Problems with Zen... Has anyone had a problem with this mp3 player going to the recovery mode? I'm not sure how to make it work again and I've only had it a month. Help!!!
297910
Does anyone know...I bought a new computer, and now I can't charge or do anything with my mp3.And I don't have the disk or anything else that came with the mp3, what do I do? Please help...
297911
I've had that happen once since I bought mine (feb 06) and I got it to work again by taking the battery out for about fifteen minutes and putting it back in and it was back to normal. I disagree about it not being tough though, since mine falls off the seat of my work truck and onto the floor at least twice a week and I use it every day.
83987
To get to the recovery mode, remove the battery cover and then hold the power button at the OFF position. DO NOT LET GO OF THE BUTTON. When the player says it is shutting down, remove the battery. Wait about 10 seconds and replace the battery without letting go of the power button. When the battery is back in, wait 2 or 3 seconds and let the power button go. This will take you to the recovery mode. Then you can select CLEAN DISK or REBOOT to get your player back to normal operational status.
297912
just got my zen yesterday and i am having a problem. about every 10-12 minutes the music will slow down to almost a stop. I have to hit the forward button to go to the next song and then it will play fine for about 10-12 minutes then is will slow again. the battery is showing fully charged. It is very distracting to have to pick it up and forward it about every 3 songs.
297913
Had the same thing happen, and tech support told me to return it, which i did...this is not a very, um, robust mp3 player, to say the least. There is no way to fix it, once that happens.
297914
Wow! It has worked on my old (2005) Zen Microphoto! Genius! Thank you kind Sir! (& thanks to Amazon for keeping these older posts!)
297915
once it goes to recovery mode, your computer will see it but none of the programs will be able to connect to it. therefore, you won't be able to update any firmware. You will have to return it to creative or the store you bought it at to get another one. Way to many bugs in the programs.
297916
thanks that more the advice than Creative offers. I had mine more the a year. Bought a extra battery for it too.
297917
THANK YOU! I was on this site looking for a replacement because mine would not turn on at all, and I was devastated--My Zen has been my constant companion for about 3 years . I came across your post and decided to try it. Whaddya know-- It came back to life! Thanks again! :)
1020695
Honestly, I haven't owned a Sony MP3 player in quite a few years, but I would assume the 1st & best place to contact would be Sony. I would try their web page. I think their would be a tab for replacement parts & things of that nature. Also I believe there may be a support link as well. You may even be able to speak with a customer service rep. directly. There would be either a # listed or a link to contact them( such as an email to be sent). I would try there 1st. If you are unsuccessful trying that option, I would possibly try Ebay or maybe Craigslist. Good Luck!
101470
I use my mp3 exclusively for audiobooks. I'm a real junkie and listen nonstop all day when I'm not at work. The first one I bought was a Zen V. It had issues, but improved when Creative came out with new firmware. After using it for a year, the battery would no longer hold a charge. There was no way to replace the battery. So I decided to look for a player with a user-replaceable battery and bought a Zen Micro. It worked fine for a few weeks, then it broke and Creative said they could not repair it. I decided the battery was more of an issue than the bookmarking, so I bought a Sansa e250 v2. I've had it for about a month and it's great. Better than either of the Creative players. But it doesn't have bookmarking. Rockbox wizards are working on a new version that will work with the Sansa e250v2, so I'm hoping that will give it bookmarking capability. The resume playing works really well with the Sansa (unlike with the 2 creative players). Since I only listen to one book at a time and don't listen to music, the only time bookmarking is really an issue is when I transfer or delete books when the player is connected to my PC. (I have a Gomadic wall charger to recharge the battery at night.) I'm really not sure about the full time stamping. My library changed from netLibrary to Overdrive. Overdrive breaks audiobooks into multiple files instead of having one really large file like NetLibrary, so that hasn't been an issue. In 2006 a survey showed that 25% of the adult US population listens to audiobooks. It's really stupid that mp3 manufacturers continue to ignore our needs when the technology and software already exists to provide every player with full time stamping and bookmarking. If just one of them would come out with a reliable player with a user-replaceable battery and those features, they would probably rival iPOD overnight. If Sansa would respond with a firmware update to provide those features, the e200 series could be that player. Instead, they foolishly continue to ignore the pleas of audiobook listeners.
261945
Donald, Have you had any success fixing this problem? I am having the same problem, I try transferring DVD files to the MP3 and it seems to work, but when I go to play the video on the mp3 it gives me an error. I think it needs to be converted but don't know how. Thanks.
715280
I also bought a zen v, and literaly, in 3 days it was no longer working. It always froze immediately on startup and then died from not being able to charge. I ordered a sansa e250 and am hoping it will be much better. After my experience, I will never want a Creative zen product again.
244137
I have tried both the Sansa and Creative. I got my Zen because the Sansa did not have the bookmark feature. Creative's bookmark feature is nice but the products are not reliable. Before I purchased the Zen I saw the review that said it crashes. For those of us who listen to books, the crashes are a major problem. The Zen crashes whenever you fast forward or reverse. I used my Sansa for a year and reset once. I have reset my Zen so many time that the reset button no longer works. If you choose to disregard this warning be sure to keep your receipt.
983658
I agree with Jorge.I have an old zen and I just got the MX.I will never buy another Zen until they show they care about their customers.I am looking for a mew Mp3 player as I speak.
128958
Hi, I use an MP3 player and it is working for me :), I hope it works for you!
629257
Are your music files normal mp3's or copy-protected music? If they're normal mp3's, then you should be fine. If you use some subscription service (which I don't, or really know anything about) and have a computer full of windows media files infected with that DRM junk, then you might have to. Before I bought the Zen SLeek, I was looking at the Toshiba Gigabeat (same price and capacity), but I passed on it once I found that it converts your mp3's to copy-protected wma files when you trasfer them to your player. The Zen Sleek does not do that.
1193604
Yes, as a matter of fact, I just started a new discussion on how to correct a few issues, and make it a lot more enjoyable with Mac. Check it out if you are having problems. It's (now) by far the easiest MP3 player I've ever used.
1701604
I have had mine for over a year and play it every day and have no problems. Have you tried contacting Sony for some tech support? That would be my only suggestion.....sorry I couldn't be more help.
1712255
Did you ever solve this problem...mine does the same thing and it makes listening to audio books so hard to do. If not...can you recommend a MP3 that does not do this.
1918500
Yup....it seems there are problems. My player just stopped playing DVD video discs (ie any non-bluray disc). UGH...very frustrating. I must admit that up until now I've been very pleased with the player. All I can figure is that its one of the latest firmware upgrades. Back to the factory...
1522996
i had the 4gb zen and i loved it so much, i sold it to get a bigger capcity. this is a very cool player and for the price, you cant go wrong. as far as the sd card goes, it is kept seperate from the internal library, which is good and bad. i personally like them to be intergrated, but sounds like you want to keep them separate, which is good for you. its like having two separate libraries! for example, i put over 800 songs on the Zen and i had a 2gb sd card ( only $15 on amazon) which i was able to put almost 200 songs and around 8 tv shows. so if i wanted to watch an episode of say, House, i select sd card on the menu and voila! now all the content i stored on my sd card appears. but if your playing music from the internal library and select "sd card" the music will stop and now your in the sd card library. pretty easy and straight foward player. i havent used the Unbox service, i just used Slysoft software called Clone Dvd Mobile to convert my own dvds to generic avi? i forget, but you have to select 320x240 res. or it wont work. that is the max resolution the zen can take. but its very sharp and clear and everything worked fine for me on the zen. but i can imagine if you press too many buttons at once, it could result in the player freezing up and i have done it before. not on this Zen, but on my old ZVM and ZV. so i learned to just be patient when dealing with any pmp or dap. hope this answers your question. ps: you might want to contact Amazon about the Unbox service and the ZEN. i read it was compatible.
1258827
Let me ask, do you have it on the charger? Because if you do, it will not play the flash drive. Just as a suggestion, return it while you can because it is very hard to navigate your music files and then mine simply got stuck on one song and wouldn't play anything else. Needless to say, I trashed it about a month after I got it.
1598594
You may be able to restart it. If you still have the instructions see which two buttons to press or look them up on google search. The Zune 80G gave me all kinds of problems so I know how fustrating it is to own one. I eventuall had to buy a Sansa Fuze and retire my Zune.
1498351
Thanks, Alex. This is very helpful. I'm feeling like this might work for me, and even if it doesn't, I'll still have an awesome mp3 player.-Rick