[Creative] my 30GB Zen won't charge!!

G86

Help!!

I got my zen at Christmas, the first one I got was broke and I've had a few problems with the replacement since, it doesn't play movies for me as it freezes,however I don't mind as I don't use that feature.

But now the freaking thing won't charge!!! Usually it would only charge on my home laptop, never on any other one, but my boyf re-installed everything on the laptop a few days ago and now its not recognising the zen!

Theres a flashing blue light on it and a charging icon but it doesn't say 'docked' and its not coming up under removable storage so I can't get my files

I know there was a thread on something similar recently but I can't find it now, please give me any tips at all, I'm lost without it!!:(

Kintarō Hattori

You probably need to change the drive letter in windows. This seems to be a common occurance with MP3 Players.

Start- Control Panel- Administrative Tools- Computer Management- Storage- Disk Management- Right Click on Drive and 'Change Drive Letter and Paths'

Pick a letter your computer's not using already.
That should hopefully sort you out.

G86

tried that now but it won't work as the zen is not coming up on the comp.

It actually did charge last night..but its still not connecting to my pc

Kintarō Hattori

Did you download and install the Creative software again?

G86

Yep, I've done that twice now...

Its just not picking up my zen..yet it must be as its charging!! I don't get it

sioda

Are you sure it is charging just sent mine back coz it was pulsing blue but not charging

Smegball

Yeah, on mine the blue light keeps pulsing but it won't actually charge and the computer won't recognize the device.
Any tips?

Kintarō Hattori

I might know someone who has an asnwer to this. I'll try and remember to answer ask them. Feel free to PM me. I have a shíte memory and tend to get distracted by work.

Biro

OK. There's a couple of things here.
USB ports transmit power and data. When you plug in your zen and get the flashing blue light, that means the zen is getting power to it. That will have no bearing on whether the operating system will see it or not however.
Here's the problem though : not all USB ports (even on the same computer) have the same power output. On a PC the ones at the back have the full compliment of power going out, the ones at the front don't. Therefore if you plug your zen into the front, you'll get the flashing blue light because it's getting some power, but it won't charge cause it's not getting enough. Be sure to plug it into the back.
Laptops are a different ball game, some have enough power out of them, some don't.
Regarding your operating system detecting the device. First thing to check is that the device is plugged into a USB port with the high power output (ie the back of the PC in most cases). This should give enough feed to the device, and it should actually turn on in the case of the Zen. (It won't turn on for about an hour if it's brand new). Then windows should detect it, and after that it's a case of assigning the correct drive letter, or reinstalling the device driver, or doing further diagnostics.
Which stage are you at currently?

mickomack

G86 wrote:

Help!!

Theres a flashing blue light on it and a charging icon but it doesn't say 'docked' and its not coming up under removable storage so I can't get my files

I know there was a thread on something similar recently but I can't find it now, please give me any tips at all, I'm lost without it!!:(

You'll need to get a mains charger they cost about €40 a rip off imo opinion but the battery power has gone below 5% thats what the flashing light is about,that means the only way to charge it when at this level is via a mains charger.It happened me last month I brought it back to the shop and they charged it for me.To prevent this happening in future as soon as the zen tells you you've a low battery charge it via usb.I hope this helps.

Gran Hermano

See if you can get your hands on a PSP charger, they are the same
as the Creative mains charger.

sioda

Used the mains charger and still no joy. Had to send mine back to creative but they were fantastic and a new one is on its way to me as we speak

Dave!

Mine is charging but isn't being recognised by the computer. I accidentally broke one of the pins in the socket inside the zen previously, so I think that might be related. Is there any damage in the player?

Croc

I assume you are talking about the Zen Vision M ??

If so there is a known problem with them, it won't let them charge from the USB & Your Computer won't recognize it as a device.

The solution, you have to flash the device, unfortunately you can only do this by connecting it to a computer running Windows Media Player 9. If yours is running a higher version it won't work neither will installing an earlier version.

Go to the following link :
http://ie.europe.creative.com/support/downloads/download.asp?MainCategory=213&nRegionFK=&nCountryFK=&nLanguageFK=&sOSName=Windows+XP&region=3&Product_Name=ZEN+Vision%3AM+60GB&Product_ID=15986&modelnumber=&driverlang=1033&OS=10&drivertype=0&x=17&y=12

Download the latest firmware (it should be top of the list) if you have a Pc running Media Player 9 install the firmware from this computer and it should resolve you problems.

Sephiroth_dude

same thing is happening to my!blue flashing light not turning on laptop wont reconise it,it crashed on me yesterday in work,and then when i tryed to charge it last nite,would'nt work ,happened to my last one too,i got so angry and annoyed with it i ****ed it out the window :mad: :mad: :mad:

Sephiroth_dude

Sephiroth_dude wrote:

same thing is happening to my!blue flashing light not turning on laptop wont reconise it,it crashed on me yesterday in work,and then when i tryed to charge it last nite,would'nt work ,happened to my last one too,i got so angry and annoyed with it i ****ed it out the window :mad: :mad: :mad:

SORTED HAD A PSP CHARGER AT HOME =D

Trilobite

I had a similar problem and eventually fixed it.

With mine, it just stopped playing. It was playing in random mode and got to the start of a new track I had downloaded and it froze. It wouldn't respond to anything I did, it wouldn't even switch off, so there was nothing to do but let the battery run out.

So when I tried to recharge it, I got the blue flashing light and blank screen. It wouldn't dock when connected to the laptop and even the FirmWare update and recovery tool from Zen (http://www.creative.com/products/mp3/MP3PlayerRecoveryTool/welcome.asp?)
wouldnt work. it didn't recognize that the vision M was connected to the laptop.

I let it charge for a couple of hours and tried various things, but no change.

What eventually worked, was pushing the "on" button to the left (so that the the flashing blue light was covered) and holding it there for 10 seconds or so. ( I havent seen this documented anywhere, but it worked for me).
The Zen screen came up with "rebuilding". The progress bar got about half way first time and stuck, so I left it overnight to drain the battery again and tried again the next day - Recharge followed by holding the on button for 10 to 12 seconds. After about 3 attempts the rebuild completed and the Vision M is back to normal.

Then I made the backup that I shoiuld have made weeks ago :rolleyes:

Let me know if this helps.

Gerry

Sephiroth_dude

i had the same problem,used my psp charger.

Trilobite

did it work?