December 18, 2007

Zune Locking Up

Is your Zune locking up?

We've heard some rumors of Zunes locking up and, well, we'd like to get an update from some of our ZuneLuving audience to see what they've done and/or are doing about their Zune locking up.

If your Zune has locked up, what have you done about it? And how easy is it to fix?

Please list your comments blow.

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Filed under Microsoft Zune, Zune, Zune 2 by Team Zune Luv

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Comments on Zune Locking Up »

December 20, 2007

spyboy @ 5:44 pm

Mine 80gb locked up only once, which was last week when I got it (before firmware 2.3)

It got very laggy after playing a .wmv file I moved to it (it didn't transcode so I figured the file was ok) but the file had audio but no video (weird).

After that stuff got really slow and then it froze up.

I just held the left button and pressed the bottom (down) on the squircle for a few seconds until it shut down, then restarted it and everything was fine.

It took me a few minutes to figure out how to power it off, I was afraid I'd have to just let it sit until the battery died.

Blue Kae @ 6:03 pm

Had a Zune 80 GB from Circuit City that would either shutdown or reboot anywhere from 5 to 15 minutes into a podcast. Had no trouble listening to short ones or to music, but anything over 30 minutes was frustrating. I exchanged it for a new one and haven't had any more problems.

December 23, 2007

JimZune @ 5:49 pm

My 3 week old Zune 4 locked up and went blackscreen when attempting to play a podcast. I really like the flash Zune so I was a little ticked but no worries now.

I'm running right up against the upper memory limits with less than 100 mb free … it's not surprising that the Zune locked up.

I went to zune.net > Support > Troubleshooting and "Your Zune device does not respond to button presses or has a black screen."

The reset directions there fixed the problem … press the back button and press the top of the squircle. The Zune essentially reboots. I did a little podcast housekeeping and I'm back to normal running and I'm happy again. I guess I need a Zune 8!

December 26, 2007

lucyinthesky06 @ 12:28 pm

i got the zune 80 for xmas. unboxed it, set it up and synced about a third of my collection to it. i played around with it for a few hours [watching podcasts, listening to music while i made dinner etc..] everything was working superbly. i was impressed with the performance!

then i went to sync some more music to it later, and thats when i ran into trouble. i got a windows error bubble saying that a device couldnt be recognized, and on my zune device i got what i take to be the error screen. theres a number '5' in a circle on the top left, and it reads, "contact support." it wouldnt turn off with the play button, so i held the down and back button at the same time.

weird thing is, maybe one out of every 10 times i turn it on, the device loads up, and all my content appears to be there, but nothing will play. i looked at the storage and it says that "74.36 GB are used" and 0 are left, even though i only put about 12 GB on so far. once late last night i even plugged it in, my computer recognized it and i was able, appearedly, to sync it. but when i unplugged it, it stayed stuck on the connected screen. though it did charge my battery.

so now im stuck, ive scanned all the zune.net forums and cant find anything, so im about to call support. im pretty bummed cuz the device was working wonderfully most of the day. so i just hope it will get fixed. *crosses fingers*

January 2, 2008

john @ 8:56 pm

I have a first generation zune. After several months it started locking up and it sounded as if the hard drive was clicking. I would be playing a song then all of a sudden it would freeze, then start up several minutes later (even after reseting it etc, which often would not work). After waiting the battery would typically be drained more than usual, typically going down a 1/3 of the bar.

My fix was eventually to reformat the zune, and do a complete reinstall of the zune, and computer zune software with new profiles and such. I havn't had a single problem since doing this. It is nice and quick now, and with the new firmware updates, even faster and better than before.

April 6, 2008

DM @ 3:21 am

I pretty much had the same issue with a 1st gen 30gb zune as JimZune. Tried to play a podcast (that works in collection on the PC), nothing. Tried to go play something else… froze. It happened twice. First time I just let the battery drain and reset itself, but the second time the "back button + top of circle" reset worked just fine.

June 11, 2008

jmk @ 8:11 pm

I have have just confirmed my third Zune 8GB as defective. This is the second replacement. First was directly with Circuit City in the second week, About 5 weeks later that unit became a problem and was replaced by Microsoft after about 4 weeks not the 15 days they suggested. Now about a month into the 2nd replacement this one has locked up, And I am returning it again for a replacement.

Symptoms:

The Zune is not charging. It was working fine and had some charge left before connecting to the AC Adapter. When connecting to a USB Port (on several pcs) or to the AC Adapter/Charger, the charge icon flashes but even after charging for several hours, the unit is not responsive. I have gone through all the recommended troubleshooting steps, try a reset, manally depleting the battery by pressing the play/pause button until the empty battery button disappears, recharge over night…to no avail.

In the second two cases the problem occurred after being hooked up on a AC Charger. The Power strip is has a Surge Control. By the way this unit is my Wife's. I have an 80 Gig unit and hook it up to the same AC adapter, same cable with no problems.

We both love our units when they are working, but the 8 gig seems highly problematic. If could get a refund at this point I would and buy another brand. It's too bad because it's great when it working. Once again my 80 Gig has been problem free, other than draining the battery more quickly than the specs and reviews indicated.

Kind regards,

jmk

June 12, 2008

Ralph @ 5:39 am

I have a zune 80 black it locks up and says

3

Please wait

I tried to reset it by holding the middle of circle button down and at the same time pushing up button on the same circle button and holding them down together for a period of time but nothing happens, can you tell me how to unfreeze it? Thanks, Ralph.

June 25, 2008

Michelle @ 3:09 pm

My 80gb Zune is permanantly locked up and no amoutn of fiddling with the lock button seems to unlock it, however, when I mess with the headphone jack, it's unlocked for a split second and then locks back up.

What's wrong with it? Did something come loose?

Thanks.

~Michelle

July 13, 2008

Tori @ 1:58 pm

I have a first generation zune…a chunky brown one..ugh….

I have dropped it alot and it still works..for the most part

I have over 700 songs and photos on it

It had been working for several months..but then it started locking up in certain songs and in some it worked. Then all my software stopped working.

It wouldnt let me sync with any others and it wont let me put songs on it or take songs off.

Several of my friends have zunes and theirs is doing the same.

As far as I am concerned

ZUNE= Fat.Crappy.A peice of Junk.

I intend to just get an iPod send me a message at jefferyntori072408@hotmail.com if urs does the same

Tori @ 2:06 pm

Oh yeah…..and its just horrible…better features than the iPod but still if it wasn't for the chunkeyness and the locking up…i'd love it

July 24, 2008

Brian @ 10:31 am

I am having th same issue with my zune. Were you able to get yours unlocked? What was wrong?

August 9, 2008

Chris @ 1:19 pm

Dropped my Zune 80 and now I can only go from Error Message 5 (turn off; back button+middle button+play) then get error message 3 Please wait until it runs out of juice. Then I can charge it to start the vicious cycle over again. Like my Zune I am…stuck.

August 24, 2008

Raymond Lebok @ 9:21 pm

Most of the time this error seems to arrear after the zune has been dropped or bumped really hard. Mine started by giving me an error message soemthing like "File is missing or can't be played…" I would have to reload everything. I dropped it one day and got the error message "5 contact support." The firmware loads the boot, but once the hard drive isn't recognized as working, it goes to screen 5. The most commom cause for this is a failed hard drive. Either find a replacement, or send in for service if your not confident about doing it yourself.

October 5, 2008

Richard Flinders @ 10:32 am

Had the first version for 2 years. After it updated to software version 3, starting locking up. I'd a replacment plan at Best Buy. Thyeyreplaced it with an 80 gig. That locked up the second day. Could not be fixed. They replaced that with the 120GB (for extra money). I've had 2 of those replaced. They both locked up in the first couple hours using it. The last one was able to reboot. I use the Zune in a music trio. As a backup, I've a cheap Sansa. The Sansa has never locked up and got me through many problems at work, caused by the Zune. I wanted the Zune 'cause the screen is large and easy to see at work, but I'm beginning to think getting a different brand would be a lot less hassle at work. I've nice cases for my players and they've never been dropped. If you need something dependable, I'd suggest another brand! If you really like the Zune, be sure and get a long replacement warrenty. You'll need it!

October 8, 2008

Ken L @ 4:04 am

I'm on my second 30GB Zune. The current Zune locked up on me last week and haven't been able to reset. What do you do when there's no response?

zack @ 8:51 pm

HELP!!!
i have no clue what to do
i got the newest upgrade and you know how it comes with a pass word option? well i turned that on. and a couple days later it has locked up. now usually i would jst reset it like is says to do in the trouble shooting but since it is locked right now i cant do that….not sure if any of that made sence
does anyone have any advice?
im bout to go buy another one but i dont really want to

October 15, 2008

Lara @ 4:11 pm

1) I have a song on my Zune that shows up on the Zune screen, but doesn't show up on the software? I want to delete it bc it says "song unavailable" on my Zune. How can i delete it???

2) When I run the Zune software it CONSTANTLY freezes my entire computer, leaving me to do a hard shut down every time…..WTF?

October 20, 2008

becky @ 11:52 pm

mine just started doing the same thing today did you ever find an answer to this problem?

October 25, 2008

JayZILLA @ 4:15 pm

My Zunes been buggin the hell outta me. I had trouble installing the software first, then the cord I had was faulty. And NOW the play button isn't working.

IO can't pause or un pause anything.

And my zune will just randomnly put itself into sleep mode while I'm listening to music and i a minute it'll turn itself back on. PleaSSE HELP ME i'M OUT OF WARRANTY AND CAN'T AFFORD ANOTHER ONE.

October 27, 2008

Ray @ 12:07 pm

My Zune was locked up too. the idea from spyboy worked great. Before that, I tried everything I could think of. I held down every button I could think of, I plugged it in, tried to power it off using the play/pause button. Nothing worked.

I held the left arrow and down on the squircle and it shut down within a couple seconds and now works fine. THANKS!

November 2, 2008

Maya @ 3:24 am

I've got an 80 GB Zune second version almost a year old. Got from the Microsoft Company Store. Worked impeccably until tonight. Changed albums and it froze up. But holding the left button and down on the circle button worked just fine. Restarted and it runs as before.

allen c @ 4:36 am

really works man.thank u:]

November 8, 2008

Guy Montag @ 2:10 pm

Ahh finally! I've had my 8gb (should have gone for something larger) for about a year. Lately it kept locking up, sometimes even unlocking within a minute or two only to lock up on one of the next few songs. This usually when I selected "play all" while in a bands album list. The back and down trick works though. I got my Zune up and running again in seconds. Now time to figure out why I go through so many pairs of headphones and ear buds with my zune, but not with my handed down ipod.

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