Zen vision w hack

You're ready to upgrade. This step is deceptively easy. Plug the drive connector into the CF card, but plug it in the right way. If you look at all the pictures, you'll note that when we pulled the connector off the microdrive, we were looking at the back of the drive.

Compare the channels in the sides of the microdrive and the CF card to get them aligned in the same direction, then make sure the CF card is facing the same direction as the microdrive was when you disconnected it. It's probably the same -- the back of the CF card is what you'll be looking at. But don't take chances. Once you've reconnected the drive connector, you should be able to snap the CF card back into the space where the microdrive came from.

The CF card might be a little loose, as it is a bit thinner than a microdrive. That's OK. This step goes in the reverse of taking it off. Line up the motherboard over the back of the device. Holding the parts close together, re-connect the ribbon cable from the front of the device to the motherboard.

I had a hard time with this because my hands are big, but I could do it with my pinky. Once that's done, the rest should be easy. Align the plastic and bent-metal clips with their spaces on the motherboard, and gently press the motherboard into place. Be sure the white connector in the middle at the top, behind the LCD screen, also seats properly.

This step just reverses the removal of the backplate. Align the six tabs on each side with their respective dents in the casing, and press the plate into place. You should get a few clicks as the tabs click in. Also when you're done, be sure to slide the backplate towards the bottom of the player.

Remember, you had to slide it to disassemble the player, so it needs to be in the same position to re-assemble it. Another reverse step. Angle the top of the player internals so that it's angled into the top of the shell, facing up -- that is, the face of the player is up towards the ceiling, the same position it was in when you removed it.

Check the top of the player to be sure the power switch is visible thru the cutout, and not hidden somewhere behind the plastic shell. Seat the top edge of the player right up against the shell, and then angle the bottom of the player into place, pinching the faceplate into place along the edges and then at the bottom. The whole thing should snap together easily, with only a little resistance. Make sure it's seated flush or very close to flush with the edge of the shell.

This process ensures that the two connectors at the top of the motherboard seat properly into the PC board holding the power switch, earphone jack and USB jack. Also, that the two metal clips secure the pieces firmly so they don't pop apart later.

This step is easy: apply firm pressure to the flat bend of the metal backplate at the top of the battery well, and the two metal tabs at the top of the plate should slide into the slots at the top, locking the electronics into place. Retrieve your screws from their safe storage location, and replace them in the top of the player. The switch cover itself will fit in two ways, but should only go in one way, with the face of the player towards you, the open side of the ridge on the bottom of the switch cover is also towards you.

Stick the top cover back on. If it's not sticky any more, then I'm not sure what to tell you I didn't take pictures of these two steps: insert the battery and replace the battery cover. Come on, you need pictures? Now that the physical work is done, we need to format the new drive, install the new firmware, and re-load the device with music. After you insert the battery, the player automatically turns on into recovery mode.

We'll be using two items in the recovery menu. But first things first -- if your Zen Micro isn't running on a full charge, please connect it to your PC with the USB cable and let it charge completely.

You must have a full charge when you flash the firmware onto the device. Meaning, the blue backlighting isn't pulsating any more when it's connected to the USB cable. Your PC will recognize the device when you connect it, but nothing will happen at this time, which is just fine. Let it charge. So I obtained version 1. Every user would have to decide for him- or herself if taking these steps to upgrade their player is a good idea.

Neither of the firmware versions available for the Zen Micro have been updated since , and the version 2 software update explicitly states in its instructions that version 10 of Windows Media Player is required. I don't use Windows Media Player at all, so I apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused. If you did brick your player following these instructions, you should be able to re-enter recovery mode on the device by removing the battery, holding the power switch to "on", and reinserting the battery.

From there you can follow the instructions at the link above to prep your device for new firmware, or just reload the factory firmware burned intot he device's ROM with option 3 see screenshot below. Take out the battery, hold the power switch all the way on, and reinsert the battery. I hope it works for you. I've used recovery mode myself with this device. The last time I did a firmware upgrade I bricked the player and recovery mode brought it back to life. Good luck. Anyway: Once it's charged, select "Format All" from the recovery menu, and confirm that you want to format.

After a few seconds the device will report the formatting complete and tell you how much free space the device has. Then select "Reboot" from the menu. Your computer will make some noises as the device shuts down and starts up again into Recovery mode. Don't do anything more on the Micro at this time. Yes, there's an option to "Reload Firmware," but we're not using it. We want newer firmware than what the factory installed in the recovery OS.

Once your player reboots, and it's charged and connected to your PC with a USB cable, start the Firmware loader you downloaded earlier. Select your language English for me , and just follow the instructions. The program will detect your player. If it can't, it will tell you that there is not a Zen jukebox currently connected to the PC.

Click "Upgrade" to begin the upgrade. After releasing that hook there will be enough room to use a pocket knife or some other thin flat piece of metal to slip between the cracks and gently leverage the rest of the device apart. Step 5 Loosen or remove the four screws holding the hard drive cover on, then remove the cover.

Step 6 In order to remove the hard drive, peel back the tape covering the ZIF socket and gently unplug it. John P. You can find him on Twitter , Facebook and LinkedIn.

Feel free to send shoutouts, insults, and praise. Or Money. Money is good. HEY yo like a few comments here, I dropped my zen vision w, and it goes to recovery mode, however i am travelling at the moment and cant format and lose the music i have received while in south america.

This happened to me too last night! Now I downloaded the firmware and hopefully it will work. Please help…. Two of the little screws seem to be stuck. I have a Creative Zen Vision 30 gb when i plug it into the PC it power swhich flashes blue rapidly when i unplug it and try to open blue light flashes again but nothing happens i tried the recovery mode but noting happened.

My zen vision no longer will connect to my computer, when i plug it in to the usb port it just turns it on.

It wont even charge it that way anymore. Is there any way to recover the data? I still have all the songs, but I had gone it and put all the music into genres and spent a long time making sure everything was labeled correctly and now I am back to square one.

In the main menu, select Memory Card. Select Browse. Select a file or folder to begin browsing, OR press to play files automatically. Hi this is kinda weird!! I made it reboot but it changed nothing. And I tried clean up and it said scanning disk…and nothing happened…it stayed that way for 12 hours til i turned it off again. I tried the others but it says Harddisk problem! I have a 30 gb Zen W and wanted to know if there is anyway to move the music folder to a computer.

My hard drive in my computer crashed with all of my music so I am trying to see if I can restore some of that music by moving the music from my zen to the computer. Any help would be greatly appreciated. I need help. Serious help. I accidentally dropped my Zen Vision W, and now it only show the Creative title, no animation of a pool or whatsoever, and it quickly shows me a lit black screen. Also, is it possible for me to fix it by myself?

Please, please, pleaaaase help me. Could anyone tell me what size screws are those at the bottom. Please help. First you need adobe flash. Now flash will want to convert it to a FLV, basically keep clicking next, you can choose a different skin or quality setting if you like, click OK and it will convert it.

However, he is not right around me, and i just wanna show him the new one. I was also impressed with the W's ability to output video and photos to an external display at a maximum of x The W's blue backlit controllers, exactly the same as the Vision's, are quite intuitive, and the GUI is classic Creative, simple and to the point with conveniences such as the context-driven options and a customizable main menu.

A five-way controller plus Back, context menu, and playback buttons lie to the left of the screen--designed for right-handed use all the way. The buttons are tactile and actually offer resistance. Some users may not like the popping sound and sensation of the buttons. Below these buttons is a built-in mono speaker--some fidelity with very little oomph. This is handy for many digital camera users, particularly those with Microdrives. In addition to photos, you can import videos via the CF slot and you get the option to transfer the latest 10, 20, or 50 of the latest files.

Transfers are quick and photos look great onscreen. Though you can zoom, create slide shows, and rotate, I prefer the Archos as a photo viewer, though you won't get a CF slot.

On the back, you'll find the thin and easily removable lithium-ion battery pack--a useful and rare design feature the Archos also has a removable battery. An integrated kickstand for hands-free viewing would have been useful. This time around, the Vision supports album art, albeit as tiny thumbnails.

It will eventually restart itself, and should be working fine :. My problem is that the new HD keeps on coming with the harddisk problem message. I replaced the HD and turned it on. It starts in the recovery mode. Format all returns the harddisk problem message. Anybody an idea on how to proceed to get this working?

Grazie Ricky Italy. Thanks Ricky Italy. This is a great article and really help me upgrade my Zen. First by extending the confidence to me that it actually can be done. Second by showing me how to do it. However, there are a couple of really important issues that I ran accross. I bought one and had to return it. I believe that any 5mm drive will work.

I bought the Samsung 80GB drive and it worked great. I use Vista 64 and for an unknown reason it would not recognize the USB device in order to install the firmware.

I had to connect it an XP PC for it to work. It may just be me. In my case the original drive had crashed so I did not back up before starting.

Thanks John P. I had to change my harddrive, it was making this strange clicking sound when i turned it on. If only my Creative mediasource could recognize it now!! After some careful scrutiny of you posted pics very nice detail, btw , it looks like there may be two different Vision W 60GB cases. Also, if I take my drive, put the blue cushioning on, and place it in the drive cover the sheet metal casing that had to be removed , it clearly sticks us a 1mm or so out of the drive cover.

I have an 8mm drive I just got in and it does not fit in the case without bowing the back. A 5mm drive.