Creative Zen V on Ubuntu

[Krisoijn]

I have just bought a 2 GB Creative Zen V but there does not seem to be a way to move my songs. I have managed to configure the Zen as an external USB disk but the songs that I move to it are not visible by the player. It's very strange. I thought that Windows was only required to use the "ZenCAST Subscription support", but it seems that Windows is actually required to use the Zen. I'm afraid that I'll have to go back it for a repayment tomorrow. Can anyone advise some other MP3 player by Creative (or other manufacturer) that does not need Microsoft Windows or that allows transferring files like a compatible USB device.

[Crespin]

Older players, like the Zen Nano or the Muvo line of products all use Mass Storage drivers, which works as you describe (like a portable HD.) They should work all right in Linux, but it's not officially supported by Creative, and it won't work with any kind of DRM protected files. All the new players use PlaysForSure, which is Microsoft only. You can probably assume that ANY player you see marked as PlaysForSure won't work in linux, including many of our competitor’s products. Of course, if anyone knows different, please feel free to post here and let us know.

[Kickapoo]

Well, the idea behind PlaysForSure was that it would allow any piece of hardware that is P4S compatible to be able to play any licensed content purchased from any music store that is also P4S compatible. That way, you could use your P4S Zen V to buy songs from Yahoo Unlimited, Napster To Go, etc. You could also use any one of our competitors P4S products with any one of those P4S compatible music service. It was meant to be a "standard" to make it easier to find legal music that will work on your player. The kicker is Microsoft requires Win XP SP1 and higher for it to work, and the special "MTP" protocol they require all P4S players use generally only works in XP SP1 or higher. Apparently you found a loophole, although I suspect that you would have a hard time transferring DRM licensed content purchased from a P4S service using your Linux work around. But if you're just ripping CDs, who cares?

[Odalis]

I have a ZenV 2 GB, just got a new ZenV after thinking the there was something wrong with the first one. Seems my HP Pavilion with the 64bit Athalon processor does not see the Zen. It sees it briefly, then I get a found new hardware and that the MTV devise had a error in the installation. Have re-installed it about 3 times all with the same result. Is there a know compatibility issue with HP Athalon’s? If so does anybody have a fix for it?

[Abenaki]

Did you guys install the CD before plugging it in? And do you have WMP11 installed? This is what did it for me. Also try searching the forums. There is a thread that may fix this for you immediately; it has for others, and I don't know why it wasn't sticky. These sources should get your Zen up and running. Don't send it back yet, because it's a pretty amazing player once you get it working.

[Beothuk]

I have a 4GB Zen V+. I'm running Edgy. I built amarok-1.4.5, libmtp-0.1.4 & libgpod-0.4.2 from source & used check install (in case I wanted to uninstall later). You will need to purge the existing versions of these packages if you have them already installed from a Ubuntu repository. If you are running Kubuntu, removing Amarok will require you to remove the Kubuntu-desktop package - I didn't find this to be any problem. I had to re-apply some behavior preferences but didn't notice any other problems. Don't forget to copy libmtp.rules to /etc/udev/rules.d/45-libmtp.rules All works fine (on two separate Kubuntu boxes). I can use Amarok to put/get sound files from the Zen (including files recorded via line in for subsequent processing in Audacity). I haven't tried to do anything with videos, as I personally can't see the point of trying to watch video on 160x160 pixels @ 15 fps! Same for photos. I have also used the ZV+ with several 32bit XP SP2 boxes. I have not found it necessary to install the Creative software on any of them. XP seems to happily recognize the ZV+ and add a 'Creative Zen V Plus' folder to 'My Computer'. You can use this to transfer files. Or you can do it the hard way with WMP.

[Delaware]

I've now upgraded to Kubuntu 7.04 using the on-line updater (after first reverting to the MTP & Amarok repostory packages). Amarok works pretty much flawlessly with my ZVP. I formatted the ZVP & reloaded my entire (3.5GB) library. The only problem I noticed was that when I clicked Disconnect in Amarok, the ZVP stuck on the 'Docked - Please wait' screen. Wouldn't power off. However when I physically disconnected & reconnected the USB the 'Shutting Down' dialogue appeared & the ZVP switched off. Powered up again & all was OK. Also Amarok now seems to play WMA files - I don't think it did that before upgrading to 7.04

[Illinois]

I was in a similar situation with a ZEN Microphoto. The battery wouldn't even charge. I ended up just putting it in a cupboard for almost a year. Then I tried gnomad after installing Ubuntu and everything works! Note: - I raised this with the support team, and give to give credit where credit is due, they did offer to give me a replacement unit, but the process of actually achieving this was so complex I couldn't be bothered - but then again it seems there was nothing wrong with the hardware anyway. Like someone said we are being treated as consumers not customers, the customer is Microsoft. I guess Creative wouldn't want to upset their corporate friends and give the people who buy their products a piece of hardware that actually works out of the box. That said, now I know that there is software out there that lets you put your OWN music that YOU have BOUGHT on the player that YOU have BOUGHT then I'll probably buy another Creative product.