RSS'Y2K9' bug hits 30 GB Zunes
By Tim Conneally | Published December 31, 2008, 2:30 PM
In the early morning hours of the final day of the year, many Zune users found their devices frozen on the logo screen, totally unresponsive.
The 30 GB Zune experienced a Y2K-like mass failure at around 6:00 am this morning, where the portable media player goes to the loading screen and freezes permanently. Zune.net's service status today warns: "Customers with 30gb Zune devices may experience issues when booting their Zune hardware. We're aware of the problem and are working to correct it. The Zune Social might be slow or inaccessible. Sorry for the inconvenience, and thanks for your patience."
Microsoft's Zune support forum has been hit with a mass of complaints, but the problem has yet to receive a public diagnosis from the Zune team. Hundreds of users have each reported the identical problem.
Prior to the holiday, Microsoft improved its Zune offerings first by cutting the price on its only three-month old flash-based Zune 3.0, and then by updating Zune Pass to allow users to keep 10 DRM-free tracks a month. Some optimistic Zune forum posters think this outage is a sign that Microsoft is working on a big update, the majority, however, are just irate.
"You've got to be kidding me," one forum member posted this morning. "I thought this was isolated to my Zune. I never expected to come to these forums and find out that everyone with a Zune 30 is having the exact same problem on the exact same day. WTF?"
Since it is a holiday week, many expect a less-than-expeditious solution.
UPDATE: This evening, Microsoft posted an official explanation on Zune.net detailing why all 30GB Zunes suddenly froze up this morning.
"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. "
So wait....in the "official explaination" it says nothing about an actual fix...are they actually fixing the problem??...or just giving people a work around??
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|*laughing*
Yeah, they better get on that real quick. Well, at least before the next Jan 1 2009 rolls around!
Learn 2 read??
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|uh, you mean December 31st, 2012, right?
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|it doesn't need to be fixed right now, all of those zunes are working normally again... they did state it will be fixed for the next leap year.
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|Not the point...
They have plenty of time to fix this without having to get a work-around or fix out there for several years.
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|You would think they would have heard of testing their own products. I thought "dogfooding" was how they were supposed to do things.
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|1. Disconnect your Zune from USB and AC power sources.
2. Because the player is frozen, its battery will drain—this is good. Wait until the battery is empty and the screen goes black. If the battery was fully charged, this might take a couple of hours.
3. Wait until after noon GMT on January 1, 2009 (that's 7 a.m. Eastern or 4 a.m. Pacific time).
4. Connect your Zune to either a USB port on the back or your computer or to AC power using the Zune AC Adapter and let it charge.
Once the battery has sufficient power, the player should start normally. No other action is required—you can go back to using your Zune!
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|Happy New Year People.
(NOTE: I Dont really know much about Zune but here's a tip that might work.)
Zune Device Problem.
For those who are facing problem with their zune devices, i guess you should try tricking your device. Just roll back the date of your device 1yr back or something.
Now if you are getting stuck on the loading screen, how will the above be possible ?
Hmmm....
Format your device if there is an external switch for that or something.
Then roll back the date.
The above is not tried and tested so dont TOTALLY rely on it, but be sure to try atleast once until the problem is solved by Microsoft.
Thanks & Regards
Zaki Ahmed
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|Happy New Y....................................................................................................................................(Out of Memory Error)
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|LOL!
Such a fuss over over-priced low-fi Walkmans.
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|Right, because if we don't have access to studio masters, we shouldn't listen to music at all!
Everything's "low-fi". High-fidelity's been tried, and it never surpassed niche status.
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|That and listening to 10 -20 songs on a $200 player doesn't make everyone want to run and buy one either...
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|It was a trivial bug but a major PR failure.
You've got to test your software people.
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|The fact that no one caught this mistake at the world's largest software company is sort of pathetic.
The good news is iPod sheep outnumber Zune owners 50 to 1. iPod has sold over 100,000,000 since 2001. Zune has only sold something like 2.5 million.
"'Y2K9' bug hits 30 GB Zunes - Dozens of people are upset"
Had this happened with iPods, people would be screaming bloody murder. I was hoping by now, someone would write a trojan that affects iTunes, somehow bricking all iPods forever as soon as you plug them into your USB port.
That would be sweet. Especially since I use SharePod to load mine.
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|Except 100,000,000 to 2,500,000 is only 40 to 1.
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|I said over 100,000,000. The actual figure is close to 125,000,000.
That would be right about 50 to 1.
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|Hello all,As I was made aware of the 30g zune issue I was afraid to turn mine on.I have a 1st gen 30g and I am happy to report no issues with boot up or usage.I wonder why that is? Is this bug only for 2nd gen 30g units?
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|I plugged my Zune in at 1 a.m. EST to recharge (as the bootlock drained the battery) and it now works again.
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|My CD's work and sound better to.
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|SkateNY you clearly have never written code for hardware [VHDL, VERILOG] or designed hardware at a transistor level.
You also clearly are not a programmer, because if you had any experience you would know how easy it is to overlook something like this.
Register1 and Register 2 was suppose to be Register1 AND Register 0...simple mistake caused a infinite loop at the hardware level.
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|Oh yeah. Judging by the responses on the Internet alone, I can see how valuable having a programming background has helped Zune owners to "overlook" this problem.
It's not my fault that you're tethered to an inferior technology.
Instead of lecturing me on what's irrelevant about this "issue," try something novel: face facts and grow up.
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|Ignore the man behind the SkateNY curtain. He only knows how to say one thing. Problem is, he says it over and over and over and over and over.
http://www.google.com/se...+payers&aq=f&oq=
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|If you're that kind of sloppy programmer, quit now and save us all some grief. We don't need you.
It's obviously a really, really stupid mistake probably made by someone too busy shooting rubber bands across the room instead of checking his code for accuracy or using a routine that was already written by the other teams.
Overlooking mistakes happens and it's caught in the quality reviews, but apparently some people don't care to do their whole job.
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|The original Zune software and hardware was made by a different team which is why gen 2 and 3 were not affected.
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|Great. Microsoft innovates a new bug, for a relatively new product (one Microsoft year is roughly equivalent to seven human years -- check out the time between OS releases, e.g.), and then only discovers it when it's too late. Procrastination (read: incompetence) seems to be one of their strengths, if not also a social skill.
Bad enough that tax payers, consumers and businesses footed a bill totalling hundreds of millions of dollars for their Y2K debacle. (Oh. We forgot the century was turning. Our bad.) Now, owners of their failed "iPod killer" have to suffer yet another insult, beyond a significant degree of insult that obtains from the simple fact of owning a Zune.
When does it end? It ends when Microsoft discovers a bug that dissolves their incompetent corporate mismanagement. Oh, wait. That bug was already discovered but, because Microsoft is Microsoft, noboday cared. Except for those zanie Microsoft Kool Aid drinkers who seem to believe that every POS Microsoft creates is touched by Midas himself.
Thanks again Microsoft. You're nothing if not consistent.
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|It was one day...
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|*laughing my a** off*
Yeah, Y2k was Microsoft's fault...
Where do you _find_ these people, BetaNews?
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|and exactly the same posts from you on techspot and zdnet, now that's a fanboy
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|hmm my 1st gen ipod nano froze at gym on sunday, now concidence? proably but still creepy that it happened i had to wait till it died then plugged it in and it worked but still
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|and problem solved :D
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|im almost tempted to say MS did this on purpose to see what the user base would be 2 years after the product was released ...
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|Don't forget the Exchange 2007 leap year bug; http://msexchangeteam.co.../2008/02/29/448282.aspx
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|Mine's bricked too. Meh. If I used it more often, it might concern me. As it is, it sounds like it's a leap-year problem, and all will be well tomorrow. One guy was able to set the hardware clock ahead one day, and his Zune booted up just fine.
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|Yup thats all it was,
FYI:
[Update - 2:20pm PST]
Hi guys,
I just got an update from the team that I want to share with you. Great news! It looks like this issue will resolve itself over the next 24 hours. Please read the response below. Thank you all for your extreme patience with this!
-Matt
=-=-=-=
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.
Q: Will you update the firmware before the next leap year (2012)?
Yes.
Matt Akers
Zune Product Team
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|Hey Matt,just thought I would drop ya a msg,How about talking to your uppers about making zune compatible with aftermarket car stereos via usb like the ipod is.This is my 1 b**** on zune..I dont want to have to switch or buy an ipod for use in my car....dont want to use a cheesey wireless or other device for something that should already have been made in zune,whether by firmware or whatever.
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|Another reason why i dont buy products from a company named after the permanent state of the Founder's p****.
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|If you remove the battery and not connect it back to your pc, it will work fine.
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|The same as a broken analog clock is right twice a day?? [smiles]
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|rockin' on my Zune80 as I type this....
Yeah, nothing constructive to contribute, just tempting fate I suppose :)
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|I for one was pretty pissed. I'm in the middle of an audiobook and my zune is frozen. I spent an hour holding for tech support and then it just disconnected. BTW, in general I love my Zune.
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|What's the big deal? The Zune works just like every other Microsoft product?
It's Microsoft's way of taking everyone's attention from their Vista OS and putting it on Zune....
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|That is nearly as funny as the way that Excel thinks the day before 1st January 1900 is the 0th January 1900...
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|Not like anyone owns a Microsoft Zune...this affects what, maybe 200 people?
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|lol...
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|One day, this will happen to a Microsoft Operating system, and I won't be able to tell you "I Told You So!"
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|Microsoft will give them 3 months of Xbox Live Gold free to make them happy and extend their warranty to 3 years.
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|I'm hoping for a 30 to 80 trade-up program.
Well, at least I can dream.
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|My zune 80 radio reception was HORRIBLE so i sent it in for service. (I only got stations when the backlight was turned off.) They gave me a 120 gig zune instead! The funny part? The zune 120's radio is the exact same way!
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|What, is this... "radio" ...you speak of? =p
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|I completely understand! If it wasn't for one radio station, i wouldn't care. Wonc, North central college. I really enjoy the college rock station. If it wasn't for that station, i wouldn't care about the radio.
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|I see free music coming... =]
but really, its a minor annoyance... even though its widespread
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|I am sure Microsoft knows better than annoy customers with this fiasco.
Hopefully, like before with Zune upgrades, MS will take the extra step in the next few days to keep it's customers happy.
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