Zen: Firmware Prob

My zen micro stopped working in mid stride on the way home tonight. Screen says "firmware Problem". I go to website, download firmware and cannot get computer to talk to Zen. VERY disappointed. This is no better than an ipod.

Wow did I speak WAY too soon.
) after my last post i tried to hook up the zen and add more songs but it would not write.
2) i uninstalled & reinstalled driver
3) i uninstalled & reinstalled zen software
4) software would not install without wmp0
5) i got wmp0
6) wmp0 communicated with zen, then stopped working completely, after erasing all the songs on it
7) software will not install - says "device not connected", even though device says it is docked - software opbnoxiously quits without further explanation...
i have a $200 paperweight.
the only problem i ever had with the ipod was apple's attitude and their battery program. It is my understanding the nano batteries last alot longer.
this sudden (less than 24 hours ago)change in opinion about my Zen has me furious - as i ought to be - i have spent $500 on mp3 players in the last year, and here i am begging for help. Seems wrong to me......

Similar Messages

Help Please My Creative Zen Firmware Prob

It suddenly happened. I have my Creative Zen just one year and a half and last time that I tried to turn it on it just did not. I did not smashed it or soaked or anything. I reset it. Cleaned it up, Formated all, and the same message is coming........ Firmware Problem!
!!! I have tried it all. I download the Creative Zen Firmware .03.04, the computer just dont detect the device at all. Any suggestions??

Try attaching an AC adapter (if you have one) and then attach it to your computer - sometimes this allows the computer to recognise the device so you can?re-install the firmware.

30 gig Creative Zen Firmware Prob

<SPAN>
Hi I own a 30 gig Creative Zen Xtra Mp3 player and have been having a problem with it. I have owned it for 3 months. When I turn the player on it starts to rebuild the library but crashes about ?s of the way in and states that there is a firmware problem. Once this screen has come up I cannot turn the player off so I have to remove the battery. I followed instructions posted on another site and entered the rescue menu and selected re- install OS. I deleted the old one and downloaded the <SPAN>Firmware Update version .20.08. I opened the file and a warning came up saying that the firmware I have on my mp3 player is more recent than the one I wanted to install. The mp3 player I own is a old model so I thought that this was wrong. I continued and installed the new firmware. I rebooted the player and it rebuilt the library to the previous level only to crash again stating a firmware problem despite the update. After this I selected the clean up option. It scanned the disc but nothing changed.
<SPAN>I have no other options from the player except to enter the rescue menu. I cannot even turn the player off. When I reinsert the battery it turns on and attempts to rebuild the library and then crashes and the firmware crashes icon will stay until the battery runs out. I run Windows XP home on my computer and I can find no other people complaining of the exact symptoms as mine. Thanks for any help.

If you have tried all this then I can only think the player is faulty.
If it's under warranty then obviously contact Creative Support. If it's not under warranty you can of course also contact Creative Support to get it repaired.
It might be the hard disk which is at fault which you can replace yourself, but it's hard to know this is the problem for sure.

Creative ZEN Firmware prob

First. I'm new here, i've been looking for solutions on the boards but they can't solve my problem.
So my problem is, since yesterday, I tried to connect my creative ZEN to the computer and the player show the message "FIRMWARE PROBLEM"
Everytime I try to turn ON the player, the same message display.
I've already search on the web for solutions, like remove Windows Media Player from your computer, then download the firmware and upload the firmware to your mp3 player, but it doesn't work, because the computer doesn't recognises the player.
PLEASE, HELP ME!
thank you.
Message Edited by FallingToPieces on -09-2008 04:8 AMMessage Edited by FallingToPieces on -09-2008 04:53 AM

I've just found out!
When you turn on the player, you'll have to hold the play button, and then it will show you some options, in this case I had to choose "CLEAN UP" I've lost everything I had on my player, but I have him back!
Thanks, at least, to dranpencil for some help =)

New Zen Firmware Prob

I got my New Zen today and I played it for two hours.Now I got a very problem. It appeared Firmware problem. I can not turn it off and everything does not work even I reset it. I try to use new firmare but I can not do anything because the firmware problem made New Zen dead.How can I do for this problem It's very sad that I just got a New Zen.

Then you might have a serious problem, because the install should just take a few seconds and a partially installed firmware can break the player.
Are you under warranty?

Creative ZEN Firmware 1.12.01 (17.60 MB) 27 Nov

Creative ZEN Firmware .2.0 (7.60 MB) 27 Nov 07
Added Features or Enhancements:
* Improves your player's playback time for AAC (.m4a) and WMA (.wma) files.
* Improves player stability for continuous playback over a long period of time.
has any tried teh latest ver?
http://sg.creative.com/support/downl...ype=0&x=38&y=8

Battery cunsumption is also the biggest problem for me ...... 7hrs of music over 4 days is not good (with or without the headphones connected) I will try this new firmware and see if it improves things.

ZEN Firmware Suggesti

After playing around with my ZEN I have collected and organised some suggestions for improving the firmware. There is also a list of bugs that I have encountered at the bottom.
Things that are not possible would be great to see in a future player.
I have made this thread to organise some of the Problems that there are and features that would be nice to see on the ZEN however the main thread to discuss the ZEN firmware is Here
Credit must go to all who have suggested ideas from the many threads in this forum including Warhawk's thread
Microphone
*On the Microphone use the Play/Pause button to Start/Stop recording
*Have a link in the options menu to go to recordings
Photos
*In the pictures, be able to create a slide shows similar to a playlist in music (Save as/Add to slideshow option when viewing a picture)
*Be able to assign a music playlist to play when viewing a picture playlist
*Be able to zoom further into pictures (Even if it starts pixelating)
Music
*Add Ogg vorbis support(Its built in to the hardware already)
*Add option to browse music by folder
*Remove the slight hiss when nothing is playing
*Support uncompressed WAV
*Add EQ shortcut to the option menu
*Gapless playback support
*Lyric support
*Add FLAC support
*Add WMA lossless support
*Add AAC lossless support
*Editing of the ID3 tags
*Add a seek to time option (Where you can specify the time in the track to seek to)
*Alter the playback speed eg. make it play at .5x or 0.5x (Useful for listening to an audiobook fast)
*When in "View Detains" for a track include the location of the file on the players memory
*An extra "Switch view" in album browsing, similar to the one in pictures with the image on the left and the name on the right (4 per screen)
*Playlists are reorganised into alphabetical order when saved and its not possible to specify the playback order.
*A view details screen for playlists and albums indicating how many tracks are in it and the total running time
Videos
*Video Bookmarks
*Add support for MP4 Files with AAC audio (Worked in FW vesion .03.04 , Broken in .0.05)
*Add H.264 support (Its built in to the hardware already)
*When fast forwarding/rewinding update the screen with a still of the current position in the video every second
*Add a seek to time option (Where you can specify the time in the video to seek to)
ZENcasts
*ID3 Tag support in ZENcasts browsing, Gi've the Name and date (Rather than the file name)
*Allow Audio files to be put in ZENcasts, without making them movies (Perhaps put ZENcasts on main menu)
*Add support for M4a (AAC) Files with a changing Picture/Artwork as the file is played
FM Radio
*FM Radio recording (Its built in to the hardware already)
*RDS Support for radio (Its built in to the hardware already)
*Only show the presets which are used, skip the others
*Be able to listen to the radio whilst in other menus or browsing pictures
*Manually specify Mono/Stereo
*Be able to name the preset with a longer name
*When typing, have a lowercase/uppercase button for entering initials/abreviations
Memory Card
*Be able to copy files from SD card to player and vice versa
*ID3 Tag browsing And folder browsing on SD card
*Integrating SD card content (perhaps optionally)
*Be able to use all the features/options that are available for content on main memory
*An indication from creative of which SD cards work, a short list is no help with the thousands of SD cards out there, perhaps ask users to give feedback
Extras
*Add mini games (Flash if possible)
*Be able to add tasks to the calendar on the player (Also be able to set a reminder)
*Make a section for adding short notes
*Reading text files
*Add a simple calculator
System
*When setting an alarm, be able to select a particular track (If the track is not there when the alarm goes then play any track)
*On the Alarm schedule add an option for weekdays only (Maybe ask the user to check the date is correct after setting)
*Add an option for daylight saving
*Be able to set a time out on the screen (Without hold switch)
*More themes (PC software to create themes )
*80deg screen rotation for left hand users (It dosen't matter about the buttons being upside down)
*Be able to set a time out to turn the screen off after so long without having to use the hold switch (Could be disabled as default for new users)
General
*Add USB Mass Storage Class (MSC) ability (Its built in to the hardware already)
*Add support for Linux and Mac users
*X-FI
*Play tracks while the player is docked/charging
*A detailed PDF instruction manual
*On the player information screen show the battery status as a percentage
Software
*FLV Conversion with video converter
*Greater support for converting from more formats. e.g. Quicktime video, Real Vdeo, etc
*Advanced options in video converter, eg, keep original aspect ratio, Output to AVI, DivX etc., Normalise sound, Change contrast.
*Support song ratings being imported/exported to windows media player from the zen (By plug-in perhaps)
Bugs (FW .0.05)
*Get rid of the white flickering of the screen when the player turns on (Not the initial one, just the one after the creative logo where the screen is garbled with white lines)
*Faster cold startup
*Support more SD cards
*When browsing albums by artwork, Make the title scroll without stuttering and slightly faster
*Fix the bug where the player will randomly freeze when playing songs, the audio keeps playing but all the buttons and display are frozen, reset is the only option (Happens in both album and shuffle mode and videos)
*Fix the bug where certain videos freeze at the same point every time, skipping past this point they play fine again
*When charging on computer, the player fills up its charge bar after about an hour or so and says its charged but after a short while it starts charging again with the bar on full. If you take it off charging after the first charging bit you get significantly shorter battery life than leaving it charging for a further few hours until it says its fully charged again.
*Support playing protected content from the SD card e.g. audible books
*playing MP4 files with AAC audio is broken with this firmware (Worked in the previous firmware).
*The battery can lose a significant charge whilst off.
*An mp3 will only show album art if the Album field of the ID3 Tag has something in it
*When playing an album, the cover art shown is not always the one embedded in the current track(It appears to show the most common one for all the tracks in the album, even if the track is played on its own). Therefore if one track in the album contains different cover art it does not display the different embedded art for that track
*The random play is not always that random
*When playing a song then connecting to pc after disconnecting the song has stopped and is at the beginning
*Some SD cards are reported not working any more after updating from the previous version
*When plugging in headphones when the player is off there is a flickering of the screen and the player momentarily comes on then goes off
*The repeat track mode only repeats a track 6 times before stopping
*Sometimes when plugging the player in it does not dock even though it charges (When turned on and off)
*You turn off the player just after it goes into the red battery section, turn it on next day and the battery is the same, turn off without playing anything, try and turn it on several hours later and no battery at all (No low battery warning was given at any point) perhaps the battery discharged the last bit while turned off in standby mode.
*When the battery is very low and the player can't turn on, perhapse the power led should flash twice when you try to turn it on to indicate this, otherwise you might think the player is broken. (I got very worried the first time it happened)
*In my computer when viewing the properties of the zen by right clicking the icon (which is not enabled by default) the battery status only show the value when the player was first plugged in and does not update to show a higher charge after time, even after closing and reopening my computer, to view the updated status you must unplug and re plug in your zen.
*When a custom background is set and you are viewing a full a screen image and you press back, the background image flashes for a second on the screen before stuttering and flashing back to the thumbnail view
EDIT: Added a many more things
Message Edited by Dandt on -7-20070:27 AM

Plz Cretaive, Add UMS mode and recording radio ! it's very important for many people !
Creative plzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz... xD
You think devellopers come here
You think we must creat a petition for UMS mode
Message Edited by Jejebond on -22-200704:32 PM

New Creative ZEN Firmware 1.21.03" firmware does not work

>New Creative ZEN Firmware .2.03" firmware does not work This new "Creative ZEN Firmware .2.03, Filesize : 7.6 MB" firmware does not work.
All I get is : "Please make sure there is only one player connected" (See image below)
I have a CreativeZen 4GB player with Vista 64-Bit Operating system (Main System).
Yes, I have followed the instructions step-by-step, downloaded the new firmware first, then, connected my ZEN player, double-clicked the "ZEN_PCFW_L22__2_03" downloaded file.
Note : No other programs were running in the backround, even turned off installed firewall and anti-virus software. Also, tried this new firmware in a Windows XP (SP2) computer system and a Notebook Vista 32-Bit computer system. Yes! I only have one player connected. Same result (See image below).
I left it sit for one hour and did not move, same result (See image below).
I tried this in safemode (All OS systems), same result (See image below).

Re: New Creative ZEN Firmware .2.03" firmware does not work$ I updated my Zen 32GB using Vista x64 so it can work under some situations. Can't say my upgrade went problem-free but it did work in the end.
You might try some of the following (no promises they will help, but can't really hurt):
Re-download the firmware updater. Maybe you got a bad download.
Make sure your Zen is directly connected to a system USB port (i.e. not to a port on a monitor, keyboard, ext USB hub, etc.)
Try running the firmware update as Administrator if you aren't already
Try uninstalling the Creative drivers before the update.
In my case I got stuck on a message that another application was using my Zen. Turned out the simple act of hooking up the player resulted in Vista running a headless "wmplayer.exe *32" process. I had to manually kill it from TaskManager in order to proceed. Even then the first update attempt ended with the Zen reporting a firmware problem and rebooting into the Recovery Menu. I had to use Reload Firmware to erase what it had and then try again. Second time was the charm.
After all that I can't for the life of me see any changes/improvements in the new firmware. The forum is full of gripes and wishlists yet none of them complain about the radio functionality. I've used it almost every day for year without issue (aside from the rare Zen hang/crash when messing with the headphone jack and/or sliding the power switch). Thank goodness after waiting 0- months since the last update they got around to fixing something nobody noticed was broken. /2?:smileyvery-happy:

New ZEN Firmware after sept 2008 : Dream or realit

I guess the ZEN is now considered as an old product for the CREATIVE's engineers...
Do you think a new ZEN firmware with few enhancements (like SD integration) could be possible after sept 2008 ?

No, that's the end of the line.
This has been the pattern of Creative in the past. Release a bunch of new firmwares in the first several months, then stop. There hasn't been new firmware since February.
So much for SD integration and a proper resume function.

Creative ZEN Firmware 1.21.03 Released

Hi Everyone,
There is a new firmware update for the Creative ZEN available in the Support section.
Creative ZEN Firmware .2.03
Filesize : 7.6 MB
Release date : 9 Jan 09
File Name : ZEN_PCFW_L22__2_03.exe
This download contains an improved version of the firmware found on your Creative ZEN® player. It ensures smooth operation of your player's FM Radio. For more details, read the rest of this web release note.
Fix:
Ensures smooth operation of your player's FM Radio.
Requirements:
Microsoft® Windows Vista®, Windows® XP (Service Pack 2)
Windows Media® Player 0 or later
USB port
Creative ZEN player
Note:
To install this firmware
Download the ZEN_PCFW_L22__2_03.exe file into your local hard disk.
Close all application windows that are currently running on your computer.
Connect your player to your computer.
Double-click the downloaded file and follow the instructions on the screen.
If your player fails to restart after the firmware upgrade:
Turn off your player.
Disconnect your player from your computer.
Press and hold the Play/Pause button. Continue to hold the button while you perform steps 4 and 5. If you accidentally release the button, start the procedure again.
Gently push a straightened paper clip into the Reset hole.
Slide the On/Off switch towards the USB port and hold until the display lights up. The Recovery Mode screen appears with four options: Clean Up, Format All, Reload Firmware, and Reboot.
Select Reload Firmware, followed by Yes.
Connect your player to your computer.
Double-click the downloaded file and follow the instructions on the screen.

Re: New Creative ZEN Firmware .2.03" firmware does not work$ I updated my Zen 32GB using Vista x64 so it can work under some situations. Can't say my upgrade went problem-free but it did work in the end.
You might try some of the following (no promises they will help, but can't really hurt):
Re-download the firmware updater. Maybe you got a bad download.
Make sure your Zen is directly connected to a system USB port (i.e. not to a port on a monitor, keyboard, ext USB hub, etc.)
Try running the firmware update as Administrator if you aren't already
Try uninstalling the Creative drivers before the update.
In my case I got stuck on a message that another application was using my Zen. Turned out the simple act of hooking up the player resulted in Vista running a headless "wmplayer.exe *32" process. I had to manually kill it from TaskManager in order to proceed. Even then the first update attempt ended with the Zen reporting a firmware problem and rebooting into the Recovery Menu. I had to use Reload Firmware to erase what it had and then try again. Second time was the charm.
After all that I can't for the life of me see any changes/improvements in the new firmware. The forum is full of gripes and wishlists yet none of them complain about the radio functionality. I've used it almost every day for year without issue (aside from the rare Zen hang/crash when messing with the headphone jack and/or sliding the power switch). Thank goodness after waiting 0- months since the last update they got around to fixing something nobody noticed was broken. /2?:smileyvery-happy:

Zen firmware - fast start

Hey, does anyone remember which Zen firmware it was that always gave the fast start up time? And if so, does anyone have a link to it's
Cheers
Steve

I couldn't get it to work so I contacted Creative yesterday via e-mail. And amazing fast and friendly support they have got in Denmark
He said that it was a harddisk failure and it would cost me 67.52? to get it fixed. A new player here in DK costs about 200? so it's a shame but hey - it happens sometimes.

Nomad Jukebox Zen Xtra firmware prob

I tried to upgrade the firmware and now my Xtra is in Rescue Mode.
None of the updates that I downloaded from the website area all telling me that no device is detected.
But my computer recognizes my Xtra.
I tried downloading everything again but that didn't work.
Now my wife bought a Zen V with all different programs, but I don't know if that makes a difference.
What exactly am I doing wrong?

if the above solution doesn't work, i had a similar problem on the same model. if i remember, i just did different combinations of reboots, formatting, and firmware upgrades. it sounds unscientific, but i eventually got the computer to recognize the player and it worked until it got stolen (sad story). i know this isn't great advice, but in short: don't give up on it too easily. those things are surprisingly resiliant.

Zen v firmware prob

hi. i have creative zen v (not plus) player: S/No C6PF922634M05806L, DAP-FL0036, made in china.
firmware: v. .07.0.
after firmware upgrade to v. ..0 from official creative site www.creative.com
functionality of all control buttons has changed.
for example play button locks player instead of playing track...
does anybody have the same problem? and maybe knows how fix it's
thanx.

Although my Zen is manufactured in China also, let me tell you a story.
Something like that happened to me with an iPod Nano (I know it's not a Creative player, but read on) when I tried to update its firmware. I bought it from eBay ... and since you have to "register" iPods with Apple before you can d/l upgrades, I typed in my serial number ... only to be told that it was not an authentic iPod. I had always thought it was odd that the menu on my Nano looked different than the photos on Apple's site, but thought it would change after the upgrade. I have an acquaintance who bought a bunch of PC memory boards in China and sells them on eBay ... as the real thing ... but they're really imitation rip-offs ... but the outside looks exactly like the real thing ... including somewhat legit looking serial numbers. There's a city in China where you can buy these clones of almost everything electronic.
Did you buy your zen from a store ... or from eBay? I'm not saying that you have one of these "fake" copies, but the way yours is acting ... well... Of course, I don't know how you determine if it's a REAL or FAKE zen since Creative doesn't force us to register our players.

Zen Stone : firmware prob

Hello,
Since a week, my Zen Stone refuse to powerup. After many tries (reseting, trying to replug it on the pc, ...) unsuccessfulls, I try to flash it with the ZENStone_PCFW_US__05_0 firmware.
The firwarme program display : Current Firmware Version "0.00.00" (?), Upgrade Firmware Version ".05.0"
But when I want to flash, I've got an error message "Semaphore Timeout".
Then, the zen stone is detected as stmp3500...
I try to update the firmware from another PC and I still have the same problem.
Does anybody can help me ?
Thanks

Yes, Windows XP French with SP2

Zen Micro 1.11.01 firmware prob

I updated the firmware on my Zen Micro from .02 to ..0 the other day, and since the upgrade, I have actually been getting MORE battery drain when the player is not in use. And when I say more battery drain, I mean it is full one day, then less than 2 days later, the batter is so dead that the player won't turn on. In fact, my player was plugged in to my computer last night to charge, and the battery actually drained down to about a bar from full charge overnight. My player isn't that old.... less than 6 months, it isn't subjected to any harsh conditions (it usually just sits in my dorm room), and I always charge through my computer, so it isn't the problem with the wall charger.
PLEASE HELP!

Yes it will delete all of your music on your player. It's basically formatting your player, but it deletes the FW on your player, and this is why you are going to have to connect it to your computer right after you select that option.

Zen: Firmware Prob

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