Screen Problems and the WSOD (White Screen of Death)

[ColinN]

Yep, just applied through Amazon to send it back. Fairly easy process, all I need to do now is package it up and take it to the post office. In the meantime they despatched a new one today! The Zen seems to be working ok about 60% of the time now though, I hope Amazon have heard of this fault before or they might not believe me!

[CrowdAds]

[BobbyRS]

I would be surprised if they would have claimed to not hear about the WSOD. It is the most popular defect for the Zen. Doesn't really happen as often as it did when first released. I suspect ones these days are left over from older stock from when first released.

[ColinN]

Originally Posted by BobbyRS

I would be surprised if they would have claimed to not hear about the WSOD. It is the most popular defect for the Zen. Doesn't really happen as often as it did when first released. I suspect ones these days are left over from older stock from when first released.

Mine still had the latest firmware though.

My new one is at home now, I'll get to try it tomorrow so hopefully it's good news!

[BobbyRS]

If you have a Zen that suffers from the WSOD, the version of the firmware installed won't really matter.

Be sure to return and give us an update.

[kec789]

I bought 3 Zen's 2 Christmas's ago, one of them was mine, an 8 gig. 2 months after I got mine it quit charging and wouldn't turn on. I sent it back for another.

Now this one is getting the WSOD nearly all the time. Mine has nothing to do with it being in the locked position. First off it would turn on and it acted like I had the brightness turned up 200%, so high it was hard to even look at. If you hold in play and turn it on and then tell it to reboot things would settle down and it would turn on and work just fine. Now I have to leave it alone for a while and then it will work. BUT! I found a solution!!!!!

I bought a 16 gig Ipod Touch 3 weeks ago and couldn't be happier. Yes, I know this place is called anythingbutipod, but I couldn't resist. The Touch is the coolest player I have ever owned and I will never get rid of this thing. I was actually ready to buy one of the new Zen X-FI's this year as an upgrade but the WSOD stopped me from doing so. Thankfully my son's Vision M is still kicking and the other standard Zen's my kids have only have small issues once in a while. But I kid you not, these Touch Ipods are amazing....

[Utew]

Originally Posted by kec789

But I kid you not, these Touch Ipods are amazing....

Them's fightin' words around these parts....

I think many of us would agree though, at least about the Touch as a pretty decent portable device for the sheer fun of it.

The audio/video quality of the Touch, is a bit more open to question though.

[BobbyRS]

Originally Posted by Utew

I think many of us would agree though, at least about the Touch as a pretty decent portable device for the sheer fun of it.

The audio/video quality of the Touch, is a bit more open to question though.

Well said. I too find the iPod Touch's pretty decent (as I think most do; yes even here). However, the severely limited codec support, audio quality, and iTunes is a complete and utter let down for me. With that said, lets please keep this thread about the Zen's WSOD issue. In general, comparing a defective player to a working player doesn't sound like a fair comparison to me.

[1992Wraith]

i had the same problem. but mine died a few days ago. won't turn on... umm.. will a dive to the floor kill a zen with an opened case?
BobbyRS said that it might be a LCD screen issue thats making it not turn on after it dies, that might be the case, but when i checked the jumpers to the LCD screen everything looked fine. now it might be faulty firmware in the LCD chip itself, but i doubt it...

to get it our of the white screen of death without doing anything drastic.. what worked on mine was.. have music playing, maybe set your shortcut button to playlists, so even if you pause, turn off, and get the screen you can still start something. then slide the power/hold switch to the 'hold' position, and wait for the screen to turn off. then you can un-hold it. that turned the screen on with my 8gig zen, if its the same problem it should work with your guys too.

[BobbyRS]

If the Zen doesn't turn on, then most likely there is a power or mainboard issue. If you are getting the WSOD, then you have a defective Zen, period! You should not have to do anything like a work-around to "live" with using your Zen. It should be returned/replaced.

[Benedict]

My 8gb Zen has this problem and it's out of warranty, as well as the shop I bought it in no longer exists.

Is this a problem only with the original Zens or do the new X-fi have the same issue?

I need to get a new mp3-player and is looking at the X-fi, but am worried the WSOD will occur with that as well...

[BobbyRS]

I don't believe (at least I haven't seen any) the Zen X-Fi's have suffered from the WSOD. I believe it was a problem that plagued the earlier releases of the regular Zen's.

[edj]

i bought a Zen during the late summer last year. a few days after i got it, i got a partial WSOD, but i found that the only thing not working was the screen. i could still control playback and volume. and then, there's something else that happens once in a while, where the screen flickers slightly during startup, and then the UI comes up with all the colors sort of washed out.

[BobbyRS]

Originally Posted by edj

i bought a Zen during the late summer last year. a few days after i got it, i got a partial WSOD, but i found that the only thing not working was the screen. i could still control playback and volume. and then, there's something else that happens once in a while, where the screen flickers slightly during startup, and then the UI comes up with all the colors sort of washed out.

May not be the WSOD, but it sounds like you do have a LCD issue.

[mde60319]

I have had my 8GB Zen for just over a year, and for a while it has been displaying the WSOD now and then, but that was always rectified after reseting it a couple of times. However, it has been slowly deteriorating. IT started doing it more and more, and taking more resets to go back to normal.
Then one day, after reseting it I saw a display that said 'Firmware Problem'. I cleaned up the device, and used the MP3 Player recovery software for the creative website. I left it for a couple of hours to update my zen, but the green bar that showed the progress of the update never filled, so I rebooted by computer, reset my zen and started again.

Now my Zen only displays the WSOD no matter how many times i reset it, and it is no longer detected by my computer When I plug it in, there is an audible notification, but I cannot locate the Zen on my computer, and the Zen software doesnt detect it, therefore I have no idea how I can reload the firmware or even begin to solve this problem!

Any help would be much appreciated

[BobbyRS]

Merged with existing thread.

You will most likely have to send into Creative for (out of warranty) repair. Can you get it booted into Recovery Mode or does it go right into the WSOD? When connected, how does Device Manager report the connection? Another example of why you should not mess around with the WSOD when you first get it. Always send to Creative or replace asap when first detected.

[mde60319]

How much is a repair likely to cost? (if you have any idea!)
It goes straight to WSOD as soon as its turned on now. It flashes when I press buttons but thats it.

My computer doesnt appear to acknowledge the connection in any way other than the sound it makes when I plug it in. When I go to 'my computer' to find it, its not there. Wish I had sorted this before my warranty ran out!

[BobbyRS]

I have no idea. You will have to ask Creative. If you're getting an audible notification, you should have an entry in Device Manager.

[mde60319]

Ok thanks. I've sent a request to Creative, so hopefully will hear back from them soon. Silly question, but where do I find 'Device Manager' on my computer?

[BobbyRS]

Device Manager

[Dukenator]

Originally Posted by BobbyRS

It could cause corruption of the data being transfered or worse, the Zen's database/filesystem. What problem are you now having (I would start a new thread in main Zen section of the Forum for this)?

Still won't work. Data wasn't corrupted, but the Zen's database/filesystem may be corrupted. Doesn't take a charge at all. PC won't recognize it.