Zune30 issue resolution

[DaveMac-MS]

Hi all:

As promised, I wanted to share the latest as soon as I heard anything from our development teams.

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. 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.

Please be assured that this driver bug exists for a part used only on Zune30's, so there is no risk of any other Zune model being affected.

We know this has been a big inconvenience to our customers and we are truly very sorry for that. Please accept our warmest thanks for your patience.

Don't hesitate to send me any questions.

Thanks, Dave.

[no9]

Thanks alot for you and your teams attention to this, and also for keeping us posted on the developments.

[DaveMac-MS]

You're welcome no9 - I know how frustrating it is to feel "out of the loop" when things go awry...

Thanks, Dave.

[Cruleworld]

So what time will it resolve itself? tomorrow morning at 12:01 or at noon?

[DaveMac-MS]

I believe noon GMT, so 7am EST or 4am here in Seattle.

Cheers, Dave.

[kugeln]

What are the chances of this issue being permanently resolved in a future software update? Considering that a leap year occurs roughly every 4 years, this issue will make a comeback in 2012 without a permanent fix.

Granted, there will probably be very few living Zune 30’s by then, but for those that survive and still see active use, it’s like a scheduled inconvenience.

It’d be like my car coming with a disclaimer “Due to a *feature* added by our system programmers, your car won’t start on the 29th of February. Please plan accordingly so you are not excessively inconvenienced.”

[DaveMac-MS]

Hi Kugeln:

Actually, I don't know whether this is related to just this leap year or all leap years. I'll run that by the team and see what they come back with.

Cheers, Dave.

[Senpai3330]

now Zune users can have something to look forward to after the countdown

[daglesj]

Ok well out of curiousity I popped my Zune into the docker around 1am 1st of Jan.

I had the battery symbol for 40 minutes and then it booted!


But...its still stuck as before.

So I'll leave it to conk out and re-dock after 12 noon.

[ketsuki]

Today my sisters 30GB Zune broke I said it might be a hacker and this was my theory.
The latest version of Zune firmware was 3.1
The day all the Zune's crashed was the 31st of December.
A coincidence?

[dfkt]

Originally Posted by ketsuki

Today my sisters 30GB Zune broke I said it might be a hacker and this was my theory.
The latest version of Zune firmware was 3.1
The day all the Zune's crashed was the 31st of December.
A coincidence?

What are you going on about? Hacker? The issue has been explained thoroughly.

[ketsuki]

Well now I know...

anyway I only said that was a theory...

[The DarkSide]

Good lookin' out DaveMac-MS, glad you guys are on it for us!!!

PS: Sorry for the late reply, I gotta' sleep sometimes!!!

[daglesj]

As of 12.14pm its now working and charging nicely!

Thank god.

DONT DO THAT AGAIN!

Phew.....

[randomtornado]

This is a dumb question, but how would a leap year prevent a player from working? Wouldn't it just.... be off by a day?

[Lord Froad]

Microsoft was sure efficient compared to what is could have been.
I hope you guys don't get hurt too bad because of a small oversight regarding leap years.

[The DarkSide]

Originally Posted by Lord Froad

Microsoft was sure efficient compared to what is could have been.
I hope you guys don't get hurt too bad because of a small oversight regarding leap years.

It could have been so much worse, everyone could have bought an Archos instead. Then life as we know it would have ceased to exist, and be no longer worth living.

My point: I'll take a Zune over most brands ANY DAY!!!!

[Peaty]

Funny I just noticed (we stayed in a hotel last night) When I got home I saw the screen and came here to check out how to reset the Zune and found this post right away. Thanks for the update and info. Very helpful

Happy New Year,

edit: I let it run down and after charging it it booted again as if nothing happened

[djini]

Hello and thanks MS for the excellent support. I don't own a zune but my dad does and I was thinking it would probably smart to have some sort of message on that person's computer that alerts the non tech-savvy users of the zune to the problem

again thank you for saving so many innocent people from ditching there zune 30's and converting to the unspeakable.

[allcassie]

is this the same bs that is happening with the toshiba gigabeat s30......mines started crapping its self new years eve.....