Zen Vision M Managing Active Selected Mu

I really like the Zen vision...with on exception: the inability to manage acti've Playlists and expand contract...selected music.
This is my fourth Creative MP3 player and the Zen Jukebox had a MUCH better music management system. You could expand/contract acti've playlists....move between playlists add edit selected music MUCH easier.
This has got to be an EASY fix for Creative to do...as they have the code from previous releases!
Creative please help! This is a great product and the fix has got to be an easy one for you all to put out.
Thanks from a loyal customer.
Kevin

It could still be related to a file (or several). If a file is "damaged", sometimes it can still play on a PC, but a portable player may be more sensiti've to this and won't play it. Do you have to skip any songs to play it's Can you try ripping a new album from a CD, and trying to play that (random, in a loop)?
It may help to reload or update the firmware, in case there is a small glitch. Also run the Clean Up in Recovery Mode.
Cat

Similar Messages

Zen Vision M 30G will not connect to

New at this, please bear with me.
My player worked just fine, unfortunately I don't have a car charger and after a long trip killed the battery. I return home, plug the player into my computer and nothing happens. I get frustrated, try everything, even going from USB port to USB port to get the thing to charge... nothing.
I leave it plugged in for a week and forget about it for?a few days. Well, it's charged, I'm happy about that, however I'm not very happy that it is not being recognized by my computer. Nope, no docking symbol, nothing. When I open the program it tells me the device is not connected. So again I try it in every port available and nothing. I do get a symbol within the battery symbol that sort of looks like a plug in, but no lightning bolt or dock symbol. (I guess it won't give me a lightning bolt if it's fully charged, right? (duh)).
I even uninstalled and installed the software on my computer thinking this is the problem, checked the USB ports through the control panel(...), I get nothing.
Anyone, please help. By the way, I am not a computer expert, nor am I an MP3 expert, I just want this thing to work so I don't have to go out and buy a new one. This one is only a year old and I only use it in my vehicle on long tri
ps.
(PLEH!? That's help backwards, this is a serious problem)

This has happened to me a few times with my vision m. First, is your firmware updated?
Driver Removal/Reinstallation
If this is not your first time plugging your ZVM into that computer, and it had worked before, then it is likely your system's driver cache has gotten corrupted. Windows has the occasional habit of "forgetting" things that it had recognized in the past. You will have to uninstall and reinstall the driver. To do this:
Plug your ZVM into the USB port, if it isn't already.<
Go to Windows' Device Manager by right-clicking on "My Computer" and selecting "Properties" (alternati'vely, if you are not running in "Start Menu Classic View" mode, then open your Control Panel from the Start Menu, select "Performance and Maintenance", and selecting "System"). From there, select the "Hardware" tab, and click "Device Manager".<
Locate the entry for "Creative Zen Vision:M" in the device list. It should be located under "Portable Devices".<
Right-click the "Creative Zen Vision:M" entry, and select "Uninstall".<
When the entry disappears, unplug your player, and wait several seconds.<
Plug your player back in. The "Found New Hardware" wizard should come up. Allow it to locate and install the driver automatically.<
Windows Media Player on Windows XP
If you are running Windows XP and have updated your Windows Media Player to WMP from WMP0, and you start encountering connectivity issues, you may have a conflict between WMP and your Creative software. There are three possible solutions for this:
Download and install the update patch for Creative Media Explorer, which can be found on the appropriate download page on Creative's website. This makes the Creative software compatible with WMP's MTP driver.<
Completely uninstall all Creative software and use WMP instead. If the problem persists, reinstall WMP.<
Roll-back WMP back to WMP0.<
Docked, but Not Recognized
If your player is showing all the signs of being docked, but your computer isn't seeing it, then try performing a Disk Cleanup from the ZVM's Recovery Mode menu. As a last resort when nothing else has worked, you may need to reformat your ZVM - also from Recovery Mode. Note that you will lose all of your media files when you reformat.
you might want to check out http://www.anythingbutipod.com/forum/showthread.php?t=0960 for more info about this. I wish i bookmark the thread that i have on the creative forum about this same exact problem. search it up if u can.

ZEN Vision:M problem selecting from the men

Just like the title says, I'm having trouble accessing any of the menus(photos,videos,extras, etc..) from the menu on my ZEN Vision:M. I've tried pressing the touchpad to select a menu option but no luck, I've also tried just pressing the "right" button to enter a sub menu but no luck. I can scroll up and down in the menu and if a song is playing I can also adjust the volume but its like i have no option to select. I downloaded the newest version of firmware by my model, I've tried formating the player but still stuck with the same problem.
Also, when in recovery mode I cant select any of the options listed in the menu.
I just bought this Device from DELL.com w/ Extended Service Protection but Im beginning to think I got a defecti've product.
If anyone could help with this frustration it'd be great
Thanks for reading.

I just contacted Dell and I'm returning for a refund. After several more attempts to try and reboot, relaod firmware to try and solve any problem with it I decided to call it quits and just chalk it up to a PoS mp3 player. I have had a 20g Samsung player for 3 years now and have had no problem with it at all. The only thing is that its not compatible with subscription services such as Napster to Go. I think I will look into a new Samsung or something else.
Good Luck

Zen vision M not detected by softw

I have had my zen vision for a while and it worked fine but when i went to install windows media player the update for wmp failed and then the player was no longer detected so i tried uninstalling and reinstalling windows media player 0 and i also reinstalled all the creative software but still it isn't detected.
I have the latest firmware and I have tried changing permissions for the usb in the registry. The weird thing is that the zen vison M appears in the device manager under windows portable devices and it doesn't have an exclamation mark beside it or anything so it is working fine. However no program is able to detect it zen vision m media explorer, winamp, real player, media monkey,windows media player all give the same messsage that no device is detected. Whenever I plug it into the computer the option box comes up asking me what i want to do sync using media monkey/windows media player/ creative media source etc but when i select an option it opens the program and it says the player is not detected, which is extremely weird given that windows seemed to detect it a few seconds before and bring up the appropriate options. The charging icon appears on the screen and it charges but the docked screen never comes up. I think it is probably the software. I am running out of things to try and any suggestions would be appreciated.
I have been to the downloads page for it but i cant install the new creative media source as i get a message saying no player detected but i have installed all the newest software other than this.
I think my software is seriously screwed up although then again it might be the player Im not sure.Message Edited by aaahhhh on 0-08-200704:00 PM

Been Fiddling with it all day and now I finally managed to get windows media player installed i go into device manager and there is an exclamation mark beside the player but when i go to update driver i get the message class installer has denied the request to install or upgrade this device. I'm not sure if this is progress but at least something has happened.
PS i had the latest firmware installed before i installed wmp so this is not my problem.Message Edited by aaahhhh on 0-09-200702:44 PM

Assistance with an inherited Zen Vision:M media player, plea

I inherited a Creative Zen Vision:M (30 GB, pink) due to someone getting Ipod fever and bequeathing her old player to me. What I ended up receiving was a functioning device, a power chord but no cradle, no interface cables. The latter were found easily on Amazon. I downloaded the following firmware:
Creative MediaSource 5: (Player, Go!, Audio Convertor, and Organizer)
creative video convertor
Creative Zencast Organizer
Creative Synch Manager
Do I need anything else? Got the link for it's I synched up a lot of music, some audio books and podcasts, even videos, so I'm pretty sure I've got the hang of the HOW... it's the next step, organizing and playing what I uploaded, that is giving me fits.
The interface seems a tad confusing. It plays audio files automatically (you can chose to play video, Photos, FM Radio, Extras, the microphone and calendar and such, but you you have to select them from a drop down menu available on the bottom right). The music plays in a constant shuffled randomized list. There seems to be NO music or audio files menu on this device whatsoever. You just listen to whatever comes up. I'd like to choose what I hear, or be able to build a picklist (or playlist) on the fly, so I can hear things like Podcasts and Audio books without hitting "Next, next, next, next, next, next, next-- YAY!" to listen to the next chapter of an audio book.
So, how do I select SPECIFIC MUSIC FILES that I want to play using the CREATIVE ZEN VISION:M's firmware built in on the device? Will the firmware upgrade help solve this problem, or is it only for the 60GB version of the Vision:M?
Thanks!

First things first - if you want to hear things in a specific order you have to go to settings> play mode> normal? (not 'shuffle').
Then you have to make sure the files that are on your player are tagged correctly. This means editing the album, artist, genre information eg in MediaSource. Make sure that the track numbers in a specific album are correct (often they will be anyway). Then you can go to 'Music Library' on the player and select the album, artist or genre you want.
Eg. If I want to listen to an audiobook of 'Henry IV' (thought you might appreciate that one!), I'll make sure all the tracks for this audiobook are tagged with the album name 'Henry IV'. Then I'll make sure the tracks have the correct track number so they follow on from each other. Then, with play mode set to 'normal' I'll go to Music library> albums> Henry IV> highlight and press 'play'. I'll also know that if I like I can use the button on the bottom right of the player to set bookmarks within each track of the audiobook.

Zen Vision M: 30g won't turn

Well, I've just about had it with Creative Mp3 players now. I just recently got my Zen Vision; now when I went to turn it on, expecting it to be fully charged from its dead battery, it shows that it hasn't even charged past the red bar. Then, when I go to turn it on, it won't turn on. It won't even turn on while connected to the computer. PLEASE, SOMEBODY TELL ME WHAT TO DO!!!!

Simple Instructions If the device isn t charging, try other ports on your computer. Often computers utilize passi've hubs on the motherboard to increase the number of USB ports; this can mean that the ports on the front of the computer are low power ports that can only put out 00ma and not the required 500ma.
More Technical Instructions
First you need to check to make sure that the power save is disabled on your USB ports on your computer.
Click Start then Run, and type devmgmt.msc then click OK
Expand Uni'versal Serial Bus Controllers
Right Click on Each entry in the list that says USB Root Hub and select properties
Go to the Power Management Tab
Uncheck the box that says Allow the Computer to Turn off this device to save power .
Next you need to see if your computer can actually charge a USB device, and where you should plug the device in.
Next click on the Power tab
Check the Hub Information Section and look at the description.
It should say something on the lines of Total Power Available: 500mA per port
If it says something else, then you have a problem and your computer might not be able to charge a USB device.
Now if you find you have one hub listed that has 500ma per port, and the other is something like 00ma. Then use a USB device (mouse, camera, etc) and plug it into each USB port.
When you have a device plugged into a port, you should see it show up in the attached devices window (under the Power tab). Find the ports on your system that are associated with the 500ma capable hub in your system.
Then plug your Zen device into that port.
If the battery of your Zen device is so depleted that it can't turn on, it won t show up in the attached device area but it should start charging.
After a couple of hours try turning on the device while its plugged in, if all goes well it should turn on and now be recognized.
It should show up under the attached devices section under the USB hubs power tab. If the port is working as it should the zen should show up as a pulling 500ma of power.
Note:
It is normal for the Creative labs device not to be recognized by the PC if the battery is completely dead. If the battery is dead it doesn't have enough power to turn on, so it can't be recognized by the PC.
It doesn't have to be recognized to charge, but it does need to be on a port that "can" charge it.
Untill the device has enough power to turn on it generally charges at a much slower rate. So it often can take much longer for the device to charge to the point where it can turn on, then it will take to charge the rest of the way once it is recognized by the PC. This is generally just a first time problem, as long as your don't drain the battery completly between charges.
Message Edited by gmandual on 06-03-200709:2 PM

Serious Issues with Creative Zen Vision M 3

This all started when I was fast forwarding through a track and it freezes. So, I did reset and it's in recovery mode, whereas usually it will just restart again.So I tried turining it on and off and was still stuck in Recovery Mode. Tried plugging it into the computer, the computer doesn't recognize it. I did everything the website told me to, but my computer will not recognize that it is plugged into the usb. When I have it docked it will not let me do anything at all. I tried to clean it up and it stays in "scan disk" for hours,I tried to format it, knowing it would erase everything but hoping it would fix, and when I tried to format it, I got a message saying "harddisk problem", when I rebbot it simply reboots back to Recovery Mode and the other option I have is reload firmware, and it prompts me to start updating firmware, but my computer won't even recognize that it is plugged in , in the first place, so I am at a loss with what to do next. The best help Creative can give me is email support. As most of you probably have found out there is no technical support phone number, only for returns/exchanges. I am using Windows Vista if that makes a difference, which it probably does since nothing seems to work on Winows Vista, and when I look at My computer, it shows that the device is present, but yet I can't access it through any media source or when trying to install this firmware? garbage. Any help would be extremely appreciated. Thank you in advance. Sarah

That is just crazy, I am so sorry....Mine was bought just this past June, my boyfriend bought it for me because ipods seem to have really negati've reviews when it came to needing repairs and so on... It hasn't even been a year!! I pasted the st and second email below. I can't believe how frustrating this must be for you. I am still extremely annoyed though, it seems like the only option I have now is to send it in , and god knows how much it may cost to fix it. They really do have some customer service issues. They even elude that no matter if I am under warranty or not there is a possibility of "fees" ARGHHH!!!! Most recent email: Dear,Thank you for replying Creative Technical Support.From the description you provided, I can see that there is a "hard disk
error" in the screen of the ZEN Vision M and the troubleshooting steps
did not help. I apologize for the inconvenience caused. Please allow me
to help you.Based on the description of the issue that you have provided, it appears
that your product needs to be scheduled for a repair or replacement.
Please note that your product will be tested upon receipt and if no
malfunction is found in the product, it will be returned to you. Please
follow this link to have an RMA issued for your product:http://us.creative.com/onlinermaAll applicable fees will be assessed at the time that your RMA is
processed in an effort to expedite the repair or replacement of your
product.You might want to browse our online store for accessories for the Zen
Vision: M. These accessories will definitely enhance your experience,
and will allow you to get the most of your player. A leather case for
your Vision:M is a great product to protect it from scratches. http://us.creative.com/products/prod...=&product=4486If you still require assistance, please reply to this email with any
previous correspondence to ensure the quickest and most accurate
service. Thank you.Best Regards,<name removed>
Technical Support
Creative Labs Americas Original Message Follows:
------------------------ I have done all of the things you have told me to do and still no
change. I cannot get out of recovery mode....and the computer doesnt
recognize no matter where it is plugged in. It is fully charged, and that
is the one thing it will do, is charge, otherwise, when it is docked it
wont let me scroll or select any options. Thank you in advance for any
help you can give me. Is there a number I can call?
On Jan 2, 2008 2:43 AM, Creative Americas Customer Support wrote: 1st email:
Thank you for contacting us at Creative Technical Support; we appreciate
the opportunity to assist you. I understand you are having issues with your ZEN Vision:M could not be
recognized by your computer and could not get out of the recovery mode.
You had also tried formatting and updating the firmware but failed to doso. I'm sorry for the complications you are having with your player.
Also, I would like to apologize for any inconvenience this issue(s)
is/are causing you. Let me see what I can do to assist you.Prior to sending this email, our website asked you for some simple and
easy troubleshooting ste
ps.
The steps that I'll be suggesting might be
the same as what were asked previously, but these will be essential for
us to resolve your query.With regard to your issue , please try the following troubleshooting
steps which may help resolve the issue.. Check all connections to make sure that your player is securely
connected to the PC. If you have already verified your connections, you
might try using a different USB port preferably one located in the back
or a different USB Port.2. Try to access the Recovery Mode on your player and run a disk clean
up you may also try the format option. For more information on how to
access the recovery mode please visit our Knowledge Base article,Recovery Mode: What to Do and How to Access
http://us.creative.com/support/kb/ar...p?l=3&sid=47943. If you have tried all the steps above and your Zen, is still not
being recognized by the system, please refer to our Knowledge Base
articles:MP3 player not detected
http://us.creative.com/support/kb/ar...p?l=3&sid=4275USB - General Information and Essential Troubleshooting
http://us.creative.com/support/kb/ar...p?l=3&sid=2490If the player is now recognized in the Device Manager but not in the
applications including Windows Media Player, please refer to the
article.MTP players not recognized
http://us.creative.com/support/kb/ar...p?l=3&sid=00534. If you have tried all of the steps above, then you will want to go to
our extensi've Knowledge Base for further troubleshooting ste
ps.
Here is
the link: http://us.creative.com/support/kbIf you are still experiencing the issue, please respond to this thread
on the outcome of each of the troubleshooting steps suggested and on
your information on the following:. Does the player works fine by itself (boots up and plays music
normally)? If no, do you see any error messages on the player's screen?
2. Does the player works on another Windows XP (with at least Service
Pack ) computer?I apologize for the issues you are having on your player. In the
meantime, you may like to take a look at our Zen Aurvana In-Ear
earphones that is acoustically and ergonomically designed for a superiorlistening experienceThe Creative Zen Aurvana In-Ear Earphones are premium earphones that
significantly reduce up to 90% of ambient noise. Ergonomically designed,
the Zen Aurvana In-Ear Earphones completely transforms your listening
experience. Powered by efficient Balanced Armature drivers, the
earphones are acoustically tuned for exceptional audio performance.For more information regarding this great accessory for your player,
kindly check it out on our website at:
http://us.creative.com/products/prod...7&product=4702
I hope I have helped address and resolved your concerns. If in any case,
other complications occur, please do send us a reply with any previous
correspondence so we can look onto other solutions that can help solve
this case. Thank you again for contacting Creative Technical Support.Best Regards,<name removed>
Technical Support
Creative Labs AmericasOriginal Message Follows:
------------------------==================================
Subject: CLI - Technical Support Request - (ZEN Vision:M)
Self Description: Intermediate PC User
Region: Americas
Country: United States of America Support Inquiry: ID(8) My MP3 player is not detected
Product: ZEN Vision:M
CCPP Certificate Number:
Serial Number:
Purchase Date: 20/6/2007 Operating System: Windows Vista 32-bit
Creative Model Number: DVP-HD0003
Computer Brand/Model:
Processor/CPU:
Memory:
BIOS Type/Revision:
System Board/Chipset:
Detailed Problem Description:
My computer isn't recognizing the player. I can't get out of recovery
mode. When I try to format it says there is a hard disk error. When I
try to update the firmware it won't let me because it acn't detect the
product. When it reboots, it reboots to recovery mode. I can't access
the main settings or screen. When it is docked it won't let me do
anything. I tried all the suggestions on the site. The product was 50%
charged when I was doing all this. It won't let me reload firmware
either.
Moderator note: Please remove the name of the advisor before posting up e-mails received from Customer Support.Message Edited by Catherina-CL on 0-22-2008 0:59 PM

Zen Vision M he

I have had my Zen for over a year now and it's been great until recently. Yesterday, the player froze between tracks. I inserted a pin to reset it and it worked fine... except my videos and photos didn't show up in the directory and no information would display on the now playing screen even if a track was playing. It would be playing a song but it would always say 'Please select a music track from your library to play'. Today I tried plugging it in and the computer wouldn't detect the device fully anymore. I could hear a sound when I plug the usb in and take it out. I looked in device manager and it showed the zen plugged in but with a yellow exclamation mark. The zen recovery tool didn't help. The recovery tool detected there was a zen vision m plugged in, but the actual firmware update could not find an mp3 players connected to the computer. I tried one of the tips here about holding the power switch and hitting the reset switch. The power was close to full. It turned off immediately and now the only sign of life is when I plug the Zen into the computer. It's been plugged in for two hours and all?it does is blink the blue light on the hold/power switch. Nothing else.
edit: Okay, I opened the Zen, played around with it and got back to the original problem. A disk cleanup did work this time. All is well for now in Zen land.Message Edited by absolute333 on 2--20070:53 PM

Try to refresh if it's Windows Media Player, pressing F5, or open the Media Explorer I think it should appear as connected.
ZenMaster2628

Creative zen vision:m will not turn

ok. so i got the creative zen vision:m mp3 player for Christmas and has been working just great until now. i plugged it into my charging accessory (http://creative.com/products/product.asp?category=3&subcategory=57&product=5050 ) yesterday and today i unplugged it and now it will not turn on. it was low on battery so i plugged it in...is that a reason for it to die
!!! i've tried the power and reset switches multiple times, as well as the combination for the maintenance menu. it still doesn't turn on. if i plug it into either the regular mp3 player to computer or mp3 player to wall power adapter all that happens is that the power led on the top blinks every few seconds. the display doesn't turn on or display that it's "charging" and when i plug it into the computer it doesn't recognize it. why isn't it working

I had same problem with my 30gb ZVM.
I had run down the battery a lot, but not to the point of the unit actually shutting itself down. So I?plugged into PC for hours;?charging icon?blinking away as usual. Thought everything OK until I disconnected and?would not turn on. The power on blue light by the switch would only flash briefly and then . . nothing. However - I then went into recovery mode - no problem - by hitting reset button as per instructions. Could see the battery icon showing no charge. Since that seemed to rejuvinate it I then exited?that mode and tried charging again. This time it took a charge and several hours later showed full battery charge. But then I made the biggest mistake ever - decided to update the firmware because of the charging problem. So I followed directions EXACTLY - downloaded new Firmware file onto PC first so it was ready to go, and then made the fatal mistake of going into Recovery mode and selecting the Update Firmware option - all as per instructions on-line and in user guide. The ZVM then immediately erased current version in player, and then said "ready for firmware update".
So I assumed - since no further instructions were given - that I had to connect unit back to PC and run the downloaded firmware file. When I did though the ZVM was no longer recognized by the software - kept telling me that no unit was connected. Unit showed in Device Manager, but not seen by WIndows Media or Creative Media Explorer. This then started the wasting of 2 days (so far) of my life trying to get firmware re-installed. Unit is now totally DOA because it has no firmware installed, and the Creative software on my PC will not update the firmware because it does not recognize a player which has no firmware installed. What were they thinking? See my post on this problem from earlier today.
From several calls into customer "service" I was told that I could have updated firmware just by running the downloaded file when the ZVM was normally connected - did not have to go into Recovery mode. That's nice to know now, and would have been critical to know 2 days ago - but why did the documentation say absolutely nothing about that? It only said this could be done through Recovery. Now I understand why so many posts about Creative are from totally frustrated users wasting their li'ves fighting with awful software and bad documentation. Great player - terrible documentation - awful software.
So my advice to you is:>?try hooking up to you PC and see if unit charges that way, instead of through charger.2> If no luck - go into Recovery mode by hitting reset button as?per?instructions. If you can get there,?select Reboot and then shut off. Hook up to charger again and see what happens.3> If still no luck - sounds like unit is still under warranty. Call Customer Service (405) 742-6622 and ask that they send UPS Call Tag to pick up unit from you to be sent back for repair. I am guessing that this player does not like to have the battery heavily discharged, somehow related?to?asoftware issue as well (surprise surpirse).
Will probably be fixed in future firmware update. Good Luck

NOT so happy CONCLUSION after all -- Installation of my ZEN Vision M (30 G

Sunday 2/3/06
Let's see, I had a problem with losing my AUDIO. Finally, I had to do a full re-install on my S.B. Audigy 2zs. I even moved it to a different PCI connector on the MB. After a full re-installation... sweet sound again.
As to the Zen itself, I keep having problems.... I am trying to update all the applications (C MediaSourde and C Media explorer) and even there I am finding problems.
When I download the upgrade file to my PC ([color="#ff3300">CMS5_PCAPP_LB_5_0_38.exe), and?try opening it, it HANGS... that's it... so I have not been able to upgrade it. And if I don't upgrade it, then I will have the same erratic behavior will all these applications. They work sometimes and sometimes they don't.
If I really force the issue, opent the explorer and the MediaSource, where I have my "library" of songs... and WHEN the ZEN is recognized by everyone (This is ramdon condition, sometimes yes, many times no), I am able to drag and drop some songs from my "library"?to the ZEN.... but I?still don't have a clear path to do this consistently... ?
Tuesday report 2/26/06:?
[color="#ff0000"](I?don't want anybody to get the ideal all is well now... I thought it was... Yesterday, but not today)
Today I?was able to?to Rip a couple of CDs and "transfer" them to the ZEN. Some of the songs?have noises?though... I don't know what causes that. But the applications are still buggy, they don't work consistently all the time. I just "sense" something is not right with my PC.
[color="#ff0000"]No only that... This installation knocked off my Audio!... even though I have a Creative Sound Blaster Audigy 2zs platinum! (Audio Card)... So I have NO SOUND right now?and therefore I can not use WMP-0 to rip cd's because it tells me I have not audio and I am not in the mood to deal the WMP now. So I had to use the Creative MediaSource 5, to do the ripping and the synchronizing. It did the job ok, except for the noise...
I tried everything to re-install my Audio. Tried the latest dri've...Nothing. Went back to my old one (before this installation) and it DID NOT work either!? Amazing how complicated this has become....
Monday report 2/25/06: I did not do much on the Zen today. But I did notice the WPM 0, still goes crazy (crashed) when trying to find the Zen. The WMP0 crashed today once. Also, there seem to be some conflict among certain programs... It almost seems as if more than one applications is biding for the Zen when they see it. (i.e. if the WMP is open and try opening the Creative Explorer app... it will not open... but only until I close the WMP...then the apps springs up just like that. That's it. - Good night.
I SO, IT seems like I am not out of the woods yet... I wonder if I ever will.
?
Quick Tips (I see people asking the same questions)
If your ZEN seems "dead" then you need to RESET it. How? insert a "clip" (or other sharp tool. Clip works best) in the hole for RESET, located at the bottom of the ZEN (by the "dongle" connector)<?
Connect your ZEN to a "USB-PORT" (not to a "hub")?A USB-PORT is located on your computer (the box). A "Hub" is a little box connected to one USB-PORTS and it "splits" this port into several USB-Connectors... ideally useful for "devices" that do not required lost of information or current (i.e. mouse, drawing table, keyboard, etc). Devices that required a continuous or heavy amounts of information (i.e. External Hard Dri'ves, Camcorders, Webcams sometimes, required an individual USB-PORT)<?Two things here:?- This link is for the original messagehttp://forums.creative.com/creativel...essage.id=7293?[size="+2"][color="#ff0000"]2- Happy Conclusion installing the ZEN Vision M (30 Gig)(I am writing this for several reasons. Mainly, because it was a difficult installation and I wanted to summarize the 200 or 300 steps/actions I did that led me to solve the problem successfully. I always do this when I have a difficult installation and then I save it for the next time I need it (i.e. changing computers). I certainly don?t want to waste all that effort. One thing I learned about ?technology? is hard to learn it but it can be forgotten so easily, if you don?t take notes.)
---------------------------------------
[size="+2"][color="#ff3300">What was causing the problem?
Two things:
First, problems with Windows and the computer itself.
Second, the Creative applications were horrible at first, they would not open right away and when they did? sometimes 5 or 0 seconds later? they would crash just by clicking on something? and so Windows kept giving me those Error boxes and I kept sending them to Microsoft?(I must have sent at least 00 if not more!) I was also having problems with my graphics, every time an application would crash, then all kind of weird graphics would take place when dragging things around. I also had problems at one time with my Anti-virus/fire-wall Icon going dark after several re-boots, so I had to kick it to get it working?. Oh well, I just want you to get a flavor for how bad things were yesterday.
When I first installed the software, nothing worked!... My computer was noticeably SLOWER and SLUGHISH? Actually I was worry about my computer itself because I have never seen it this bad!... I thought a virus the size of an elephant had gotten into the pc somehow, no kidding so I ran the anti-virus, anti-spy, just to make sure. Sometimes if you firewall is down, you can get viruses in an instant!... I hope you people know this by now. And if the firewall fails and viruses get in, is just at moments like these? when you are trying to get things to work and downloading stuff from the Internet and so on.
The computer was just sloooowww? sluggish?.. and crashy (new word?)?.
I must have rebooted my system from 40 to 50 times, and I am not exaggerating. At some point I even had trouble turning off the PC. There were like three time where it would just sit there in ?limbo? (hung/crashed), so I had to actually switch the?PC OFF on the back of the box, the only way to turn it off? And of course, when you do that, you can be sure you will have all kinds of interesting things when you try to boot up again! (like all kinds of funny displays on my screen, or Windows giving me the ?black screen and white text? asking me to choose a way to boot up, like ?boot up normally? or ?boot up using the last configuration that worked,? (I did this like?7 times all together).
[size="+2"][color="#ff3300">So how did?everything go?from ?so bad? to ?so wonderful?? I don?t really know exactly!
But I suspect three things happened:
- Windows sent me a couple of upgrades (I get them automatically)? I have NO IDEA what they were, but whatever they were, helped!
?2 - As I read and read, things began to come back to my brain. Especially a post reply that gave me the hint (Reformatting the dri've in the Zen) would finally let me ?transfer? my stuff to the Zen
?3 - An lastly, after I have ?cleaned, reformatted the dri've, got rid off the ?firmware? (not a good thing to do), Then I could not make Windows see the ZEN no matter what I did!? I did what worked before (connecting and disconnecting the USB cable from the white adapter (dungle?) connected to the ZEN). Usually when you do this, Windows being a ?plug and play? OS, it usually ?sees? when a new ?device? is plugged in one of the USB ports, or disconnected from a port, as well. In other words it ?recognizes? the device (connectivity) and if the software and driver are already install, the device should come ali've and work! That is the reason you always install the software and drivers first, and usually re-boot the system once, so that when you connect the ?device? (ZEN), it should work!
[size="+2"][color="#ff3300">Let me recap I what happened:
?- I installed the s/w and as I already said, it was horrible.
?2- The Windows updates, somehow were helping a little bit.
?3- I also downloaded the latest updates from Creative.com (downloads/upgrades). I downloaded the ?firmware? (the ?upgrade,? which is the OS=Operating System for the ZEN. Just like ?Windows? is to the PC) and other ?patches? for?the ?creative media source 5? and ?Zencast organizer? (3 updates). I am sure this upgrades helped some, as well.
?4- After trying so many times, I was finally able to open the ?Zen Media Explorer? (Icon looks like a picture of the Zen). When this opens, it shows you everything inside the Zen just like in the ?explorer? (nice). That meant I had connectivity! (good).
?5- Since I had ?connectivity? (access) to the ZEN, My next attempt was to ?transfer? some files down to the ZEN? but this proved impossible!... Somehow, at some?point, by accident (I?did not even notice it)? I was able to transfer ONE song to the ZEN, which gave me hope. After all, if you can do it once, you should be able to do it again. BUT, I couldn?t
?6- Then a nice lady?who responded to my first post, told me she had basically the same problems and the solution was to ?Clean and re-format? the ?Disk dri've?in the ZEN. She said that once she?did that, everything would sort of fall into place? and she was right!
?7- I unplugged the ZEN from the PC and read somewhere how ?to clean, reformat, upgrade or replace the ?firmware,? Not sure still, but it'ss something like ?resetting (with a clip) the Zen and holding the ?power? slide in the ON position? something like that, and that brings a special screen with 4 choices:
Clean<
Reformat dri've (erases everything!), <
Replace firmware (careful here!), <
Reboot. <
Then it'ss pretty easy?to do a lot of ?damage? in a few seconds!... ([color="#ff3300">careful here if you are not used to the sensitivity of the "touch-pad")In my case I did not care since I had not put anything there yet. I erased EVERYTHING!... (not a good thing). I should have been more careful and simply use option 2 (reformat the dri've). Chances are this would have been enough to transfer songs to the ZEN. But since I get crazy when doing stuff like this, I went ahead a cleaned everything.
?8- Then I realized I had erased the ?firmware. As you already know this is the ?heart? of the Zen. (like Windows to the PC). Finally I went to Creative.com/downloads and downloaded it (the full version). But if you remember in #3, I had also downloaded the ?firmware? upgrade as well. The reason this is significant, is, that when I finally recovered ?connectivity? to the ZEN, I? tried both files, but the one that ZEN accepted was the upgrade! (I found this interesting? since I would have thought the full version would have been the correct choice? see?... little things you learn.
?9- As I already gave you a hint in #8, once I had the ?firmware? ready to install, the system kept telling me it could NOT see the ZEN. I connected and disconnected the USB cable several times? rebooted the pc? this helps sometimes, but nothing!... FINALLY, I read somewhere, I should go to the ?device manager? and check what was going on.. ? EUREKA ? indeed I found the ZEN with a ?Yellow mark? on the side, which always means trouble. Basically, I used the ?uninstall? option (based of the principle that simply ?un-installing and installing back something? sometimes this works. In other words, the ZEN was ?stucked. So when I ?removed? It from the ?Device Manager? list (I don?t recall if I rebooted here? but it never hurts!), then all of the sudden? a little icon in Windows (on the small tray=bottom right corner (with the clock and Date),? acknowledged?a new deviced had been connected to Windows. (connectivity back again! Yeahhh).
?0- Now that had ?connectivity? (Big step), I could try installing the ?firmware. And as I already explained, the ?upgrade? was the one that ZEN took. As soon as you clicked on the file, a box opened and asked if you wanted to install the ?firmware. I said yes and voila!... The Zen started accepting it's and when it ended, just like a PC, the ZEN rebooted itself and I was able to see the familiar interface (the same folders as before) but not contents at all? empty!
?- At this?point?I opened the ?Creative Media Source organizer,? went to my ?playlist? and from there, just click and drag some songs and dropped them on top of the Zen Icon (just like dropping files in a folder). And yes, the files were finally ?transferred? to the ZEN. Unplugged the USB cable from the Zen (or the Zen does not play anything). The songs were there and I was FINALLY able to listen to them from the ZEN!... Wonderful. Oh yes, using the same technique (drag and drop), I put a wmv video and was able to watch it as well... Now I know why people rave about the little screen... nice!
?2- In the mean time, without noticing? Just like the nice lady?from the post said, everything seemed to have fallen into place!
?In Summary: The applications ( the creative programs=icons)?were opening normally and quickly now, and many of the errors I got before when clicking on certain things, disappeared. I am sure I will still find some problems here and there, but basically the thing works now the way it is supposed to.
?Just a matter of clicking, dragging and dropping items?into the Zen?.yes, that simple!
?Good luck!
[url="http://forums.creative.com/creativelabs/board/message?board.id=dap&message.id=7293">[/url]
Message Edited by em2253 on 2-26-2006:39 AM
Message Edited by em2253 on 2-3-20060:32 AM
Message Edited by em2253 on 2-3-200602:26 PM
Message Edited by em2253 on 0-02-200702:3 AM

[url="http://web6.streamhoster.com/em2253/ZEN/ZenDeviceManager.wmv]See Movie[/url]?Hi, take a look at the movie... hopefully I answer to your question is there. [b]Let me know if you can NOT see it... [/b]and I will send you a picture. [color="#ff0000"]and if you can see the movie, give me feedback on it. Did it look ok in your computer? (it changes with all computers depending on your setting and player!). [color="#ff0000"]Was the sound ok?I almost wish I had not titled this post as "Happy Conclusion." It was happy but only a day or two... then I started having other problems... unbelievable. So, If I gave the wrong impression, sorry!

Zen Vision: M Voice recorder feature for school quest

Hello guys. I am very close to purchasing a Zen Vision: M 30GB MP3 Player.
My main concern is with the Voice Recording function since i wish to record
school lectures.
Will anyone who owns one of these or has direct information, please discuss this with me?
] How clear are the recordings? I'm planning to record 2-3 hour lectures at a time
2] I've been hearing there is a faint noise due to the hard-disk of the unit, does it present an issue?
3] How is the battery life, in terms of recording?
Any additional information you have dealing with recording, will be greatly appreciated.
Thank you in advance,
~Dimitriy

Go to "Music Library" then select "Artists" and to your desired artist.

Zen Vision M: Unable to charge. Nearly to give product back (forev

Hello,
I purchased a Zen Vision M two weeks ago. When I arri've at home I installed the software successfully and then connected the Zen Vision M to my USB poert on my laptop (Win XP Pro SP2) to charge it; no sign of life. No display activity and NO LED CHARGE ACTIVITY. I letf the ZVM an entire night to see if things changed, but no success. I've tried the following:
- Disable power saving on usb port: no sign of life
- Gave everyone permission on usb port: no sign of life
- Push reset button and the recharge: no sign of life
- Tried on a different PC: no sign of life
So I retuned to the shop and:
- We checked with a differnt cable and with a desktop on the shop: no sign of life.
I asked to change the ZVM with another one. Yesterday, after TWO WEEKS of delay (because the shop had to order since it was the last ZVM they had), I had the new ZVM. Result: NO SIGN OF LIFE once again.
Note that:
- my USB ports (of both laptop) works perfectly with other devices
- my usb ports have power: I have a USB PC Lamp, and a USB Optical Mouse and they works perfectly.
- I let the ZMV connected to the USB port always more than 8 hour. The Laptop power option was set to avoid hybernate or suspend status
- No application was running during charge
I tryed to find a phone tech support, but - despite the statement on the creative site - in italy there is no phone support, just via e-mail.
If the customer support will not able to resolve the problem I'll give my ZVM back (forever) and I will ask my money back.
My percption of the problem is that the ZVM have battery completed depleted and USB is not able to provide enough power to charge. But the fact that not even the LED id flashing let me with no clue.
I kindly ask the community if someone had the same problems, and if there are any suggestion that AT LEAST let my charge led flashing.
Sorry, for the long post, but I'm really upset with the whole situation.
Thank you in advance.
Riccardo

I am new to these forums. So bear with me. I am in the Oz outback.
In a possible answer to your problem IlRiccardo I purchased two Zen Vision M units this past week with the same problem. I returned the first unit and got my money back. I purchased a second unit from a different supplier in a another town. Same problem again The second time I did read the supplied booklets in more detail pouring over every word. I found what the symbols in the top right of the screen was suppose to mean. I did purchase units with the Creative supplied powerpack. I was able power the unit up on the external power pack.
Q. Do you have a symbol that looks like a plug with two prongs on it's
Q2. What is the version number of the installed firmware?
I had that symbol on the top right of the screen. I found through a small Product Information booklet that it was to indicate a fully charged battery and operating on external power. RUBBISH (to the charged battery) as it was a brand new unit. The firmware version installed in both ZENs was .30.xx (cannot remember the last two digits).
I checked the Creative FAQ pages at my daughter's place (in town where I purchased second unit) and found a page listing most of the same symptons as I was experiencing. The download page was talking about a version .50.xx. The link was for a downloadable version of .6.0.
Subsequently I did download the update file and installed it. Low and behold my ZEN Vision M now showed the symbol for a charging battery. The unit did charge up and is working on the battery. Firmware Version .6.0
Check with your supplier/shop where you purchased your ZEN to see if this action will void the warranty? My supplier is suggesting it has!!!!. I hope I don't have to go down the warranty path for any reason.
Hope this helps you and others.
I have post an almost similarly worded reply in another thread about "not charging" SO it is a firmware version issue in my view.

How to delete Zen Vision:M empty playlis

I've run into this problem twice now in the less than one week I've owned my Zen Vision:M. I create a playlist either through Winamp 5.2's Portable Media Player plugin (which is simple, but is OK for managing music) or through the Creative MediaSource software. In the second case, I imported an existing playlist, then created a new playist on my ZVM, then copied the songs from the old playlist to the new playlist. That is the process that I read about someone else using in these forums.
Problems:
() Songs appear to be duplicated in the process and it takes forever for the playlist to be finalized. That's been mentioned enough in these forums and isn't the issue at hand.
(2) Multiple playlists with the same name appear on the ZVM with all (or nearly all) of them empty. To be honest, I don't know if they are all empty because it appears to have made one playlist per song in copied over and I don't have the patience to look through all 40 of them. Only one playlist with this name appears when viewing via Creative MediaSource or any other software I've tried.
(3) I deleted the playlist via Creative MediaSource, hoping to clean up the problem. The result was that the single valid playlist disappeared, but the empty ones remained and are only visible on the ZVM itself. I've tried deleting them one by one on the ZVM, but when I leave the playlists, then re-enter the menu they are all magically there again.
The first time I solved this by returning my player to the store and getting a replacement, but this appears to be an "undocumented feature". Anyone familiar with this or know how I can clean out the invalid playlists? Thanks!

Well, I contacted Creative's support staff today. Summary: there is nothing to do except reformat my ZVM and start over from scratch. Not exactly a solution, but that's the state of things as of today. If anyone else runs into this problem, please contact Creative so as to give them incenti've to fix this bug as soon as possible. Of course, I could also state the obvious that the best solution is to support standard playlist functions or importing of standard playlists. THAT would make LOTS of people happy!
That's all folks.
[EDIT] I found a fix that didn't involve formatting the dri've. Support sent me a link (http://us.creative.com/support/kb/article.asp?l=3&sid=4794) to walk me through the formatting process and I decided to try "Clean up" first. It messed with a couple of my settings, but cleaned off the nasty empty playlists and meant I didn't have to transfer all my music again. Whew!Message Edited by digiman on 07-06-2006 09:27 AM

MAJOR Zen Vision: M 30GB PROBLE

First, when trying to recover my computer after some problems, the software no longer worked with my ZEN. I didn't want to install another Service Pack and potentially lose everything else I had, so I just started using Windows Media Player to add music. No problem. Here's where the fun began.
The other night, while playing music, my player froze while shuffling to another song. I mean, it froze in the middle of shifting from one song to another. I had never seen that before. I was concerned when I saw it, but I figured I would just restart and everything would come back up. After it "rebuilt" the library, I was surprised (to say the least) to see that my player had reverted back to the original factory settings. Playlists, videos, pictures and music were all gone according to the player. Yet, when I went to MUSIC LIBRARY, all the albums were there but the artwork was gone. When you would play a song, the screen just read "Select Music to PLAY from the Music Library" as if no music was on the player. Very odd, but it can't get any worse than that, right? Read on.
After a couple of days of this, I finally decided to see what I could do to fix it. I connected the Zen to my computer, only to not have it recognized at all, and, freeze after 2 minutes each & everytime after I reboot/restore. I've found the XNJB program for my iMac instead of changing the whole system around on my PC, and it looks like this would work beautifully with the ZEN. Therefore, what I'm looking for is a way to completely reformat the Zen without the aid of a computer. I would use the new Rescue tool, but since my PC doesn't recognize it, that doesn't help me.
I fought it for so long, but Steve Jobs & Apple have finally won me over. I installed music on a friend's 80GB iPod and pretty much fell in love. I will miss the FM radio and voice recorder on the ZEN, but its a small price to pay for FREE SUPPORT (are you listening, Creative?) and tons of official & aftermarket accessories. Once all of my options are gone, and I have no choice but to turn to Creative for help, pay for their "support", send back my Zen, etc., I will purchase an 80GB iPod for what I paid for a 30GB ZEN Vision: M. Creative, I gave you a try, and I always support the underdog, but Apple's on top for a reason.
I've already paid for Creative's help which was anything but helpful, so I'm leaving it up to everyone out there. If anyone has any ideas on what I can do to try and recover this $300 paperweight on my desk, please let me know at: [email protected]
Thanks!
- garrett
[email protected]
PS - Should I get the 80GB iPod Classic or the iPod Touch? I know there's 0X the storage space on the classic, but the iPod touch has Wi-Fi web browsing. Let me know!
[email protected] Edited by gdizzle on 0-0-20080:9 AM

Warranty? You can sell it to someone too. Ebay might work!
I would get the 80GB classic. The touch doesn't have as much storage and I think the price is just ridiculous.
Good luck with your search!!
(did you contact costumer support to see if they could fix your Zen?)

Zen Vision:M 30GB recognition problems...Big t

Hi, 2 days ago i ran into a problem with my Zen. I had to charge it, as the battery was low and had to put some new music on it.. I plugged it into the USB port on my Laptop, where all of it's software is installed. The Zen wasn't recognized. Instead of the charging screen it normally started up with, it started up with the play screen(the screen it shows when a song is playing). I looked at the battery icon in the top right corner, and it wasn't doing anything. I turned the Zen off and started it up again. Nothing changed. I restarted my computer. Nothing changed. I shut down my computer and started it back up again. Nothing changed.
I took it to my desktop computer, a Compaq, and tried it there. It worked, but not how i was expecting it to work. The battery icon started flashing with the little lightning bolt, acknowledging that it was charging. But the play screen was still there. The odd thing with this is, i left the player to charge for several hours. When i came back, the Zen was in some form of idle shut-down. The screen was black, except for the battery icon with the lightning bolt. Oddly enough, he battery bar hadn't filled up anymore than when i left it. Upon unplugging the player though, the Zen turned off. When i turned it back on, the bar had filled up more. It wasn't fully charged though.
I plugged the cable back into it, and this time, the battery icon WASN'T charging. It just had the play screen on. It wasn't doing ANYTHING this time. Frustrated, i went out and bought the wall charger, and now i have a full battery. But it doesn't solve why my computer won't recognize my player.
Today, i un-installed the software that came with the player and re-installed it. It didn't do anything. I installed the software on my desktop computer, and THAT didn't work either. So i came to the website here and used the trouble-shoot guide. That didn't help, and this is where my problem differs from the other posters here who have recognition problems:
Back to my laptop: I have Windows Service Pack 2. I installed Windows Media Player . I went to the Device Manger, like the trouble-shoot guide said to. The kicker: Windows Portable Devices is NOT, i repeat NOT in my Device Manager. Neither does the Creative player either. I clicked on "The player does not appear in Device manager". That link showed me a diagram of a desktop computer, so went back to my desktop computer. I did everything above mentioned, and Windows Portable Devices is not in the device manager of my desktop computer either. Further reading the trouble-shoot guide, i could NOT locate "Other Devices" or "Unknown Devices" in my Device Manger on either desktop or laptop. There's nothing "Creative" related or "Zen" related at all in any of the Device programs.
I don't know what to do. All of the trouble-shoot guides don't discuss my issue at all. Everything is "If an MP3 player is reported working properly in Device Manager, but it is not detected or listed in Windows Media Player or Creative Media Explorer..."
Mine isn't even detected in Device Manager. My Device Manager has nothing regarding my Zen or Windows Portable Devices.
I'm thinking about messing with it in Recovery mode, but i don't want to erase everything i have on here, just to have my player still not work. I'm going to try messing with this at my friend's house to check the cable and the player there too.
But any help regarding my situation would be greatly appreciated. This is driving me crazy.

I tried my uncle's Zen Vision: M 30GB on my laptop and strange things happened. My laptop recognized the player as an unknown device and said i needed to install the MTP driver. I did that, and upon doing so, my laptop recognized my Uncle's player as a Portable device, allowing me to transfer songs to his player. But it STILL doesn't recognize MY player. Email support says i have to send it in for repairs, but i don't know...
Any luck with you?

Zen Vision M Managing Active Selected Mu

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