Help updating firmware and question about software

[NJ2toU]

Hi all!

Just today I received the 60 gb ZVM I won on ebay. It's used but in fantastic condition. I want to update my firmware and downloaded the file, but can someone give me step by step instructions so I don't screw up my new baby. I looked through some past threads, but couldn't find anything. I think I'd seen something before, but my brain is fried and just can't seem to find it.

My other question is whether I need to install the Creative software before I hook up my player to my computer. Again, I think I read something about this, but... ... my head really IS pounding (I just loooove sinus infections... NOT)

The reason I ask is because most of my music is on my little travel laptop and the disc drive died on me, so I CAN'T install it (well, until I replace the drive...)

Can I just use WMP without installing the other stuff? Please say yes! LOL! Or are there some drivers on the cd that I need to install? Please say no!

Thanks everyone!

I'm off to fondle, um, uh, play with, err, USE my new toy.

[CrowdAds]

[ZenChick]

Ewwww! Get a room!

Okay, seriously...

If you have WMP11 installed, then you have everything you need. If you have WMP10 installed, then you will need to either install Creative's software, or update to WMP11.

Firmware updates are very easy. Just download the appropriate firmware file from Creative's website and save it to your desktop. Plug in your player, wait for your computer to recognize it, and then double-click the firmware file you downloaded. It's that easy!

However, before trying to update your firmware, you should test out your player to be sure it works properly.

[NJ2toU]

Thanks so much! the thought of scrolling through any more threads is making my head pound even more than it is...

The player works great! I downloaded the stuff I have on my other laptop (the one I'm writing from now) but I downloaded the software. I'm listening as I type and I love it!

My other player is a Samsung Z5, but at only 4gb didn't have enough room for me. I looooooove that player and it will be my alternate player.

Getting used to the touch pad and all on this will take a bit. The Samsung was so easy! This is a bit sensitive for my liking and I'm not sure what I'm doing with it, but I'll figure it out and get used to it.

Now to be sure - do I turn off the player, hook it up and when I do, it will turn on and then I just double click the file?

As for my other laptop, I'll upgrade to WMP11, which I was planning on doing anyway.

When I tried running the cd on it the response I got that it was either corrupted or not a type of file windows can read. Well, it worked just fine on my other computer! LOL! I just need a new drive, I think!

thanks again!

[ZenChick]

Originally Posted by NJ2toU

Now to be sure - do I turn off the player, hook it up and when I do, it will turn on and then I just double click the file?

You don't even need to turn it off. Just plug it in.

Before doing this, you may want to verify that you even need to update. From your player's Main Menu, navigate to System, then Information, and look at the version info. The latest firmware version for the 60GB ZVM is 1.21.02.

Originally Posted by NJ2toU

When I tried running the cd on it the response I got that it was either corrupted or not a type of file windows can read. Well, it worked just fine on my other computer! LOL! I just need a new drive, I think!

Heh... That definitely sounds like a drive going bad.

[NJ2toU]

Well, I just finished updating my other laptop to WMP 11 and uploaded all my files to my Zen. Well, except for 3/4 of the songs I legally downloaded (yes, paid for!), which will not go onto the player. Somehow my licences got screwed up and I don't know how to fix them. GRRRRRRRRR!!!!

My firmware is 1.11.04 - that was one of the first things I checked when I took it out of the box. so I do need to update it. However, it's waaaaaaaaaay late, my head is pounding even more than before, so I need to take some drugs and go to bed. I'll do it tomorrow.

Motrin bottle and bed here I come...

thanks again!

[ZenChick]

Originally Posted by NJ2toU

Motrin bottle and bed here I come...

LOL! I know that feeling, hon!

As for your DRM'd tracks... You're going to have to contact wherever you purchased the tracks from, and hope that they'll let you update your licenses. Otherwise... Well... Google is your friend.

Just more proof that DRM is a horrible, evil abomination!

[Chili]

Where did you buy those DRM tracks?

[NJ2toU]

I got almost all of them from the Walmart site - 88 cents vs 99 cents for the songs. Some of them will transfer, but the vast majority will not. I had tried updating my licenses some time ago, but it didn't work (got a WMP error message) and since they were already on my player didn't worry about it. I was trying to put them on my original 2gb Samsung - I got a 4gb that I replaced it with.

However, now that I got a new player, it's a big problem! I paid a damn lot of money for all those songs and I WANT THEM ON MY ZEN!

Any suggestions anyone?? I will try contacting the Walmart store.

thanks!

[ZenChick]

You'll have to take a look at their terms of use. Some stores limit how many players you can put their music on, and some limit how many times you can sync their music to your player.

I checked Walmart's site, and they don't limit the number of syncs to a given player; however, it seems you're limited to one computer (plus 2 more for backup purposes) and one portable device.

There is hope, however. If you cannot get them to update your licenses, you can burn your purchased tracks as audio CDs, then rip said CDs to MP3 format. The rules of converting from one lossy format to another do apply, however, so the resultant MP3s won't sound as good as the original WMA files. Still, you bought them, so you have a right to listen to them.

[NJ2toU]

Geeze. Well I "kind of" understand - they don't want you copying them to everyone and their mother's players, but what if you upgrade (like I did) or your player breaks and you have to replace it??

And why do some of them work and some not? It's very frustrating. I'll have to contact Walmart and see if I can work it out. I had thought about burning them to cd, etc, but also figured it would lose quality that way. I wasn' sure if the drm would still affect my being able to upload them. I guess not.

See, this is why I always hated downloading music. I like having an actual high quality cd in my hands. I can encode it at whatever kps I want and not be at the mercy of the online store. And I CAN put it on everyone and their mother's players if I want to to boot!

However, the convenience of being able to get only the songs you want and not having to buy a whole cd was a plus - which is why most people do it, I'm sure. This sucks.

grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr...

[Chili]

There may be hope. I'll have to get back to you on this later today though... when I am no longer posting from my work computer.

[ZenChick]

Just a suggestion: Take a look through Spiral Frog. They have a pretty decent selection of music, and they're all free. The only down side is that they're all WMA-DRM files, but for the price, one really can't complain much. It works like a subscription service: You download as much as you want, and sync them to your player. Every 30 days, you have to renew your membership - a quick process that involves answering a few survey questions, and then sync your player (so the licences get updated).

[Chili]

And if there are any songs you can't find on Spiral Frog, let me know.

[NJ2toU]

Well guys - good news! I called Walmart music service support and the guy fixed my licences! I just had to play a bit of them and it re-downloaded my licenses. Woo hoo! LOL! Now the only ones I'm having problems with are ones that I bought from MSN. That's only about 14 songs vs about 75 songs.

I'm off to contact THEM now. Wish me luck!

Oh, and I'll check out Spiral Frog later.

Thanks you guys for all your help. I looooove my new player.

[ZenChick]

[NJ2toU]

One last question about updating the firmware - do I need to open WMP or the Creative software so that it's "docked"? I really want to do that now, but I'm being my usual overly cautious self. thanks a million!

[ZenChick]

Good question! The player should auto-dock when plugged in, and certainly will do so if you have WMP11 installed. The firmware file itself may dock the player when executed, but I can't verify this. If your player does not auto-dock, you may need to launch Media Explorer and enable that feature (I haven't used Creative software in over a year and a half, when WMP11 went into beta testing, so I can't remember exactly how this is done).

There is certainly no harm in having your player docked when you launch the firmware update. Just be sure there isn't any actual sync activity going on.

[NJ2toU]

I updated my firmware this morning and it worked painlessly and perfectly. The only thing is that I don't have WMP11 on my main computer for it to dock automatically, so I had to open up WMP10 for it to dock and then I got a message to close it before I could upgrade the firmware, so did that. Smooth sailing from there. Can't say thanks enough to you all.

[ZenChick]

No problem!