AfterDawn: News

Microsoft Zune bug 'fixed'

Beginning on December 31st, 30GB Microsoft Zunes around the world began freezing up and complaints flooded in from worried users who were concerned their media device was broken.

The software giant looked into the problem and concluded that the problem stemmed from 2008 being a leap year. The Zune's internal clock had failed to switch over to the new year, and the software bug caused the devices to lock up.



The problem was 'fixed' however yesterday when Microsoft advised all Zune users to let the battery of their device drain out and then turn it on after 7 am on Thursday.

"Wait until the battery is empty and the screen goes black," the company said, "Then power up the devices, but only after 7 a.m. Eastern time on New Year's Day Thursday. No other action is required."

Users may have to re-sync their devices completely today however, to restore any DRM files that come with
copyright-protected songs.

Written by: Andre Yoskowitz @ 2 Jan 2009 13:22

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• 9 comments

• glenmike

  Yeah, happened to me. I tore the thing apart (disassembled) it thinking it was the hard drive going out. It was after I had it all apart that they made the announcement. I then put it back together, keeping my fingers crossed that I didn't mess something else up. After charging, it works perfectly again.

  2.1.2009 13:55 #1

• SSSJDanny

  One without my zune, kinda upset, at least if fixed itself.

  2.1.2009 17:15 #2

• tripplite

  why do i get the feeling that Microsoft is deliberately stabbing it's self in the back??? y2k?

  3.1.2009 00:30 #3

• DDR4life

  Odd, my Zune(30GB) didn't experience any difficulties. Not that I'm complaining, mind.

  3.1.2009 02:11 #4

• xnonsuchx

  So it's not FIXED...just resolved this leap year! That's not a fix...which would be a software update to fix an absolutely stupid bug that shoulda never been there. Unless they do that, it's gonna happen 12/31/12 (assuming any of those original Zunes are still in use then).

  3.1.2009 20:40 #5

• Gnawnivek

  That's really pathetic on MS part... Do they even test that thing? Or they're arrogant enough to think that the product will be replaced with a "better" version before the bug surfaces? Probably works for iPods, people buy the new ones all the times :)

  6.1.2009 15:58 #6

• Mez

  tripplite, not deliberately, you give them too much credit. They have gotten fat, lazy and stupid beyond belief. To make it worse they are more arrogant than ever.
  
  My favorite bug was the one that if you played high bit rate mp3s the Zune died. Unlike the ipod, Zunes do not have a fail-safe recovery system. The bug was short lived but memorible for those that got caught. I bought my son a Zune. I will never do that again. I told him never to upgrade. That saved him from that killer bug.
  
  Quote:That's really pathetic on MS part... Do they even test that thing? Or they're arrogant enough to think that the product will be replaced with a "better" version before the bug surfaces? Probably works for iPods, people buy the new ones all the times :)
  I don't think that is going to work for ipods any more. I expect we will start to see a 'Shaffer Beer' type of demize this year.
  
  In the 60s Shaffer Beer had over 60% of the US beer market. The beer market never saw such a king before or since. When Budwiser and Miller started to make a high quality beer, Shaffer opted to drastically reduce the quality of their beer to maximize proffits. I doubt that many of you ever heard of Shaffer Beer. Shaffer never saw what hit them. They lost about 60% of market share in only one year. Even when they went back to the old recipe, people preferred the other two beers and never went back. Had they not screwed with the formula it may have taken a decade for what happened in just one year.
  
  Apple has screwed with the formula. The disks do not last the way they used to. You have Sanza kicking ass.

  7.1.2009 10:41 #7

• Gnawnivek

  Hey Mez, thanks for the beer story, i didn't know that... interesting, learned something new. Personally, i never buy any Apple products, not that i don't like them, just that they're too expensive. Do people even know that there are cheaper (and even better, surprise) alternatives to iPods? I love my Sansa, the memory card expansion slot is awesome, i'll take that over iPods any day. Not to mention you can easily drag and drop in Windows... As for the iPods, you have to use iTune :shock: I didn't know that! Someone got me an iPod touch, i couldn't return it (don't wanna hurt the feeling right?). So i played around with it just to see what the fuss is about. Well, it's slick, yeah, but if you're not using the in synch function, boy, pain in the ass... I didn't install anything on the iPod touch, not that i don't want to, i don't need to :)

  7.1.2009 11:00 #8

• Mez

  Sansa is the competition. Apple has been losing market share to them in tiny increments. I think that will change this year. The Clip is now the prefered mp3 player for less money. Sansas are getting better while ipods are getting cheaper. I expect to see Sansa comming out with the next 'bigger' diskless player before Apple. If they can do that, that will be the sign that Apple is not on top any longer. I figure Apple will continue to dominate the disk mp4 market. But that market is drying up and that will accelerate when the 32 G diskless players come out.
  
  That made me think of Shafer Beer.

  8.1.2009 09:48 #9