Modding a Zen touch to 40gb hard dr

Has anyone tried putting a 40 gig or more hard dri've in a zen touch, if so what dri'ves will fit's

StainlessSteelRat is correct, the dri've used in the Zen Touch is a very slim, compact, new dri've. A standard 40GB dri've would be larger and won't fit in the Zen Touch casing. The unit is technologically speaking a lot more compact and complicated than previous units, so bear this in mind when you're looking at any How To guides from previous products.
I'd just like to emphasize as well that opening up the unit will invalidate any warranty you have, and that we do not offer any support for this.
Cat

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Zen Touch as a hard dr

Hi, I have recently purchased the zen touch and am very pleased with it except for one fact which is quite important in my mind. I cannot plug it into any windows machine and copy files onto it, you need to install creative's software. I find this really puzzling as half the reason I bought this was to double as a HD and to shgare files with friends or to take to uni with assignments on it. I was wandering if any upcoming firmware upgrades are going to fix this problem? does anyone know? is there a way around this?
Regards,

No, this is by design. You can use the search to find more topics on this as it comes up quite frequently.
Audio files have to be loaded onto the player this way because of the Music Library, they're identified and arranged by their ID3 tags. You can load data onto the player using the other application provided with it (Nomad Explorer).
Cat

Quick tutorial-- replacing Zen Touch hard dr

I got the "click of death" last week on my 40GB Zen Touch and the "hard disk error" message. I tried slapping the player to unjam the HD, but that didn't work. When I called Creative, they told me it would be $79 to repair. Through doing a little research, I was able to replace the HD for $57. Here's how I did it:
Disclaimer: please don't try this unless your warranty is expired!
) Purchased a HITACHI Travelstar C4K60 hard dri've on ebay for $57 (shipping included). The model number on the one I got is HTC426040G9AT00. This is not the same exact dri've that came with the player, but it is the same brand. From what I gather, they key is to get a dri've that's
a) .8 inches (not 2.5)
b) 4200 RPM
c) Hitachi brand, as there's no uni'versal form factor. You need to get a Hitachi to be sure it will fit in your Zen.
I think any Hitachi 4200 RPM, .8" dri've should work. Unfortunately, there aren't a ton of these available on ebay. They're mostly about $90+ off ebay.
2) Followed these instructions for opening up the Zen.
http://www.stainlesssteelrat.net/Pictures/20050520/Touch.mht
By far, the hardest part of this was unscrewing the little screws. Be sure to get the right sized screwdriver because it's easy to strip the screws. They screws are in there tight and are a pain to get out.
3) Pulled out the old dri've, put in the new one. Pretty self explanatory once you've opened it up following the site above. I used a small screwdriver to gently pry the old dri've off as it's in there pretty tight.
4) Put the player back together. Note, the touchpad won't work well unless all the screws are in fairly tight, so be sure to do that.
5) Start up player. The menu should come up giving you four options, Clean Up, Format All, Reload OS, and Reboot. Run Format All. It should just take a few seconds.
6) Install firmware. Download it from here, http://www.nomadworld.com/language.asp?sDestUrl=/support/downloads. Run the .exe file with your Zen plugged into the USB on your computer. From there you should just have to follow the prompts.
You player should now be back in working order and you can now reload your music. Hopefully you backed it up. :-)
I would estimate this took me 3 hours of work, 2 hours of which were spent trying to unscrew those darn screws! Well worth the $22 I saved. The process wasn't very complicated at all and takes very little techinical knowledge. I hope this helps others as this seems to be a common problem. Thanks to whoever made that guide to opening the Zen, you saved me a lot of money!

Bump, nice post Bertt and I'm happy very happy you took the time to post your success story. Unfortunatly the link is down for me at the moment, I tried a quick google search for "Opening a Zen Touch" but didn't find anything useful. Their is still valuable HD info that everyone should take a look at.
Also I agree with your comment that replacing a HD doesn't take much tech understanding, especially a direct replacement. You just have to put everything back the way it was when you opened it. So good luck for all you who try to save yourselves a good amount of $$ (I dont think you even including S/H in the price you listed.)

Creative Zen Touch - Hard drive problems - HD upgr

Hi!
I bought my Creative Zen Touch almost a year ago now. Yesterday my hard dri've went crazy. The sound was a funky rythm, 0 DJ "scrathes" then one more high-pitched sound. In the Rescue menu I try to format the hard dri've and it responds with "Hard dri've problems."
Yes, it has fallen down several times. I don't know what caused it to malfunction this time though. It suddenly just stopped working. It looks like a mess, was bought over internet under the name of a mother of my frien; to make a long story short. I have no warranty :/
So here's what I decided; I opened it up to take a look inside it. Here's what I found:
- One loose battery, too much dirt on the sticky stuff.
- One hard dri've, model: HTC424020F7AT00
And here is my main questions:
- Can I use a 40gb Hitachi dri've in my 20GB Zen Touch? This is just the big brother, so the dri'ves are pretty much the same except storage space. http://tinyurl.com/4yurr
Thanks
- KennethMessage Edited by Kgjersda on 09-6-2005 04:4 PM

Tweaking 'n' Hacking Your Creative Zen Touch 20GB
Thanks for your reply SSR. I'm a clueless as to what the controller is, but at least I've found out that the Creative Zen Touch 20GB uses a .8" harddri've. So the larger Fujitsu Siemens 2.5" dri'ves, which the Creative Nomad Zen Players use, aren't compatible.
For anyone reading this post who wants a step-by-step guide to upgrading the harddri've of a Creative Nomad Zen Player (but NOT the Creative Zen Touch 20GB), visit PC World magazine online for a "how to" article: http://www.pcworld.com/howto/article...67,pg,7,00.asp
<IMG src="http://images.pcworld.com/howto/graphics/9267-2303p075-7b.jpg">
If anyone has experience of tweaking/hacking the Creative Zen Touch 20GB or if anyone should come across a similar "how to" guide for upgrading its harddri've (and knows of specific models of compatible .8" hardri'ves) - then please post on this forum.
Cheers........... Tim Holmes.

Zen touch stuck in recovery mode after usual update attempt.HE

I like many others on the forum have attempted to carry out the firmware update only to be left in the same position as many others.My zen touch is now stuck in the recovery mode with no firmware and my pc wont recognise the player. The o/s on my pc is windows xp professional version 2002 service pack 2. I have wiped the hard dri've and installed a copy of windows 2000 but still no luck. I re-installed windows xp and now in device manager i have a creative zen touch showing and also a pci modem both with yellow ? marks next to them with a message of re-install drivers code 28,however the drivers are already installed with the latest driver from the creative web site. It appears that the pc wont recognise the player because there is no firmware installed. I have tried almost everything that has been mentioned on the forum and am now at my wits end. The player was working perfectly well before trying the firware update and i think that it is disgusting that a company as large as creative has not helped more with this problem ,looking at the amount of people that has had this same thing happen to them.Any help from you good people out there would be much appreciated. Thank you.Paul.

I too tried the 'upgrade' and now my Zen is history. I will not give up - I just do not have the hours that it will take to fix available to me right now.
I am very serious, Creative People, I have 2 suggestions:
) remove the faulty upgrade from your website
2) Fire the person who initiated the upgrade.
I certainly wouldn't have a job if I created an upgrade like this.

Repairs to Zen Touch 40gb in UK

Hi,
i have had a zen touch 40gb unit for nearly 2 years. Very pleased overall but like many things the newer models get smaller and lighter.
However, like many others on this forum, i have dropped the unit and now the touch pad / front buttons wont work. I had 5000+ songs on, which i deleted so i could update the firmware etc.
I contacted Customer Services and was told that they don't do this model no more and cannot accept it for repair. They offered me to purchase an Vision M or Vision at a discounted rate to compensate me for my troubles.
This raised a few thoughts - Do Creative have major problems with this and other models and find a way round it by offering other models? I find it hard to beli've that so many people have had same problems and not got the issues resolved. It seems once it packs up, thats it - finito!!
I have ordered a new Vision M (as i was planning to purchase it anyway, with the proceeds of my Zen Touch contributing to it).
Does anyone know where i could send my Zen Touch to be repaired in the UK. It seems criminal to have a 40gb unit going to waste, particularly as it still plays tunes. I just need someone to repair the touch pad and buttons. It could be something very simple, but I am no TECHY!!
I would appreciate any help.
regards
Manthevab

John
Thanks for your quick response.
Without going into the whole story - I knew it was out of warranty therefore i wasnt expecting a replacement, however I expected the offer of at least a REPAIR.
I am not an expert with these players, but i assume something has slipped inside the unit and this has made the right hand side buttons and touch pad redundant.
I accept what you are saying about replacing with a newer model at a discounted rate, however i paid over ?230 two years ago and did not expect to be paying again 2 years later, except in a case where i sold my old one to part fund a new one.
I now have a 40gb hard dri've player, which is unusable. I just want to know if there is a company that might be able to fix the problem for me.
John, if you can help, i would appreciate it.
Regards
Manthevab

Zen touch hard dr

The hard dri've on my zen touch doesn't appear to be working.
It started freezing when skipping tracks.
Then I loaded it into recovery mode and tried to reinstall the firmware, but again it just froze.
Now I can only access my player in recovery mode and creative media source isn't recognising any of my 0GB of music.
The hard dri've makes a clicking sound when it's starting.
The thing is less than 60 days old, and week on I still haven't had an email response and the phone line was closed on friday and leaving me on hold for ages on thursday?
What kind of complimentary phone service makes me dial an international call only to leave me on hold?
Any suggestions/similar experiences.
And how can I get an RMA number? Is it only via the phone line?

I'm on my 3rd Zen because of alleged hard dri've failures (serious clicking sounds etc). However I have discovered that if you reboot it with a paperclip in the hole on the side while pressing the play button continuously, after the third or fourth attempt you can get into the "clean, format etc" menu. In other words keep trying with the reboot before going through the agony of changing the player. Incidentally I have found the staff on the helpline (based in Ireland) really helpful.
Good luck!

Probleme mit dem Zen Toch 40gb/ Problems with the Zen Touch 40gb!!:( Out of Gara

Hallo ich br?uchte dringend Hilfe. Ich kriege den Creative Zen 40gb nicht mehr zum laufen Da er nur ab und zu angeht Das ?rgerliche daran ist das ich im Ausland war und das Teil nur 4 mal benutzt habe Leider geht er nur ab und zu an und wenn er mal an war, ist er dauernd abgest?rzt Da ich so lange weg war, ist mir jetzt auch noch die Garantie abgelaufen ( Jahr 3 Monate). Im Media Markt bekomme ich leider keine Unterst?tzung nichteinmal ein Versuch das Ger?t auf Kulanz reparieren zu lassen
Leider ist mir das ein wenig zuviel Geld f?r 3 mal musikh?ren. Vielleicht kann mir hier einer Helfen!!!!!!!
I have big Problems with my Zen Touch 40gb May be one of the members here can help me!!because my local dealer isnt able to do this Because the player is older than one year ( y and 3 months) I think that the garanty is normaly to short for this player. In germany you can read a lot about the problems of the Zen. Can it be that the Software doesnt work 00 % I was the last year in Poland so i had the zen 3 times in use The player freeze everytime and the biggest problem now, i cant switch the player on to make an update or something !!! please help.
Greetings

sry about ur problem. I had/have some of ur problems with my zen micro 5g. have u tried 2 reset it into recovery mode and do a cleanup? it won't mess up any of ur songs or anything like that.

Creative Zen Touch 40 Hard Drive Failure Confir

I just recieved a zen touch 40gb a week ago. Worked great for a week (had 2000 songs on it) then it seemed to only transfer songs in groups of 50 or so, then 20, then 0 and now not at all. It still plays them just fine. Last night I was reloading all drivers updating everything etc, thinking I had a driver conflict. Then I heard what sounded like a low level beep coming from the player. I tinkered a little, and the beep is more of a clicking that follows any hard dri've access (after the spinning stops) I can reproduce it 90 percent of the time when I skip a song, press random, or turn the player off.
I am going to return the player and trade it out, but just wanted some confirmation from one of the more knowledgible people around here that this is probably a dri've issue. I searched the forum and it sounds like it when compared to other dri've issues..
Also for those who li've on this board, how common do you think it is to have a dri've failure in one of these players. I know on this board there the density of problems would be higher relati've to satisfaction due to satisfied people don't tend to complain.
Also would this explain the transfer problems which seemed to work well at first (My thought is the player stops transfering when writing causing the error) I got the player as a gift so I don't have an option to trade to a different model, and am thus stuck with the Zen Touch 40.
Message Edited by corprolite on 09-2-2005 02:47 PM
Message Edited by corprolite on 09-2-2005 03:57 PM

corprolite wrote:
I am going to return the player and trade it out, but just wanted some confirmation from one of the more knowledgible people around here that this is probably a dri've issue. I searched the forum and it sounds like it when compared to other dri've issues..
I don't think anyone can give you a 00% guarantee, but if you're hearing repeated retries (clicking) followed by some sort of copy failure the dri've does sound like a very likely cause.
Also for those who li've on this board, how common do you think it is to have a dri've failure in one of these players. I know on this board there the density of problems would be higher relati've to satisfaction due to satisfied people don't tend to complain.
Not common.
Also would this explain the transfer problems
For sure. If you have a broken dri've it would cause transfer problems. Bear in mind that MP3 players with hard dri'ves are quite sensiti've devices.

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 40GB is absolutely GRE

(This is further to my post in the thread "Experience with your Creative Player" ten days ago.)
Hello everybody,
two and a half weeks ago I received my Zen Touch 40GB and right from the beginning I was very happy with it -- easy to operate without having to use any kind of manual, reliable, beautiful, great sound quality, etc.
Now, two and a half weeks later, this positi've judgement has become even stronger. The Zen Touch is really extraordinary! Battery life second to none, sound quality absolutely amazing (also when connecting it to my harman/kardon amplifier), good software (MediaSource Organizer), solid and reliable feel, Zen software never crashed, touchpad easy to operate after some initial training, display excellent, easy to navigate through the menus, etc.
In the beginning I was very sceptical whether to spend that much money on an MP3 player, and also a bit sceptical whether I had chosen the right one (since there are many to choose from and there seems to be no immediate "first choice"). But today I'm more than happy with my purchase and couldn't imagine living without the Zen Touch 40GB anymore.
The most amazing thing about it is simply the sound quality -- I keep listening to Jennifer Larmore singing Caesar's air "Va tacito" from Haendel's opera "Giulio Cesare in Egitto" (Julius Caesar in Egypt, HWV 7, 723), and it is stunning how crisp and clear the soloist's voice mixes with the outstanding horns and the beautiful harpsichord sound, etc... This alone is worth it. Having all my CDs in a belt-pocket everywhere I go is, in and of itself, another reason for such a device.
OK, nuff said; I can honestly recommend this little gem!
David
PS: For listening to operas an MP3 player is actually perfect since there is no need to change CDs -- I created a playlist for each opera, put the headphones on, lie down in my bed, and enjoy hours of musical delight without any breaks ;-)
Message Edited by haardt on 0-7-2005 0:54 PM

I just got my Zen Touch 40GB 2 days ago. I was surprised that it was slightly smaller than by Zen Xtra.
My only concern with it is the operating system. Its missing many features compared to the Zen Xtra, some of which I really miss like the Tabbed View.
And one annoying little detail, When a song is playing and you accidently touch the Touch Pad it automatically goes to the Seleced Music screen (Why?) If you press Pause in this area the song with just complete stop. And you have to start the song all over agian.
Hopefully this little annoyance can be corrected in a Firmware upgrade.
Also why isn't Creative advertising the 40GB player? All there pages still show the 20GB.Message Edited by TimT on 0-7-2005 03:25 PM

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

Zen Touch Hard to find

Why is the Zen touch so hard to find? None of my local reatilers have it, i.e. Best Buy, Circuit City, CompUSA. CompUSA did have it, but when I went back to go purchase it, they did not stock it any more. Then I tried Amazon, and they didn't have any in stock. They all have the Micro or the Xtra, but not the touch
Is this player going to be discontinued, or is it just that popular? I know it is available from other on-line retailers, can anyone give some suggestions as to which one is good to buy from?
Thanks, Mark

try www.buy.com
I used that site to get my zen touch for a good price when they first came out.
Free mac mini.
If it worked for Kevin Rose of TSS, then
I figured I may as well try it.
http://www.FreeMiniMacs.com/?r=4259073

Will my incoming Zen Touch 40gb drive my headphon

I just recently bought a Zen Touch 40gb, and it should be here any day now.
I am wondering if this little bugger is going to be able to dri've my Labtec Elite-840 headphones. I've had problems with the power required to dri've these beasts before.
Thanks for any reply!Message Edited by cerbeos on 03-02-2005 03:46 PMMessage Edited by cerbeos on 03-02-2005 03:55 PM

Short of trying it it's difficult to say. If the Touch doesn't have enough power then you can always consider a headphone amp, but this is another box, with more batteries, to carry around.
If you have bought the Touch in Europe make sure to update with an International firmware from Nomadworld.com downloads.

Zen Touch 40GB: USB connection dies mid-transfer.

I just received a brand new 40GB Zen Touch. While transferring a group of songs to it (whether via MediaSource or Media Player) it successfully transfers a few before freezing, waiting for a minute, and then claiming that either the Zen Touch is no longer connected or is busy. The only way to remedy the problem is to unplug the USB cable and reconnect - after which the same cycle is always repeated (a few songs, then freezing...).
Can anyone advise?
Thanks in advance.

Search on "connection problems" in the FAQ post.

Modding a Zen touch to 40gb hard dr

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