Creative Zen coming up Recovery Mode. Hel

Hi,
Everything was working ok then i dropped it on the carpet and when i switched on my Zen 20GB it automatically comes up Receovery Mode now. I've tried the Reboot option - No luck. I've tried Disk Clean Up - Nothing Happens. I haven't tried the 3rd option via a computer because i don't have access to a computer. Although i did choose the option to see what happens and it says "Harddisk Problem". I haven't tried format all. Is there any reason why this would have come up? How can i fix it's Or do i have to do the format all (nooooo!). Or simply do i have to get a new one?

Hard disk problem is a serious error as you can probably guess, and means the player can't communicate properly with the hard disk. You need to get it replaced by Creative, although what you tell them is between you and your conscience.

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Zen MX and recovery mode

I can't find a way to boot the my Zen MX in recovery mode and can't find any info about that in the Creative site. The steps listed for the Zen (not MX9 did not work because the MX have not the power switch thus I can't hold down the play button and move the power switch because in the MX the play button IS the power switch!

Hello Danny62,
Welcome to Creative forums!
Here's the KB article on how to Access the recovery mode on the ZEN MX.

'Creative Zen V Plus' Recovery, from Creative Labs that

Hi,
I love my Creative mp3 player, but I haven't seen it for ages. The crappy joystick needed repairing (the only badly designed bit).
I took it in to JB Hi-Fi for them to send off and they told me it would take 6-8 weeks (this was December 27).
Anyway, to cut a long story short, 3 weeks have passed and I still don't have it.
I've rung JB Hi-Fi constantly and the Storeperson tried to help me out, gave me the Creative Labs number and I phoned them.
So I rang them and a (presumabley) Asian guy answers. I am not racist but **bleep**, he was hard to understand (phones should have inbuilt subtitles). He tried to help me out and to the best of my knowledge he said they were processing my product and it would take another 2 to 4 weeks to get my mp3 player back to me (on top of the 3 weeks!)
Now you can propably see why I'm royally peeved.
What I want to know is why Creative Labs have such crap service No joke, it sounded to me like they off-sourced people's queries to other countries and in the rinkiest dinkiest places possible (the audio quality was disqusting).
Enough ranting from me.
Anyone have a similar experience or know what I can do about it's (I'm definitely going to write a letter of complaint).
Thanks all

First, I got a? RMA number by e-mail and sent in my Zen V Plus 4GB?(refurbished) directly to Creative by UPS on a Thursday (3/28/08)?and they received it by the following Monday 3/3/08. It was back to me yesterday 4/07/08. Very fast service, only it wasn't fixed and it still locks up my computer and my player?when I download my audiobooks. Only way to get it running again is to reset, go to recovery mode?and then do a full format. Then, the next time I try to reload the books, it locks up again at GB. Now, I am trying to get Creative to pay for shipping both ways, because they didn't fix the player the first time.
It probably would have much faster for you to have?delt with Creative directly instead of using the JB Hi Fi shop. At least yours is just a problem with the?joy stick and not the electronic parts.
Good luck.
luvmyrescuedogs

Zen Micro Photo Recovery Mode Problem !! Help needed plea

I just purchased a white zen micro photo last week. As I was putting music onto my ZMP, my computer ( Dell Windows XP ) froze. I disconnected my player and when I went to turn on my ZMP, I found out that it went into Recovery Mode. I tried all the possible ways that it listed to do.
Clean Up (when I pressed that one, nothing happened .. the screen didn't even change)</LI>
Format All (When I pressed that one, the screen seemed to .. freeze .. but it had a smear of lines .. ?)</LI>
Reload Firmware (I never had firmware on my ZMP to begin with)</LI>
Reboot (It turned off and It turned back on like it's supposed to but when it turned back on, it was in recovery mode again)</LI>
My ZMP does not even turn off. This is wasting the battery so please help me. I have emailed Creative but they have not replyed yet.
<FONT size=7>PLEASE HELP !

imsooopawoman wrote:
Reload Firmware (I never had firmware on my ZMP to begin with)</LI>
You must have had firmware on there if it worked, but "reload firmware" actually erases the firmware. It's a badly named function.
Unfortunately though you've tried all you can as a user. The player sounds faulty and you ought to contact Creative support for a replacement.

Zen Micro crash - recovery mode does not w

Well - in the nearly 2 years I've had my Zen Micro with no real problems - it finally crashed on me big time.
The other night I plugged it in to my computer's USB port to recharge. Every so often, it will not "dock" and I have to unplug it and plug it in again - no big deal. This time, it did not connect, and I did not notice, and it sat connected in that state for about 24-36 hours before I noticed it. Now, the unit is completely frozen - when trying to start it up, it only gets to the second screen (with the CREATIVE logo only) and then just sits and stares back at me. Nothing has worked in recovery mode, either re-boot or disc clean up. I even tried to just erase those whole thing but both format and clean up finctions do not work either. It just sits there idly.
Is there any other way to force a reset on the unit's Should I try to re-install the firmware (in the latter case - I'm not sure if I can if it won't reach the point of docking with my PC).
Any advice would be appreciated.
Thanks.

Well, I'm not sure if it's reassuring or just depressing that I'm not alone here. Exact same problem - after over a year of working great, I turned it on a couple days ago and the stupid thing froze on the "Creative" screen. Every time I restart it, same thing, plus I noticed that it makes a little boinging skippy noise. Anything you choose in recovery mode, it just freezes. Also, I've noticed that it now smells weird. As if, perhaps, electronics have become slightly singed.
Bah! At this point I think I might try Ouija's method. Even the Creative FAQ suggests it as a last resort!
"If this fails, or if you are getting the "hard dri've error" message on startup, listen closely to the Zen when it starts up. If you can hear the hard dri've repeatedly clicking at the end of the start up chances are the heads or related mechanics are jammed in some way. At your own risk you can try and free this by firstly powering the player down, then giving it a hard slap on the side. An alternati've and less drastic approach is to hold it in your outstretched arm with the screen towards you and twist your wrist back and forth as quickly as you can."
I've already given it a shake, and no results. But I can hear something rattling inside, which I'm sure is a great sign. :/
If smacking doesn't work, then I guess I'll have to buy a Nano at the Boxing Day sales... How sad that even now I would probably buy a Creative over one of those ugly ass Shuffle things and the annoyance of iTunes. I have no principles whatsoever. I would never drop more than $00 on one again though. And no more harddri've players. At least I've got a nice white $250 paperweight for my desk now...

Creative Zen (Software Download) Recovery Tool Confus

<From the locked sticky above? "*** MP3 Player Recovery Tool ***" by Catherina-CL>
It lists all the MP3 players supported by this software tool and
the Creative Zen 2/4/8/6/32 GB is NOT LISTED - SEE BELOW? but
if you go to the following link,and on the right hand side the Creative Zen is
one of the support players - Which Creative is right?
Link: http://www.creative.com/products/mp3...ol/welcome.asp
Sticky - "*** MP3 Player Recovery Tool ***"? By Catherina- CL
If you are experiencing a problem with your MP3 player (supported players list below), please ensure you check out our MP3 Player Recovery Tool first.
One click is all it takes to update your player to the latest available firmware, and to give your player a clean bill of health.
BEFORE YOU START
. Check that the MP3 Player Recovery Tool supports your player.
2. Ensure that you are using the Windows XP? 32-bit or Windows Vista? 32-bit operating system.
3. Back up the contents of your player, if possible, as recovering your player may require it to be formatted.
4. Make sure your player battery is at least 50% charged.
Click here if you require further information/assistance.
http://www.creative.com/products/mp3...ol/welcome.asp
LIST OF SUPPORTED PLAYERS
ZEN Vision W
ZEN Vision
ZEN Vision:M 60GB
ZEN Vision:M 30GB
ZEN Stone Plus
ZEN Stone
ZEN V Plus
ZEN V
ZEN MicroPhoto
ZEN Nano Plus
MuVo V00
MuVo V200
MuVo Micro N200
MuVo TX/TX SE
MuVo TX FM
MuVo Slim
DMP FX00
Forum Administrator
Creative Labs
Message Edited by Zenandy on 05--2008 02:2 PMMessage Edited by Zenandy on 05--2008 04:2 PM

Zenandy,
That sticky hasn't been updated yet it seems, thanks for the message. I'm updating it now.
Cat

Creative Zen Micro and recovery m

Please help - Formatted the dri've and tried to update firmware due to an apparant firmware problem but now it doesn't even connect to my computer properly and won't exit out of recovery mode. Don't know what I'm after doing! It's almost 3 years old and never had any issues with it until yesterday

http://forums.creative.com/creativel...d=49936#M49936

Zen stuck in Recovery Mode after trying to upgrade firmw

Hello all,?My Zen micro needed firmware upgrade to the latest 2.2.02. When ran the upgrade, it got stuck after Zen re-boot. Finally, I disconnected Zen and reconnected and tried to run firmware upgrade again but the upgrade software would not recognize Zen. Windows is recognizing Zen but Firmware software does not. Now zen hard disk size is only 20 MB. I will appreciate any help.

you want to check out this thread mate, you are not alone.
http://forums.creative.com/creativelabs/board/message?board.id=dap&message.id=26842
basically if you have got another machine that has not had any creative software on it it will work, anyway read the thread, i did mine last nite and it worked. there is hope

When is the Creative Zen coming out in America?

I really want one. 20 gig + small size = awesome

bwoo wrote:
I really want one. 20 gig + small size = awesome
Also, the Zen 20GB does not have the same size as the zen micro so it's not small in size.

Creative Zen 16Gb is crazy 0.O

Creative Zen 6Gb is crazy 0.OVSince yesterday's night I have a problem with my MP3 player Creative Zen 6 Gb. I don't press any buttom but it acts as if every buttom were press at the same time, it suddenly activate menus, change song, blocks itself while block was in the middle, if I press up it changes song, if I press down volume goes up, if I lock and unlock it doesn't do anything, if I press side buttoms do other things.. is very rare wtf < . <
I tried to connect to computer, to lock ON / OFF a lot of times, pressing reset and switch on arround ten or twelve times... I don't know what to do! T_T
It haven't received any blow or been mashed or anything like that... please, help me <3Thanks for reply
Greetings, NMSX from Spain, world champion's!! hehe

Hi NMSX,
Welcome to Creative forums!
See if you can boot your Creative ZEN from the recovery mode. You can find the instructions here. If yes, do a Clean-Up the Reboot. If it won't help, you may need to boot from the recovery mode again and select Format this time. Do note that formatting will delete all the contents of the player so you may need to backup your data first before formatting. If this doesn't help, then this could be a hardware issue. You may need to send it in for repair. Well I remember a similar case before but that was because the user accidentally applied a strong pressure on the player. I'm not saying you have the same scenario but its possible specially if you usually put the player on your pocket.

HOW DO I GET OUT OF RECOVERY MODE?

Simple question, but seems to be hard to answer. Maybe nobody knows the answer. i have posted and posted time after time and no body gives me an answer. Go to clean up. ok been and done that. nothing happens. run pc scandisk. did it. nothing happened. connect to pc. did it. it does connect. i can get stuff off my nomad muvo 2 but for some reason
I CANNOT GET OUT OF RECOVERY MODE.
Could someone, anyone, give me a fricking straight on how to get the **bleep** out of RECOVERY MODE. I didn't spend $70 dollars on this piece of crap for it to not work.
So for the love that is all good and pure in the world, could someone please, please, getting on knees and begging for someone to help? And do not, and i repeat DO NOT REFER ME TO THE FRICKING RECOVERY MODE HELP THING, BECAUSE IT DOES NOT HELP. SO DON'T BOTHER TYPING THAT IN.

I have a Zen Micro Photo and have been frustrated for many weeks. Sometimes a certain sequence is the key to success. I tried everything to no avail. I could not even get the Zen to charge with my Computer or wall outlet. I was stuck in Recovery Mode Hell. Of course, my battery drained and you must have a charge to upgrade the Firmware or do anything else. I even ordered a new battery on eBay. In the meantime, I purchased a **competitor** MP3 player which is the absolute best I have ever seen. Anyway, I read the Post here suggesting you try a certain sequence---which I then tried---and it worked for me. Somehow, I was able to get a charge from my PC last night. Without being hooked up to the PC I did the sequence (it would get locked up in Recovery Mode as soon as I hooked up to the PC anyway). My PC would simply refuse to recognize the Zen Micro Photo no matter what I did. As suggested, from Recovery Mode I clicked on "reformat", and when it was done I clicked on "reboot"--which it did. I then plugged in the USB cable and to my extreme surprise my PC recognized the player! I had downloaded the correct firmware file so I clicked on it. It opened and asked me if I really wanted to install this Firmware update as my player already had this Firmware installed. Really? I did a Format and I thought I erased the Firmware. I told setup to upgrade the Firmware anyway--which it did. Suddenly, my player started "reloading" its Library! I now have a working Zen Micro Photo (and a new **competitor**). I transferred a few MP3's to the Zen and they play just fine. I am serious when I say I tried everything-----over and over again. The player just remained locked in Recovery mode. It was this certain sequence that worked for me and possibly may work for you. This was my last attempt before the trash bin. Prices have fallen drastically for MP3 players and quality has improved (**competitor**), but I am happy that I now have two working MP3 players. One of them is going on eBay---any guess which one?
**Discussion of competitor's product is not allowed in this forum - Richard

Creative Zen Touch firmware prob

I know this is an old obsolete player but it has worked fine for me until now. I just got a new computer and to use this with it I needed to update to the plays for sure firmware. Knowing I could not do this on the vista computer I decided to do it on the XP laptop and backed up all of my music before beginning. Well the update hung and left my zen touch in recovery mode. Is there any solution to this or am I stuck having to buy a new mp3 player?
Any help would be appreciated while I wait for a response from Creative Labs.
TIA Claudia

What O.S. is on the other computer? I don't know about the licenses you should be able to back those up thru media player and store it . To rollback media player I first need to know is that computer Xp or Vista ? If it is Vista you can't roll it back . It would have to be an Xp machine for that. ? http://forums.creative.com/creativel...hread.id=66060 ? These are the instructions to rollback media player to wmp0 don't forget to uninstall the wmp runtimeMessage Edited by coachop94 on 08-30-2008 07:25 PM

Creative Zen Vision M 30 GB-firmware prob

I want to update me Zen Vision throw Recovery Mode....Select Reload firmware,player remove old firmware. Then i open file of firmware on my PC, but update not see my pleyer : "your pleyer is not . plese connect your pleyer.... WTF? Some body help.Before .50 firmvare i update normaly!(From .40 to .5)?Sorry for my English.i.m from Russia

There are a multitude of problems that could be causing your player to exhibit this behavior in addition to battery failure, including the failure of the main logic board. If the player has been dropped a few times, exposed to excessi've heat, or high humidity/water, the problem might not be the battery. On the other hand, if the battery has been allowed to fully exhaust on a regular basis and left uncharged for long periods, it is possible that the battery could be dead, but LIon batteries usually last at least 2-3 years with regular use and normal recharging practices if they haven't been abused.

Zen touch stuck in recovery mode, anyone who can hel

My creative zen touch is stuck in recovery mode and says there is a firmware problem. Anyone no how i can solve this? or what to do about firmware?

Hi, As you can see from earlier I had the same problem. Caused by trying to upgrade to download the free book from the Times. There is a message and reply on about page 3/4 called "Zen Touch - Firmware". The advice in there pointed to the Devi've Driver in there I enabled my Zen and rebooted PC. I then downloaded 2 upgrade files from NOMAD and it now works. I can't remember the exact sequence of events as it seemed a bit of trial and error but I got there. GOOD LUCK

ZEN TOUCH 20GB - Stuck in Recovery Mode, during Firmware upgrade. HEL

Ooooh dear.
Me and my Zen Touch are completely stuck. Decided to upgrade the Zen's Software and Firmware and am now in deep trouble. Here are the steps I took.
First I sensibly backed up the 2000 songs on the player to my computer. Then I updated the MediaSource software and restarted the computer. Then I decided to go for the big change and downloaded the new PlayForSure firmware installation and that's where the problem starts - It never completed the installation, which I had to manually stop. I knew as part of puting this new Firmware onto the player, the Zen would be wiped clean, which it has. However, I now cannot get it out of recovery mode and it will not respond to attempts to download the new (or any) Firmware onto it.
What I now get is:
-Plug the Zen in, the computer recognises that there is plug and play equipment attached and makes the appropriate noise.
-The Zen will switch itself on as a response (or I can do it manually), with a normal-looking startup. It then briefly flashes a screen saying "Firmware Problem" before going into recovery mode.
-If I choose Clean Up, it takes a few seconds to clean the now empty disk, and returns to the recovery menu
-If I choose Format All, pretty much the same as Clean Up
-If I choose Reload Firmware, it warns me that the firmware will be erased. And asks if it should reload it via USB. You say 'yes' and it briefly flashes up "Start firmware update now" before returning to the recovery mode menu.
And finally, if I select Reboot, that's exactly what it does; the computer recognises that it's turned off, makes the noise, and recognises when it's turned on again.
Trying to download the Firmware from the computer, however, has turned into a nightmare. I've tried downloading the PlayForSure firmware and old Firmware from the files on my computer (running XP, by the way). And I've also tried prompting the Zen starting up the Media Source software, BUT they all claim that the player is NOT connected! Even though it is! The Zen switches on and Windows makes a sound every time I connect or disconnect it!
So what to do? I'm stuck in this vicious circle and no matter what random tricks I try, I can't get out. The player needs Firmware, but the software on the computer claims the player's not connected.
The player is now more than a year old, so I can't return it, and Creative's less-than-generous telephone support is not an option, so I'm left to any imaginati've and kind-hearted subscribers to this list to offer suggestions.
HELP!
Mark in the UK

My son?s Zen simply turned on one morning and refused to do anything except enter recovery mode, giving a firmware problem error and Creative Zen v0.0.58After an hours research I solved the problemI hope this helps someone out, but remember anything you do is your responsibility not mine, continue at your own judgment
Creative site SingaporeDownload driver and firmwarehttp://sg.creative.com/support/downl...ype=0&x=30&y=6
download driverCreative Zen and Jukebox Driver Upgrade version .30.03
firmwareCreative Zen Firmware .00.02
Install driver, connect Zen, should show up in my computerAnd yes, when you open the Zen from there it WILL say not correctly connectedBecause the firmware is corrupted! But it is connected Go to the firmware file and double click, the firmware software will connect to the ZenAnd overwrite the firmware. Follow the on screen instructionsYou may get a warning that the firmware is the same version etc. just do it, as at the moment the Zen is useless. Good luck and if it works repay me by helping someone

Creative Zen coming up Recovery Mode. Hel

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