Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) BEFORE you post, PLEASE read this first

Question

PLEASE READ ALL OF THIS POST BEFORE POSTING ON THE FORUM FOR THE FIRST TIME!
Welcome to the Creative Labs MP3 Players web forum!
This forum is for discussing issues related to the MP3 players (digital audio players) made by Creative Labs for those in the Americas, Europe and Asia Pacific . Although we're not going to turn away folks from other areas
The primary language of the forum is English, and posting in English is likely to get you a quicker response.
If your question does not relate to Creative MP3 players please find another more suitable forum to post in. If you want to discuss another player, or something not covered by another forum, please use the Off Topic forum.
CONTENTS
How to contact support
Hot topics
General issues
Before you ask your question
When you ask your question
After you ask your question
Low volume issue
Nomad Primer
Nomadness.net FAQs
More useful links
Wishlist and petitions
Suggesting changes
. How to Contact Support
Please note this is a peer forum and Creative's Support staff do not guarantee a reply here. If your issue is urgent, you are within your warranty period and/or you do not get a fast reply here you should contact Creative Labs Technical Support.
To contact support click the Support > Contact Customer Support link on this page.
When contacting Creative Support by email it's important to note that you must reply to the autoresponse email you first receive, as detailed in the email itself. Also make sure to check any spam trap you have on your email system if you have not received a reply.
It's also important if you feel that you have a bug or defect with your product to register that issue directly with support. Don't rely on the forum to raise awareness of an issue.
2. Hot Topics
This is dividied into 3 sections: General, Tag based players & USB mass storage players.
Make sure to also look at Section 3, which covers some of the other General Issues.
General
Where do I get the latest software, drivers and firmware?
Click the link Support > Downloads on this page.
In general, when installing on a new PC you need to download the driver, and some software to communicate with the player e.g. MediaSource, Media Explorer. For players using the v2.xx MTP/PlayForsure firmware drivers are not necessary, but you must have Windows XP and Windows Media Player 0 (this provides the MTP driver).
Important: Even though files are described as updates, none of the software requires a previous version to install. At worst they will prompt you to connect your player to verify you own a Creative product.
Note if you are downloading MediaSource make sure to download and install the relevant MediaSource plugin for your player. If MediaSource can't detect your player this is the first thing to check. For the v.xx PDE firmware the plugin is called the Creative Zen and NOMAD Jukebox plugin for Creative MediaSource , and for the v2 MTP/PlayForSure firmware it's called Creative MediaSource Plugin for PlaysForSure devices .
I am completely new to MP3 players, where should I start?
Have a read of my Nomad Primer, so called as Creative's MP3 player range tend to be prefixed with the word Nomad.
I think I have a bug, how can I check?
There's a known bug list hosted at my site here. If you want to add a bug then please
I have a wish request for the player, what can I do?
You can post it here (see the petitions listed in Section of this FAQ), email it to support, and/or add it to the public wishlist I host here by
I'm having connection problems with my player
If you can, the best test is to try your player with another PC, to see if you still have the problem. This localises whether the problem is with the PC (most likely the USB) or the player. See the link below (search on "connection problems") for a lot more troubleshooting on this.
What bit-rate should I encode my music at?
Ultimately it's down to your ears what bit-rate you prefer, and you should listen for yourself to determine it. If you ask on the forum you'll get many different opinions.
Make sure to look at the "MP3 vs. WMA" link below also.
How long should my battery last?
For the Zen and Nomad Jukebox players, to get some idea of how long your battery will last for a given bit-rate look at the battery curves thread. Ultimately battery life is dependent on how you use the player, make sure to follow the "why doesn't my battery last as long as expected?" link below.
How long does an RMA take?
Typically 2 weeks. But it might take a little longer, so don't start posting if it's 5 days.
I want to know how people feel about their Zen Micro/Touch/MuVo etc.
There's a long post titled Experience with your Creative player that has many posts from users about their players. Please search back for threads about specific players before starting a new thread.
Where can I buy online music or get legal downloads for my player?
See this thread.
My tracks don't play at the correct speed e.g. they play too slowly, why?
Chances are they are encoded in an unsupported sampling frequency. The tracks will need to be re-encoded at a supported bit-rate and/or frequency with something like Creative's MediaSource Audio Converter or dbPowerAmp.
Can a Creative player work on an Apple Mac?
It isn't officially supported, but some kind folks out there have written freeware applications to get your Creative player working with Macs. XNJB provides support for the Zen players, and requires OS X 0.3 or 0.4 (check the site for full details). MuVoHelper solves some problems with getting the MuVo to work optimally. The iTunes Zen plugin should support all Zen players. Note if the link to the plugin is broken just Google "iTunes Zen plugin" to find other sources. Also note there's no guarantee that these programs will work with the Mac, so if you have issues you should address your problems to the developer(s) of the relevant program.
Can a Creative player work on Linux?
Again it isn't officially supported, but again some kinds folks out there have written freeware applications to get your Creative player working. There's the Gnomad2 project. And don't forget the Linux forum at Nomadness.net if you are still having problems.
Tag Based Players
This section covers the players that use a hard disk and work using tags e.g. Zen Xtra, Touch, Micro, Sleek.
My Zen is not behaving properly, won't startup, or goes into rescue mode. What should I do?
If the Zen is not starting properly or not behaving correctly, first try to reset it. To reset all players except for the Zen Micro there is a small switch on the side of the player typically, that you should press using something like a bent paper clip. Don't use anything sharp. To reset the Zen Micro simply remove the battery and replace it.
If this doesn't work then access rescue mode, and try running a disk cleanup.
Next you should try reloading the firmware/OS, but beware if you are having connection problems also with your PC you may end up with a player that has no firmware and cannot be reloaded.
The last resort is to format the player. This will erase the contents from the player, including the content that ships with the player.
If none of these resolve the problem and you are under warranty you should get in contact with support to arrange replacement of the player.
If you aren't under warranty Creative will still repair the player, which you can arrange by contacting support.
How do I do a Disk Cleanup and/or access Rescue/Recovery Mode?
Refer to the sticky Rescue Mode thread. Disk Cleanup is accessed from this. Note that the MuVo players (with the exclusion of the MuVo? players) do not have Rescue Mode.
How long should a Disk Cleanup take?
It should only take a few minutes, and no longer than 30 minutes. Anything longer than this and there is a problem with the player and you need to contact Creative Support.
How long should a format take?
Only a few seconds. Anything more than a minute and there is a problem with the player and you need to contact Creative Support.
Although I can get into Rescue Mode, I can't select any option, or the options don't work?
If Rescue Mode is not working properly or commands can't be chosen the player is faulty. You need to contact Creative Support.
When are the Zen 20Gb/Neeon going to be released outside of the Asia Pacific region?
Due to popular request the Neeon is launched in the USA, but nowhere else for now. If you want the Neeon then contact your regions Customer Services to request it.
The Zen 20Gb is available from some shops in the USA and Europe e.g. Cambridge Soundworks, and Amazon.co.uk.
Is there a known issue with the Zen Micro headphone socket?
Creative Support have neither confirmed nor denied it officially. Some users have posted purported emails from Creative on the forum saying that the socket has been reinforced, but these have not been confirmed by Creative Support either. The exact incidence of the problem is unknown, but newer players seem to suffer less from it.
Should I buy the Zen Micro or Touch etc. and what colour should it be?
We can't tell you what player to get, or what colour it should be. Look at your collection size and the features of the player (see Nomadworld.com for the product pages) and decide yourself based on this.
Why does my Zen Micro battery drain so quickly?
The standby time (24 hours from turn-off) for the Zen Micro seems to use a lot more power than previous Zens. Creative have released both v (..0+) and v2 (2.20.05+) firmware that reduces the standby time to 4 hours. Make sure to update to one of these if you have a draining problem.
Also see JazzMC's detailed page on this problem.
Why is my Zen Micro/Touch Touchpad so sensiti've and/or difficult to use?
The Touchpads take some time to get used to.
continued below... Message Edited by SSR on 2-29-2005 04:03 PM

Answer 1

7. Low Volume issue
See here in the Zen FAQ at Nomadness.net.
If the firmware will not apply because it says the version number is the same use the Reload OS option, access to which is described in the relevant FAQ for your player below.
8. Nomad Primer
If you have ordered, or just bought a Nomad Jukebox, Zen, or MuVo?, consider reading the Nomad Primer.
It may be worth reading even for the more experienced User.
9. Nomadness.net FAQ's
General FAQ
Jukebox FAQ
Jukebox 2 FAQ
Jukebox 3 FAQ
Jukebox Zen FAQ
MuVo FAQ
Nomadness.net is the foremost peer site on the Web for the Nomad players on the Internet; with news, articles, web forum, download archi've, and more!
0. Some more useful links
Nomadworld.com - Creative Labs's International Nomad website (based in the USA)
Player Manuals - Downloads of digital manuals
Notmad Explorer - 3rd party software
Battery Uni'versity - very good, comprehensi've site on batteries
Chinese Support thread - with information on how to get chinese characters on your player
. Wishlists and petitions
Here are links to a number of general wishlist and petitions, so rather than starting your own you can add to those that already exist, or of course add your support for a feature you would like to see.
Also remember that the only collecti've public wishlist is maintained here at StainlessSteelRat.net (this is not affiliated with Creative Labs, but maintained by the author of this FAQ). There is also a bugs list here. So please
Wishlists
Zen Micro
Zen Micro (another)
MuVo Sports C00
MuVo N200
Petitions
AAC support
Lossless codec support
MP3 Pro support
Ogg Vorbis support
Audible support
Genre definable EQ
Gapless playback
Games support
Insert to queue
No "the" in Music Library
Open source firmware
Play count and ratings
TXT viewer
USB mass storage / dri've letter support
Track number duplicate checkAlbum art
Substring search
Dual firmware for both tag and dri've letter support
Rename "Reload OS" to "Erase OS"
Zen Micro alarm enhancements
Zen Micro always visible clockZen Micro Audible support
Zen Micro customisable standby time
Zen Micro EAX
Zen Micro radio enhancements
Zen Touch non-PlayForSure firmware with bug fixes
Zen Touch bookmarks
Zen Touch EAX support
Zen Touch random button changeZen Touch Audible support
2. Suggesting changes
To suggest changes to this FAQ please
Thanks for reading!