My Brand New Zune 8 Brick

[vranswer]

Got fired up with all the Gapless/Lossless possibilities of the new flash Zunes, so ordered up the incredibly cheap ($155) Dell.com Zune 8 black. Got it today and began installation......{thud}. Screen now black - no reset response, no 'on/off' response, never could get it back out of USB port alive.

Did use a USB hub, so word to the wise, "don't do that". (it's on the MS troubleshooting site) But, I mean, this thing is absolutely dead - gonzo - no amount of tarot-card wish-giving hoodoo can resurrect this SOB. A brick...pile of monkey-dung...speed bump for baby strollers...a microcosmic void in the high-tech stratosphere....

'nother one's on the way...

 

[Ricardo Dawkins]

you must use the combo for formatting it fully and re-start from zero with the pre-installed firmware.

Make sure your zune is charged or do this while you have it plugged to the computer or a power source
Press and hold back + center + play buttons and it will delete everything on it, as well as the firmware.

 

[vranswer]

Thanks so much for the informed suggestions! Gave me something else to try while waiting for the replacement player. Neither tactic was successful, but glad to give it a shot. This one is just a dud. Not giving up though, as Dell is sending me a new one! (kind of a pia though)

 

[mule65]

Quote:

Originally Posted by vranswer /img/forum/go_quote.gif But, I mean, this thing is absolutely dead - gonzo - no amount of tarot-card wish-giving hoodoo can resurrect this SOB. A brick...pile of monkey-dung...speed bump for baby strollers...a microcosmic void in the high-tech stratosphere.... 'nother one's on the way...

I can sense the anger/frustration in every keystroke. I'm still amazed how the firmware level user friendliness of these widgets are so 1982.

 

[vranswer]

Yeah, I was gonna say, you wait for the thing to show up and the anticipation is quite peaked when you're finally opening the box. There is an excitement level simmering as you must wait for it to charge. All of this comes crashing down when the SOB bricks itself and is completely dark. Dell's a good company and immediately sent another one with a return label included for the paperweight, but the wait starts again. Difficult to swallow.

 

[steviebee]

'speed bump for baby strollers...'

Love it! Great description

 

[vranswer]

Well, credit to Dell.com, they got a replacement to me in just a few days and the new one is fully functional. SQ is pretty balanced, WMAL files are playing fine and gapless works perfectly. Nice player!

 

[Night Surfer]

Glad it worked out.
I would say "Welcome to the Social" but it just sounds way too dorky.

 

[vranswer]

Well, from your sig it looks like you're as qualified as anyone to utter the perplexing phrase....

Seriously though, been listening to the Zune 8 all afternoon and I'm really enjoying its presentation! Figured out wireless sync too and it is way cool! I still like my 3G nano for all the known reasons that we won't go into here, but as a wireless DAP the Zune is Groovy!!