gdgt

Many of the cool features of Zune software such as the social elements and recommendations rely on Playcounts to function properly. There is a firmware bug that is causing playcounts to not be counted properly during normal use of the Zune HD. It has been discovered that playcounts are only detected if one skips to the next track before letting the song completely finish playing on it's own. If you don't do that (which of course nobody will since that's just weird), the Zune HD will not attribute a play count.

This has totally rendered useless my playlist based on playcounts. For example I have a playlist that is for all songs played less than 1 time. My playlist is never updated since my Zune HD is not properly recording playcounts. Also I used to get lots of friend invites for the top albums I would listen to because others would see that I was a top listener for a given band for that week and want to add me as a friend. Since getting my Zune HD I have not gotten any friend invites, nor have I received any medals of any kind even though I've listened to some bands and albums a hell of alot and well enough to receive some medals for it.

This is clearly a real doozy of a problem and MS needs to fix this immediately! This problem was first recognized nearly a month ago and it still persist with no further word from Microsoft as to a fix.

I really really really love my Zune HD. I can't emphasize that enough...but with this problem, anyone thinking of buying one may want to hold off until Microsoft addresses this issue. Otherwise all too many features are gimped and it's just really a sad case.

Read about the problem on the Zune forums: http://forums.zune.net/0/3/527421/ShowPost.aspx#527421

A Microsoft Zune support team member has aknowledged that the problem exist and that it is related to a firmware bug and gives no promise as to when it will be fixed.

If you would like to see if your Zune HD is affected by this problem:

In Zune software click on Collection
Click Songs (right hand side)
Click on "Choose Columns" (bottom right)
Check box next to Play Count

Now you can see the playcount. Please note that this bug does not seem to effect playback from Zune software, only from the Zune HD device itself.

So to test, find a song with 0 plays. Then go to your Zune HD and play that song for at least 20 seconds. The Zune counts as 1 play after 20 seconds into the track. Do this several times to that track to make sure it's got a play count or two that should be registered. Then Sync your Zune. Look under the Zune software > Collection > Songs and see if that song has properly synced the playcount?

What you should notice is:

1) If you allow the track to play all the way through, it will not get a playcount at all.
2) If you skip forward to the next track before the track has finished playing, the Zune HD will register the playcount and transfer that over to the Zune software upon sync.

Try this out for yourself and see if this is the case.

Another obvious sign of something wrong with playcounts for me was when I looked at all of my tracks that I marked with a heart ( as in "I Love"). When I sort by those songs, there are tracks that I listened too only on my Zune HD and marked with a heart from the Zune HD. So those tracks clearly were played at least once before. I don't skip around allot so I know they were fully played and not skipped. Sure enough there are tons of tracks with a heart for I love and yet no playcount is associated with the track. Just says 0.

This is an incredibly frustrating problem for me and many on the Zune forum. Please test for yourself if you have a Zune HD and report your experience here.

Yeah, I believe they mentioned that bug on the Zune Insider Podcast (aka the official Zune/Microsoft Podcast) and said the same thing that a future firmware would fix it.

I still hope that November will be the time for a firmware. With November picked as the release time for the new games and apps, and it being a perfect time before the holiday gifting season, it just makes sense to get a firmware around then. I unfortunately have nothing official to back that up with, and it's only my speculation at best. In anycase that's what I'm hoping for, so we'll see.

There's some speculation that the next firmware update will come around November 17th, with the Xbox Live updates.

Yeah the play count isn't working real well, but I don't know if I would say that it breaks a key feature. If play count is the reason you bought this device then wtf? Whether or not I can prove to my friends that I've been listening to a song or not isn't a deal breaker or a reason for anyone to even wait to buy the Zune HD, this will be fixed in the near future.

Well this breaks or at least screws with Auto Playlist, Top Listeners, Recommendations, Medals and Smart DJ Mix which all require or take into account play counts.

If you don't use these features then I can see how this is not a problem, but I use all of the above. For me this is a huge deal. This breaks features I've come to love and that allow me to really get the most out of my Zune HD. Microsoft still has yet to address the issue.

I took the time to write the Zune team again about this issue this morning. I sent to Major Nelson and several support team members the following message after finding a post on Zune forums that recognized the problem but repeated the same non committal response that an update would come with no firm dates or information beyond that. Also this post would not allow public reply's.

=======================================================

You guys seem to be doing a hell of a job covering your asses on this. I have owned a Zune since the early days of Zune 30. I have supported and enjoyed the brand all these years. I am very dissapointed that a fix for this problem has not already been issued and that the Zune team continues to not give us any solid information as to when a fix will be released.

In general the Zune team has been completely mum on the Zune HD after launch. We have gotten little to no information about when some key features will come including bug fixes to major problems.

- Zune browser crashes all the time for no reason.
- Playcounts broken which in turn breaks Zune Social features, medals, top listeners, Autoplaylists, recommendations, Smart DJ.
- Lack of apps is a joke. I've had the same games on my Zune since the release of Zune 2.0. Get with it and release some games and apps already!!! I want facebook, Google maps or equivalent and 3D Games!!!
- Zune HD does not reliably pause playback automatically when you unplug the headphone jack. This is a feature that worked flawlessly on previous Zunes.

I am fed up with your teams lack of updates concerning the playcounts and other issues. Please let us know what the hell is going on!

Your taking a real bruising publicly and you can thank me for it. I was the one that submitted this problem to Engadget.com which resulted in the following post: http://www.engadget.com/2009/10/27/zune-hd-stops-syncing
-playcounts-with-nary-a-firmware-fix-in-sit/

I have also created the following thread on gdgt.com : http://discuss.gdgt.com/microsoft/zune/hd/support/Major-
Zune-HD-Firmware-Bug-Playcounts-not-syncing-Breaks-key-f
eatures/

I hope you realize how damaging it is to the image of your product when you let the maven's down.

This problem has now been addressed with a firmware update.

http://forums.zune.net/0/5/542570/ShowPost.aspx#542570

The following message from Zune support forum:

Hello guys and gals,

We have released 4.3 firmware update for Zune HD today that addresses this issue.

http://forums.zune.net/542547/ShowPost.aspx

You can get this update thru the Zune PC software by going to Settings-Device-Player Update

Pete, Zune Device Product Team,