Problems with Zen... Has anyone had a problem with this mp3 player going to the recovery mode?
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.
448048
Mine goes straight to usb stick or to micro sd when I turn it on so you should not have to press menu- otherwise menu should cycle through all the options including the memory stick or card. It should say "read" when it sees it. Make sure it is fully charged and maybe even plugged in when attempting to read. Also maybe try a small drive with only a few songs at first just to make sure it's working. If none of that works you may have to return it.
1967414
If your MP3s work properly on another device (computer, another MP3 player, etcetera), then the problem is either in the player or the SD card. If you are doing everything on the 4g internal space, it is the player. If you are using a SD card, remove the card and load some files onto the player directly to test. If this last test comes back clean, replace your SD card, otherwise the player is no-go.I had a similar problem with flash drives from Sandisk, where the read times were excessive on a 16g flashdrive. Turns out, bad drive, not problems on my computers. ALWAYS test everything, you don't want to throw away good equipment, or you don't want to find one problem and not catch a second problem down the chain. If your MP3s work properly on another device (computer, another MP3 player, etcetera), then the problem is either in the player or the SD card. If you are doing everything on the 4g internal space, it is the player. If you are using a SD card, remove the card and load some files onto the player directly to test. If this last test comes back clean, replace your SD card, otherwise the player is no-go.I had a similar problem with flash drives from Sandisk, where the read times were excessive on a 16g flashdrive. Turns out, bad drive, not problems on my computers. ALWAYS test... » Read More If your MP3s work properly on another device (computer, another MP3 player, etcetera), then the problem is either in the player or the SD card. If you are doing everything on the 4g internal space, it is the player. If you are using a SD card, remove the card and load some files onto the player directly to test. If this last test comes back clean, replace your SD card, otherwise the player is no-go.I had a similar problem with flash drives from Sandisk, where the read times were excessive on a 16g flashdrive. Turns out, bad drive, not problems on my computers. ALWAYS test everything, you don't want to throw away good equipment, or you don't want to find one problem and not catch a second problem down the chain. « Show Less
2156638
well, it happened to me about 3 months ago. Totally bricked and useless. I looked it up here and all over the net... and it's just a bad unit and everybody's broke. I gave up and got my 20 year old Onyko unit out of the garage. Doesn't do much and there are limitations, but it sounds better. I don't have the $$ to fix it. Such a drag. At least it's not a SONY it might have broken sooner! :-)
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.
257895
The SD card does not automatically expand the memory on the Zen. The Zen sees the SD card as a separate entity. If the Zen isn't seeing the card under the "SD Card" menu option, make sure your Zen has the latest firmware upgrade (1.21.03). There is also a nice option in the "SD Card" menu called "Import All" which adds references to the music on the SD card to your main Music menu. It's not automatic, but I feel it's pretty painless.
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.
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.
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.
1967413
Send it back. I have music on the card and the player and haven't had an issue.
2111732
I have no problem playing my mp3. Sometimes those expensive phone players screw up a regular player-speaker. I have no problem with mine. The only problem I have is when my mp3 runs out of juice - then I just recharge and play over again.
1564412
THE PLAYERS ARE LEMONS since Nov. 10th 2006 , I have had 5 Sansa m240 Players do the same and fail to re boot. Waiting now for Sandisk to send another replacement.. returned one Sansa m230 that failed and got my money back. The longest any has worked was 4 and a half days... and as little as less than 2 hours.. THEY JUNK.. W.Pierce
277922
Happy Birthday, Joey. I don't know, I haven't had that problem with my player. Of course the turn it off and then back on is the first thing to try. Have you heard the songs played OK on your player yet ? Because something might have happened when they were transferred or in the recording itself. Otherwise maybe try different equalizer (EQ) settings.
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.
1157899
Has anyone given thought to pressing "pause" on your mp3 player? Not a big problem for me.
347366
This unit used to play my mp3's flawlessly. One day I attempted to play mp4 video from a flashdrive. It didnt play; and subsequently stopped playing mp3's permanently. Maybe a firmware update might resolve the problem.
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.