune to put music to your stereo?

The company that programmed the clock on the 30gb zunes fucked up how it handles Dec 31st on leap years and so it gets stuck in a loop. The other models should be fine.

[Venator]

Wow, that's retarded. I'm glad I got the 80.

Edit: While we're at it, any massive software/hardware failings of it or the 120 that I should know about >.>?

[Vampiress_Miyu]

My Zune 30 is frozen. What should I do?

Follow these steps:
1. Disconnect your Zune from USB and AC power sources.
2. Because the player is frozen, its battery will drain—this is good. Wait until the battery is empty and the screen goes black. If the battery was fully charged, this might take a couple of hours.
3. Wait until after noon GMT on January 1, 2009 (that's 7 a.m. Eastern or 4 a.m. Pacific time).
4. Connect your Zune to either a USB port on the back or your computer or to AC power using the Zune AC Adapter and let it charge.

Once the battery has sufficient power, the player should start normally. No other action is required—you can go back to using your Zune!

From here.

Allllready tried that. It's not working. Still.

[DPDarkPrimus]

USA Today said charging it fully and turning it back on eliminated the problem for most users.

[Socar15]

Wow, that's retarded. I'm glad I got the 80.

Edit: While we're at it, any massive software/hardware failings of it or the 120 that I should know about >.>?

I have the 80, and yet it had this exact issue (and from what I've read many other 80s had the same problem). Luckily once the proper time on Jan 1 hit everything has been fine since then.

[Commander 598]

My Zune 30 is frozen. What should I do?

Follow these steps:
1. Disconnect your Zune from USB and AC power sources.
2. Because the player is frozen, its battery will drain—this is good. Wait until the battery is empty and the screen goes black. If the battery was fully charged, this might take a couple of hours.
3. Wait until after noon GMT on January 1, 2009 (that's 7 a.m. Eastern or 4 a.m. Pacific time).
4. Connect your Zune to either a USB port on the back or your computer or to AC power using the Zune AC Adapter and let it charge.

Once the battery has sufficient power, the player should start normally. No other action is required—you can go back to using your Zune!

From here.

Allllready tried that. It's not working. Still.

Delete everything (Button combos) from it, reinstall FW, resync.

[Phantasee]

So what happens if you're having a party and you're using your Zune to put music to your stereo?

If you're having a party... well, the Zune won't work. What else is there to say about it?

Well then, you bought a product, and it doesn't do what it's supposed to do. That's pretty much all there is to say about it.

[DarkSilver]

followed the "let the battery die then recharge" it option, and it unlocked for me. No need for other fancy tricks.

[Venator]

Wow, that's retarded. I'm glad I got the 80.

Edit: While we're at it, any massive software/hardware failings of it or the 120 that I should know about >.>?

I have the 80, and yet it had this exact issue (and from what I've read many other 80s had the same problem). Luckily once the proper time on Jan 1 hit everything has been fine since then.

Good to know; I barely used mine over the break anyway.

[Dave]

Wow, that's retarded. I'm glad I got the 80.

Edit: While we're at it, any massive software/hardware failings of it or the 120 that I should know about >.>?

I have the 80, and yet it had this exact issue (and from what I've read many other 80s had the same problem). Luckily once the proper time on Jan 1 hit everything has been fine since then.

Good to know; I barely used mine over the break anyway.

As I recall, as the story was breaking, it was suspected the problem was tied to Zune firmware version 3.x, not just one model of Zune. Since (apparently) almost every 30GB model of Zune runs 3.x, it affected all of them, as well as anyone who updated their Zune to 3.x
So you could have been affected if you updated your Zune. Of course, the next time this will be a problem will be at the end of next leap year, so Microsoft has time to push a quiet patch.

[Stargate Nerd]

I gotta say, even at $80 the Zune is probably the worst experience I've ever had with an electronic device. From the faulty USB cable that came with it, to the stupid requirement to use the Zune's atrocious desktop software, to aforementioned program stealth editing my music and adding the same cover art to half my songs. Good thing I've deinstalled the firmware a while ago and haven't been able to use it for quite a while anyway, because this newest screw up would have me climbing up a tree.

[DarkSilver]

I gotta say, even at $80 the Zune is probably the worst experience I've ever had with an electronic device. From the faulty USB cable that came with it, to the stupid requirement to use the Zune's atrocious desktop software, to aforementioned program stealth editing my music and adding the same cover art to half my songs. Good thing I've deinstalled the firmware a while ago and haven't been able to use it for quite a while anyway, because this newest screw up would have me climbing up a tree.

Have you tried the newest version of their software? With version 3.0, the Zune software is actually pretty nice to use. Better I fin than iTunes anyday. And for the stealth editing....it does the exact same thing as Windows Media Player does, it adds the official oblum art of a song if it's found on the online database, keeps things in order.

As for the requirement to use the Zune software..doesn't the iPod require you to use iTunes to install music to it? I'm pretty sure it does....I could be wrong though.

[Stargate Nerd]

Have you tried the newest version of their software? With version 3.0, the Zune software is actually pretty nice to use. Better I fin than iTunes anyday. And for the stealth editing....it does the exact same thing as Windows Media Player does, it adds the official oblum art of a song if it's found on the online database, keeps things in order.

As for the requirement to use the Zune software..doesn't the iPod require you to use iTunes to install music to it? I'm pretty sure it does....I could be wrong though.

Nope I haven't used my Zune since the 2.0 software version came out that added Wireless Sync.

And unfortunately it didn't keep my songs in order, it messed them up. By the time I figured out how to turn off that feature the damage was done.

And no you can use Winamp or Media Monkey to to install music onto a iPod, unlike Zune which only accepts the Zune software.

edit: I just noticed that my tone is a little stand offish in the post above. Didn't intend for that.

[Venator]

There's a number of third-party programs that you can use instead of the Zune's default software, although the TOS might have something against it - I've never bothered to check, since the current version isn't half bad in my experience. Much more intuitive and stylish than iTunes.

[Stark]

OMG really are you saying there are open-source alternatives to Zune/iTunes/whatever? You too can live the freedom of using grubby unpolished software and glory in the light of not being oppressed!

I find the Zune player's look and feel slightly better than iTunes (no worse, anyway) but it hides options in a far more annoying way and the Zune/WMP/Vista media sharing thing is a complete disaster (Zune player will share mp4s but not xvid, WMP will share xvid but not mp4, they interefere with each other and don't change Vista sharing settings even though they say they do). Let's play 'count the committees', MS really needs to streamline their different products/projects.

[TempestSong]

Personally, I'd rather not have any program manage my mp3 player. What's wrong with MTP and/or simple USB mass storage?

[Stark]

What's wrong with convenience and a simple product experience? LUL

[TempestSong]

What's wrong with convenience and a simple product experience? LUL

Convenience? What's more convenient than dragging/dropping, like you know, every other file operation in Windows?

But if you insist, why not have both then. MTP/USBMS access for the people who don't want the software, and the software available on disc if needed. Creative did that last I checked, why can't Apple/MS follow suit?

[General Zod]

What's wrong with convenience and a simple product experience? LUL

Convenience? What's more convenient than dragging/dropping, like you know, every other file operation in Windows?

But if you insist, why not have both then. MTP/USBMS access for the people who don't want the software, and the software available on disc if needed. Creative did that last I checked, why can't Apple/MS follow suit?

Because Apple also sells music along with videos, and being able to offer a program that lets you both manage your files and buy new songs at the same time is more convenient than having a separate utility? It's also not that inconvenient to use "open file > add new folder" when you want to put more music on your player.

[Stark]

What's wrong with convenience and a simple product experience? LUL

Convenience? What's more convenient than dragging/dropping, like you know, every other file operation in Windows?

But if you insist, why not have both then. MTP/USBMS access for the people who don't want the software, and the software available on disc if needed. Creative did that last I checked, why can't Apple/MS follow suit?

Yeah, it's more convenient to drag a pile of stuff and tag manually and manage content instead of just plugging in a device and having it simply work. Turns out most people aren't OCD or computer buffs?! A program that simplifies using a media device - wow why would regular users want that? I think it's funny nerds still whine about this sort of thing.