Zune 30GB freezing?

Our "pub" where you can post about things completely Off Topic or about non-silent PC issues.

Moderators: NeilBlanchard, Ralf Hutter, sthayashi, Lawrence Lee

Post Reply

Status of your Zune?

Working fine, Zune 30GB
0
No votes
Working fine, Zune non-30GB
2
67%
Freezing, Zune 30GB
1
33%
Freezing, Zune non-30GB
0
No votes
 
Total votes: 3

tehfire
Posts: 530
Joined: Mon Jan 01, 2007 9:57 am
Location: US

Zune 30GB freezing?

Post by tehfire » Wed Dec 31, 2008 3:35 pm

http://hothardware.com/News/30GB-Zunes- ... -Year-Bug/

Just wanted to get an idea how widespread this issue is. My brother's Zune 30GB is affected (freezes on the boot screen). His has the 3.1 firmware installed. My own Zune 8GB (2nd generation, firmware 3.1) is not affected.

If you could, please put whether your Zune is frozen or not, what model it is, and what firmware it has.

From random stabbing in the dark, many are attributing this to Y2K9, so hopefully the Zune starts responding again tomorrow. I'll update this post later on.

Thanks

tehfire
Posts: 530
Joined: Mon Jan 01, 2007 9:57 am
Location: US

Post by tehfire » Wed Dec 31, 2008 3:41 pm

Update: my friend's Zune 30, Firmware 3.1 also is frozen

tehfire
Posts: 530
Joined: Mon Jan 01, 2007 9:57 am
Location: US

Post by tehfire » Wed Dec 31, 2008 7:53 pm

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28449091/

Turns out it was caused by the leap year. From an MSNBC page:
The internal clocks on what is known as the Zune 30 should reset at noon GMT on Thursday, the company said. After that, 30-gigabyte Zune users should follow these three steps:

Let the battery die.
Recharge it.
Turn the device on.

tehfire
Posts: 530
Joined: Mon Jan 01, 2007 9:57 am
Location: US

Post by tehfire » Thu Jan 01, 2009 12:17 am

My Zune lives! Just tried at 2:16 CST (GMT-6). Perhaps when Seattle crossed into the New Year?

Sorry everybody, I'll stop wasting valuable forum space ;)

xan_user
*Lifetime Patron*
Posts: 2269
Joined: Sun May 21, 2006 9:09 am
Location: Northern California.

Post by xan_user » Thu Jan 01, 2009 6:27 am

Just another example proving that even after this long in business, Microsoft cant get its shit straight. :evil:

http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_11345379? ... st_emailed

Nick Geraedts
SPCR Reviewer
Posts: 561
Joined: Tue May 30, 2006 8:22 pm
Location: Vancouver, BC

Post by Nick Geraedts » Thu Jan 01, 2009 7:04 pm

xan_user wrote:Just another example proving that even after this long in business, Microsoft cant get its shit straight. :evil:
This long in the business? How long has the Zune been out? And how many major problems have there been with the device?

Compare that to Apple's track record of iPods and iTunes failures, and you might look at the situation a little differently. It's not like users need to return the devices for new ones.

For the record, my 120GB Zune seems to be working just fine today. :)

xan_user
*Lifetime Patron*
Posts: 2269
Joined: Sun May 21, 2006 9:09 am
Location: Northern California.

Post by xan_user » Thu Jan 01, 2009 7:54 pm

Nick Geraedts wrote:
xan_user wrote:Just another example proving that even after this long in business, Microsoft cant get its shit straight. :evil:
This long in the business? How long has the Zune been out? And how many major problems have there been with the device?

Compare that to Apple's track record of iPods and iTunes failures, and you might look at the situation a little differently. It's not like users need to return the devices for new ones.


For the record, my 120GB Zune seems to be working just fine today. :)
Zune=Micro$oft.
How long has M$ been writing code that's had to deal with leap years?
I would hope that given over 2 years since Zune's release, the biggest software company in the world, could have found the bug before it crippled players on new years eve!
The fact that only 30GB models are effected speaks volumes of M$'s (Zune's) ineptitude. They somehow got it right on all the other ones. At least they're promising a patch before the next leap year.
(Hopefully 4 more years will leave them enough time!) :lol:

frostedflakes
Posts: 1608
Joined: Tue Jan 04, 2005 4:02 pm
Location: United States

Post by frostedflakes » Thu Jan 01, 2009 7:59 pm

I just feel bad for the guy who wrote the buggy code. Poor guy's probably lost his job, maybe even his life. :P

xan_user
*Lifetime Patron*
Posts: 2269
Joined: Sun May 21, 2006 9:09 am
Location: Northern California.

Post by xan_user » Thu Jan 01, 2009 8:11 pm

frostedflakes wrote:I just feel bad for the guy who wrote the buggy code. Poor guy's probably lost his job, maybe even his life. :P
Hopefully he wasn't DJ'ing a Hells Angels new years bash with a 30gb Zune last night... :cry:

Matija
Posts: 780
Joined: Sat Mar 17, 2007 3:17 am
Location: Croatia

Post by Matija » Fri Jan 02, 2009 12:41 am

http://ask.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/01/01/1930202

Plenty of Linux boxes crashed and froze. Damn Micro$oft, secretly inserting leap second bugs into Linux distros!!!!!!!

Nick Geraedts
SPCR Reviewer
Posts: 561
Joined: Tue May 30, 2006 8:22 pm
Location: Vancouver, BC

Post by Nick Geraedts » Fri Jan 02, 2009 10:42 am

xan_user wrote:Zune=Micro$oft.
How long has M$ been writing code that's had to deal with leap years?
I would hope that given over 2 years since Zune's release, the biggest software company in the world, could have found the bug before it crippled players on new years eve!
The fact that only 30GB models are effected speaks volumes of M$'s (Zune's) ineptitude. They somehow got it right on all the other ones. At least they're promising a patch before the next leap year.
(Hopefully 4 more years will leave them enough time!) :lol:
That's a terribly negative attitude towards the largest software company in the world. How about the following statement - "They've got it right on all the rest, but somehow managed to get this one model wrong." I think Matija's link says it all. Oh... and Apple isn't perfect at coding either. They've had how long to simply encapsulate rsync, which has worked perfectly for years...?

You're also one of the people who insists on writing M$/Micro$oft instead of Microsoft or MS. Why do you do this? Is Microsoft the only company that charges money for their products? Is this an unreasonable amount? If you were to take OSX and update it every step of the way, you'd be paying just as much as buying a copy of XP Professional and Vista Ultimate. You'd pay just as much one way as the other. How much does Red Hat charge for support of what would otherwise be a free OS (CentOS)? How much do people pay for a crippled iPhone just because it's called an iPod? Need I go on?

Once you get to a company the size of Microsoft, there are separate divisions for separate products. The group that manages the Zune is a completely separate entity from that which deals with IE, or Windows, or their hardware products (which recently have been excellent IMO). They all follow the same basic coding practices when it comes to their software, but they're different people in the end.

xan_user
*Lifetime Patron*
Posts: 2269
Joined: Sun May 21, 2006 9:09 am
Location: Northern California.

Post by xan_user » Fri Jan 02, 2009 11:23 am

$orry, I have particularly high $tandard$ for product$ from companie$ that make big profit$. (and any of their $ubsidiarie$)

If you had to drive an hour to reactivate M$ when switching hardware you might be almost bitter as me. They relish in locking you out of internet activation, and phone service is 30 minuets each way.

Your making a case for the same parent company that had to lie about a new OS and call it "Mojave" to try and regain market interest? :roll:


Ok i've bashed Micro$oft enough for this year!

('course if i get a BSOD my "bash M$" counter might get reset :D )

Edit: Link to Zunes bad leap year code... for those interested in that sort of thing.
Last edited by xan_user on Fri Jan 02, 2009 4:31 pm, edited 2 times in total.

NyteOwl
Posts: 536
Joined: Wed Aug 23, 2006 7:09 pm
Location: Nova Scotia, Canada

Post by NyteOwl » Fri Jan 02, 2009 1:38 pm

Plenty of Linux boxes crashed and froze. Damn Micro$oft, secretly inserting leap second bugs into Linux distros!!!!!!!
Interesting definition of "plenty". Might also read some of the replies pointing out the liekly actual problem sources.

For the record, our entire server farm and workstations (all Linux/BSD/Solaris) remained up and running without a hiccup - as usual.

Nick Geraedts
SPCR Reviewer
Posts: 561
Joined: Tue May 30, 2006 8:22 pm
Location: Vancouver, BC

Post by Nick Geraedts » Sun Jan 04, 2009 1:59 am

xan_user wrote:$orry, I have particularly high $tandard$ for product$ from companie$ that make big profit$. (and any of their $ubsidiarie$)
As do I. There's also something to be said for the amount of time that I spend fiddling with software/hardware as opposed to using it. It's the main reason why I'll probably never go back to using any Linux distro as my main workstation again.

What about a company that can't even get copy/paste error handling right the first time around? Nobody seems to complain when they screw up a feature that's used every day, but a software glitch on a portable media player that lasts a day and only occurs once every four years.... dear me! Everyone run to the hills!

I honestly think that everyone is making a mountain out of a molehill here. How are you supposed to test for this bug ahead of time? Put in every possible system date for the next four years and test every feature? Also, the link you posted doesn't really have a source for the bugged code. How do we know it's accurate? Looks like some made-up post to me...
xan_user wrote:If you had to drive an hour to reactivate M$ when switching hardware you might be almost bitter as me. They relish in locking you out of internet activation, and phone service is 30 minuets each way.
The only time I've had to reactivate Windows is when I've replaced motherboards in systems or change from nVidia to ATI video cards (or vice versa). Hard drives, RAM, CPU, optical drives - never had a problem there. The fact that your only means of phone service is 30 minutes away is a completely different matter, and is not their fault either. Granted, their internet activation isn't the best system (I've had the automated internet system say that I can't activate my copy), but for most users calling a toll-free number and taking 3 minutes to follow the automated prompts isn't that big of a deal.

You could actually look into something like SkypeOut if you've got a reasonable internet connection. You'd definitely save money instead of driving an hour each way.
xan_user wrote:Your making a case for the same parent company that had to lie about a new OS and call it "Mojave" to try and regain market interest? :roll:
When the competition (aka Apple) is spreading their own lies about your new product, yes, I think that "re-tricking" people into learning what's really available is perfectly valid. Whatever their "tactics" are, it seems to be working. Vista's passed 20% market share, which is better than could be said of XP two years after it's release and considering what Microsoft has to work against - their own product which has had 7 years to become what it is today. The rest of their operating systems typically work on a 3 year cycle (or less) - Win95 to Win98 to ME to 2000 to XP. Vista to Win7 is no different, dispite people saying that it's a "cover up" of their "mistakes" from Vista.

mathias
Posts: 2057
Joined: Sun Jul 11, 2004 3:58 pm
Location: Toronto
Contact:

Post by mathias » Sun Jan 04, 2009 8:51 am

Oh goody, zune bashing. While I don't necessarily agree with all the details of it in this thread, that overrated piece of junk deserves it.

It's only fitting that the faults of the zune are overblown, the whole significance of that device has been horribly overblown.

xan_user
*Lifetime Patron*
Posts: 2269
Joined: Sun May 21, 2006 9:09 am
Location: Northern California.

Post by xan_user » Sun Jan 04, 2009 9:55 am

Why should it even be necessary to have a phone and or internet to use an OS anyway? I paid for why do i have to jump through hoops to use it?
Nick Geraedts wrote:As do I. There's also something to be said for the amount of time that I spend fiddling with software/hardware as opposed to using it.
Me too, but its the driving back and forth to unlock my paid for software that pisses me off just as much, if not more.
As an added bonus, when I make the call I enter all the numbers but am always denied auto re-reg and put through to india- so I can do it in person all over again and they can ask me "howl munnee conpooturs es deez cuppy uv vindooze awn?"
CS told me the auto reg only works the first few times per lic. :twisted:
What am I paying them for again?
What about a company that can't even get copy/paste error handling right the first time around? Nobody seems to complain when they screw up a feature that's used every day, but a software glitch on a portable media player that lasts a day and only occurs once every four years.... dear me! Everyone run to the hills!
I'm no Apple fanboy, and links like that are why. Apple/M$ are some of today's many robber barons. My ipod runs linux and my original creative nomad still rocks!
How are you supposed to test for this bug ahead of time?
I know hind sight is 20/20 but the comments here indicate it was a pretty dumb error. http://www.crunchgear.com/2008/12/31/zu ... in-detail/ (My sirius Stiletto radio balked last january 1/08 due to a leap year bug. Maybe Zune should have taken note and checked their timing codes?)
You could actually look into something like SkypeOut if you've got a reasonable internet connection. You'd definitely save money instead of driving an hour each way.
Thanks, but Hughesnet filters out all voip. Long ago when voip was new they didn't...Nothing i miss more than having phone conversations with a 1.5 second delay. For more fun facts on the "oversold Satellite internet" head on over to> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/sat

derekva
Posts: 477
Joined: Tue Jun 07, 2005 11:00 am
Location: Puget Sound, WA
Contact:

Post by derekva » Sun Jan 04, 2009 10:52 am

xan_user wrote:Why should it even be necessary to have a phone and or internet to use an OS anyway? I paid for why do i have to jump through hoops to use it?
How are you supposed to test for this bug ahead of time?
I know hind sight is 20/20 but the comments here indicate it was a pretty dumb error. http://www.crunchgear.com/2008/12/31/zu ... in-detail/ (My sirius Stiletto radio balked last january 1/08 due to a leap year bug. Maybe Zune should have taken note and checked their timing codes?)
First of all, the issue was not MSFT's per-se:
Guess Freescale, the makers of the Zune's processor (the MC13783), had a programmer who didn't understand about boundary conditions.
However, this does not excuse MSFT from missing this in testing. Someone on the Zune test team needs to be flogged with a wet noodle / forced to write assembly for a week. However, given that this only occurred in the v1 version of the Zune (30GB), it is not quite as egregious as if it had crippled the entire Zune lineup. And yes, it knocked out my 30GB shit-brown Zune (which I love).

Secondly, with regard to why you have to activate Windows over the internet or via phone service is due to piracy. If you didn't have all these jackasses who think that copyright law doesn't apply to them, then you probably wouldn't have quite as much activation code / security around installing / updating Windows. It's unfortunate that you have to deal with a 30-mile round-trip to make a phone call, but you are somewhat of an edge case. I'm assuming you have internet service at home (unless you are posting at work), so why not just get phone service as well?

-D

p.s. If there's any case of overblown security that should be screamed about, it should be the CableLabs requirements for OCUR / CableCard - encryption key in the BIOS my ass...

xan_user
*Lifetime Patron*
Posts: 2269
Joined: Sun May 21, 2006 9:09 am
Location: Northern California.

Post by xan_user » Sun Jan 04, 2009 12:05 pm

derekva wrote:Guess Freescale, the makers of the Zune's processor (the MC13783), had a programmer who didn't understand about boundary conditions.

However, this does not excuse MSFT from missing this in testing. Someone on the Zune test team needs to be flogged with a wet noodle / forced to write assembly for a week. However, given that this only occurred in the v1 version of the Zune (30GB), it is not quite as egregious as if it had crippled the entire Zune lineup. And yes, it knocked out my 30GB shit-brown Zune (which I love).
Interesting how the seconded generation version the problem was fixed...Its almost as if they wanted early adopters to have to upgrade after new years...
derekva wrote:Secondly, with regard to why you have to activate Windows over the internet or via phone service is due to piracy. If you didn't have all these jackasses who think that copyright law doesn't apply to them, then you probably wouldn't have quite as much activation code / security around installing / updating Windows. It's unfortunate that you have to deal with a 30-mile round-trip to make a phone call, but you are somewhat of an edge case.


-D
On my drives the thought kept crossing my mind how much easier my summer would be if i had a pirated copy rather than a legal one....
I'm assuming you have internet service at home (unless you are posting at work), so why not just get phone service as well?
Caught me...
actually summer cabin = 30 min drive to phone service @~10 mph max. Solar powered, off the grid. Satellite internet with no hope for phone or voip. -Cellular 'might' be expanded soon... fingers crossed on that one.

Winter house = track home, a stones throw from the freeway, with 6/.512 dsl. cell service and landline. and central heat! :)


----Since ive totally ruined the op's thread now...with my corporate ba$hing...can I derail it further?

Anyone tried a "slacker"?
http://www.slacker.com/

gmfly119
Posts: 3
Joined: Sun Jan 04, 2009 11:32 pm
Location: BEIJING

Post by gmfly119 » Sun Jan 04, 2009 11:34 pm

happy new year.

gmfly119
Posts: 3
Joined: Sun Jan 04, 2009 11:32 pm
Location: BEIJING

Post by gmfly119 » Sun Jan 04, 2009 11:35 pm

As one of mobile devices fans, I was looking for a valuable all-in-one converter that not only can rip DVD and convert video, but also backup my ipod files to my computer. Recently my friend recommend me the Best DVD Converter Suite — Aiseesoft DVD Converter Suite that can meet my needs. Now I will share with you.

This Best DVD Converter Suite actually includes three useful software: Best DVD Ripper, Total Video Converter and iPod to Computer Transfer.

Aiseesoft DVD Converter Suite supports almost all the portable devices, such as: Google phone,PSP, iPod Classic, iPod Touch, iPod Nano, iPhone (3G), iPhone, Zune, Zune 2,Blackberry, Nokia, Creative Zen, Sony Walkman, iRiver PMP, Archos, PS3, Apple TV, Xbox, iPAQ, Pocket PC, Mobile Phone, etc. You can enjoy your favorite DVD and video files on them.

Image

Key Functions
1. Convert DVD and any video/audio to the various video/audio formats
Aiseesoft DVD Converter Suite software could easily convert DVD and any video to the various video/audio formats such as MP4, H.264, AVI, MP3, WMV, WMA, FLV, MKV, MPEG-1, MPEG-2, 3GP, 3GPP, VOB, DivX, Mov, RM, RMVB, M4A, AAC, WAV, etc.

2. Transfer songs and video from iPod/iPhone to PC
It could easily transfer your songs and video from iPod/iPhone to PC, then you can backup the videos or songs, you also could transfer them to another iPod or iPhone through the iPhone transfer software.

3. Support almost all popular portable players
Aiseesoft DVD Converter Suite software can convert DVD and video to all the popular devices: PSP, iPod Classic, iPod Touch, iPod Nano, iPhone (3G), iPhone, Zune, Zune 2, Blackberry, Nokia, Creative Zen, Sony Walkman, iRiver PMP, Archos, PS3, Apple TV, Xbox, iPAQ, Pocket PC, Mobile Phone, etc.

4. Easy and powerful editing function (Merge, Trim, Crop)
Aiseesoft DVD Converter Suite software offers powerful editing functions such as merging multiple DVD chapters, titles or different videos files into one file, trimming any clip of video or DVD, cropping video size and so forth.

5. Easy to use
Aiseesoft DVD Converter Suite is very user-friendly and easy to use. Only a few clicks to complete the conversion with supervising the whole process on real time.

Key Features

1. Merge multiple DVD chapters, titles or different videos files into one file
Aiseesoft DVD Converter Suite software provides an easy way to combine and join multiple DVD chapters, titles or different videos files into one file. Just select the DVD chapters, titles or videos you want to join and check the “merge into one fileâ€

gmfly119
Posts: 3
Joined: Sun Jan 04, 2009 11:32 pm
Location: BEIJING

Post by gmfly119 » Sun Jan 04, 2009 11:35 pm

How to Convert YouTube Videos to iPod MP4
More and more people are watching and upload videos on YouTube. Then after watching videos on YouTube becoming an indispensable part of life, they want to watch YouTube videos on the way of going to work, going home, when they are in airplane and some other places where they can not access the internet. So how to download YouTube videos and convert YouTube videos to iPod/PSP/Zuen etc. become what people care about. This is the time when Aiseesoft YouTube Video Converter Suite works.
Image

This guide aims to show you how to conert YouTube videos to iPod and other portable players and how to convert video to FLV format for uploading to YouTube.
Part 1. How to download YouTube videos (100% Free)
Part 2. How to convert YouTube videos to mp4.
Part 3. How to convert videos to FLV. (YouTube)


Part 1. How to download YouTube videos freely.
Here I recommend you a really nice website that can download YouTube video 100% free.
http://ytde.com
Step 1. Copy your video’s url and paste at (1)
Step 2. Click Download(2)
Image
Part 2. How to convert YouTube video to mp4.
Step 1. Choose FLV Video Converter
Image
Step 2. Load you YouTube video (1)
Click “Add Fileâ€

Post Reply