30GB Zunes mysteriously begin to fail at 12AM, December 31st -- day of reckoning to follow
By Tim Stevens 
posted December 31st 2008 8:45AM
posted December 31st 2008 8:45AM
Update: Jim wrote in to let us know that someone at Microsoft has apparently finally woken up and checked their e-mail (yikes, imagine that inbox). The official Zune site now has a message stating that Redmond's best are aware of the problem and "are working to correct it." We'll keep you posted.
Update 2: Major Nelson just tweeted that anyone with an issue "should be good to go." Exactly what that means, however, remains to be seen, as there's still no word of an official fix on the Zune site.
Update 3: Oops, sorry for getting your hopes up. Seems the Major was wrong and is now indicating the team of Zune developers is working like mad to figure it out. Somebody had better order in lunch for those guys -- it's going to be a long day.
[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Considering the sheer volume of posts that you have here, I should give you the same resolution: "realise that nobody on the internet cares what I say."
Way to generalize and stereotype with the fact that I own a Mac, an iPod and an iPhone. That makes me an elitist twat? That makes me self-conscious of what other think of me? That means that I don't have any real friends? Maybe I own an iPod and an iPhone and a Mac because I LIKE THEM, and because they are QUALITY PRODUCTS. I have owned many other brands of cell phones, I've owned both Creative and Sandisk MP3 players, and I've owned endless numbers of PCs back from DOS and 3.1. There is a reason that I chose Apple for these products, because they are SUPERIOR and I LIKE THEM. Get that through your thick skull.
Okay, you like them, good for you.
That doesn't stop you from being, and I quote: an ELITIST TWAT.
You see, when you come in here and claim in big letters that you're better than everyone else because you chose those products, that's pretty much a definition of BEING an ELITIST TWAT.
After reading this story on Engadget I figured I will not turn on my Zune for a couple of days. I got home and guess what I found? A bricked Zune. Damn thing turned itself on.
The best fix is to wait until the battery runs out completely, and plug it back on your computer. That will reset the clock.
My guess is Microsoft hired someone that lied on his CV, and doens't know anything in programming. I have a Zune 120GB and I don't have this issue. As suggested on the article, it only seams to attack 30GB Zune. I wonder, do people get this issue if they run firmware 3.0 on their Zune. Because unlike Apple iPods, you can update the firmware of the new Zune's and enjoy all the new features (granted you have the hardware to run that feature on the Zune)
You could guess, or you could read Kccitystar's comment on this page which comes from an official statement.
^^ Not really true but if you don't own an iPod you wouldn't know so I'm sure it was just a mistake not any intentional mistruth.
iPhone 2G running 2.x firmware
iPods updated for Genius features
The big thing with the older gen iPods is they are just fast enough for the basics. The hardware inside the iPod had to be updated to support certain features like CoverFlow (which is incidentally not all that fast even on the latest models) Other than that, the core feature set hasn't changed much on the Classic/Nano.
I call bullshit on that.
I'm running an iPod 5.5G, that's only two generations old, like, exactly the same age as the Zune 30. I didn't get any genius. In fact, I'm still running version 1.3 Firmware. Guess what, that's the current version. Yep, two-and-a-half years later, all I get is a .3 firmware upgrade.
Apparently MSN has a page up for this issue:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28449091/wid/11915829?GT1=40006
If it is a leap year/clock thing then it *might* correct itself when both your time zone and UTC have fully transitioned into 2009.
It might be worth leaving everything alone until tomorrow and then trying again.
Today (2008-12-31) is day 366 of the year. The fact that they all failed at the same time, points to a date/time related problem.
No-one learnt any lessons from Y2K by the look of things.
We're hearing about all the failing Zunes... mine works... anyone else?
do you have a Zune 30 Running 3.1 Firmware??
Evidently its running 2.5 (1614).
sorry to be off topic here but something similar happened to my blackberry storm. last night at midnight, my bb storm just turned off out of nowhere. nothing is wrong now but when i turned it back on it said it was verifying software. i guess if was just a over the air update?
My Zune worked fine until i hooked it up to my computer and did some sort of update not sure exactly what version it was. I think it was the 2nd to most recent.
It looks like it's going to fix itself.
"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."
http://forums.zune.net/412486/ShowPost.aspx
So it's going to fix itself tomorrow? Looks like 30gb owners will have a little something extra to celebrate at midnight tonight.
i knew it had to be the new year, i tried to post a comment earlier to tell people on the post but engadget failed to send me a confirmation e-mail,, oh well
i expcted this becuase, some zunes dies after the 12:00AM mark last night, meaning that the problem was not Time Specific, but my zune did die at 12:00AM PST the start of the new day, i also remember there are 366 days in the year, something that Microsoft probably forgot to include in the Zunes firmware, I also figured, the Zunes arn't able to Synchronize, so there will be no fix until either 12Midnight or 12Noon depending on the Zunes BIOS time set. As a expcted everything should return to normal Noon tomorrow =]
problem solved; sorry,no free Zunes will be handed out by MS:
http://www.zune.net/en-US/support/default.htm
Are they going to fix it for 2012, or do they expect them to be all broken/obsolete by then?
Enjoying my iPod right now and typing this on my iPhone.
LOL! iPods forever! MICROSHIT SUCKS!
microsoft has a solution, i read it through http://www.itot54joni.com/2009/01/fixing-zune-frozen-zune-y2k9-fix.html
iPod b!itch!!!!! lol that seriously sucks, Good thing I've got an iPod, my friend used to have a 30GB zune but he sold it to his friend lol I bet he's having some trouble right now, iPods are way better though
Windows pwns Mac
iPod pwns Zune
Earlier today I did my own research and came to the conclusion that it could be related to the DRM (Digital Rights Management) software included with Zunes; Is it coincidence that just a scant one or so ago that RIAA apparently indicated that it was backing off of its aggressive litigation harassment strategy against the sharing community. Much was written on the DRM issue in the past and can be Googled. It is referred to as Viral DRM. Viral I suppose in the fact that the Zune software takes what you load onto it and adds a time released, executable set of file altering limitations. But that did not account for the fact that a date or date related command caused the DRM to activate when it did with the results as indicated in these posts. I am skeptical though that such an executable program would cause a Zune to reboot on its own and then hang during the startup. But could this be a firmware or other update that has been transferred to the Zune wirelessly. That just sounds scary to me on first impression. It is like there my Zune is setting there charging and connected wirelessly to the internet and whatever MS program it interfaces with for wireless connectivity and MS sends an update to it which is automatically accepted and executed. Hmmmm.
My 30 gig Zune started working this morning. Jan. 2009
I have a permanent fix... Go get an iPod Touch! You'll be glad you did!
Yep. Or an iPhone. :)
That doesn't make sense. I have a 30GB Zune and I just turned it on--it's working just fine. Perhaps it's because I haven't updated the OS in quite some time, since I'm using Linux (with some latest update being buggy?).
thats because your calendar started over like all of ours did. if you tried it yesterday it would have been locked. they are now good for another 4 years.
They sure do make some quality products... Glad my RRoD 360 is the only MS product I own
ahhh, a working zune. the superior sound quality to the iPod is worth the lost day.
Lol. That's why I despise anything Microsoft. They do a very sloppy job programming, all they want os more $$$ and don't care if it's a good product or not. I don't feel sorry for all of you idiots that bought a Zune instead of an iPod. I have an iPod touch 1G and 2G and iPhone, etc. and these babies have not had any problems such as this. (Unless I make a code error when I'm using a jailbroken device) but not like this. Lol. I mean you would think that they would have gotten over the date issues by now right? 8 years after the Y2K scare. (which was also bull crap, Macs were
never affected). Sorry for such a huge comment, but I just had to say all of this. No hard feelings Microsoft users, I just like going on rants and love Apple! :)
I set my computer clock back to today's date in 2008 and connected my Zune. Then after disconnecting, I set the date back to today. This should be a good (and simple) temporary solution until they come up with a permanent one.
NM!
I have had my Zune 30GB since Nov 2006. No problems at all. I am playing it right now and it sounds fine. So it is not all zune 30GBs