FM Radio in Zen Vision M

[Degrader]

I have owned my player since June 10, and everything has worked great until recently. I tried to record a radio program which I had done previously, and the radio does not work anymore. At first I thought it might have something to do with the reception, but where I was doing the recording before no longer worked. Other odd occurrences with the radio is that when I scan through the stations (not presets) I get the same static, and if I accidentally hold down the button it states "scanning" and the player locks up. I tried resetting it (when it locked up), and I tried to do the "Autoscan" function, and the player locks up again. I don't understand how one day the radio is working fantastic, and the next time I go to use that feature I get no radio at all.

[Unwanted]

After searching for some additional information in regards to my "problem" it appears that I am not the only one with this particular problem. The problem that I am seeing now after reading the messages is that Creative is not accepting the blame; rather they are "passing the buck" by stating that the unit is faulty and to send the unit in for repairs. The way I see it, is that if this is a "common" problem with the unit, Creative should pay for the shipping themselves and fix the unit (not replacing it with another unit that will produce the same problem). I am interested in hearing the response for this!

[Kakashi Hatake]

I'd suggest going into recovery mode and doing a disk clean up. Note that this will change all the settings back to default. Other than that make sure you have head/earphones plugged in because they act as the antenna. Oh and it might not record radio. Depending on what firmware you’re using. The newer vision ms and the newer firmware have no radio recording feature due to licensing issues. Oh and I believe that it is a hardware problem. I'd just try the above before sending it in-and if you are still under warranty, send it in creative should cover the costs.

[Sn0w-Le0p@rD]

I have seen threads on FM radio but they relate to a different problem. If your radio suddenly failed, you could try updating the firmware, trying another set of earphones (the cord works as an antenna), but if that doesn't help then I would advise contact Customer Support. If there is a hardware problem with the player, then there is no software fix or "tip" that could resolve it, it would need to be replaced/repaired.

[Mishra S]

When I use the radio function, it doesn't work anymore, nothing is heard. And, when I try to scan for a radio station, my mp3 freezes and I am forced to reset it. I tried checking if the earphones were a problem and they're not. Also, for some weeks now, some songs sound distorted, but I can listen to it by hitting the back button. I've read the forums and learned that it is a common problem. What can I do about these problems?

[RamBarose]

That being said I too have had no FM functionality. This sarted quite a while ago and my issues are exactly as Faith described in the first post. The distortion thing is nothing new though. I've had that since I first purchased my player. Although it's reasonable to say it should've been ironed out already. One thing I have noticed recently though. My player is freezing more often now for some reason. Usually when forwarding a track to the next.

[Degrader]

Thanks for the response, and I was wondering if you could be a bit more specific about your response as it relates to my last question? You stated, "It's simply a case of hardware faulty and there's no software to fix or correct a hardware fault." So, is this something that Creative Labs is aware of, and has that problem been fixed with the current players available on the market? In other words, if I were to contact Customer Support and send back the unit will I experience this SAME problem again?

[Sasuke Uchiha]

I am also having the same problem with my ZEN. It first happened back in early May and unfortunately I didn’t post anything then because I didn’t think it would do anything. Now that I see that there are still issues turning up, maybe Creative can admit it has a problem with these units. Maybe, based on serial # we can track these units down to being part of the same batch of units exposed to the same errors in manufacturing.

[Orochimaru]

Well it's sad to know that so many users are have the same problem (I being one more to bunch) and it's a shame that Creative wants you to do is call their tech support and spend more money on a unit that is supposable good. The Radio turner was a big contributor to my ZenVM Purchase, but of course once the warranty expires the thing decides to mess up. I refuse to pay for something that apparently many users are having the same problem with. Creative do something or you guys are going to lose out on a lot of business.