Creative ZEN: One solution for white screen

[likarex]

what if songs don't play? :/

[dswnysports]

Whattt, that instantly worked! Fantastic. How did you find that out?

[ministe2003]

Didn't initially work for me and when I completed the 6th step the screen just came back on white. However I then turned it off and while it was going off, I hit the back of the case hard with my hand and it came back on just as it powered off! Turned the player back on and now it works fine!

[mulawmulaw]

Put it in the freezer for 5minutes !!! it really worked !!!!! OMG !!!!

[likarex]

@mulawmulaw u serious? -_-

[Shahsz86]

doesnt workkk

[scorpioraptor]

my zen had this problem.

[TXejas19]

lol, I heard amy winehouse

[DeeDe1987]

mi pomogło dzieki

[philipleejones]

damn, and there I was about to christen my new hammer, thanks mate!

[pegasusa]

This procedure worked for me initially, but doesn't work anymore. I'm going to try throwing it against a brick wall and then jumping on it a few times. If that doesn't work I will try driving over it.

[Nabroska]

WOW THANKS A LOT ;D !

[MrSelfDestruct1428]

Make sure you release the Play/Pause button before you release the Power switch during the last step. I did it the other way around the first few times I tried it and that's why it wasn't working for me. It's perfectly fine now.

[KuroSickopath]

Thanks !

[rileesdad7]

u saved me thanks alott

[bleedscarlet]

this solution works for me most of the time...but I need to replace this thing. It's frustrating when it happens.

[Begotchi]

I got so happy when i found this, and i got so sad when i found out, that it doesn't work for me...:/

[wildkite]

i dropped my zen in the water and the screen became white. I baked it dry on to of my CRT monitor. and it worked.

[Asyrxf]

I have no music in the mp4, my sis reset it, how do i do it

[mapy8686]

it worked for me, the trick is you got to switch it on fast, if you do it slow the white screen will remain

[mackartin]

zens are shit my screen went white with black splodges on it can play music and thats after leaving it in my back pocket whilst riding my bike for a day! do u no a solution

[joanmartin]

sometimes works, but this time doesnt work.. =/

[Remneous]

i dropped it on concrete, got the white screen, and thought it was dead so i trashed it. that was two years ago.... long gone by now. :(

[Godber1000]

Mate you are a star. Sat and watched your demo and tried it myself...diddly squat happened. In my frustration i smacked it hard on the table and hey presto!! up came the screen again. Buy you a pint next time we meet.

[Twilight4496]

@Godber1000

I'm Not Gay But I Seriously LOVE YOU GUYS.

THANKS FOR TELLING ME TO HIT MY ZEN NEVER WOULD OF THOUGHT ABOUT THAT!

MY ZEN IS FIXED AND I'LL BUY YOU ALL PINTS ON THE MONEY I SAVED CHEERS!!

[justxav]

Dude it like works perfect!!! thanks so much

[xXxReptilectricxXx]

Mine shows a "Firmware Problem". I had update the firmware and everything, but it still not working. Im done with mine.

[vnesaa]

Mine doesn't wanna go on any more.. it was full battery and everything.. can you help me?

[corey0721]

this workd for me thanx man its not a hard thing to do i can deal with it everytime i turn it on

[dalesun]

THANK YOU! This always corrects the blank-white-screen until I power off-and-on again:

1. Fully charge the unit.

2. Get a song to play.

3. Lock the device by moving the Hold/Power switch up.

4. Wait for the screen to blank to black, and also wait an ADDITIONAL 25-seconds after the screen blanks.

5. While holding the Play/Pause button down, move the Hold/Power switch out of the lock-mode, and all the way down (like you're turning it off).

6. Release the Play/Pause button.

[RicharddHagenn]

@dalesun YOU ARE A GOD.

[tutorialesloquendo09]

@dalesun

It worked for me :D

[seanok512]

@dalesun This fixed my MP3 player right away; what is this black magic?!

[Oscarius87]

this was helpful tnx :)

[222222Mike]

What did you even do?

[TheDefjams]

@222222Mike i went thru 2 of these within a two month span, wonderful apps but horrible software, just went with sony walkman 16gb s639

[sugasugaki]

The solution in the vid didn't work. It could turn on and off and charge, but I couldn't see the screen. For the heck of it I stuck it in the freezer for 5 min, and now it's working fine, go figure.

[stephiicx]

i have the same exact zen, and it plays music but the screen is still white. i have tried EVERYTHING but nothing works!!!!!! plzzzzzzzzz help me im desperate!!!!!!!

[Astley]

I have that MP3 Player but I didn't get a white screen. It just stoppd in the middle of a song and now won't turn on or charge? Any thoughts?

[L0vEr118]

@Astley on the bottom theres a little hole dat says reset poke it with a needle or sumthing it will turn off then turn it on it will say rebuilding and it will b normal again

[nihonihon]

MAYBE A SOLUTION WHEN I DOESN'T WORK

So as every one I have a blank white screen, but the problem is that no music is being played and when put on hold the screen just stays white and strong for ever (or so I thought).

I just left it as is for probably a few minutes and suddenly some music started being played and the screen turned black (as it should when on hold). I put it back in normal mode (no hold) and the screen appeared again...

So maybe just try to LEAVE ON HOLD FOR A FEW MINUTES.

[Darjek]

Didn't work the first time, but then I held it in the on position after putting on hold and it worked.

Thanks!!

[swezir]

didnt work for me

what exactly did u do

[p0p0k0pf]

Worked for me! thanks! Just upgraded firmware a few mins ago and that didn't do it.

[Kelltiknl]

Wow! awesome, it works!

[H2OJustAddWaterFan20]

Ive got a problem with my Zen

My screen is always dark and if I adjust the brightness settings, nothing changes, how can I fix this and make the screen bright again?

[Mars464]

Nice fix!

Thanks very much.

[VB00GiE]

this doesnt freakin work!

wth!

[SorkStar]

@VB00GiE It doesn't for most people <.< One of the worst things that has been released. I personally amd going to email Creative.

[Jaqu33nTORONTO]

I had the white screen for two days. I resorted to getting frustrated and just hit my ZEN on the back a few times and it came on.

[badlakan]

THX it worked for me as well.. strange :P

[john27006]

@Jaqu33nTORONTO i slammed mine on my desk as it was turning on,then the screen came on,your comment worked alot bettr than this video

[frozenlead]

I tried all of the various refrigerator techniques and stuff, but none worked. The only thing that worked is replacing the LCD. $50 for the screen is better than $100+ for a new player.

[DenialBecomesMe]

If you are doing this, and still getting the white screen over and over again, unfortunately I have to tell you that you have no solution. Same happen to mine.

I loved mine but the white screen showed up and stay there for the rest of the days, It went to repair, and today I got the new.. it doesn't have solution... =/

[SteffenM2]

Well, this didnt work for mine.

I tried like 25 times, then finaly i got so fed up, i threw the piece of shit into the wall behind me..

Well, that definatly helped. It works now :) So, eh.. I kinda have to say thanks :)

[armenac92]

What you need to do is to get the latest driver. Just google zen driver :D

[kzzephyr]

wow it worked!! thank you

[kentjensen228]

mines diefferent, when i press the power button down it does the white screen but when let the power switch back up it turns off?

[hampurilainenXXL]

My zen has wsod too, but it appears when i put "button lock" (whatever, i dont know proper word)

on, and then off. Its blank white screen! But when i turn it off and then on, it works o.o

But this wont help it :(

[kenneth3212]

thanks dude... i thought my zen was a goner. worked well for me!!!

[Masonic1016]

This didn't work for me, so I tried this:

1. Wrap the Zen in tissue or foil and place it in the coolest part of the Fridge (not Freezer) for no more than 15 minutes.

2. Press and hold the 'Play' button, push the 'Reset' button with a paperclip, then slide the 'Power' switch to 'On'.

3. When the 'Recovery Menu' appears, release the 'Play' button.

4. Select 'Clean Up' first, then repeat steps 2 and 3.

5. This time, select 'Reboot' from the menu, and the WSOD should be gone!

[amarkec]

If you have white screen you can't see the recovery menu!!!!!

[Masonic1016]

After putting it in the Fridge for 15 minutes, the screen returns to normal - but only for a few minutes, then wsod again.

I tried this 4 times, but on the last attempt, decided to do the reset.

This may not work for everyone, so look at the other methods as well. Mine is still OK after 3 days, so it worked for me!

[ChocolateSunflower]

it worked when i put it near my A/C (cold air) for a few mins :)

[Alibratus]

wow! thanks a lot this worked for me.. was wondering how to fix it when I came accross this.. thanks soo much!! :-)

[AlanMc2009]

hi i had wsod last night and i just left it at wsod then batter went low then plugged it into pc then started charging now its fixed :-d

[vicbike]

jaja mi zen where doing the same thing and one day i discover the white screen solucion but 2 days ago my zen wont turn on and i was tinking it was the low bat thing and when i plug in my zen for charge 15 minutes later mi zen was really hot and dirin charge and it wont turn on u.u

[jalapenos309]

Do you hold the play button, then release the hold? if it is, does not work for me :(

[PimpOStick]

Ah. Thanks, but no Dice ;/ Warrant's up to.. Hrmph :(

[belizeanalien]

i need a new lcd screen

[LivieDances4ever]

omg! ive got a TOTALLY different phone and when i watched this video it kinda gave me an idea so i did it to my phone and IT WORKED!!! thx so much! :DDD

[mp0011]

You can try to cool it if you cant find music with no screen or player is empty.

I put it for 15 minutes to fridge, turn on and its work! Without plaing music!

WARNING!

Do your best avoid humidity condensation on circuits in fridge! put it in a small plastic box or something. Do it at your own risk.

[PhilipK73]

Doesn't work.

[kaelynelle]

thank you so much!

this actually worked :3

[riker388]

The warranty paid for the new screen

[mckenzie770]

nope. =[

[seungwha]

Thank you so much, this was very helpful. The same thing happened to me and this worked.

[pantapdiazho]

guys does anybody know why mine cant be turned on?

i cant do anything with my zen

pleaze help me

[eman3030150]

both me and my friend have the same problem can you connect it to your computer??

[pantapdiazho]

well i couldnt conect it to the pc it didnt worked it doesnt turn on so my uncle took it to fry´s to change it for another mp4

[lidarman2]

Yes, it works so far. I could tell it was a new unit and not the one I sent them. it was pristine.

The warranty is 90 labor 1 year parts.

If you have one, you can go online and submit a RMA request. You have to enter the date you bough it and send in the receipt. If they accept your return, you will get the RMA online right then and there.

[05Hunter41]

I have the same problem. It is out of warranty.....

[metalyourhead]

yep mines just stuck in the white screen arhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!! this 'Solution' didn't even try to work!

[JEEVES7282]

this does work for a while but eventualy it won't work i got mine last summer and now it's stuck on the white screen

[captainwall]

Same White screen, actually white/grey with a bunch of lines. Display seems to be sensitive to finger pressure. So... I attached a medium binder clip to the bottom center edge of the player(putting constontant pressure on that part of the palyer, and the screen now look normal again.

[Sharonmz]

Hey everyone I had the same problem but I tried this and it did work. It showed a screen where I had choices on clean up, reboot, ect and I chose reboot and the white screen went away! Thanx!

[seltersss]

Thanks for the tip, but no, sorry, it doesn't work :(

[dbz5450]

I plugged this into my usb port like always, it showed the battery icon, then it did a quick flash of the white screen & now it wont turn on. Please, this video what I'm experiencing? PLEASE HELP!!! I just got this thing yesterday for my birthday :(

[lidarman2]

UPDATE: Despite the results of this video, the WSOD seems to be temperature related. I did some experiments and got consistent results.

The people who are using tricks are simply lucky-- where the temperature cools a little while the trick is being done, not because the trick actually works. That's why there are so many tricks and they don't work for everyone.

I'm sending my back on Monday. Creative didn't hesitate to give me and RMA number.

If I could, I would get my money back.

[lidarman2]

ANOTHER UPDATE:

I sent mine in and after a couple of weeks, they sent me a new one. Hopefully this will not sufffer from the problem. Mine was out of the labor warranty but within the 1-year parts warranty. They didn't charge me anything for labor and in fact they extended the warranty.

[808whysoserious]

does it work and how long is the warranty ?

[lidarman2]

I get the white screen daily now. It just goes away after messing with it for 20 minutes.

Creative must know about this and should offer a fix....that is if it's firmware related.

Which makes me think it's not.

[Lonebeatle]

Damn, it didn't work for me ;_; , anyone has another solution or should I return my Zen? It has only eight days!!!

[satanhell2000]

Have you tried turning it off and on agein:p

[Lonebeatle]

Yep, same thing. Is back to the store and hopefully get a new one. Ty

[Wolfenflame]

I cant even turn off my ZEN. Just white screen, cant hear anything, cant turn it of, totally fucked

[satanhell2000]

hane you tried restarting it by putting a small pin through the tiny restart hole?

[pittfan1827]

I did that when mine got the white screen, but now, no matter what I do, I can't get it to turn on.

[MaverickSoccer10]

@Wolfenflame ive got the same thing did u ever fix it?

[spinspinsugah]

thanks for this! i wasn't holding down the play button after sliding the power switch. now that i do i get a whitescreen a lot less than i used to. i just have to leave my zen player on a song, otherwise it won't trigger the black screen. XD... i wish creative had taken care of this shit before they put the product out to consumers. i love my zen, but if it hardly works it was a waste of money. doing well atm though XD

[peachyphoenix]

Also, exactly how common is this problem? Does anyone know? I can't seem to find a firm answer anywhere.

[spinspinsugah]

pretty common, at least from my end. my zen whitescreened as soon as i bought it, but it had to charge. it got worse a few months later. i paid a lot for it so im stuck with it, but if you buy one, buy warranty!

[peachyphoenix]

I also heard that downgrading the firmware works... but does that always work? I'm looking for an 8 GB mp3 player, and I was thinking of buying a ZEN, but I've been hearing about all these problems, especially the white screen. If downgrading the firmware really works, I might chance it, but I can't afford to waste that amount of money on something that won't last. It's too bad. The features and everything were the most appealing of any other 8 GB mp3 player I saw.

[RDoubt96]

it wont work for me T-T

[GhettoKiIIah]

please help me my screen gets black and nothing work some times then now itry turn it on and it dont work i puted a thing in that little whole in the zen then it dont restart :( and i load it and nothing happen please help me

[Thetawaves222]

I got worried when today this trick didn't work after it had worked before. After leaving the player on hold for longer and letting it switch a song it did work though. Just saying this in case anyone else has that problem.

[thrashbat]

To anyone who has this problem, simply downgrade to the original firmware, it will sort it out.

[AlanMc2009]

ive tryed downgrading but it says your player is not connected just wsod

[xb90]

Too bad about the ZEN - it was very good while it worked but this white screen issue (with no fix from Creative) is enough to keep me away as a customer for quite some time.

[xb90]

This solution worked for a while but over time I was less and less successful. It's just not worth my time anymore so I finally gave up and shelled out $176 for a 16GB iPod nano.

I'm not a big Apple fan and don't think I'll ever join their cult, but the iPod works really well (fingers crossed) so I'm glad I made the move even though it's kind of expensive.

[WalkingIsStillHonest]

Thank you so much. this video was so helpfull in fixing my new Zen that came out of the box with the white screen cheers

[utoober117]

what do i do if it just wont turn on?

I kno its charged because when i first turned it off it had all its battery bars.

And now it just entirely wont turn on.

Can anyone please help?

Thnx.

oh and p.s.:

There is a tiny hole on the bottom of the creative zen that you can use a lead pencil to push the button and it resets.

This works for white screens.

BUT NOT FOR WHEN UR ZEN JUST WONT TURN ON!

help.

[fredandfriends]

yer dood i think i have the same problem i dont even get a blue light it wont turn on so all this stuff say...turn it on and plug it in just doesnt help.

well i cant turn it i get no blue light at all reset doesnt do anything holding down play whilst trying to turn it on does do anything, punching it doesnt work either. and it was working perfectly fine the day before.

:) bit of a rant

[utoober117]

Like seriously.

I think we are all doomed to give into the monopolizing products of ipod.

I already replaced my zen with the new ipod shuffle. And I love it.

Although uploading music and videos isnt as easy as the zen its more reliable, durable, and all around easier.

[mikeg1996]

i am geting one for the holidays(as a gift)and does this happed to all 8gb Zens?????

[mikeg1996]

ohhhhhhh!

if you buy it from amozon it is refurberished. they have bin sued!

mine is from walmart, its great!!!!

[turtleban]

Seriously? I just got mine from amazon not a few weeks ago, but it looks totally ok for me.

[iamawesome7427]

yeah, I got mine from Amazon, it was fine for 6 months (which is a long life for an mp3 player the way I use them) then I started having all these screen issues....so I highly reccommend finding a warranty for it

[xb90]

I hate my ZEN!

This used to work for me but no more...

I tried the fully-charged trick

I tried the leave with black screen for 20 seconds trick

I have not tried the refrigerator trick but that is just more effort than I'm willing to go for with this lousy POS

[Neutralia1]

Mine has the same problem, but its not with the white screen, in mine appears a song ready to play, and when I try to play it, it doesn't responds and frezzes, CAN SOMEBODY HELP ME PLEASE!!!

[mikeg1996]

when you turn it on hold down play then release at the ZEN ad a recovery mode will come up and go to clean up.

[Neutralia1]

Thanks

[mikeg1996]

did it work?

[Neutralia1]

Yes, it worked

[ollewesterlund]

Wonder if any one else got it to work by putting it into the fridge as I did? Just curious.

It is a temporary fix, enough to load additional stuff into the player, change settings etc. The screen freezes when the player gets warm again.

Olle W

[gloomyme]

Hey Olle W

your method really works! I had the white screen problem for over a month, nothing I've tried worked...HAHA

Thanks

[utoober117]

I thought this product was gunna be really awesome, but the after just hours of having it...IT FUCKIN FREEZES ON ME! WTF!

[utoober117]

ok. So what i did was just left it on until it died, then i just recharged it. Now its fine for now...but i'm a bit skeptical of how long it'll be before the next freeze.

Heres to hoping not soon.

[utoober117]

I think what made it freeze in the first place was because i might've been flippin through the different menus too fast or something...still ....its annoying

[ollewesterlund]

I got mine to work by cooling, putting it into the fridge (about +5 C) for 5-15 minutes always works for me.

Olle W

[riker388]

i had the same issue but it was the lcd screen replace the lcd screen and yr fine..

[shevagate7]

hey man how much did that cost you cause it's most likely to end up in that solution =/

[bushnomics]

Im not even bothering with Creative anymore

[grimthereeper]

doesn't work.

[LegendaryBoyA]

I doesn't work on mine....Why??

[seansshack]

genius - thanks. has the white screen of death - but 100% working now

Cheers

[jiankaiangel]

lol ur LCD spoild already lah stupid

[flamelord9999]

i dropped my 8gb creative zen and wen i turn it on its a white screen with some colour lines. i did ur solution but it wont work.

plz i relly need help!!!!!!!!! (i neva haked it)

[sexyvampirecatgirl]

I know this says one way but please tell me that there is another way. This really is my life and this doesn't work.

[xb90]

This works for me (revised):

1. Fully charge the unit

2. Get a song to play

3. Lock the device

4. Wait for black screen and leave it like that for 20 seconds

5. Hold the play/pause button down and move the side switch out of lock mode, then push all the way down (like you're turning it off) and release (back to middle position)

6. Release the play/pause button

[xb90]

This works for me:

1. Fully charge the unit

2. Get a song to play

3. Lock the device

4. Wait for black screen and leave it like that for 20 seconds

4. Hold the play/pause button down and move the side switch out of lock mode, then all the way down (like you're turning it off)

5. Release the play/pause button

Note: if you try to do a reset and get stuck in some non-music mode, try reinstalling the firmware using the MP3 recovery tool to get back to "normal" mode.

[mcstracer1992]

THANK THE HEAVENS!!!!!!!!!!

[mp0011]

O.K, it works. Just need to wain longer (20 sec) with black screen :)

[Skiaffo]

It doesn't work neither...

[Skiaffo]

It doesn't work on my ZEN...

[mp0011]

It works few times for me, but now it does not...

I start music, switch to LOCK, press and hold PLAY, UNLOCK (or slide to power of for a moment) release PLAY and... still white...

[WretchedAndSparkling]

Omg. that worked. I love you!

[SOADguy]

OH WOW!

i love you. so much

x

[reidcardwell]

Worked like a charm!

[mattcascade]

¡Muchas gracias!

[themgrilz]

u r heaven sent

[srilanka1996]

same here

all i did was reset it

[mayee95]

Wow... My life is back.... THANKSSSS! It worked on my ZEN...

[steingratten]

I had the white screen of death, but i used a paperclip and pressed the reset button on the player itself, it rebooted the system and kept all my music/videos/pictures. It hasn't done it since...

[HannaH1661]

what does he do?

will it work on a creative zen v plus?

[parkpatt]

doesn't work for me...nothing does. I'm just getting an ipod...why can't creative get technicians who can make quality products like other companies?...

[jojokant]

Yes go buy an iPod!!! , if you like fucking errors and stuff that get's broken really quick , go buy an iPod!

Studies have shown that the average lifespand of iPod's is not even 1.5 year. while normal mp3/mp4 players last over 5 years.

[parkpatt]

oh right, like all of my other mp3 players that lasted 5 years! Oh...wait...come on man, I've seen what happens for myself...what the hell makes you think that some jerk on youtube could get me to believe something that contradicts my own experiences?

[xb90]

Great Solution! One comment, this only seems to work if a tune is playing - if you don't have a tune playing while locked up in the "white screen" mode, simply use the random play feature (lower left button) to start a tune playing.

[miforlife]

it dont even play music

[miforlife]

that dont work on mine

[johnnydubois13]

k never mind, it just needed to be docked for a minute to get enough power to turn on

[johnnydubois13]

ok gang, i got one for you:

it said there was low battery power so i turned if off. I left it at home and went away for the weekend and when i came back, it won't turn on and when i dock it it says its not there.

please help

[COLONDsuperb]

IT WORKS!

By the way, if you have trouble getting to a song (like if you're tuned into recording or the radio, there's a random song/song of the day button)