Microsoft has come up with the reason – and a solution – for the mysterious failure of so many 30GB Zune players yesterday. The problem was caused by a bug in the driver of the Zune 30 that caused it to improperly handle the final day of a leap year, meaning all Zune 30 devices were potentially affected.
Yesterday the company released the following statement that explains the problem – and also the solution:
"Early this morning we were alerted by our customers that there was a widespread issue affecting our 2006 model Zune 30GB devices (a large number of which are still actively being used). The technical team jumped on the problem immediately and isolated the issue: a bug in the internal clock driver related to the way the device handles a leap year. That being the case, the issue should be resolved over the next 24 hours as the time change moves to January 1, 2009. We expect the internal clock on the Zune 30GB devices will automatically reset tomorrow (noon, GMT). By tomorrow you should allow the battery to fully run out of power before the unit can restart successfully then simply ensure that your device is recharged, then turn it back on. If you’re a Zune Pass subscriber, you may need to sync your device with your PC to refresh the rights to the subscription content you have downloaded to your device."
