Zen Xtra Buttons Freeze

[djlowry]

Hi,
My MP3 buttons on my Zen Xtra 60gb have frooze on me.
The player can be switched on using the 'On' button but can only be turned off by removing the battery.
I can get it to Rescue Mode but am not able to press any button to select an option.
The player is not detected in Mediasource but I can see my music files in Nomad Explorer.
The hard drive doesn't make any clicking noises so I'm presuming that it isn't damaged.
I also have another Zen Xtra at home but as far as I know the hard drive is fried.
If I was to remove the hard drives and put my good hard drive into the Zen Xtra where the buttons actually work (just gets stuck in recovery mode) would this work?
I'm afraid to do a firmware upgrade in case I lose my music.
Currently travelling around the world so there's no way I'll be able to replace my music or back-up my music before tring the upgrade.
Can't even do a clean-up because as i said earlier the buttons don't work when switched on.

Please let someone be the bearer of good news!!

Many thanks.

[CrowdAds]

[ZenChick]

If you haven't already upgraded to the PlaysForSure firmware version, then don't - at least, until you've been able to make a backup of all your music. Redownload the version you already have and install it.

In answer to your other question - you should be able to swap hard drives with your other player with no problem, assuming that both players have the same firmware version.

[djlowry]

hey zenchick,

cheers for the reply. looks like there could be hope for me yet! i dont have anywhere to back up my music so i'll probably attempt to swap the hard drives. do you know how i check which firmware is on each? i cant press any buttons so im hoping i can check by connecting it to a pc via usb. if the firmware is different will i lose all my music?

[ZenChick]

When you turn on your players - one should already boot into Recovery Mode; the other you might have to force into Recovery Mode - the firmware version should be displayed at the top of the Recovery Mode menu.

I'm not sure what the effect of them being different versions would be. You wouldn't lose any of your music, but your player may pop a "Firmware Problem" screen and boot into Recovery Mode. If that happens, then I'm afraid you're stuck until you can back up your music, because I cannot predict how the player will behave if you try to flash the firmware. The website was pretty adamant about there being no turning back if you upgrade to the PFS firmware, so I assume a change is made to the firmware in the player's ROM. So this is what I'd expect might happen:

If player has non-PFS firmware and hard drive has PFS firmware, then reloading the non-PFS firmware will scramble the database and make your media unretrievable. If your player has PFS firmare and hard drive has non-PFS firmware, then reloading the PFS firmware may format the drive and wipe your media.

Just hope that both players have the same firmware version!

[djlowry]

okay jus checked the firmware versions i have. on both it says "Boot v1.2 HW v0.01". i presume i should be able to swap them. is it just a matter of opening each Zen Xtra and popping the hard drives out and then swapping them?

[ZenChick]

Pretty much. There are two small screws located at the bottom of the back plate. Unscrew those, and pry the back plate off to reveal the hard drive. Next, pop off the front plate and remove the battery. You should see four large-head screws (two of them on either side of the screen, the other two in the battery compartment). These are what hold the hard drive in place. Undo these screws, then gently lift the hard drive out. You may need a thin flat-head screwdriver to pry the drive out from the top end. Once you've got the top end of the drive clear of the enclosure, pull the drive out away from its ATA connector. Be careful not to bend any of the pins.

Installing the drive is pretty much the same procedure in reverse. Before installing the drive, carefully inspect the ATA connector pins on the drive, and straighten any that appear bent.

[ZenChick]

Also to note: You have the non-PFS firmware on both players. I strongly suggest you do not upgrade to the PFS firmware (v2.10.03), as this has reportedly killed many a Zen Xtra (it killed mine during the update process).

[djlowry]

zenchick, you're a legend. thanks so much for your help. i was going to try it but was afraid id lose all my music. off to do a bit of DIY. fingers crossed surgery goes well!

[ZenChick]

Wishing you luck!

[b1ke1t]

I have the same prob... but I don't have 2 players. What do you think I should do?

[BobbyRS]

Try searching EBay for some as-is Zen Xtra's for the spare part(s) you need.