PC not recognizing MP3 player anymore

[CDC Mail Guy]

Mobo is a Gigabyte P35 DS3L (Win XP) and yesterday I went to charge and upload some music to my Creative Zen Vision M, and nothing happened. I did all the usual stuff, tried unplugging USB cable, and even tries resetting the Zen, but nothing is working. Any suggestions? I thought it might be the connector on the bottom of the Zen, but it charges via the AC "wall" charger. I know I'm missing something simple, but for the life of me I can't figure it out

 

[Slugbait]

Couple of other things to try...

1) Boot the Zen while plugged in
2) Boot the machine while powered up Zen is plugged in

Second suggestion is more likely to work, since the OS sometimes "forgets" about external storage devices...at least, that's been my occasional experience...

 

[CDC Mail Guy]

Originally posted by: Slugbait
Couple of other things to try...

1) Boot the Zen while plugged in
2) Boot the machine while powered up Zen is plugged in

Second suggestion is more likely to work, since the OS sometimes "forgets" about external storage devices...at least, that's been my occasional experience...

Thank you, I'll try #2 because as soon as I plug it in, the Zen comes on.

 

[CDC Mail Guy]

Nope...that didn't work. Any other suggestions people?

 

[CDC Mail Guy]

Bump??? This is REALLY starting to annoy me. I forgot to mention that I did a BIOS upgrade a couple days ago...would that have messed anything up? ALL my other USB stuff works (mouse keyboard external HDD etc)

 

[CDC Mail Guy]

Okay people...I really need help now. I have uninstalled the Creative program and then reinstalled it. I have determined that it is not the USB ports on my PC, because this player is not recognized by any of the other three PC's in this house. I am ready to just give up on this and get a new one, but someone please help me save a couple hundred dollars. It still charges, but now only through the wall charger, and not by USB anymore.

 

[lxskllr]

Sounds like the USB port is dead on the Zen :^(

 

[CDC Mail Guy]

Originally posted by: lxskllr
Sounds like the USB port is dead on the Zen :^(

That's what I'm starting to think, but it's still charging. (it had an iPod type connector) Maybe one part of the connector works for charging only, and the part that "connects" to the PC is dead?

 

[lxskllr]

Maybe there's a little chunk of crud in the connector that's blocking the communication pads. That, or a wire could be broken in the cable. If you had access to another cable you could check that, or maybe check the cable for continuity using a tester, but you'd have to have a wire pinout to see what goes where.

 

[CDC Mail Guy]

Figured out last night that I need a new mainboard for it. There is something broken, but it is not a wire in the cable, it's on the mainboard connector. I can get one for 80$, or I can say **** it, and just buy a new player. Have to get it off eBay though, as Creative stopped making the Vision M