# Creative Zen Micro Stuck in 'Recovery Mode'



## tacoman359

My brother's MP3 player is messed up. When you boot it, it automatically goes to recovery mode. Here, it tells you the firmware and gives you a couple options:

Recovery Mode
Creative Zen Micro v0.0.65
1:Clean Up
2:Format All
3:Reload Firmware
4:Reboot

I've tried all the options yet they all did nothing at all (besides reboot). When I plug it in to my computer, I see 'Creative Zen Micro' in My Computer but it is not assigned to a drive letter. I'm not sure if it was assigned to a drive letter before it got screwed up, though. Anyways, when I open it from My Computer, I can see 'Storage Media'. The size of it is only 20MB and the MP3 player is 5GB or something like that. Storage media is empty. I've formatted this 20MB drive before, but nothing changed when I booted the MP3 player.

I've also tried upgrading the firmware, but when I open the program that allows me to upgrade, it says that the Zen Micro is not detected although it is plugged in.

It looks like it has a bad hard drive at the moment. Any suggestions?


----------



## Space Cowboy

Have you tried taking out the battery and then putting it back in? 

I've have fixed a few that way.


----------



## tacoman359

I just tried that. I'm getting the same results.


----------



## McTimson

Check out this page, it has a link to Creative's recovery tool, if your player is supported on the list there.

I have an older Creative product, the Nomad Jukebox Zen Extra, and it recently got stuck in a recovery mode thing. The same thing happened, the firmware updater wouldn't recognize it. It turned out to be an issue with Windows Media Player 11/10, with the PlaysForSure technology. I had to uninstall WMP, reverting it back to WMP 9, then plug the Zen in, tell it to do a firmware update, start the update program, and click 'Start Update' on the program right when the Zen said to do it, it was like a 2 second window. It was very strange, but it worked in the end.


----------



## tacoman359

My brother's MP3 player isn't supported by the MP3 Player Recovery Tool. He's got a normal Zen Micro, not the MicroPhoto. I'll still try uninstalling WMP11 and manually reinstalling the firmware though.


----------



## tacoman359

Alright, I tried it a couple times. First, I uninstalled WMP11, then ran the creative recovery tool and it recognized the Zen Micro. It downloaded the firmware, but when I opened it up it did not recognize the player. Next, I tried plugging it in and clicking reload firmware immediately after plugging it in. I then opened the firmware updater less than a second after clicking reload firmware, but it still didn't recognize it. I've tried a number of different combinations, and none of them have worked so far.


----------



## tacoman359

Sorry to bump this, but I have still found no solution and am looking for more suggestions.


----------



## RootbeaR

Does it not have a reset button?
Tiny hole somewhere that a pin will fit in.


----------



## tacoman359

I do see a tiny hole at the top and I'm almost positive it's a reset button, but when I push a paper clip in it, nothing happens no matter how hard I push. The screen doesn't even light up. But wouldn't taking the battery out and putting it back in do the same thing as this? I think I'll try to take it apart and push that button in myself if I can find any way to take it apart...


----------



## RootbeaR

tacoman359 said:


> I do see a tiny hole at the top and I'm almost positive it's a reset button, but when I push a paper clip in it, nothing happens no matter how hard I push. The screen doesn't even light up. But wouldn't taking the battery out and putting it back in do the same thing as this? I think I'll try to take it apart and push that button in myself if I can find any way to take it apart...


Read the manual. May need to do something in a specific order.


----------



## tacoman359

I lost the manual, but found a tutorial for taking apart on Google. It turns out that the hole at the top was the microphone, not the reset button. I unplugged the hard drive and plugged it back in, then tried formatting the hard drive on the Zen Micro (not in Windows). I'm not sure what previously happened, but this time it told me the exact space of the hard drive. If the hard drive were bad, would it be able to do this? Anyways, I plugged it into my computer, but I don't have the drivers for it installed and I can't find them anywhere. I haven't installed any Creative applications yet and I still haven't reinstalled WMP11. I'll check if it's recognized through My Computer once I install WMP11 and post back here.


----------



## ol11

beside me was such problem and I helped here is this reference
http://us.creative.com/support/down...roduct_Name=Zen+Micro+Photo&OSName=Windows+XP
(wrote at program of the translator)


----------



## tacoman359

I don't have a Zen Micro Photo. It is just a normal Zen Micro.


----------



## PC illiterate

I had the exact same problem as you and just couldn't figure it out - in fact, it was your post that attracted my attention on the net!

This sounds simple, but perhaps it will work - it did for mine. A few days ago, plugged in the Micro for recharging from the charger in the wall and it seemed to charge, as the indicator on the micro in the top right of the screen was flashing, but the micro wasn't 'breathing' (y'know, the way they glow on and off when they charge). Anyhoo, I wasn't too concerned about the glowing, and thought it had charged OK. Came to turn it on the following day and it just WOULD NOT boot up. Plugged it back into the charger and tried turning it on - immediately went to the recovery screen and I thought 'uh oh'. Tried all of the options it gives - reboot, reformat etc and nada. It wouldn't even finish the recovery process and the whole thing made me think the hard drive had died, though I hadn't dropped it or anything. Baffled. 

I thought I'd change tack and before I took it apart, would look for the simple solution - battery and charger. Battery is OK - tried it in another Zen - but the CHARGER is NOT working. - I tried it with another micro and that micro wouldn't 'glow' either. So, in essence, the reason the Micro appeared dead was because there was absolutely no life whatsoever in the battery, because it hadn't been properly charged for yonks. Doesn't wholly explain why it went into recovery mode when plugged into the charger, BUT, once I'd replaced the charger and charged up the Micro, she started up again like nothing had ever happened.

I know it seems silly, but perhaps start with that before you take it to bits? I was ready to hack away at the Micro, but thought I'd try this first - and it worked!


----------



## tacoman359

I actually already completely took it apart, but after discovering the hard drive brand and model, my brother said he didn't want to spend that much on it. 

Did your Zen Micro turn on when it was not plugged in and come up with the recovery screen, or was it impossible to turn it on without plugging it in? Because mine turns on and it seems like if it turns on without using the charger then the battery should be fine. I just want to make sure until I tell my brother that he should buy a part.


----------



## Space Cowboy

Try contacting wherever you bought it or CREATIVE themselfs and ask for a new one.

Sandisk replaced mine for free with no reciept.

Good Luck


----------



## PC illiterate

Ah, yeah - mine was impossible to turn on without plugging it in. Sorry about that, I thought I had it nailed for you there! :down:

Hopefully, this thread should help some other poor bleeder out there, though!


----------



## tacoman359

Thanks for your help anyways PC illiterate. I'll try contacting them and asking for a new one, but I highly doubt they'll do it considering how it's not under warranty and it's really old.

EDIT: I just read the Creative warranty policy for Zen Micro's and it clearly states that the warranty is only for 12 months, I think mine is older than that...


----------



## rese

Hi
I have the same problem with my Zen Micro. Stuck with the "Creative" logo when I turn it on. Nothing happens.. I have tried several times to reformat, etc but it gets stuck there.
So looking at the post it looks like the same issue.

Any solution so far?
thanks!


----------

