The white screen of death? Anyonw else having this issue? Apparently, there are a large number of 8gb Zen units going out where the screen will not work when you turn it on, it only goes white. I got one from here (as a gift) and it's become increasingly irksome that they simply don't work, and creative refuses to do anything about it.http://forums.creative.com/creativelabs/board/message?board.id=dap&message.id=201435&view=by_date_ascending&page=1large amount of discussion on Creative's site on this. The white screen of death? Anyonw else having this issue? Apparently, there are a large number of 8gb Zen units going out where the screen will not work when you turn it on, it only goes white. I... » Read More The white screen of death? Anyonw else having this issue? Apparently, there are a large number of 8gb Zen units going out where the screen will not work when you turn it on, it only goes white. I got one from here (as a gift) and it's become increasingly irksome that they simply don't work, and creative refuses to do anything about it.http://forums.creative.com/creativelabs/board/message?board.id=dap&message.id=201435&view=by_date_ascending&page=1large amount of discussion on Creative's site on this. « Show Less
1649109
Yes I too have the 4 gig version and it does this as well. I have also found that allowing the player to get cold makes the white screen go away. For example, in winter I leave it in my car in the garage which probably gets to around 49 or so. When I get in it the display works like a charm. All in all though, this SUCKS.
1649110
I bought one in May, 2008. It has the latest firmware and it still gets the white screen of death. Sucks
1649111
It seems only the 8gig gets the White Rectangle Of Death problem...from what I'v read on some other forms the trick is to hold down the play button while starting the thing....hope that helps
5404
My first one did this right out of the box. Sent it back and now my second one does it when I "lock" and then "unlock" the player. Needless to say, I'm not impressed.
1649112
I have the 4gig and it does it too. The trick to fix that worked for me is shown on UTube, although it is annoying to have to do it all the time. Just look for Zen White screeen of Death on U-Tube. I found it hard to accurately understand how to do it without watching this video.It seems to also help to have the player in standard play mode before turning off, or I might be imagining things.
1649113
I got mine today. All I can get is a white screen. I am downloading the mp3 player recovery tool on creative's website right now. But I am thinking mine will have to go back.EDIT-- Creative's recovery tool didn't help. Nothing helps. Looks like this thing is going back to Amazon. I will see if I can get my money back.
1649114
I have a two year old 16GB Zen that now gets the white screen frequently. It is temperature related. The one thing I have found that will always fix it is putting it in a plastic bag with a Sorb-it silica gel canister (to absorb condensation), and putting in the refrigerator for about five minutes. I also keep it in the plastic bag while cold to prevent condensation. I took great care of my Zen and am dissatisfied with its short life-span. I will avoid Creative products until I know this problem has been solved.
1649115
I went to the Creative Zen website about this. I have not received my 8G Zen yet but have always owned Zens and I like them and the software that comes with them. Their website has some solutions to this issue so you might want to check out that discussion board. Hope that helps.
1649116
I have the 16Gb model and it shows the WSOD regularly, but it can be solved with locking and unlocking the device
2089261
I agree with Bob. I recommend you send it back and get your money back. Get a Kindle Fire or something that isn't D2. Had mine less then 2 months and it went total blue screen (screen of death). It's not worth having. But if you insist on keeping it, you'll have to do a reset.
2095479
I've had multiiple problems with this model. First I had the "white dot" problem. At first a few white dots show on the screen. Then every day there are more and more until the screen is a star field. The DLP chip had to be replaced to fix this. Then I had the problem you're describing. It wasn't the LED which lasts about 10 years (unlike the non-LED models which have a bulb that needs to be replaced every 3 years). It was either the motherboard or DMD board. I forget which, but I ended up paying $600 to have it fixed. It was out of warranty.
1780763
Yes, I'm noticing that it happens after it comes back from hibernation for me. Screen opens bright for a second, then goes dim. I suspect something with the power-saving options compromising the screen performance. Still haven't figured it out :(
766498
Help! Same problem. Ours worked for less than 24 hours and will not turn on at all, no light, nothing. It doesn't even almost come on. Blank. Screen. Frustrated!!
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.
1756899
I just got it, I am trying to figure out how to get it working. the screen is dark and barely I can see anything. I contacted the company to get answer, I dont know what to do. first time when I bought the small one, it worked good, till it brook, this time, I thought, I would be the better one but so far, it is not working
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.
1351708
Hello . Am I never expirienced that with mine. The problem was it kept freezing and the screen kept blinking so I returned it back for full refund. I think it can be fixed I just didn't waste time.
554938
I am having same problem. screen goes blank. have emailed sanyo but no reply
388778
It is CRAP send it back. I went thru 2 of these and they both died so there is a problem they wont admit to on this board. buy ASUS MB they are the best. These people also have crappy support. STAY AWAY form gigabyte (I hope they feel this)
1651111
Well, I couldn't get my money refunded through Amazon, so I returned the broken Zen Micro to Creative. They had the nerve to send me a refurbished Zen V Plus instead of repairing the Micro. I've now filed a complaint with the BBB. Meanwhile I bought a Sansa e250. It doesn't have bookmarking, but so far I'm very happy with it. Of course, it's only been a few days. There's been no reason to reset it or remove the battery or go looking for solutions to strange problems, all of which I had to do within a few days of receiving my original Zen V.
2145760
Update on my kdv2500 for anyone who cares.. my first one developed 3 dead pixels(2 red, 1 blue), so i exchanged it within the 30 days and bought the extended warranty as long as i was there, having learned my lesson. now the new one has 2 dead pixels (1 red, 1 green) and that infamous "clouding" issue when the screen goes or is supposed to go all black. I'm going to exchange it one more time and if there's an issue with the next one I'm probably gonna go with the 46' model or another tv all together. BTW i called Sony Support to see what they cover in terms of dead pixels and the said they won't do any service unless at least 10 blow out. IMO that's ridiculous. It should be like 3 or something, not 10. Update on my kdv2500 for anyone who cares.. my first one developed 3 dead pixels(2 red, 1 blue), so i exchanged it within the 30 days and bought the extended warranty as long as i was there, having learned my lesson. now the new one has 2 dead pixels (1 red, 1 green) and that infamous "clouding" issue when the screen goes or is supposed to go all black. I'm going to exchange it one more time and if there's an issue with the next one I'm probably gonna go with the 46' model or another tv all together. BTW i called Sony Support to see what they cover in terms of dead pixels and the... » Read More Update on my kdv2500 for anyone who cares.. my first one developed 3 dead pixels(2 red, 1 blue), so i exchanged it within the 30 days and bought the extended warranty as long as i was there, having learned my lesson. now the new one has 2 dead pixels (1 red, 1 green) and that infamous "clouding" issue when the screen goes or is supposed to go all black. I'm going to exchange it one more time and if there's an issue with the next one I'm probably gonna go with the 46' model or another tv all together. BTW i called Sony Support to see what they cover in terms of dead pixels and the said they won't do any service unless at least 10 blow out. IMO that's ridiculous. It should be like 3 or something, not 10. « Show Less
1644663
Same solution as HnKJay. My update of the Innotab fixed a few problems including the date issue. Our child's Innotab would occasionally complain about inserting an SD card (even with one in it), or not go past the boot screen, or not turn on at all. Once it did boot up and the update took place... then after three days... no issues. But I'll wait and see if this was a long term fix applied. And ditto to buying rechargeable batteries. The backlighting, touch-screen and sound gobble up the power from 4 AA batteries within a day.
815493
Latoya you just bought it? I was under the impression that they didn't sell this anymore. Check your About screen if you are able and see what version of machine you have. If it is a 201C it will not work and needs to be returned. If not, turn the machine off, unplug it, and wait a minute or so. Then reboot the Imagine and see if it moves on from there. I had a bad time with my first two, they wouldn't work and had to be returned. The third one the screen has since fallen out so I don't use it at all. I hope this isn't the situation for you.
684266
I have a Zen Sleek (monochrome screen). It has "lasted" in that it "functions." That's the kindest thing I can say about it. It's durable unless you run into things with it, but the firmware is horribly unstable. Of course, that may be different for the color players, which use different firmware.
39258
Mine had a dead looking screen sometimes, and I press the reset key. All was well. It came back to life and still had its current count.