Picking up where I left off.

November 20, 2007 2:01 PM

Creative Zen Nano 1gb— The damned thing's stopped resuming where I left off. Creative's customer support has been useless. For troubleshooting recommendations, please keep in mind that I have a Mac, but I use it mostly as a USB drive that can play mp3s.

Theories: Internal battery dead? If so, can I open/replace it myself? Is it a firmware issue? A hardware issue?

I have tried clearing out everything from the drive that I'd put on. I'm hesitant about wiping the drive, though I suppose I could.

I attempted to use the Creative Zen forums and was ignored. Most people there seem like idiots anyway, and now I'm really annoyed at the no mac support official policy from Creative.

posted by klangklangston to Computers & Internet (8 answers total)

I have solved every problem my wife has had with her Zen Nano by reinstalling the firmware. Make sure you back up your data before you do it.
posted by Uncle Jimmy at 2:29 PM on November 20, 2007

I agree with Uncle Jimmy, it's probably corrupt firmware. A pretty simple load if you can find a windows pc to do it on.

This is just a hunch, but I suspect the Zen writes its settings in flash and just loads it every time you turn it on, so I doubt there's a user-replaceable part there.
posted by SteveInMaine at 3:03 PM on November 20, 2007

Response by poster: Ok, so I should find a PC and see if I can wipe everything.

Man, I don't even know anyone at work with a PC. I'm in some sort of retarded mac bubble. I think my girlfriend's coworkers use PCs…
posted by klangklangston at 3:43 PM on November 20, 2007

How long have you been using it? My Zen Nano takes an AAA battery, which does not recharge itself when you plug it into a USB port--you just have to replace the battery every so often. It also tends to stop remembering my place when the battery is running low.
posted by needs more cowbell at 4:21 PM on November 20, 2007

Response by poster: A couple months; I've replaced the batteries a couple of times, and I noticed this problem a little bit after replacing a battery that may have run all the way down (which is why I wondered about an internal lithium battery).
posted by klangklangston at 4:25 PM on November 20, 2007

Response by poster: I've also replaced the batteries a couple times past the problem, because that was my first thought.
posted by klangklangston at 4:26 PM on November 20, 2007

SteveInMaine: "This is just a hunch, but I suspect the Zen writes its settings in flash and just loads it every time you turn it on, so I doubt there's a user-replaceable part there."

I'm almost positive that's correct; my Nano only saves its settings for good when you turn it off via the power switch. This means replacing a dead battery leaves you back where you were when you last turned the thing on. There is no internal battery AFAICT.

Is there something special about the way you're turning it off, or is your battery always dying before you get a chance to turn it off? Barring that, I'd second/third/twelfth reloading the firmware.
posted by Opposite George at 12:36 AM on November 21, 2007

Response by poster: Tried reloading the firmware when I was home for the holidays—no change. Guess it's time to call up Zen and see if they'll replace it.
posted by klangklangston at 3:18 PM on January 15, 2008