Zen Xtra Battery Problem - won't recha

Although I'm pretty sure I need a new battery, and that I have myself to blame, I just wanted to see if there was anything else I could do before spending $50 to buy a new battery. I am unable to turn on my Zen Xtra, unless I have it plugged into the power adaptor. When it is plugged in, it turns on, but the battery charging indicator at the bottom left does not appear; instead, a symbol of a power cord shows up. I take this to mean that the battery is broken and is incapable of being recharged, probably a result of not using the player for about a month and having the battery completely uncharged during this time. Is there anything I can do to fix this problem, or do I just have to bite the bullet and buy a new battery?

I had the same problem. Bought the Zen to deploy to Afghanistan, came home and couldn't find the charger, so like a dummy I listened to it until it ran out. Then I found the charger and all I could see was the power cord symbol - not the charging lightning bolt. I left it plugged in all night and it still shut right off when I unplugged it. I tried unplugging it and replugging it to "jumpstart' the battery but no luck. I tried to update the firmware but it wouldn't let me - said I needed to have a battery in. So I went to Batteries Plus and got a Nuon replacement for $30, put it in and saw the same power cord symbol and same shut down after I unplugged it. That's when I found this forum and was getting ready to try the "reformat" method posted above. I figured why not try it with my original battery so I put that one back in while the machine was plugged in and voila, I got the charging symbol!
So I guess the Zen needed to "get back in the charging mode" with a 'not-completely-dead' battery for it to wake up its original battery. Now I am going to return my replacement battery.
I just checked it by unplugging it while it is charging and it holds a charge (it had one bar after 5 mins of charging).
By the way, you can get to the Recovery Menu by just holding play when you turn it on (no need to press the reset button).

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30GB Zen xtra battery problem: Soluti

FYI: I tried a couple of solutions the the battery not charging problem. My wife let the unit discharge for a couple of weeks and then the battery would not charge. It did not even register in the device. I applied 5VDC across the battery terminals. Nothing. I applied 0VDC across the terminals. Nothing. I put it in the freezer for /2 hour. BINGO! Hope this helps someone.

You may have permanently damaged the battery though. You should *never* freeze a Lithium Ion battery.

Nomad Jukebox Zen Xtra - Battery 3.6v vs. 3

Hey all - I'm looking to purchase a replacement battery for my 30g Nomad Jukebox Zen Xtra and I've found some cheap ones from ebay (such as this one). The question I have is this: my stock battery is 3.6v but this replacement (which has the same parts number) is rated at 3.7v - is this a problem? Will this damage my player?
Please let me know what issues this may cause and what successes/failures people have had with replacement batteries.
Thanks in advance!!!
Dale

I found the following discussion on PowerStream.com :
<A target=_blank><B>Q: What is the difference between the 3.6 volt and the 3.7 volt lithium-ion and lithium-polymer cells?</B>[/url]A. This quesiton has been on my mind for a few months. There is a lot of folklore out there about this. It confused me for two reasons. Firstly, I have never heard of a higher charge voltage for some cells and not others. Secondly, the 3.6 is just a rule-of-thumb average of the battery voltage anyway . The actual voltage varies between 4.2 volts and 3 (or 2.8) volts during the discharge. It doesn't have one voltage. You can't just put a meter on a cell and say "this one is a 3.6 volt cell" or "this one is a 3.7 volt cell."So I asked a friend who has a PhD in battery chemistry and has been designing, testing, and manufacturing lithium ion and li-poly cells for over 5 years. Here is his answer:<I>There is no difference between 3.6V and 3.7V cells. The reasons why people say 3.6V in one case and 3.7V in other cases are due to discharge rate. If you discharge your lithium ion cells with 0.2C rate, the middle point voltage of the cells is 3.7V. If you discharge your lithium ion cells with 2C rate, the middle point voltage of the cells is 3.6V or even lower. The middle point voltage of a lithium ion cells, including Polymer Lithium ion Cells, is between 3.6V and 3.7V, variable upon discharging rate.</I>In other words, it is mostly marketing hype. Now the modern cells tend to keep their voltage higher during discharge than the old ones, so a marketing person could easily say "this makes the average higher, so let's call it a 3.7 volt cell."But why stop there? Why not rate the voltage as the peak voltage and get the jump on everybody? "It's a 4.2 volt cell, demand nothing less!"So don't get caught up with the hype when selecting a batteryMessage Edited by RobertoV05 on 0--2006 2:37 AM

Zen xtra battery adv

I was havving problems with my zen xtra, whenever it had been on for about 20min without being on charge it would switch off then keep resetting constantly. The only way of stopping it was to remove the battery. Anyway, I thought it might be a problem with the battery so bought a new one on ebay for a tenner and the problem is now fixed.
Just thought Id point out the problem incase it happens to anyone else. Also the new battery lasts soo much longer than the old one did before it completely went, well worth a tenner.

That constant resetting is typically down to a flat battery.

Zen Xtra battery w

Hallo all.
For the past few days I've been having trouble with the battery for my NOMAD Jukebox Zen Xtra--just general eccentric behaviour. Now, the battery is completely drained, so that the Low Battery screen comes on when the mp3 player is turned on. However, I seem to be unable to charge it. When I plg it in to the charging cable, nothing happens--or sometimes it turns on, gets to the EAX screen, and then turns off, or goes to the Low Battery screen. Whatever happens, though, I simply can't get the charging icon in the bottom left of the screen, and the player won't charge.
What can I do, other than buying a new battery? Will buying a new battery help? If it will, how do I buy one?--I can't seem to find it in the UK online shop.
Thanks in advance for your help.

Sounds like the hard disk is failing to talk to the player. You can try the advice here in the Zen FAQ at Nomadness.net at your OWN RISK.
If this doesn't help, or you don't wish to try it and you are under warranty, then contact Creative Support.

Zen Xtra battery 'confusi

Alright, I've been through the board and everyone seems to agree that you should fully discharge your battery 3 times for 'optimal' battery life. But my question is this, It states that you should connect your Zen Xtra to the a/c cord when transfering files from my computer. So how does this help in discharging the battery? Talk about confusing!

wulfie, it is a good idea to have the AC plugged in while transferring files from a PC to your Zen. This is because you do not want the transfer interrupted by the battery running low and the Zen shutting down unexpectedly. This could cause fragmented files, or even worse.
Plugging the Zen in during file transfers is unrelated to charging the battery, just good practice. In reality, if you know you have a good charge and are not doing a huge file transfer it would work just fine to not have it plugged in to the AC.
So .. easy rule of thumb to avoid problems ... plug it in.
-wizard

Fixing the creative zen xtra - creative firmware won't bring me dow

Hi all,
Recently my zen xtra crashed as a result of Creative's shoddy firmware! Anyway, I'm out of warrenty, creative want to try charge me about 20 quid and I ain't having that (read my other posts you'll hear the whole story)
Well now I've decided I'm gonna try fix things myself. I've ripped my player apart to reveal the 2.5" harddri've. I've got hold of a caddie to hold this in and connected to the computer. Dri've is not recognised (as i suspected, the firmware has corrupted toc and whathaveyou). So I'm formatting the dri've now, seems to be going ok (i'm thinking if I can't get the player working again at least I can make a 40gb external mini hard dri've)
Anyway, what I need now is to compare this hard dri've to another zen xtra one thats working and well. If anyone has (for some bizarre reason) backed up their zen dri've in this way cause you let me know. I need to know the file structure that it uses (as the software hides the real structure) and also the firmware (a working copy please!) that is as how it is installed rather than by using the installation software for the more conventional way :smileytongue:
Any help with that is appreciated, and those of you who are like me and have a ?200 paperweight should consider making it an external dri've like this also. (cheap caddies on ebay for those who want to know!)
hope this helps
phil

if i get a friend's zen xtra dri've and put it in mine, would you reckon it would work or am i likely to bugger up that too?
if the firmware is part in hardware then i doubt there's a lot i can do, but my intention was to copy my friend's dri've to mine then put it in and see if it works...
any ideas?

Zen Xtra battery qu

I gave my old Xtra to my sis since it's still a 30Gb player and works fine, but doesn'tseem to be charging that well, i'm considering getting this battery:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/33A4Z20DE2D-73PD000000005-BA20203R79902-BA20203R79903-Replacement/dp/B000OVDEF8/ref=sr__6/202-954037-638704?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=92002869&sr=8-6
Will it work, since i don't think 0. of a volt over the original makes much difference no?
Also, can it be the adapter giving problems? i dont want to get this all the way from UK only to find it's not the battery.
The problem is that after it goes down to a battery low stage, it keeps turning on and then dieing after being plugged in, several hundred times. And the charge isn't as short as before. This is usually the battery as my guess...

Your user test of your charging ability versus that of your friend suggests you may have a hardware problem at your recharge plug. If your player is still under warranty you might consider sending your unit in for repair; if you are beyond your warranty, you might consider asking an electronics expert to look over the recharge plug and its connection to the main printed circuitboard inside the player.
The Xtra uses small modular plugs and connectors soldered to the PCB. Over time concussi've events may cause these connections to break. If your player does not recognize your charger and does not charge your battery, even though you KNOW your charger works (having user tested that with your friends' unit) then it is a sure bet that you have an electrical connectivity issue between your player and your charger.

Zen Micro Battery Issue: Won't Char

Hello:
I got my Micro for Christmas and really like it so far. I also got lucky and received one of the limited edition ones with the extra battery. However, it doesn't appear that the extra battery charges to full. I have the new firmware and everything, but the second battery won't charge to more than two bars. Has anyone else experienced this, or does anyone else have a possible solution? The other battery works fine.
Thanks!

Thanks for the advice. I ran the battery to dead, and then I plugged it in. However, the player wasn't doing the normal "glow" thing, although it was showing the battery charging icon. I then plugged the player into my laptop, whereupon it started glowing. After putting it back into the regular charger, it worked fine. The same issue happened with the other battery (the glowing stopped, but after plugging it into the laptop it worked again). Weird, but it works fine now!

Old zen micro battery problem wont fully cha

okay lets see my zen micro is really old. 5gb its like the really old generation. anyways i havent used it for like months. now im giving it to my lil sister so yea of course the battery is drained. so im charging it. i've been charging it for 2 weeks now at least 5 hours a day. why not continuous? because no computer in my house is on for that long. but anyways yea at least 5 hours a day for at least 2 weeks and its not fully charged yet! its charge time has been like total almost 00hours and its still on 2 bars. is it messed up or what?! any suggesions

well yah im like 60/50 i've had batterys for a while and the end up dead ofr some odd reason also dont let ur sis down the new battery all the way let her use it til its like 20 or 30% juice left if u drain ir completely it litterally will kill ur battery much earlier than expected

Zen V Battery problems + Free

Hi
I bought a Zen V 2gb about 3 weeks ago.
When I recharge the battery for 6 hours straight, the battery runs out after only 2 hours of playing music. Why is that?
And today my player suddenly froze. Completely. Why was that?
Can someone help me please, I don't want to have to buy a new player after only 3 weeks
Thanks in advance.
-Eva

This happened to me on my zen v plus 4GB.
I fixed it by resetting and then starting in recovery mode and choosing the "clean up" option. To do this, reset your zen through the pinhole. Then hold down the play button while turning the player on. When you see the creative logo on the screen, release the play button.
A recovery mode menu should then appear. Choose "clean up". That's what worked for me. "Clean up" doesn't delete anything from your player, but the format option will. Also, definitely don't choose "reload firmware" unless you have a copy of the firmware on your computer!
See:
http://93.95.7.84/SRVS/CGI-BIN/WEBCGI.EXE/,/?St=45,E=00000000008699925,K=524,Sxi=3,VARSET=ws:h ttp://us.creative.com/,case=4794
for more details.
Hope this helps!
dordale Message Edited by dordale on 0-07-200704:44 PM

Zen Micro battery problem e

Hello!
i have zen micro wich is about a year old or so.. i was listening to it normally couple of weeks ago, when it suddenly crashed.. i had to take the battery off to shut it down, and after that it crashed allways in the creative logo screen for a while.. i plugged it to my computer and it began working normally.. i thought it was nothing and transferred some music to it and started listening to it.. it worked normally for a while but soon began crashing again and didn't power up at all after a while... i formatted it and reloaded it's firmware and now it works fine until the battery's powerbar's wich can be seen in the player's display go from 3 to 2 in usually 30 mins :| then it crashes and wont shut down again after a while when i have taken out the battery i can restart it for a while but it say's the battery is empty. so, is the battery broken and has to be replaced or is there something wrong in it's HD or something?
-Bane02

To both: It seems to me that your battery is dying, or has died already. If you are saying that it goes from 3 to 2 bars in just minutes, you might want to get a replacement. Did you maybe overheat the battery and left the player in a place with high temperatures? It can greatly affect your battery and the player-but the battery more. If you tried everything in recovery mode and still didn't work, call costumer support or get your player replaced, but I think it's only a one year warranty, that's always a bummer, unless you have a protection plan....
Good luck to both. Hope that helped a little =S

Zen Mosaic Battery Problems

I purchased a brand new Zen Mosaic on Ebay a few weeks ago. The battery life on my new Zen Mosaic is really low. Even after letting the player charge all night, I only get about 4 hours of playback before the battery dies. I've set the backlight level to 0%, and I never listen to the volume at more than half power (2 out of 25 max). I've tried reinstalling the firmware, reformatting the player, and letting the battery run out and recharging it again to jump start the battery. Nothing works. Since this thing is advertised to have over 30 hours of power, I am not at all satisfied. I think I have a faulty product. What can I do?

celestialwolven wrote:
Since this thing is advertised to have over 30 hours of power, I am not at all satisfied. I think I have a faulty product. What can I do?
That statement is inaccurate.
It is marketed with the phrase "up to 30 hours [of] continuous audio playback." Like all marketing numbers that establishes the absolute upper limit under ideal laboratory conditions (i.e. source material that isn't particularly hard to decode, no user interaction with the device during the battery burn-down test, player configured with settings to most favor battery life, etc.). In other words it in no way reflects typical end-user operating conditions. Meanwhile, it also says "up to 5 hours [of] continuous video playback" which is, again, an absolute upper limit of possibility.
Unless you're configuring the player to allow it to turn the display off entirely you're basically operating it in "video playback mode." The screen is going to be the highest drain on the battery life (even at only 0% brightness). So your 4 hours of typical use is reasonably consistent with a theoretical maximum of 5 hours of video playback use under ideal conditions. If you allow the player to turn the display off (which typically means putting a Creative player into "locked" mode) you'll likely see much better battery life during audio-only playback. However, you're still never going to see anything close to 30 hours. I'd guess no more than about half that.

Zen xtra battery l

i usually use the play any track feature to play my music. i have over 2000 songs. does this use a lot of batter power? i've noticed that my battery length is kinda short, even with the backlight turned completely off.

Havn't noticed any difference.
If I just let it play it plays fine for many many hours. If you press next , volume etc all the time the the batteri is fading faster.
Message Edited by Swedesupra on 06-0-2005 2:37 PM

Zen Xtra won't appear in Creative MediaSource Organi

I've been using my 30 GB Jukebox for a couple years w/ no real problems except that I remember there being a problem w/ a USB port & I had to change something so that the Creative MediaSource Organizer software could recognize the mp3 player. Now I've bought a 60 GB Zen Xtra (same player, x2) & am having the same problem. I've upgraded everything & hate the new interface for transfering files... most of the time the program just freezes. I'd like to be able to use the same Creative software I was using before, but it doesn't recognize the new device. If anyone knows what I'm talking about or how I can fix it, I'd rather not have to call?Customer Service?again for $3.

I'm just giving this topic a bump. I've upgraded to Creative MediaSource Organizer v 3.30.2, but it won't recognize either of my mp3 players when I plug them in. I'm able to use the Zen Xtra Media Explorer, but?most of the time it just freezes up. I'd like to be able to use the software I'm familiar w/, so if anyone could help me out I'd appreciate it. I seem to remember having a similar problem when I first purchased my 30 GB Zen Xtra.

Zen Xtra Battery Problem - won't recha

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