Zen Xtra 40 GB buttons and jogwheel suddenly unresponsive

My Zen Xtra 40 GB worked for almost exactly a year, then broke. The jogwheel and buttons do nothing. The hard dri've is still intact -- I managed to copy all my tracks to my PC as a backup. The reset/paperclip button works, and the power button will turn the player on but not off. It really is bizarre -- everything seems to be in order, but the player just won't take input.
I've loaded the latest firmware onto the player, changed batteries... really I've done everything short of take the machine apart.
I've been in contact with Creative support, but they stopped responding after a while. Anyone know what needs to be done?

I had this exact same problem with the scroll wheel recently. Luckily I have solved the problem thanks to users here and on Nomadness.net. In fact my only posts on this board are because of this annoyance.
I was also having the scroll wheel pausing tracks and playing tracks when it shouldn't have been doing that.
For me it came down to hardware. I actually got my Xtra aroudn the same time you did and only a few weeks ago did I finally fix it. It was going on for about 2 months, and it just got to the point where I didnt want to use the player because it became such a hassle.
What I did was go to Radio Shack and get a can of Switch Electronics Cleaner. It was like 0 bucks or so. I also got a pack of .4mm phillips head screwdrivers as I was going to open the unit and fix it that way but to my dismay and maybe for the better the screws wouldnt budge on the unit. I then took the little straw thing that can attach onto the end of the spray nozzle and sprayed a small amount (one split second spray) right onto the side of the unit by the scroll wheel. The cleaner is safe on the plastic. I then worked the scroll wheel back and forth so the stuff would get into it and lube it nicely.
I fired up my player and at first it still had the problem, but literally after about a minute the problem was gone. I use my player all the time and since doing this not once have I had the scroll wheel acting as the play/pause button. Its back to what it was like when I first bought it.

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