zAlternator opens up your Zune to WMP11, iTunes sync

A new hack and this zAlternator app from PityOnU over at ZuneBoards lets the Zune masquerade as a generic "Windows Portable Device" (gee, imagine that!) or even an iPod, opening the device to new horizons of user-friendly content management. WPD is the real win here, allowing you to use Windows Media Player, Winamp or whatever other popular app you prefer for managing your media. The iTunes features are a bit more untested, but theoretically should work. To get you Zune to cooperate, there's a simple unlock hack to perform, but after that it should be pretty smooth sailing -- let us know what it's like on the other side.

[Thanks, Mike]

[Dragod Posted Jan 21st 2008 8:07PM]

If foobar accepts generic media players, it should.

[(Unverified) Posted Jan 21st 2008 8:23PM]

I am no Mac fanatic, but why bother with a Zune and hacking into it to make it look like a Ipod when you can get an iPod in the first place?

[(Unverified) Posted Jan 21st 2008 8:42PM]

The zune is more feature oriented and gets updates pumped out from the Zune team to make it even more so (even the 30 that's been out for over a year). The device is great as it is, but it's got potential to be even better.

Unfortunately, because iTunes comes pre-installed on some computers, many users use it as their default media management program. This just makes the transformation easier.

[(Unverified) Posted Jan 21st 2008 8:51PM]

Because the iPod uses iTunes, which is a nightmare to organize my music the way I want
Because the iPod does not have an FM radio
Because the iPod does not allow playing WMA/WMV without transcoding
Because the iPod makes me move my finger in a circle to navigate, which is hard to do when it is in my jacket pocket without looking
Because the iPod does not allow me to use WMP
Because the iPod does not allow me to wirelessly sync
Because the iPod does not automatically sync shows recorded from Windows Media Center
Because the iPod touch I have does not allow using it as a portable HDD
Because the iPod touch I have requires me to pay extra for upgrades
Because the iPod does not offer the features I want


Because the Zune uses the Zune software, which allows me to organize my music the way I want
Because the Zune has an FM radio
Because the Zune allows playing WMA/WMV without transcoding
Because the Zune has a touch pad that works the way I want to (and touch can be turned off)
Because the Zune allows me to use WMP (with this hack)
Because the Zune allows me to wirelessly sync
Because the Zune automatically syncs shows recorded from Windows Media Center
Because the Zune allows using it as a portable HDD (with a hack)
Because the Zune does not require me to pay extra for upgrades (I have an 80 and a 30, the updates are available for free on both)
Because the Zunes I have offers the features I want

[RioRyan Posted Jan 21st 2008 9:13PM]

@stephenbratz2

Love the list!

I would definately get my Zune into WMP but I think I'd rather have duplicate songs and podcasts than no duplicates but no podcasts..

[(Unverified) Posted Jan 21st 2008 10:44PM]

I found that list very interesting so here is my point to point reply to it

Because the iPod uses iTunes, which is a nightmare to organize my music the way I want

Itunes is a billion times better than ZUNE software. It does not force me to install .net framework or windows up or any of the other bazillion COMPULSORY and UNWANTED updates that were mandatory. Also ITunes CAN be replaced with third party software meaning you NEVER need to install itunes.

Itunes also allows me to just DUMP my music onto the ipod completely eliminating the need to database ANYTHING in itunes. IE it lets me copy my music to the ipod. YOU CAN NOT copy music to a zune its currently IMPOSSIBLE. you MUST copy it to "ZUNE" and then let ZUNE copy it to your zune hardware.

Because the iPod does not have an FM radio

Woopee. its nice I DO LIKE IT but other things piss me off a lot more about BOTH devices.

Because the iPod does not allow playing WMA/WMV without transcoding

The Zune does not allow the playing of ANYTHING including WMA and EVEN MP3 if it does not meet the very strict limitations of the zune. I have had wmz wmv m4a m4v and EVEN MP3's "REJECTED" and requiring "transcoding" before it would copy to the damned zune. and lets not even get started on the peice of shits use of the "BAND" to make creating mix albums a NIGHTMARE.

Because the iPod makes me move my finger in a circle to navigate, which is hard to do when it is in my jacket pocket without looking

Woopee. its quirk of the interface. you get used to whatever one you happen to be using. its an extremely minor issue. I love that the zune has more buttons. IE less MENUS

Because the iPod does not allow me to use WMP

Neither does the ZUNE and I do not WANT to use WMP I hate WMP as much as I hate ZUNE softwared as much as I hate ITUNES. All I want is god damned driver letter. NO FREAKING SOFTWARE.

Because the iPod does not allow me to wirelessly sync

And you think the zune does? Well in my book this "thing" they call wireless sync I call wireless fraking SNOOZE. I gave up at 3% when my rough calculations showed it was going to take over 3 hours to sync and I was on G network less than 8 feet from the router.

Because the iPod does not automatically sync shows recorded from Windows Media Center

GOOD I don't want it doing ANYTHING ON EARTH without my explicit permission. I HATE that the damned zune "reset" my let me choose manually to whatever the hell IT WANTS when I add a zune. I have to EVERY TIME change those settings TWICE to prevent it from AUTO syncing.

Because the iPod touch I have does not allow using it as a portable HDD

NEITHER does the ZUNE

Because the iPod touch I have requires me to pay extra for upgrades

Don't Care I don't want an all in one device I just want a good mp3/audio player.

Because the iPod does not offer the features I want
Neither does the zune. THEY BOTH SUCK. the zune just has a kick ass construction (original 30gb the new zune has the same sucky feel as the ipod) and the only reason I chose the zune over the ipod is I LOVE the zune hardware GUI and the wifi sharing of podcasts and audio books rules (there is no music sharing really it been neutered to pointless)


Because the Zune uses the Zune software, which allows me to organize my music the way I want

Your joking right? are you on freaking METH ??? do you have any idea how much time I spend FIGHTING with the damned zune software because it will ONLY organize music ONE SINGLE WAY> and that way is ITS WAY or the damned highway. at least itunes lets me IGNORE itunes and just dump the music on the ipod.

Because the Zune has an FM radio

Again woopee. YES I do like having an FM radio but its certaintly not a deal breaker and I can not record from the FM like I can with my Zen Vision.

Because the Zune allows playing WMA/WMV without transcoding

BULLSHIT. only "SOME" WMA WMV and the criteria is VERY strict. I think YOU just either do not NOTICE its transcoding "on the fly" for you OR you just happen to have all your stuff in the criteria limitations of the device.

Because the Zune has a touch pad that works the way I want to (and touch can be turned off)

Woopee. its an interface. no matter how quirky or unquirky it might be after a few days you are just "used" to it.

Because the Zune allows me to use WMP (with this hack)

But it still requires you to install the zune software and forcing you to TRICK it to let you use it EACH AND EVERY TIME. completely eliminating ANY advantage of the hack to begin with.

Because the Zune allows me to wirelessly sync

See above nice but so poorly implemented as to be rendered USELESS

Because the Zune automatically syncs shows recorded from Windows Media Center

Exactly what I DO NOT WANT and itunes will do precisely the same thing. Just set the "WMC" output folder to be one of the folders ITUNES monitors. DONE. auto sync to ipod.

Because the Zune allows using it as a portable HDD (with a hack)

Dream on. OK come over to my house and connect as HDD NO your not allowed to install .net framework on my system. Now tell me it works.

Because the Zune does not require me to pay extra for upgrades (I have an 80 and a 30, the updates are available for free on both)

ONE of the few things MS did right. I congratulate them on that!

Because the Zunes I have offers the features I want

The zune to me as an mp3 player is no different than an ipod. IT SUCKS. because they both work on n ID3 Database driven system. WHich means YOU have to work extra hard to use the damned thing.

WHEN are manufacturers going to learn. I DO NOT WANT YOUR DATABASES. I DO NOT WANT YOUR SOFTWARE. I DO NOT WANT ANYTHING PROPRIETARY.

JUST give me a damned USB Mass Spec interface and a FOLDER called MUSIC

I DUMP my music in said folder in ANY FORMATTING ORDER OR ARRANGEMENT I DESIRE.

When I select MUSIC in the hardware it simply SHOWS ME THE DAMNED MUSIC FOLDER.

NOW I can organize and arrange my music ANY WAY I WANT. How hard is that? UP TOP on the zune hardwre you have Artists Album Genere Playlists. HOW ABOUT ONE FREAKING MORE called FOLDER. ??? THAT so damned hard?

I hate having to fights argue with and manipulate OBSCURE fraking ID3 tagging information because the damned device insist two songs with the SAME DAMNED ALBUM NAME are from DIFFERENT albums because they have different "ALBUM ARTIST" tags. GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

The ZUNE software is SO MUCH WORSE than itunes that the only reason I did not SMASH my 6 zunes through a god damned wall and go out and buy ipods or better some CRAP chinese pmp's is that #1 I got a SICK freaking deal on the zunes.

The zune software is SO BAD AND SO ANNOYING I want to PUKE every time I am forced to look at it.

I NEVER thought I would find a piece of software WORSE than ITUNES. I found it. Its called ZUNE software. That takes a LOT of effort microsoft. I mean you have to try REALLY hard to be worse than itunes.

SO why keep them? well the above price thing. I got a sick deal.

Here is what I DO like about the zune.

First microsoft did not say F OFF to there early buyers. They updates the OS of BOTH models. I hope this continues.

Second the "hardware" is amazing. I LOVE the translucency of the colors. I LOVE the "soft feel" plastic they used. it FEELS good in the hand. I LOVE the size. Sometimes the damned things are just too freaking thin. my 5th gen ipod I used to have (traded for 2 more zodiacs :-) was too darned thin. it hurt my thumb after using it awhile. Now I do have large hands so this might not be common. The zune "just fits"

the new zunes. not so great to me. too think and "slick" like the ipod. I hope they continue to make the old style zunes alonside the new ones. As the squircle I don't care but keep the same overall dimensions and type of plastic as on the 30gb

NOW for the best part. I LOVE the interface. I LOVE that 240x240 full width album art and VERY simply basic interface on the bottom. Elegant simple efficient pretty. TROUNCES the ipod in every way in this regard.

ITs the only reason I did not SMASH mine. I love this gui so much I replicated it on my Zodiac's with Pocket Tunes (far better for playing music than a zune)

I pretty much use my zune for audiobooks. its just too annoying to put anything else on it because of the lame ass interface (pc side) and and ID3 Database driven interface.

MY ONLY hope is that with this new zune that it will get popular enough for some to HACK the living crap out of it.

SO there you go. THEY BOTH SUCK. on the PC SIDE the zune sucks a TON MORE than the IPOD. on the DEVICE size the ZUNE kills the IPOD. Much better design much better gui.

PLEASE SOMEONE hack this thing so I can RESTORE my original PC backup image without .net windows update or zune software AT ALL.

GRrrrrrr

[(Unverified) Posted Jan 22nd 2008 12:28AM]

@Chris Taylor:

I use my Zune because I like it. I have an iPod Touch using it with iTunes, and for my music preferences and it does not fit my tastes. You have your favorite software, great. More power to you. I like my Zune and the Zune software.

For things like needing to install the .NET framework do not apply to me because I am a .NET developer, so I have it installed already. My not liking the wheel on an iPod is my personal preference, and saying "you just get used to it" is not the way I want to go through life. I don't just want to accept what is given to me just because that is the way somebody said it should be. I have used the GF's iPod enough to not like it. I tried the touch pad on the Zune and liked it. I am not going to choose something I don't like with the intent of "maybe someday I will get used to it."

I said that you can use the Zune as a HDD if you have hacks installed. Agreed, it would be best if you do not need hacks, but it is possible. But then you say that there are alternatives to iTunes, which, are themselves, hacks - hacks that Apple has disabled in the past.

Yes you can play WMA/WMV/MP3/and other formats with a Zune. I rip all my music to WMA, convert Media Center videos to WMV, and they play perfectly fine on the Zune. There are no restrictions other than you cannot use DRMed WMA/WMV from other marketplaces, but every other device has the same restriction. And no, it does not transcode, I was just reading (here I believe) somebody complaining that lossless WMA was not becoming lossless when transferred to the Zune, causing more space to be used than necessary. I can even play music downloaded from iTMS (with DRM removed) without transcoding. You are not forced to sync Media Center recordings to the Zune, you can set it up to copy everything, or just the ones you want. It would be nice if I could use wildcards (*Scrubs*), but it does not force you to copy just because you recorded something.

You don't care about updates? I am pissed that I had to pay $20 for features for my Touch, with many of them not working (the location finder has not worked at any hotspot I have tried). I think it is great that I could update my Zune 30 to use the same software as my Zune 80.

You frequent exaggerations (bazillions of updates - I did not need to install anything other than the downloaded software package) and YELLING only show how unreasonable you are. Guillaume Asked why people would use a Zune when you could use an iPod. I listed some of the reasons it is good for me. I also find it quite laughable that you know what features I want. I wrote "Because the iPod does not offer the features I want", and your reply was "Neither does the zune". How the hell do you know what features I want? Then you turn it to personal attacks, claiming I am on "METH" because I like the software. Use what you want, I will use what I want.

I was given a iPhone by a friend of mine who works for Apple. I was comptemplating activating it, but the other day while sitting at a bar with my Touch, an Apple fanboy sitting next to me started talking down to me because his iPhone was so much better than my Touch. Your incessant rants and telling me that I do not know what I want (even though I have used many of the other music players out there), just make me like it even more.

Thanks for trying, though...

[(Unverified) Posted Jan 21st 2008 9:10PM]

Too bad its NOT that useful. I am still forced to install all that ZUNE CRAP software and all the CRAP mandatory updates that go with it.

What I want is to install a zune on a computer without installing ANY UPDATES OR SOFTWARE from microsoft.

[RioRyan Posted Jan 21st 2008 9:16PM]

You make a good point. Apple has the iPod software (iTunes) pre-installed on all of their macs. I was really expecting Zune to use Windows Media Player, Window's default, pre-installed media player, as iPods use iTunes (Mac's default, pre-installed media player). Even as a Zune user, I must admit: Score 1 for the iPod here.

[tavisjohn Posted Jan 21st 2008 9:23PM]

computer.dude.28

Apple bundles iTunes with their machines they are praised for making life easier.

If MS were to bundle the ZUNE software with Windows, they would get AntiTrust lawsuits!

[sracer Posted Jan 21st 2008 9:40PM]

Yes, that would be nice, but this hack is a step in the right direction. And although you may not find it useful, I'm sure that there are plenty who will.

[Googler Posted Jan 21st 2008 8:54PM]

Does this mean it can sync to a Mac>?

[sracer Posted Jan 21st 2008 9:35PM]

The hack works as advertised... well done guys. Just bear in mind that the software needs to be "unlocked" each time you want to sync.

If you have a Zune 30 and are interested in going back to the WMP-based 1.x Zune software you can get instructions here.

IMO, the 1.x Zune experience is still better than 2.x.

[sracer Posted Jan 21st 2008 9:36PM]

Here is here :
http://www.zunescene.mobi/forums/index.php?topic=24304.0

[(Unverified) Posted Jan 21st 2008 9:52PM]

For those having troubles, I just finished writing a tutorial for MediaMonkey and it includes pictures: http://www.zuneboards.com/forums/tutorials/16833-sync-your-zune-using-mediamonkey-zalternator.html

[(Unverified) Posted Jan 21st 2008 10:15PM]

This is like putting an M3 badge on a BMW 318i - For gosh sakes, just go and buy the real thing, dont bother emulating an iPod

[(Unverified) Posted Jan 21st 2008 10:56PM]

How is this emulating an iPod? All this is doing is allowing you to use other software to sync to the zune. Zune 80 is superior to the Classic 80-just not software-wise. Leave this alone; it's not like this program will threaten the iPod's place.

[(Unverified) Posted Jan 21st 2008 11:46PM]

Way to troll page 2.

[patches66 Posted Jan 21st 2008 10:51PM]

does this only work with a zune, or would it fool itunes into seeing any mp3 player as an ipod? samsung's software is total crap, and i despise wmp.

[jbond Posted Jan 22nd 2008 3:53AM]

Sigh. So that's what happened to MTP. And what the hell was wrong with plain old USB Mass Storage anyway.

[jbond Posted Jan 22nd 2008 3:56AM]

Jeez' Can we please have some realistic competition for the iPod already.
- 160Gb for the 1.8" version, 250Gb upwards for the 2.5" version
- Plain old USB Mass storage and USB Host. Enough of this sync rubbish.
- No attempt at DRM. Or compromises required to support DRM

[dhlt25 Posted Jan 22nd 2008 4:05AM]

This is awesome. Finally i can sync my ZUne with WMP11 because quite frankly the Zune software sucks balls. I've just wasted 3 hours today trying to fix id3 tag problems. Now I can just sync it with WMP11

[Eriq Posted Jan 22nd 2008 1:54PM]

Yes! I was just about to sell my Zune2 for a Creative device that works with Windows Media Player.

I hate the Zune software and how I was forced to maintain two separate media libraries. This is great. But it still bothers me that the Zune isn't compatible with WMP11 out the box.