Power Related Issues; Battery, Charging, Replacement

[Mudlogger]

Hello all - hope someone can help me out with this problem - my ZVM is around 2 months old, when I first got it I charged it as per the manual, upgraded to the latest firmware and loaded it to the hilt with all my old favourites. Problem was that battery life wasn't what it should have been, despite shutting the display off and reducing power consumption to the minimum, I'd get barely 5 hours to a charge.... so after tramping round the net looking for a replacement cell, I found a few places selling compatible replacement unit made by Cameron Sino - CSDA006SL. this is rated at 3.7V and 1700mAh. I ordered and fitted one of these, and plugged it into the mains charger for a few hours, to start with it all looked good - got the right icon showing etc... maybe four hours later I checked it out and it looked fully charged - no flashing light, or blinking icon.. when I powered it up though it just came back and gave me the "low battery" screen before shutting down. Plugged it back into the charger and it booted up, but this time instead of showing a full battery, all I get is a pic of a black plug??? as if it doesn't recognise the battery at all.... apart from this, everything else is ok with the player as long as it's connected to the mains power. Tried plugging it into the USB connection, and the blue light blinks - but it doesn't show as being docked till I also connect the mains power supply.... buggrit!
I contacted the store who supplied the battery, they sent another to me the same day, it behaves in the same way - "what happens when you refit the original battery?" I hear you all saying...... well, sorry to have to tell you that it went all "Mission Impossible" on me and self destructed as I removed it - reports of these things bursting into flames are NOT greatly exaggerated!

Anyone had this problem before? Need an answer soon as I'm finding having to use it within a few feet of a wall socket seriously tedious.....

Thanks in anticipation

[CrowdAds]

[Cheekytrish92]

Hey,

I remember charging my Zen last night, and when I unplugged it wasnt fully charged. Today I tried turning it on but no luck! All it did was the blue light just blinked and blinked but it didnt turn on!

Can anyone help please?

Also when I plugged it up to charge, nothing came up on the screen, the blue light just kept blinking and my computer doesnt detect it.

[Amblin]

Check the below thread.

http://www.anythingbutipod.com/forum...ad.php?t=10960

[SiKh22]

hey i had this happen to for a while. What i did was plug in and it would some times turn on and when it did. I cleared the whole zen and reset it and reloaded the firmware and it was good to go after that. Try to get it on by the Charging of the USB

[OldZVMDude]

Did you reset it?

[ZenChick]

When the blue light blinks rapidly when you try to turn it on, it means the battery is too depleted to power up. Whatever you used to charge the player did not charge it. In the case of USB charging, the host computer might not have been providing power to its USB ports. This is a known problem for some older computers.

I would suggest getting a DC wall adapter instead. It charges much faster, and isn't problematic like USB charging can be. Hint: If you have access to a PSP charger, use it.

Once you get the thing charged and powered up, you might want to check to see which firmware version you're running.

[trampchamp2007]

Oh man I am having the EXACT same issue! EXACTLY! I dont know what to do. Its almost like the new battery is depleted. I just wish I knew what to do, because it wont charge via wall charger, it says that its fully charged (the plug) but then when I unplug it from the wall charger it says "low battery". I dont know, and I have been trying to charge it via USB and all it does is blink. Its been going on for about three days now. UGH

[shoefly2k]

Mudlogger

Are you sure the battery is only 3.7V?? That seems low..

[Firegold]

What Firmware are you using?
I had the same problem earlier today but eventualy decided to try different firmware. I was using 1.62.02 first but the reflashed 1.41.01 and it worked again!

Hopefull this helps.

[ZenChick]

Firmware 1.40.xx has a known issue that would cause exactly what you guys are describing. I'm not sure if this issue had been fixed with v1.41.01, but I don't recall having ever seen that version offered on Creative's website, so may have been an internal release that made it onto a few players before v1.50.00 was released.

Anyways, under most circumstances, simply updating the firmware should resolve this issue; however, in rare circumstances, the problem will survive the firmware overlay. In this case, you will have to boot the player into Recovery Mode and select the "Reload Firmware" option. This will completely remove the existing firmware from the player, and prompt you to connect to your computer and start the firmware update process.

[celts]

After letting my mp3 player sit for a few months, I recently attempted to turn on my Vision M after it had charged for a while. However, it refused to turn on. No blinking blue light or anything. However, when I have it plugged into my computer, it turns on just fine and tells me its charging. It plays music and the whole nine yards. Is this a battery issue or is it something else?

[ZenChick]

On the surface, that seems pretty normal; Keep it plugged in overnight and see if the battery charges.

Edit: Upon re-reading, I've changed my mind. That is definitely not normal! Normally when a battery has run down to the point where it won't power up, plugging it into a computer isn't going to make it power up right away, as the USB port does not provide sufficient power to charge the battery AND bring the player to full power. Plus, even if the player did manage to power up, why isn't the computer recognizing it?

As I said originally, keep it plugged in and let it charge overnight. However, if the battery shows no sign of charging, then I'm afraid the battery has gone completely on you.

[dannyboy20]

Hi all,

Apologises as this is my first post. I recently bought a few MP3 & MP4 players in a pallet, it is mainly ex Argos stock and customer returns.

In it I had a perfectly working Creative Zen Touch which works great. I also had a Creative Zen Vision M, which looks as new, the earphones and USB cable hadn't even been taken out the packaging.

Now the player will not turn on at all, when hooked up to the USB i get nothing on screen, no blue light or anything. But when I connect it to a 4.5V AC adapter, I receive a solid blue light but thats it. I have left it on overnight but still nothing is happening on the player, and Windows isn't recogising it at all.

I'm guessing the battery is faulty, so is it worth me getting a new battery? Or should I sell it on for spares or repairs? I would like to think I could fix it as it looks like a brilliant player and would love to keep it myself.

Many thanks in advance,

Danny

[Almoxil]

It seems a battery issue for me, Danny. I'm not sure whether getting a new battery will solve the problem, though, since it could be a charging circuit issue. A similar problem happened to my cellphone two months ago. The battery charging circuit got busted but the phone kept working. Now it works perfectly, but can't charge the battery.

A few questions: Does the player gets hot when you plug the AC adapter? Does the AC adapter plug into the AC jack on the subpack or into the USB port?

[dannyboy20]

Thanks for the prompt reply Almoxil. The AC adapter is plugged into the AC jack on the subpack. I did notice it the player got warmer after leaving it plugged in for a while, I wouldn't say it was hot though.

[Almoxil]

You could try accessing the Recovery Mode to see if it works:

1. Unplug the player from your PC, if it's plugged;
2. Slide the power switch towards the power on icon and hold it there;
3. Push the end of a pin-like object (a straightened paper clip, for example) into the reset hole, press gently and remove;
4. Wait until the Creative logo appears and then release the power switch.

If the Recovery Mode screen appears, try using "Clean Up" and if it doesn't work, "Format All".

If that doesn't work, either the battery or the player itself is busted. As I said in the other post, I can't guarantee that buying a new battery will solve the problem.

Sorry for not being more helpful.

[dannyboy20]

No nothing appears on the screen at all when I do that. Thanks for your help anyway. I guess I'll sell it on ebay as spares or repairs unless anyone else has any ideas?

I'm glad I found this forum, one of the most helpful i've seen! I'll be sure to be sticking around. I have a few more players to test if they are working now lol

[Almoxil]

Welcome to ABi, Danny.

Well, while you figure out what you're going to do about the player, leave it plugged into AC power. One of my co-workers had problems with his ZV:M too, and we struggled with them for a few days before getting it to work properly.

[dannyboy20]

I left it on since your post up until about 20 minutes ago, and it's still the same unfortunately Anyone else have any ideas?

Thanks again

[thomasowen]

I got a Zen Vision M as new from Ebay a few days ago, and basicly Ive noticed that when the battery gets to about halfway through the bar at the top, it cuts to red and says ‘low battery’ then it cuts out. Does anyone know if the battery is broken and what I can do about it?