Many many users, are now reporting that, for whatever reason, their original 30-Gbyte Microsoft Zune MP3 players crashed soon after midnight on the morning of Dec. 31. Edit 12:32 PM PDT: Microsoft says that the company is "really close to identifying the root cause of the issue."
Edit 4:30 PM: We have a resolution!
From Microsoft: "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. That being the case, 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.
The affected users say that the Zunes lock up as the boot process almost completes, to the point that the progress bar reaches about the 90 percent mark. Joel Durham Jr., an analyst for ExtremeTech, was one of the users affected, as both of his Zunes died identically.
"I have two: They look like they started to boot, and died in the process," Durham Jr. wrote. "[They] won't accept ANY commands, not even the emergency reboot. They're bricks."
A Microsoft representative did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Microsoft has discovered similar problems with the Zune before, to the point that the company's support staff has created a support thread that attempts to solve the problem. But the users who have created a pair of support threads here and here say that the threads' suggestions, including letting the battery drain completely, does not solve the problem.
The rash of lockup problems on the same day, however, suggests a software glitch, users speculated.
Microsoft says they're working on the issue, and will have updates as they develop a fix. In the meantime, however, a bored blogspace is comparing Microsoft's meltdown to the Y2K fiasco, Armageddon, and other cataclysms.
Like everyone else, this sort of bug is unacceptable. Microsoft's slogan for the Zune is "Welcome to the Social". Bricking the Zune right before the worldwide party that is New Years' Eve? That's anything but.
Microsoft has already reportedly taken a $1 billion charge to fix the Xbox 360 game console, which has been plagued by huge failure rates. Microsoft's SPOT watches and other devices failed to take off, and the whole concept of the Tablet PC is sputtering, if not essentially dead. I look forward to Steve Ballmer's first keynote at CES next week; I'd like to see how he explains why Microsoft continues to struggle in the hardware business.
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January 1, 2009 2:10 PM
tough break indeed. first the X-box meltdown and now the this. at least the Zune seems to be more fixable...
January 4, 2009 2:45 PM
Non story in the end. Mine froze like all other 30gb models, but one day later it fixed itself & was back to normal-- working flawlessly as it has for 1.5yrs. Unlike the dupes that waited in lines & bought the new iPhones that couldn't be activated, or the thousands that upgraded their old models and bricked them w/ 2.0 firmware. I did without it for 24hrs, yet somehow I managed to survive the ordeal and life goes on. If all tech products (only) suffered self-correcting issues as their greatest weakness, we'd all be better off. Apple's repeated iJunk doesn't fix itself, and never refer to their problems as "bugs", rather call them an "enhancement" if & when they're fixed.