Frozen Zune 30 issue - official tracking thread

[drdavin]

Yep I wanted to report mine did this as well.  I'm real unahppy about this, but I felt better actually when I saw it was a mass problem.  Just because I feel they will resolve it and it's not just my machine went bad. I hope you know what i mean... I don't want to see ANYONE'S zune messed up.  This is a huge black eye for the Zune!!!!
Better step up microsoft!  This story has drawn mass attention!!!

[Georgie]

This is a huge black eye for the Zune!!!!
Better step up microsoft!  This story has drawn mass attention!!!

And I bet you the IFB's are jumping right on it.

[Zunerama Ed.]

I think this issue will be defined by how Microsoft responds to it. They've got the Zune team on a full press on it - - it will be interesting to see what the resolution is.

I hope it can be resolved with having to box up my 30GB - I've grown attached to the little guy over the past two years.

[Zuli Uni]

Just in case it might help in some small way, allow me to add my own info here.  I've got a Zune 30 purchased in Dec. '06 and "disowned" around the same month of '07 or very early in '08 due to just generally being sick of all the crash and patch...crash and patch...crash and patch...ad nauseum.  It has sat neglected on a powered up dock in a corner ever since collecting dust along with its collection of approx. 2900 songs and a couple of short videos....the pertinent thing here is that it's never been connected to my PC during all this time. The Zune software crashed on my PC sometime this past Spring and apparently very very irrevocably so so there was never any reason to hook it back up to the computer.  When I read the 'net headlines an hour or so ago, I was curious if my Zune had met the same fate so I lifted it out of the dock, found the headphones and, voila!...It works as well (knock on wood to the tenth power) as it did the day I relegated it to the corner as a holder for 2900 specific songs.  I'm listening to a Quicksilver Messenger Service tune on it as I'm writing this.

My theory based on my experience?  Your current problem lies in an MS update released sometime in the past 14 months or so.

[BadUsername3]

ohh wow. I woke up this morning and saw yahoo reporting this. I thought it was funny how my warranty was up 10 days ago. Not so funny anymore.  

[Zunerama Ed.]

You are probably on firmware 2.*, so this may indeed be tied to firmware 3.*.

Moving this post to the Zune 30 freeze thread.

[Zunerama Ed.]

ohh wow. I woke up this morning and saw yahoo reporting this. I thought it was funny how my warranty was up 10 days ago. Not so funny anymore.  

Most of us have had our 30s for over a year, so we're out of warranty. Fortunately, if this firmware and not a hardware issue, we will continue to get support from Microsoft on resolving this.

And it is in all likelihood a firmware issue. That's a good thing.

[The_Boo]

From twitter


ZuneInsider: ok all. the issue is a bug in the driver that controls the internal clock. turns out it does not like leap years.

ZuneInsider: as the date flips to 09 the device should be back to normal. let the battery die the plug in and restart once we flip the date.


So there it is.

[The_Boo]

From twitter

ZuneInsider: more info coming on zune insider and zune.net.  thanks to you all for your patience and support while we go this worked out.

[The_Boo]

http://zuneinsider.com/archive/2008/12/31/30gb-zune-issues-official-update.aspx

This is the official word on the issue.

[Zunerama Ed.]

Good eye, folks. Sounds like your 30s will arise from the dead in the wee hours of tonight.

[Vipralion]

Lol this is kinda cool.

[Zunerama Ed.]

Kudos to Microsoft, and to Paul Davidson of the Zune team, for getting this FAQ out:

Early this morning we were alerted by our customers that there was a widespread issue affecting our 2006 model Zune 30GB devices (a large number of which are still actively being used).  The technical team jumped on the problem immediately and isolated the issue: a bug in the internal clock driver related to the way the device handles a leap year.

The issue should be resolved over the next 24 hours as the time change moves to January 1, 2009.   We expect the internal clock on the Zune 30GB devices will automatically reset tomorrow (noon, GMT). By tomorrow you should allow the battery to fully run out of power before the unit can restart successfully then simply ensure that your device is recharged, then turn it back on.  If you’re a Zune Pass subscriber, you may need to sync your device with your PC to refresh the rights to the subscription content you have downloaded to your device.

Customers can continue to stay informed via the support page on zune.net (zune.net/support).

We know this has been a big inconvenience to our customers and we are sorry for that, and want to thank them for their patience.

Q:  Why is this issue isolated to the Zune 30 device?
It is a bug in a driver for a part that is only used in the Zune 30 device.

Q:  What fixes or patches are you putting in place to resolve this situation?
This situation should remedy itself over the next 24 hours as the time flips to January 1st.

Q:  What’s the timeline on a fix?
The issue Zune 30GB customers are experiencing today will self resolve as time changes to January 1.

Q:  Why did this occur at precisely 12:01 a.m. on December 31, 2008?
There is a bug in the internal clock driver causing the 30GB device to improperly handle the last day of a leap year.

Q:  What is Zune doing to fix this issue?
The issue should resolve itself.

Q:  Are you sure that this won’t happen to all 80, 120 or other flash devices?
This issue is related to a part that is only used in Zune 30 devices.

Q:  How many 30GB Zune devices are affected? How many Zune 30GB devices were sold?
All 30GB devices are potentially affected.

[ipuck77]

I have a Zune 30 with the new firmware. I put a 120 in it over a year ago. I had this problem this morning with and I thought it was because of my new docking station. but it was not. It is ONLY with the first gen 30's I have one friend with a 30 and hers is frozen. the other friend with the 120 is still rocking
I took my Zune apart and just plugged the battery and put it back in. It is so very easy. I am now listening to it again.

[Zuneblack]

Boy I really HOPE that this does fix itself. it would really SUCK tomorrow to turn my Zune on and it still be like this. But hey the Zune Team is here for us pretty sure that they thoroughly examined this. I can't wait to see me Zune turn on again and boot up successfully this has been a really long couple of hours.