I can't buy a break (Zen Neeon)

[strohmie]

So I decide to buy myself an mp3 player after the last one I tried to buy (Rio Carbon) refused to work entirely -- I couldn't even turn the thing on, and refused to buy another after that.

So I bought a Neeon off eBay from a Singapore seller, and got it today. The thing at least turns on, but simply does not connect to the computer. Install drivers. "A problem occurred during hardware installation. Your New hardware may not work properly." Dammit.

Uninstall drivers. Reinstall drivers. No dice. Reset player. No dice. Uninstall drivers, reinstall drivers, reset player. No dice. Download and install older Creative drivers. No dice.

You've gotta be freaking kidding me. I think I'm simply destined never to again have an mp3 player that works. And with the Creative Asia drivers, there shouldn't be any problem installing on a U.S. computer, it's been done before. And this is not one of the virus-equipped Neeons, either...the color is right, but not the right serial number range.


So to the two or so people who have experience with the Neeon on Head-Fi -- any problems like this in your experiences?

 

[DigDub]

the neeon works as a mass storage device. you drag and drop songs into it via windows explorer. no software or drivers are needed, if your OS can detect plug n play storage devices.

 

[TenaciousO]

Have you owned any creative players before? If you have, what you need to do is make sure that anything related to Creative is removed from your computer and then do a clean install. I had a problem once getting my computer to recognize a micro, and I realized it was because I had remnants of software from a previous creative player still on the computer, which somehow was conflicting with the new install.

 

[strohmie]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DigDub the neeon works as a mass storage device. you drag and drop songs into it via windows explorer. no software or drivers are needed, if your OS can detect plug n play storage devices.

Not exactly true. Creative includes mass storage drivers with the Neeon CD, which are installed automatically when you install the Neeon explorer from the CD. I've tried getting the Neeon to work both with and without these drivers installed, and it didn't work in either case. I've also used other mass storage devices (flash drives, an el-cheapo OLED mp3 player) that had no problem on my computer.

And this is WinXP we're talking about, which I've never had any problems with in the past with USB devices of any sort. Which makes me believe that I simply got a dud.

 

[gloco]

Also check to see your usb drivers are up to date.

 

[strohmie]

Quote:

Originally Posted by TenaciousO Have you owned any creative players before? If you have, what you need to do is make sure that anything related to Creative is removed from your computer and then do a clean install. I had a problem once getting my computer to recognize a micro, and I realized it was because I had remnants of software from a previous creative player still on the computer, which somehow was conflicting with the new install.

Gotta love that a company's products would conflict with one another. I'll try this out, as it sounds like it could be a distinct possibility. I've had one of their sound cards, a Zen USB2.0 (til it took a swan dive down a flight of stairs), a Micro (wasn't a fan), and now this one.

Giving it a shot.

 

[strohmie]

Quote:

Originally Posted by TenaciousO Have you owned any creative players before? If you have, what you need to do is make sure that anything related to Creative is removed from your computer and then do a clean install. I had a problem once getting my computer to recognize a micro, and I realized it was because I had remnants of software from a previous creative player still on the computer, which somehow was conflicting with the new install.

No dice. Again. Now going to try to update my usb drivers, as gloco mentioned.

 

[strohmie]

Quote:

Originally Posted by gloco Also check to see your usb drivers are up to date.

Already have the most recent ones, as it turns out. So that's a no-go as well.

 

[carsncars]

Quote:

Originally Posted by strohmie No dice.

Damn, you must be missing a lot of dice lately. Hehe.

Try using it on a buddy's computer-- if it works then its an issue with your computer, and we can go from there.. but if it doesn't, than you can assume its the player and I'd recommend contacting the Seller at that point. If the Seller doesn't cooperate, then contact eBay-- you could argue that it is DOA.

In general I don't like buying things like these over eBay unless its a cheap used one... much harder to return.

 

[kin0kin]

did windows even detect it?
If XP detected it, but you dont see the mass storage device in my computer, you may need to "enable" it from computer management.

control panel -> admin tools -> compu management -> disk management.

if you see some mass storage there that is unallocated, try allocating and formatting it. anyway, it's best that u format the neon, there is a recent news saying that creative shipped a bunch of neons out with virus in it!

 

[strohmie]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kin0kin did windows even detect it? If XP detected it, but you dont see the mass storage device in my computer, you may need to "enable" it from computer management. control panel -> admin tools -> compu management -> disk management. if you see some mass storage there that is unallocated, try allocating and formatting it. anyway, it's best that u format the neon, there is a recent news saying that creative shipped a bunch of neons out with virus in it!

The device isn't even recognized by Windows -- when I plug it in, Windows gives me that message I mentioned above: "A problem occurred during hardware installation. Your new hardware may not work properly." And I'm positive this isn't one of the virus-equipped ones. I checked my serial number, and it doesn't match the group that has a virus on it. Those only account for 1% of the Neeons out there anyway.

 

[kin0kin]

Quote:

Originally Posted by strohmie The device isn't even recognized by Windows -- when I plug it in, Windows gives me that message I mentioned above: "A problem occurred during hardware installation. Your new hardware may not work properly." And I'm positive this isn't one of the virus-equipped ones. I checked my serial number, and it doesn't match the group that has a virus on it. Those only account for 1% of the Neeons out there anyway.

so you cant even see the "unallocated mass storage device" in computer management?

 

[strohmie]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kin0kin so you cant even see the "unallocated mass storage device" in computer management?

Nada.

 

[kin0kin]

Quote:

Originally Posted by strohmie Nada.

u know. I understand how you feel now, I seriously hope that it's not a lemon that you got....

gotta try it out @ ur buddy's house i guess.

 

[strohmie]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kin0kin u know. I understand how you feel now, I seriously hope that it's not a lemon that you got.... gotta try it out @ ur buddy's house i guess.

Yea, looks like that's what I have to do next. Will probably have the chance on Friday.

Someone just shoot me.