# Help! My Zune Completely Quit Working **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 15, 2008, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-my-zune-completely-quit-working/472886 "2008-11-15T18:37:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2008, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-my-zune-completely-quit-working/472886/1 "2008-11-15T18:37:56Z")
This morning my Zune was working fine. I was digging some Beastie Boys (“No Sleep Till Brooklyn”), the decided to change to something a little more mellow (“Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want” by the Dream Academy). I scrolled through the songs, found the one I want, hit “Play” and then… nothing. The machine was unresponsive for a few seconds, then shut off. I haven’t been able to turn it back on again, and my compter isn’t recognizing it as being plugged in to the USB drive. Any idea what’s up??? ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2008, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-my-zune-completely-quit-working/472886/2 "2008-11-15T18:41:00Z")
To reset it hold the back arrow and push up on the directional pad simultaneously. If something made it freeze up that should work. If worse comes to worse you can do a total reset. [Here](http://hektik.org/forums/zune/3779-zune-button-combinations.html) are the reset commands. ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2008, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-my-zune-completely-quit-working/472886/3 "2008-11-15T19:33:25Z")
Wow, thanks! Your fix worked just fine! 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2008, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-my-zune-completely-quit-working/472886/4 "2008-12-31T13:23:09Z")
Dead again, and this time it’s not responding to a hard (or soft, or any) reset. The Hold button is unlocked. Any ideas this time? ---
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2008, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-my-zune-completely-quit-working/472886/5 "2008-12-31T14:33:50Z")
I’ve got this same problem. I tried to reset it using Airman’s instructions, but it’s still not working. The support instructions suggest to let the battery drain to the point where it shuts itself down, then plug it back in. If that doesn’t work, the next step is to wipe it, then restore it. [Here](http://support.microsoft.com/kb/931912) are the instructions. It kind of makes me wonder if there wasn’t some faulty firmware somewhere. Robin ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2008, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-my-zune-completely-quit-working/472886/6 "2008-12-31T14:38:28Z")
> [@MsRobyn](#): > > [Here](http://support.microsoft.com/kb/931912) are the instructions. Ugh. I can’t find the receipt, and I’m pretty sure I didn’t register the device, so there’s no telling if it’s still under warranty. So it looks like my options are 1) Hope draining the batter & re-powering works; 2) Hope it’s still under warranty; 3) Pay for a costly repair; 4) Buy a new one and re-load all of my content. Ugh. ---
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2008, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-my-zune-completely-quit-working/472886/7 "2008-12-31T14:41:54Z")
Don’t do anything yet. I’ve been looking at some of the Zune boards, and there are issues with the 30gb model doing just this. I’ll post specifics when I have details. Robin ---
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2008, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-my-zune-completely-quit-working/472886/8 "2008-12-31T14:51:18Z")
This is from [Gizmodo](http://gizmodo.com/5121311/reports-30gb-zunes-failing-everywhere-all-at-once). No word on a fix yet, and it seems that none of the usual fixes works. It may be a bit of bad code with the latest firmware update; hopefully Microsoft will have a fix sometime later. And note to iPod users: Please don’t shit in this thread. We like our Zunes and would really rather not hear about how iPods are superior. Robin ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2008, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-my-zune-completely-quit-working/472886/9 "2008-12-31T18:31:12Z")
The speculation most places is that this has to do with a leap year bug. This is the first year with 366 days since the Zune started. I’m sure Microsoft will have a fix within a day or two. ---
**Author:** ![fluiddruid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@fluiddruid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fluiddruid)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2008, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-my-zune-completely-quit-working/472886/10 "2008-12-31T18:54:34Z")
Keep an eye on the “Zune Service Status” box at the upper right corner of [this page](http://www.zune.net/en-US/support). ---
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2008, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-my-zune-completely-quit-working/472886/11 "2008-12-31T18:57:23Z")
Microsoft is aware of it; there’s a blurb on the Zune support page. I don’t know how close they are to a fix, but it should be soon. I hope. Robin ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2008, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-my-zune-completely-quit-working/472886/12 "2008-12-31T19:08:59Z")
How exactly are they going to fix it? Even if they send out a patch, my Zune software isn’t even recognizing that a device is connected. Maybe they’ll ask all of us Zune users to send our 30GB’s in to Microsoft, and they’ll replace them with 120GB’s (and all of our content pre-loaded)! ---
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2008, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-my-zune-completely-quit-working/472886/13 "2008-12-31T19:21:36Z")
> [@HeyHomie](#): > > How exactly are they going to fix it? Even if they send out a patch, my Zune software isn’t even recognizing that a device is connected. > > Maybe they’ll ask all of us Zune users to send our 30GB’s in to Microsoft, and they’ll replace them with 120GB’s (and all of our content pre-loaded)! It would be nice, wouldn’t it. 😉 Robin ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2008, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-my-zune-completely-quit-working/472886/14 "2008-12-31T19:29:19Z")
There’s a story about the issue on CNN: [Link](http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/12/31/zune.player.failures/index.html) Bet Microsoft is getting some calls from irate customers today… ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2008, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-my-zune-completely-quit-working/472886/15 "2008-12-31T20:19:51Z")
It’s the Zune Y2k9 bug! Woof! 😃 Gee, I wonder what would happen if the Windows operating system had a similar bug in it? Computers all over the globe suddenly froze up and … arrrgggghhhh! ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2008, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-my-zune-completely-quit-working/472886/16 "2008-12-31T20:29:22Z")
[If you scroll down, there’s a comment which describes a fix that seems to work.](http://www.crunchgear.com/2008/12/31/all-zune-30s-crapping-out/) It will void your warranty, however, so you might _not_ want to do it. ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2008, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-my-zune-completely-quit-working/472886/17 "2008-12-31T20:42:29Z")
And now the [zune.net](http://zune.net) site causes my compter to crash. :smack: What the hell is going on over at Microsoft today? :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2008, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-my-zune-completely-quit-working/472886/18 "2008-12-31T23:20:05Z")
From Microsoft - it is a leap-year bug in the firmware that should self-resolve tomorrow: > [@](#): > > 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. That line about “a large number of which that are still actively being used” struck me as amusing. Were they really expecting people to toss these things out after less than two years? ---
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2008, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-my-zune-completely-quit-working/472886/19 "2008-12-31T23:21:55Z")
[Here is the official announcement.](http://forums.zune.net/412486/ShowPost.aspx) It looks like there won’t need to be a bug fix. My question is, do we need to wait until noon GMT to get this taken care of? (That’s 7 a.m. Eastern.) I’m jonesin’. I can’t make dinner without my Zune! :eek: Robin ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2008, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-my-zune-completely-quit-working/472886/20 "2008-12-31T23:35:09Z")
The weird thing is, the Zune has an internal clock that has caused it to crash, yet I’ve never seen anywhere on there to make it tell me the time. I wonder if mine even knows I’m on Central Time? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-my-zune-completely-quit-working/472886.md?page=2)