Zune ID3

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Why does Zune see Soundtracks as different albums for each artist?

Well, it has to do with the ID3 tags that it reads. As far as I can tell, the Zune compares both the “Album Title” and the “Album Artist” to define a single album. The “Song Artist” tag can still reflect the actual artist even if it is different.

I made a little video to help you through this.

Screen Shots:

The revenge of the Zune

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First off, save yourself the hassle and do not buy a Zune. If you want to buy one, I have a new one for sale. I did finally get my Zune working (mostly) before my trip but did not have time to put all my music on it. What can I say, in my calmest of moments the Zune has maybe 2 stars. Frankly the device is pretty slick but it looses all it’s points due to it’s unwieldy software and lack of detailed instructions.

But you are likely reading this because you believed the hype like me and bought one and now it just does not work…

This is how I fixed the Zune Error C00D11CD but is works for many software issues with the Zune.

1. Disconnect your Zune from the computer.

2. Remove the Zune Software from your computer Make sure to follow every step:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929358 *
*Note if you don’t want to do that there is a lovely app called UnZoone.

3. Reset your Zune Push and hold the Back Button and the Up Button like this:

4. Restore the Zune to factory default: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/927001
Or if you just want to erase all the content of the Zune: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/926917

5. Start Zune software.

6. Reconnect the Zune via USB to the computer.

7. Upgrade firmware

Hopefully that will work for you too.

The most important thing to know about Zune is that the software is unwieldy. It will hang while performing operations and sometimes just freeze up. It sucks as a media manager due to a lack of granularity in it’s controls. I can’t find any detailed manuals on how to control the sync operations so it is making me do a lot of research and testing to make it go.

In the future you may find that the software still won’t see the Zune even though your computer does. What I found is that you’ll need to start the Zune software first then it will recognize the device. Occasionally you will need to reboot your Zune to make enable it to be seen by the software.

How to just reboot your Zune:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/946064?sd=zune

Good luck!

Zune C00D11CD

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I bought a new Zune! It is red and so pretty. I am leaving tonight to visit family and friends on the east coast and really was looking forward to having some choice tunes since I will be traveling for two days to get to my final destination, Maine. Thus, I am so excited to have a new MP3 player.

So I connect it to my windows box and it is not instantly recognized. Even though it is a Microsoft product, the drivers apparently are installed after you install the software which, ironically, does not come with the product. Ultimately I find it on their slick website, I am forced to create an account (signing away my first born) and then I downloaded it. I install the software. It installs the drivers and we are off to the races.

My computer now sees the Zune but the Zune software does not. I hunt around and it requires me to upgrade the firmware. Cool, so I do… or not.

Apparently Error Code C00D11CD (802A0006) is the catch all for things not working with no resolution. I have had serious issue with IPods because everyone I know has theirs break multiple times and itunes on windows sucks. So I guess this what you get when you pay the devil for music.

Here is how I fixed it: http://dennismueller.org/blog/2008/08/the-revenge-of-the-zune/