This page is here to help you decide whether
your Zen is worth fixing, and to help you target the specific problem with your Zen.
MP3 Players NOT Worth Fixing
Any MP3 Player with a storage capacity under 4GB, and the following:
- Zen V or V Plus 1GB or 2GB
- Zen Nano
- Any Zen that has multiple hardware problems (such as broken screen and bad hard
drive) - Any Zen older than 6 years old
MP3 Players that ARE Worth Fixing
Any MP3 player with a storage capacity of 8GB or greater: - Zen (credit-card sized)
- Zen Sleek or Sleek Photo
- Zen Vision:M
- Zen Vision:W - Creative Zen - Zen X-Fi - Zen MX
Low Cost Repairs
If your Zen has the following problems, repairs are made at low cost:
1. Loose headphone jack or broken headphone jack
2. Power button or other buttons are broken or don't respond
3. Only powers on when plugged into computer or wall charger
Zen Problem Diagnosis
Zen behavior problems that might indicate a motherboard failure:
1. Does not power up, even when plugged into a wall charger
2. Constantly reboots by itself
3. Is not recognized by the computer
4. Updates firmware partially, then stops or freezes
5. Gives "firmware update failed" message
6. Gives "USB device failure" message
7. Freezes up upon being plugged into the computer
Zen behavior problems that indicate a
bad hard drive:
1. Makes a loud clicking, grinding or scraping noise (put it up to your
ear to listen)
2. Stuck in recovery mode
3. Gives "Harddisk Problem" message when trying to format
4. Cannot reformat the drive
5. Rebuilds the library but doesn't ever finish, or takes 30+ minutes to
finish
6. Freezes at Creative opening screen
7. Freezes up in general
Zen behavior problems that indicate a bad battery:
1. Zen overheats, especially when plugged into a wall charger
2. Only powers on when plugged into a wall charger or the computer;
cannot power on by itself
3. Battery depletes in just a few hours
4. Battery does not charge
We cannot recover the data on a damaged hard
drive.
