To upgrade Zen touch or

Hey... like a few people here, i got a 20 gig zen touch for christmas. And i read a bit about how new firmwares are crap. I dont exactly see any reason to upgrade my firmware from the one it came with... but maybe there is a reason.. I also read that the new firmware makes the touchpad more comfortable. but... i was considdering using it under linux and older versions of windows.. and the whole windows media player part sounds horrible... im not a big fan of windows media player... would there be a way to not have it integrate itself with windows media player and i could still use nomad explorer? because.. i really love it the way it is.. sure.. the touchpad is a little hard to navigate.. but.. is there any real reason for me to upgrade? and if so.... how can i get around windows media player?

XavierKing: It's only worth upgrading if you need support for subscription music e.g. Yahoo Music Unlimited, and/or you want the so called "driverless" support under Windows XP.
The problem with the Touch is it's a one way upgrade (you CANNOT downgrade) and you will ONLY be able to use the player with Win XP.
XavierKing wrote:and the whole windows media player part sounds horrible... im not a big fan of windows media player... would there be a way to not have it integrate itself with windows media player and i could still use nomad explorer? because.. i really love it the way it is.. sure.. the touchpad is a little hard to navigate.. but.. is there any real reason for me to upgrade? and if so.... how can i get around windows media player?
You don't have to use Windows Media Player. Nomad Explorer won't work, but you can download the Touch Media Explorer and you can still use MediaSource (with an update). Also Nomad Explorer is somewhat redundant as the player will appear as a device in Windows Explorer.

Similar Messages

Upgrading Zen Touch Firmware -- Crashed - Now Won't Work.

Hi all,
First post on the forum so go easy on me! )
OK, I brought a zen touch a few years back, and it worked fine etc. Went travelling mid July last year and put it into storage.
Come home (UK) this month, got it out of storage and booted it up, all working fine, playing music, transfering new files fine etc.
Went online with it connected to my poota and decided to check for updates etc.
Thought it would be good to upgrade the firmware, so downloaded the latest version 2..0 ... backed up all my music, then ran the firmware upgrade, it said to plug in the touch, which I did, and off it went upgrading...
0 minutes went by, and it was stuck on blue bar, still saying it was upgrading. I looked at the touch and it said 'recovery mode'...
OK, I thought, it's still going, so off I went to make a cup of tea and came back about 5 minutes later ... still nothing, same thing on the touch, but the upgrade firmware on the poota had stopped responding and so I took the reluctant decision to unplug the touch and reboot the poota.
Whilst the poota was rebooting, I turned the touch off and back on, it said 'firmware problem' and asked me to go through recovery...
So I cleaned it, formatted it, then rebooted. It still said 'firmware problem' .. so, I clicked on reload firmware on the touch, and it said reload firmware via usb, I clicked yes, and it said erasing firmware and that it was ready for the firmware to be reloaded. So I went back to my poota and clicked on the firmware upgrade programme and it said connect the touch, which was strange as the touch was already connected....
The touch was recognised by the poota when I plugged it in, but the hard dri've size was only 20mb instead of 20gb, which I thought was a bit strange...
And this is as far as I can get.
The touch is recognised by the poota as it shows up on the dri've page, but its only got 20mb registered instead of the 20gb the touch is (although when cleaning the touch it said 20gb available on the touch screen!!) ... I can click on the touch dri've icon and it opens up the dri've but again only saying it is 20mb in size. And also very strange is that when I click on properties on the touch it says the firmware is 2.0.04-0.00.0 ....
When I click on the firmware upgrade programme it says the touch is not connected!?!
When I click on nomad it says not connected....
I've tried the recovery thingy but it says that the touch is not connected!!
But it is connected!
HELP!!
Info that you might need:
Zen Touch Model No: DAP-HD004
Poota running Win XP sp2 and also tried it on Win Vista Basic
Anything else you need to know just ask.
Any help is really appreciated!!
Cheerz
Mike

Hmmmm, guess the problem is unfixable then....

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

What do i need to do to upgrade my zen touch 40

i upgraded my firmware for my touch and have had tons of problems ever since. i am willing to start again by downloading the new firmware again if need be. one of the major problems i have encountered is that i would like to use mediasource but cannot now. i tried using windows media player but have several major problems. i can't see all of my music ID tags and seem to have lost the ones i created with mediasource. 2 i cant see my playlists on the computer. 3 it is transferring all of my media after specifying a given folder. 4 i couldn't figure out how to sync things back to my pc. the media explorer is cumbersome. i don't think i need to say anymore about this p.o.s. so what i'm wondering is what files do i need to download to be able to use medisource to organize my music. can someone please help me because i'm about to throw this player out the window!!! Thanks,
Dan

Dan,
If you have already loaded the PlayForSure firmware for the player, be sure to also download and install the 'Creative Software Suite for PlaysForSure-enabled Creative Zen Touch Players (43.44 MB)'
Jason

Upgrade to media source 5 and now does not recognize my Zen Touch player!?

JUpgrade to media source 5 and now does not recognize my Zen Touch player!
st off, I was having issues with mp3's transferring to my zen touch, it would say file cannot transfer, invalid format or something of the like.. The creative audio converter would not allow the file to be converted as it said the source was not availble, all odd as the files worked fine on my computer and were mp3 format. I did get them to transfer after downloading another 3rd party converter, I wanted to get past using another program though so I updated to media source 5, along with firmware updates to most recent for the zen touch.
Once I had updated it would not recognize my player, I opened version 3.xxx whatever and it did recognize. Thinking maybe it has an issue with both being installed I unistalled the old version. Same problem, still does not see my player. I upated the driver for the player as well, and my computer now could see the zen touch instead of unknown usb device, media source 5 no go still at this point. I opened windows media 0 and it saw the player and I could transfer files, but the lay out and editing cababilities are limited.
Basically I want to know what to do get this thing detected so I can use media source 5 to organize my files. Someone please help me.

N Oh how I love the beauty of forums! Fantastic. So you know the fix went for my issue here, I had already upgraded the zen/jukebox driver to version 2.0 to no avail, and did not get the play for sure firmware as it says all data will be lost, but I did upgrade with the other option on the support downloads section before as well to no avail. Thanks to?GuyGraham, after I installed the app update for Creative ZEN and NOMAD Jukebox Plugin 5.00.22 for Creative MediaSource 5 Player/Organizer it works once again!! I just do not see how this file isn't included with the media source 5 application in the first place. Either or thanks a lot you guys, problem sovled!

Zen Touch: upgraded firmw

Hello,
I'm experiencing a problem (which a lot of people have, I see...).
yesterday I upgraded the firmware to the latest(2. or something), and the pc program said: player rebooting. Then I saw my Zen Touch going into recovery mode.
There everything stopped..
I tried the Reload OS option, but when I start the upgrade firmware exe, the program can't find the MP3...
Can I solve this? When i'm in recovery mode I see a v0.0.0 firmware
But when i'm in Recovery mode, and I connect it to the pc, my pc recognizes it.(new hardware: first creative zen, and then mtp device or somehting--> then it asks for drivers, but they won't install as the mtp device hasn't got a function or something...)
What I've tried:
. If you have Windows Media Player uninstall it and reboot
2. Uninstall the WMP Runtime format from add/remove programs ( you may have to check the "show updates" box) and reboot
3. With the Zen Touch connected, go to Device Manager and uninstall it and then unplug the USB cable.
4. Uninstall ALL Creative software including the Zen drivers and then Reboot
5. From Device Manager, uninstall ALL USB root hubs and reboot
6. Plug in the Zen and wait for windows to detect it. In my case windows showed it as "Creative Zen" and then changed it to "MTP Device."
7. Run the firmware update again. It should go ahead and update now.
Help plz, creative email support doesn't give any help. They say I only got year warranty, but in the EU they must give 2 years of warranty..

I got this from email support:
. Uninstall all creative software & drivers 2. If you have this installed then uninstall Media Player and Media Player runtime (will require a reboot for each thing). This is done by going to add/remove programs and uninstalling (this will put your pc back to wmp0).
3. Re-install the Zen Driver from the creative website and reboot
4, Plug Zen in.
5, Make sure you have the firmware update ready, run it but don't click the language bit yet), leave the mouse hovering over your language selection.
6. On the Zen- select "reload OS"
7. As soon as it flashes up "reload new firmware now via USB" click the language button 8. Tada, now the pc should find it and allow you to re-load the firmware. (it may take a few attempts) 9. Once complete, click close and restart the pc. Everything should now be fine.
0. once you are happy you can re-install WMP and it will work fine.
But I guess this is the standard one?

Zen touch, crash while upgrade firmw

Ok i really got a problem now....my zen touch crashed while i was upgrading to p4s 2..0
now my pc doesnt recognize it anymore and my player keeps giving me the recovery tool.
I am frustrated of what to do.. with regards Dobby

ok, looooooooooong time ago, before I owned my Vision:M, I had a zen touch,ergo, this same problem. WHat I did was that I went to a friends house, and tryed intaling the new firmware there. It worked, so try instaling the firmware through another PC. The problem is that your player has NO firmware, and your PC "kinda" recognizes it. after you intall the firmware on your player, go back to your main PC and plug your MP3 player, then you should get the same reaction as before, no change yet. Then go to control panel, system, system properties, hardware, then device manager. Find your player there... I should remind you that your player must be on and pluged in at all times during this process... after you find your player (should be under Uni'versal Serial Bus Controlers), right click on it and click on Uninstall. After approving this, unplug your player, and, whitout turning it off, plug it back in.
And that's it, as far as I know that should work for you, it did for me.
another thing that worked for someone else in here, was that they edited the registry... THIS IS VERY RISKY, but it was waaaaaaaaaaaaay easier. He typed in "regedit" through his Run window, found his HKEY_CURRENT_CONFIG folder, then system, then CUrrentControlSet and then USB. He right-clicked the USB folder and selected "Permissions..." then he selected the "Add" button and created a user called "Everyone" and he gave IT full control and read checks and that was it, hope one of these two help you, I remember how frustraded I felt, sucks that the "Creative Team" makes such software
Edit: I forgot, remeber that this is risky, and I take no resposibility whatsoever if something goes ape-poop
good luck, thoughMessage Edited by bleumcnamara on -8-20060:54 PM

Creative Zen Touch Firmware Upgrade version 1.01

Hi Everyone,
Just to make you aware, a new Zen Touch firmware has been posted on our site:
<TABLE id=Table5 borderColor=#cccccc cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=3 width=540 border=>
<TBODY>
<TR>
<TD colSpan=2><B>Filename: </B><B>ZenTouch_PCFW_L4__0_03.exe</B></TD></TR>
<TR>
<TD colSpan=2> ZENT-FWARE--L4
<DIV id=ShortDesc>This firmware upgrades your Creative Zen Touch player for improved functionality.
<DIV id=Fixes>
<EM>Fixes:</EM>
Improves player functionality when the Random and Next buttons are pressed.
Resets the Custom EQ settings when resetting your player's settings.
Improves the display order of the Touch Pad sensitivity settings.
Improves the continuous playback of WMA and MP3 tracks.</LI>
<DIV id=Notes>
<EM>Requirements:</EM>
Microsoft? Windows? XP, Windows 2000, Windows Millennium Edition (Me)or Windows 98 Second Edition (SE)
Available USB port (version . or higher)
Creative Zen Touch installed</LI>
<EM>Note:</EM>
To install this firmware update, do the following:
Download the ZenTouch_PCFW_L4__0_03.exe file into your local hard disk.
Connect the player to your computer.
Double-click the firmware upgrade file and follow the instructions on the screen.</LI>
</LI></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
Cat

'Thanks a million for the link, KokChoy-CL! You are now on my X-mas present list.
I have been using the .0.03 firmware, but recently I read http://forums.creative.com/t5/MP3-Players/Zen-Touch-Custom-EQ-Frequencies-Wrong/m-p/64205" and wanted to try out the .00.06 firmware. Comparing from memory and using custom EQ, lows and mids sound much more clear now while bass is a bit more on the light side.

Some WMA/DRM files won't sync after firmware upgrade on Zen Touch

I downloaded an eaudio book from my library, which grants a 2 day license. Prior to upgrading the firmware (to the latest available) on my Zen Touch, I was able to upload this book and play it while walking, etc.
At the same time, I was able to upload several other books I had downloaded and licensed. All are WMA/DRM.
After upgrading the firmware, I was able to resync some of the books I'd downloaded to my Zen Touch. Several, however, yield error messages--no matter how I try to upload them (WMP, Creative MediaSource, Zen Touch Media Explorer). All refuse to let me upload.
These books previously uploaded/played just fine. Note: they still play fine using WMP and Creative's software. But, it's a bit difficult to lug my desktop around when walking/running through the woods.
Any idea what the problem might be? All MediaSource says is:
<IMG src="http://herb.thetysons.org/images/CMC-error.jpg">
WMP0 tells me that "an unknown error" has occurred. Neither event is significant to make it to the system's application event log.
Any ideas on why these files--which could be tranferred before--can't be transferred now? The licenses are still valid, and the file format is identical to those that transferred without incident.

OK, my update. After reading the recent responses (thanks!), I performed the following experiments.
1) Reverted to the original v2.0 via factory restore, relinked to the Mac. ATV immediately copied over my entire library (one movie, lots of music) from the Mac, because I have iTunes checked marked for Automatic Sync ("iTunes automatically chooses the audio and video to sync, etc.").
*I consider this to be normal and expected behaviour.*
2) Downloaded and installed the 2.1 update (again...). After reboot the ATV was still on my network and still linked to my Mac. However there was no longer any media content on the ATV (as before).
*I do not consider this to be normal, expected behaviour. Nor, for that matter, is wiping user content acceptable.*
3) Cancelled and relinked ATV to Mac. As soon as the linking code was entered, automatic sync started. Only the one movie was copied, but no music.
*I do not consider this to be normal, expected behaviour.*
4) When that sync was completed I went and checked all the songs in one album in iTunes as a quick test, then sync'd again. That song was promptly copied to the ATV.
Progress!
5) Checked all songs, initiated a new sync and they're being copied as I write.
Success!
So v2.1 requires music to be manually selected in iTunes in order for automatic sync to work. Anyone not spot a contradiction in terms? Furthermore that was certainly not the case in software versions prior to 2.1, nor was this change communicated in any way I'm aware of to the user.
My conclusion is that this is either a bug, or else sheer thoughtlessness on Apple's part.
But my sincere thanks to those who've helped me to restore proper function to the ATV (well, fingers crossed), a device that I've become very fond of.
Neil

Zen Touch upgrade prob

Hi, I upgraded my Touch to version 2 firmware, installed the latest driver and downloaded and installed all the latest versions of the Creative ap
ps.
Since the upgrade I have had nothing but problems in trying to copy tracks to the Touch. Every app that I use including Creative Mediasource, Zen Touch Explorer, Notmad Explorer, Winamp and Windows Media Player (vers 0 and ) freezes or crashes when trying to write to the Touch. Winamp crashes straight away. WMP freezes when trying to synch. Zen Touch Explorer mostly doesn't see the Touch but freezes when it does and MediaSource sometimes manages to write a few tracks to the Touch and then freezes (or suspends, sometimes I can close it tidily). I have gone into Recovery mode and reformatted and done a cleanup, no disk errors are reported. I have reloaded the firmware and it reloads without a problem and does not report a firmware error. Windows XP reports it present as an MTB device. I have read these boards and also the nomadness boards and tried everything related to firmware upgrade problems with no success. Creative says my player is out of warrenty and won't offer any advice so I am completely out of ideas. Has anyone here had apps freezing on them after a firmware upgrade and managed to cure it's Any help would be great, thanks.

Hi,
Sorry ot hear you are having problems.
One thing, have you upgraded to the the latest version of Media Source - 3.3. This supports MTP devices. Just curious and of course the unit should be working with WMP 0 and .
When you attach the player to the PC does it come up with a dialogue box reporting detection, successful install and asking you what you wish to do? Or do you get any notification at all?
If oyu can try re-installing Win XP SP2.
Finally are you based in the U.S?
TIA
John

Zen Touch: Firmware upgraded, Zen unavaila

Hello,
I was done the firmware upgrade to 2..0 on my Zen Touch. Everything gone well. The player seems to work fine.
The new firmware should not need driver (PlayForSure tech.)
I removed the old software and drivers from pc, and reboot.
Now if I connect the ZenTouch to PC, It went recognized by "system configuration" but don't appears in Explorer or MediaPlayer0.
I have try also to use RegClean to clean registry. I have try to reinstall original driver disk but the Zen is not recognized by old software/driver.
I have try to connect the Zen to another computer, Everythings OK.
How I can recover my PC? I don't have any Recovery Point in my pc.
I believe that something happen to MTP driver, or some System Services.
Does Creative have some "diagnostic tool" ? or MTP driver istallation?
Please Help.
Joefalk
(greeting from Italy)
P.S. Sorry for my bad English.

There's some advice for the Micro, most of which is also relevant for the Touch, see the link "problems with connecting using MTP firmware" in the FAQ post.

Zen Touch classical music tracks and upgrading firmwa

Does anyone know how to back up the pre-installed classical music tracks that are on the Zen Touch? I want to do this so I can upgrade the firware to 'plays for sure' without losing these tracks. Apparently upgrading the firmware to 'plays for sure' will?delete the?tracks. I haven't been able to copy these tracks?to hard dri've/CD or even record them as they are 'protected'. Creative telephone support?are just rude and unhelpful. Any suggestions?

Thanks for your help! I will try to follow your advice using the recording facility in creative media source organiser- it will be painstaking but that's not a problem for me if it works. If I connect the Touch headphone socket to the line-in on my PC, will I be able to listen to the tracks through the speakers on my PC as they are?being played/recorded? It would be good if I can do this as I will?then know exactly when to start/stop the recording. Also do you know which recording source I should select (I would guess 'microphone' but maybe 'mixed output')? Thanks again- it's good to get some helpful suggestions for a change!

OK, Zen Touch Owners, Listen Up!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

OK, when I tried to update the firmware on my Zen Touch to the PlaysForSure update, all of the original firmware was removed, and I could do nothing. This happened to a lot of other users, and most of their solutions seemed to be unique to the secondary computer they used. After searching through several threads, I finally found a solution that worked when nothing else would. Thank you so much Evil_Queen_Lisa for solving the problem: Step - Before you upgrade your firmware, back up your files as they will be lost. If you are here, unfortunately this is probably too late for you, but I figured I'd add it anyway. Step 2 - If you have licensed music - back up your licenses to an external source (like a USB key)->Go to WMP ->Tools ->License Management ->backup ->select your external dri've ->backup Step 3 - Restart your computer Step 4 - In "Add or Remove Programs" with "Show Updates" selected:***Note: you MUST uninstall in this order!!***a)uninstall windows media player , restart when prompted (also refered to as "Rollback" )b)uninstall windows medial player RunTime, restart when promptedc)uninstall Microsoft User-Mode Driver Frameworks Feature Pack .0 (and not something else with a similar name like .NET), restart your computer Step 5 - Download and install windows media format 9.5 RunTime from here http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx FamilyId=73C2650F-BE6-4BD6-8408-FD6E7827CD8 Step 6 - In "Add or Remove Programs" with "Show Updates" selected:Uninstall all software and drivers by Creative **Note: If you have a creative sound card (like "audigy" or "soundblaster" ) be carefull not to uninstall it's drivers / software! Restart your computer Step 7 - Plug your zen into its power outlet, and from recovery mode select "clean up" Quick Suggestion by Baffled: With your Zen plugged in, go to Control Panel->System->Hardware->Device Manager and select Portable Devices. Right-click Zen Touch, and select Uninstall. Step 8 - Download the newest driver and the firmware for your Zen from here: (make sure you have the correct player and country) http://us.creative.com/support/downloads/ Step 9 - Install the driver, and plug in your zen when prompted. If a pop up appears asking you what you want to do (ie open with WMP) just click cancel. Step 0 - Open the firmware upgrader ->click upgrade ->follow the instructionsif its successful -> CONGRATULATIONS!!! you are fixed!! I suggest you run your windows update wizard, and reinstall everything once your zen is working properly (it should work fine with WMP ). If this works for you, or doesn't, please post a reply and keep this thread ali've! Any moderators out there, please sticky this. It's a big and frustrating problem, and this is the only solution that appears to work uni'versally (three friends did this too).

Well, from the looks of things, more devices are having problems with firmware updates, without any solutions put forward from the manufacturer. Poor show, Creative.

Zen Touch latest Firmware Update...player not connec

I tried installing the latest Firmware update for my Zen Touch (released 2-09).
The player is connected and recognized by Windows and the Media Explorer. However, when I try to install the new Firmware it keeps saying "player not connected".
I tried d/l two different language packages cause I wasn't sure what counted - player language or operating system langauge. Anyway, that didn't make a difference.
So what do I do? I have no idea where to start. It's firmware for the correct device connected through Windows XP.
I have made a firmware update before, which worked fine. After that I updated the media explorer software.
Help is very much appreciated! Thank you in advance.
-tina-Message Edited by tinas on 2-0-2005 08:56 PMMessage Edited by tinas on 2-0-2005 09:00 PM

Perhaps it's worth making sure no software is using the player, so reboot the PC, and turn off the Creative Detector. Then try again.
Are you trying to upgrade to the .0.03 version?

A post, Zen Touch Owners might consider and an Open Letter to Creative. L

Creative needs to take some COORPERATE PRIDE as regards one of their products, that until recently was the FLAG SHIP<SPAN> of their hard-dri've based line of D.A.P. s,
By using the Napster-To-Go Subscription Service, I spent the better part of last weekend loading up my Touch 40 GB player with reams of music.<SPAN> At about the 9 GB point on the hard dri've, the seek head would no longer write to the platters and after a time out, stopped with a subsequent TRANSFER ERROR coming up.
Bummer.
OK.
I phoned Creative, got an RMA number and shipped it off for a hard-dri've replacement at the least, a totally new unit sent promptly back at the best.
Being bummed out that I probably wouldn?t see a new TOUCH 40 GB returned to me for the most part of two weeks to a month (by some of the reports via this thread), and being that I wanted a FLASH DRIVE so I could use a D.A.P. in places where intelligence dictated that a hard-dri've based player is going to experience hard-dri've shock/abuse (like being on your bicycle, jogging, cross-country skiing, etc?.all forms of outdoor activity) so?being that I did not now have my TOUCH to listen to (I am a music-aholic) I went out on Saturday and purchased an IRIVER T0 GB flash player.
Being this is a Creative board, I won?t go into a RAVE on how good and feature packed this D.A.P. is.<SPAN> Just suffice to say that if you would like a D.A.P. for when being acti've, or as a back-up to the TOUCH 40/20, THIS IS THE PLAYER TO CONSIDER.
Now, amongst features heaped upon features this player has, never mind the FANTASTIC sonic output it puts out in sound fidelity and reams of non-distorted volume (I use a set of BOSE TRI-PORTS that need a setting of 8 on the Zen Touch, but with the Iri'ver T0, I am right now (as I type) listening to Gloria Estefan?s CONGA at a volume setting of 2 out of a possible 30!!!!<SPAN> It is just that good!
Now, what is this post doing on a Creative Forum board?<SPAN>
The answer lays in the next few sentences/thoughts?.
Amongst 2 EQUALIZATION presets, that ALL so differently shape the sound wave (they again, are THAT good, including SRS (WOW) is a CUSTOM EQUALIZATION pad that covers the following frequency ranges:
50K /200K/ K/ 3K/ 4K/ (adjustable from ?0/+0
It was in using this EQUALIZATION PAD, that is was so totally demonstrated to myself how truly abused we are as Creative Ltd.<SPAN> Customers having all of us, purchased a Zen Touch D.A.P. from this company.<SPAN> I paid $300.00 dollars for my Zen Touch 40 GB and it was deli'vered to me straight out of the package with a DEFECTIVE<SPAN> Custom Equalization feature, that is made defecti've by inferiorly produced Creative code in their Zen Touch Firmware, the very ?heart? of the product, driving and deli'vering all the features(?) on the Zen TOUCH 20/40 GB.
It is one thing to release defecti've code, if the defect was not caught by (hopefully) Creative upon the launch of the product, but with ENOUGH paying customers having made this defect well known and so WELL DOCUMENTED back to Creative Ltd. and in the many MONTHS since the defect was found in the FIRMWARE that dri'ves the TOUCH, and yet, and UNBELIEVABLY so, the defect yet remains (if in fact now even more profound!) in their latest version of the Zen TOUCH firmware!!!
Ladies and Gentlemen, who are now reading this post, ------by having had the extreme PLEASURE in owning a D.A.P. (newly acquired Iri'ver T0) with all features advertised upon the package ***WORKING***, right out of that package, let alone with such amazing performance deli'very, I now declare that I will wait a reasonable (not months any more, BUT ONLY A FEW WEEKS FROM THIS POST DATE) <SPAN> period of time to elapse before I see a FIRMWARE release and/or patch from this company, Creative Ltd., to ***FINALLY*** address this broken Custom Equalization feature ?offered? within the Zen Touch firmware.
Now in having custom set the ranges of frequencies in the Iri'ver T0 to JUST how I like my music----I have to tell you Folks----IT DOES make a TREMENDOUS difference to the sound and your PERSONAL expectations of it!
A Custom Equalization feature is THAT important to have on a sonic device, let alone a fully WORKING ONE, bug free!
To Creative:----a personal comment:
<SPAN> I have been a loyal customer of yours from the mid 90?s by having purchased EXCLUSIVELY from you, my sound cards, as well as your line of VIDEO CARDS.<SPAN> I have been a most faithful repeat customer having never seen to date your company so delaying/ignoring the defecti've broken issues from one of your FLAG SHIP sonic products.
I spent<SPAN> $79.00<SPAN> (far below the asking price of your Zen Touch product line)<SPAN> last Saturday on an Iri'ver T0 GB flash player that (with obvious pride of manufacture from Iri'ver Ltd.) works as advertised, works with the present FIRMWARE installed in the device at the TIME OF PURCHASE and PRODUCT RELEASE, and has earned my respect in putting out such a feature-rich product and with obviously, such Cooperate Pride.
Creative Ltd, if you do not put human resources immediately on releasing a patch that brings the Zen Touch FIRMWARE to a bug-free condition that it should have been when having been released with the product launch, I will consider no longer you as the stalwart CREATIVE company of old, that once DID HAVE SUCH COOPERATE PRIDE in any and all models of hardware they produced or sent out with their name upon it.
I will no longer purchase from your company, fearing that as I hold the product in my hands at the store, the features that I am there to purchase will NOT be deli'vered ?out of the box? due to inferior workmanship in materials, in SOFTWARE CODING, and a lack of Quality Control that dictates nothing leaves the plant until the Chief Technology Officer and his staff can sign off on that product?s quality and being fit for release to the Consumer and potential Customer.
I hope that the Moderator of this forum sends this post to whomever it will have cause to see the crippled firmware inside the Touch finally be brought up to quality standards that was the mandate of the Creative Ltd. of past years.
If this post has to reach the desk of the C.E.O of CREATIVE Ltd., then let it be sent there!
Creative Ltd, you are losing Customers hand-over-fist that won?t bother to sit down and type out/compose this letter/post, but will merely resolve to NEVER AGAIN look at, let alone buy one of your present, or future products.<SPAN> Nobody likes to have a ?broken and crippled? product---RIGHT OUT OF THE PACKAGE!<SPAN> Nobody should have to experience that when hard-earned money is being exchanged for it!
A present Creative Ltd. financial supporter,
(Sesquash)
Michigan, U.S.A.
<SPAN>

I wrote the following e-mail to Creative Support today. If they can't respond to a polite, reasoned e-mail like this then I will never buy another Creative product again!
I will post again when Creative respond to me, with a bit (well, more than a bit, more like a billion tonnes) of luck they will be able to say whether they even PLAN to fix the Custom EQ problem.
All the best, everyone.
<E-mail>
Dear Support,
I recently (0-Nov-05) purchased a Creative Zen Touch 40GB mp3 player, and I am generally very happy with it. The battery life is great, and I was happy with the quality of design and build compared to the (relati'vely) affordable purchase price.
However, my query/complaint concerns the new firmware release for the Zen Touch, version 2.0.05 (MTP support for Zen Touch). I have uploaded the new firmware to my Zen Touch (and also the relevant updates for the Creative software: Media Organiser, Zen Touch Explorer etc), and have experienced no problems in loading this new firmware to my player or my computer.
Generally, I have no problems with the performance of the new firmware: my files transfer easily and quickly between my mp3 player and my computer, and (using Windows XP SP2, and WMPv0) I have experience no compatibility issues, as one would hope.
However, I do take issue with the Custom EQ bug that the new firmware accentuates on the Zen Touch. I am sure that Support has doubtless been contacted by other people regarding this problem, but to summarise, with version 2.0.05 of the firmware installed, usage of the Custom EQ function on the Zen Touch severely impaires the volume of the player, and consequently the enjoyment of myself, the customer.
I would like to ask Support whether Creative plans a 'fix' firmware update to eliminate this bug in the firmware in the near future? I am not concerned with any new features to the player with a future firware 'fix' release (although they would not be unwelcome!), since Creative did not promise any such features in the first place. However, I feel that since Creative advertised the Zen Touch as having a customisable graphic equaliser - from Creative's own press release: "Supporting both WMA and MP3 formats, the Zen Touch deli'vers crystal-clear audio, thanks to a signal to noise ratio of 98dB, which can be customised using the built-in, four-band graphic equalizer with eight equalization presets." - a firmware update should not render an advertised feature of the product effecti'vely useless.
Please could Support acknowledge the disappointment I feel with this fairly fundamental flaw to an official product upgrade, and provide assurances (or take measures to seek assurances from whoever makes decisions upon such issues) that a firmware 'fix' update will be released in the near future?
I end by saying that I have only ever bought Creative mp3 players, and to date I have been happy with the products I have purchased, but if basic product flaws such as the Custom EQ being 'broken' by official firmware updates are allowed to go unaddressed (especially with the fact that this has doubtless come to Creative's attention through Support/the official discussion forums etc) then Creative may lose customers like myself in the future to rival companies.
Thanks for your time, and I await your reply.
Kind regards,
Lawrie Ward
</E-mail>

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