FIXED!!!!

at last! my Creative Zen has been revived! Special thanks to Mino! wahahahaha

as promised:

PROBLEM:
a. 'Firmware Problem' error message on Startup and
b. Player cannot be recognized in ANY PC

SOLUTION:
while others might tell you to download the mp3 player recovery tool from Creative or upgrade the Firmware with the latest version... that won't just work if you're having problem b hand-in-hand with a.

so the first thing you should do is perform a hard format (mino taught me this bwahaha i'm so thankful).

how to:
a hard format is basically a formatting process made on the device itself, without any valid link/connection to a PC.

Turn off your Creative Zen by inserting a thin object on the reset button of your device. I figured this is the only way of shutting down the player in my case because the on/off button on the side won't respond.

then, PRESS AND HOLD the play/pause button while turning on the player (with the normal turn/off switch).

TAKE NOTE that you must press and hold FIRST before turning the device on. and you must still be holding the button while the device is turning on.

doing those correctly will lead you the recovery menu with just the right options you need to save your device. if i remember correctly, the options were:

Format All
Upgrade Firmware
Reboot
Rebuild

select FORMAT ALL. you should be aware that all existing files currently present in your player will be deleted after the process.

select yes then, proceed to Rebuild.

your player must now be working well. :)

hope this helps. :)

my zen just crashed on me

a week late!! i thought i would be able to fix it immediately and give a problem-with-solution entry today but i guess i'm too overworked looking for solutions that i decided to just blog about the problem first... then hopefully when i get it fixed, do a solution entry.

PROBLEM!!!
after the Ilocos trip, when i turned on my Creative Zen (8G), it says 'FIRMWARE PROBLEM' and it won't proceed from there. also, the computer won't recognize it!!!! grrr...

yun lang naman... i tried scouting for solutions... i've downloaded this mp3 player recovery tool from the Creative website but when i run the application it says there 'NO ACTIVE INTERNET CONNECTION FOUND' when in fact, i am online. T___T sucks, man.

then there are also firmware upgrade suggestions... i'm trying that out right now, i'm downloading the 17.something MB firmware file that would HOPEFULLY lead me to a better path but another problem arises... HOW CAN I MAKE THE RECOVERY TOOL WORK ON MY PLAYER OR UPDATE THE FIRMWARE WHEN THE COMPUTER DOES NOT RECOGNIZE MY PLAYER! it reads nothing about the device on My Computer what the fuck, man! this is pissing me off big time.

but you seeee, i'm not missing the player... nor the music, i figured that i've established a psychological dependance on the player almost everyday of my student life that i can't possibly leave for my classes without my earphones on. yaaaah, and the one week that i survived having no mp3 player on hand seemed not to have bothered me big time at all.

i'm not saying i don't care, heck, what do you call this entry.

i just want it fixed. it's nearing one year old already. am i cursed or something? cos i change players almost every year...T____T;; and even though i want that new Creative Zen X-Fi, having a dysfunctional old player wouldn't count as an excuse.

Dear Lord,
Please Help Me Fix My Player.
Amen.

(currently on forum boards)
whew.

a brewing delinquent

i don't think 'brewing' fits my case good enough, i WAS a delinquent, till i tried fixing my life. but unfortunately, my futile attempts didn't bring me closer to the 'peace' i was trying to achieve. maybe i am bound to be gravely unfit and utterly hopeless in this place. yeah, and it sucks.

i want to shift. yeah, again. after thinking and rethinking and confusing myself more with my mood swings, i want to shift again. let's get real, i may never be able to get out of my city jail of a college, but I CAN TRY. case is, i'm always trying but i've never gotten past the grade requirement... i must have been really stupid you know. and i know i sound so pathetic like this, wanting to shift from a killer course to a relatively laid back one just because i cannot give the demands of my studies which requires one heck of a brain with the right hemisphere functioning a hundred times more active than the left one... if you get what i mean. at least i know in myself that i'm more visual than analytical.

if i shift here i'll be taking devcom, at least there's writing, if not for a bit of literature and the whole thing about fixing my grammar (i've always wanted to write as well) i wouldn't have taken it as a feasible deal. i chose communication arts in the first place but i think i'll learn more at devcom.

fine arts now is becoming a blur. unless after spending a decade wallowing myself in desperately trying to sound and look like an engineer, i decide to take a double degree and register as an undergrad and go through the whole college life torture again... sure, but that is already HIGHLY unlikely, since i'd be struggling to earn money by then.

i hate this. really.

oh right, VOTE FOR ME! :D

i've been nominated at the Philippine Blog Awards 2008 and is need of your votes to win (well, err, yeah). actually, the voting process could be really tiresome, i need your patience for this hehehehe.

how to vote for me, (well, in case you'd like to check out other nominees go here, but please still vote for me hehehe):

CHECK THIS LINK, or for a condensed version:

## you must create a blog entry stating that you're voting for my blog: Indistinguishable Gibberish. indicate the reason why and finally include the list of this year's sponsors:

Level Up! Games
Nokia
Blog Bank
Smart Communications
Josiah’s Catering
Rsun Technology Store
Yahoo
XFM 92.3
Buddy Gancencia Reality TV
Ultravision Photo and Video
Click Booth
Aloha Board Sports
Sheero Media Solutions
YourPinoyBroker.com
Belo Medical Group
Inquirer.Net
Toshiba
ROAM Magazine
PLDT
Red Box
Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf


## your entry must include the above-mentioned links for it to be validated and counted.

## then, publish the blog post and take note of the URL of the post (not the URL of your blog) and go FILL UP THIS FORM to conclude the voting process.

so what do you get after this? well, your vote will mean a raffle entry for yourself. who knows what great prizes are in store for you (and me too hehe)?

let's get creative: zen x-fi

meet X-Fi, Creative's newest installment in its ever innovating mp3 player line-up. this one's a predecessor of the Creative Zen (which i'm using now), now with richer features like...

:: x-fi sound technology which generally enhances your audio quality unlike regular mp3 players

:: wi-fi lan, which enables the user to download media via wireless connection

:: instant messaging. you got it there.

the last two features i mentioned are only available on the 16 and 32gigs model.
and what's probably best about is that its introductory price is pretty much the same as the Creative Zen, considering it's advancement in features. 16gigs cost around $200 and the 32gigs - $280.

really, it's a good good deal and i want to get my hands on it now.
well, if i manage to save enough moolas, i could sell my creative zen and just buy the x-fi.

i don't seem to stick into mp3 players for long, i always always want a new one... especially from Creative.

a little research won't do bad, go ahead. :)