After receiving an avalanche of angry complaints about the collective suicide unexpected freeze of the 30GB Zune, Microsoft has officially commented on the problem.
A technical team had been deployed early yesterday to uncover what had happened, but it was not until the end of the night that an official note was published explaining the reason for the problem. An error in the driver responsible for supporting clock synchronization was the reason that older models suffered a general breakdown. The problem should be solved in the next 24 hours, as soon as the player realizes that 2009 has already started.
The team expects the internal clock to automatically restart at around noon. However, they advise that the battery be drained completely before a new recharge, so that the process happens successfully. If the owners have a subscription to the Zune Pass, you may need to resynchronize with your computer to update the rights to the content downloaded to the player.
For plant hasty people, support engineer Corey Gouker posted on his personal website instructions on how to fix the problem, a practice not recommended because it involves opening the device and possible loss of warranty. In the note, the company apologized for the inconvenience caused to consumers and thanked them for their patience. Matt Akers, from the Zune product team, clarified some doubts:
Why does this bug only happen on Zune 30GB devices?a bug in a driver that is only used on Zune 30GB devices.
What corrections are you creating to resolve this situation?This situation will probably correct itself automatically in the next 24 hours, at the turn of January 1st.
What is the timeline in the post?The problem experienced by consumers of the Zune 30GB is solved at the turn of January 1.
Why did this problem occur at exactly 01:01 on December 31, 2008?There is an error in the internal clock in the model, making it unsuitable for dealing with the last day of a leap year.
What will the Zune team do to correct this problem?The problem must solve itself.
Are you sure that this will not happen with all other models?The problem related to a part used only on 30GB models.
How many Zune 30GB devices have been affected?Potentially, all 30GB drives.
Will you update the firmware before the next leap year (2012)?Yes.
More information can be found on the product support website. Apparently, Microsoft was not prepared for a year with too many seconds.
(Tip from Daniel, thank you!)
