Zune 30GB brickification acknowledged, Microsoft says to wait it out
By Joseph L. Flatley 
posted December 31st 2008 6:58PM
posted December 31st 2008 6:58PM
For all of you Zune 30 owners who woke up this morning to find your PMP frozen in despair at the thought of spending another year alone, Microsoft has finally acknowledged their boo-boo and explains it thusly: There is a bug in the internal clock driver causing the device to choke on the last day of a leap year. Rest assured, however -- although they may not be releasing an update for the device any time soon, the issue should resolve itself whenever January 1, 2009 rolls around. So have a safe and happy New Year, and let's hope they do something about this by 2012.
[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Why should we have to f-ing wait! What am i supposed to listen to on New Years.....the radio??? Are you nuts?
CDs.
You may have heard of them.
Or I find Pandora.com quite helpful when my player is down/ missing, that is, assuming u have a internet connection.
If you can't go a few hours without your zune, you might have a problem.
You are on your computer. I am assuming it is the same computer you use to sync with your Z2K'd Zune. You have music on your computer.
Haaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrr...
Even if they were to actively fix it, working round the clock, it probably wouldn't be fixed by midnight anyways. They've worked all day and only recently figured out the exact problem. Then add in the time to fix the code, recompile and package it, get it on the update servers, and push out the update - not happening faster than midnight. The clock will reset itself at midnight and work normally before the update is even close to ready.
Of course, they should address the issue before the next leap year, so they'll probably just throw it in with a firmware update sometime in a couple months.
For the interested, here's exactly what happened: http://www.zuneboards.com/forums/zune-news/38143-cause-zune-30-leapyear-problem-isolated.html
www.Last.FM
I just booted my Zune up about 5 minutes ago. Works perfectly.
Everyone with a Zune, just boot it up now and enjoy your music/movies/pictures/podcasts/radio.
I agree
in other words. oh well suckers we're on vacation!
Steve Jobs probably came in his pants when he heard this.
^^ Douche
We wont have to worry about it in 2012 because we will all be dead or something according to John Cousack.
O NOES BLASPHEMY FIRE VITRIOL RAR RAR RAR BUYING AN IPOD HULK SMASH
Good enough for me. I'll be too drunk to use my Zune tonight anyway.
You sir, WIN.
I wish this happened a few days ago. I WAS drunk using my Zune and dropped it.
Goodnight sweet prince...
+1.
Actually reaction from MS was pretty fast I have to admit. And they did have investigated the problem confirming that players would come back to life on 01.01.2009 (or 01/01/2009 in US strftime).
Ah, so I'll know it's the new year when Auld Lang Syne starts playing.
Or when a random drunk chick starts making out with you...
But remember kids, if you reciprocate, it's statutory rape!
Hilarious. Ha ha ha ha ha.
Who wants earphones plugged into them during the countdown anyway?
W...wait up here.
Microsoft, instead of pushing out a proper software patch, just says to hold off until tomorrow?
What's going to happen the next leap year?
Why can't they just come up with a patch? Or are they just being lazy because it's the new year?
Or because most of their programmers are on holiday and they don't need an urgent patch for something which will fix itself before they get the patch done?
> ...What's going to happen the next leap year?...
Planned Obsolescence.
They don't expect you to have that Zune in 4 years.
Are you an idiot? They should rush a patch through development, not do any QA on it at all, and then release it to millions of people in just a few hours. The vast majority of whom wouldn't be able to download and install it by the time the problem goes away anyway.
This is the smart thing to do - the problem goes away in a few hours. Then they have time to properly fix the problem, test it to make sure it doesn't brick everyones boxes, and they can release it through the right channels. Avoiding the all-to-common "Quick hack that causes more trouble" syndrome that is common to hotheads and arrogant fools.
also it's hard to patch a device that won't be recognized by the computer if it wont boot genius.
come on, everybody has families as well.. we all wanna celebrate new year too ;)
I completely agree with WixosTrix, it's akin to plugging something while off and hoping it lets you sync without needing to power on...
If you would have read the linked page, they are planning on releasing a patch so that the bug doesn't happen again but things like this take time.
That's question asked by a person who obviously has never programmed a thing in his life. Things take time.
I count 8 folks who need to update their sarcasm drivers.
I wonder if there will be any class action lawsuits...
"My mom was staying alive by the cheer joy she received from listen to the Zune player as she lay in the hospital bed..... now... shes gone!"
This is Sue Happy country... anyone care to place a bet?
Problem? What problem?
There was no problem with the Zune.
-Microsoft 01/01/09
Lawsuit for what damages?
You sue somebody to recover damages for losses you've incurred through the fault of another. "Punitive" damages are difficult to make stick, because there has to be malice involved. In other words, you would need to actually *prove* that Microsoft intentionally inserted this bug just to screw you, and that this malicious act actually injured you in some specific and tangible way.
So, a lawsuit? Someone could try, but they'd be laughed out of court.
@Jeff:
Ever hear of a little country called the USA? People that live there have sued because all of the double cheeseburgers with large fries and diet coke that they ate made them fat and gave them health problems, the steaming hot coffee that they ordered burned their mouths or bodies when they spilled their cups, etc. It only takes one greedy and idiotic person, and an even greedier lawyer.
Great the battery is going to run down now....
Just fix it ASAP Microsoft!!!!! I'm getting drunk in a couple hours and I want this fixed before you guys get drunk!!!!!!!
I'm looking at you BILL!!!!!!!!!!!
>-
Why are you looking at Bill? He's not going to fix anything. If you're going to look at someone, look at Steve (if you can stand it - better get drunk first).
@ Jason
If I were the judge Steve would be one of People Magazine's sexiest men.
>_>
@WixosTrix I'm pretty certain you're thinking of a different Steve. Lol.
no steve ballmer, that actor/ceo
http://www.filmweb.no/bilder/multimedia/archive/00090/Steve_Carell_i_The_4_90482b.jpg
lol
Who are you kidding? As long as they don't get too drunk it's as good as done.
http://xkcd.com/323/
One would think having a problem handling a leap year (!!! Quality programming!) would cause...you know...problems with having the right date.
Not freezing a computer dead.
Unbelievable - on more than one level.
I actually had this problem with Linux on quite silly setup under virtual machine. Due to my error in init scripts, OS thought that system clock was dead and refused to boot: local time to GMT back to local time conversion did broke.
The one second addition to this year is actually a headache to deal with. It is a special case that only affects this year.
@josh: Yes, only this year. Oh, and 22 out of the last 37 years. A very rare event, indeed.
Microsoft said that they will release a firmware update to fix the bug before 2012 so all of these ridiculous comments can stop now
LoL, I got a BSOD and a frozen Zune in the same day, thanks Microsoft.
Somehow I really doubt that the BSOD is Microsoft's fault.. Shouldn't have downloaded that porn that came in an .exe
zune users asked for a clock so bad...not to good of an idea after all hahah