Adam Krebs
11-26-2007, 06:35 AM
Hey everybody,
Lately, I've been looking through a lot of articles on how to get the most out of our devices, and here's what I've come up with:
Software:
Change your background: The boys at ZuneBoards have developed a nifty little hack (http://www.zuneboards.com/forums/completed/13291-custom-zune-background-hack.html#post99248) to allow you to set any background you want. It's even selectable from right within the Settings page of the software.
In case the newly supported codecs (http://www.zunethoughts.com/news/show/56/diving-deep-on-the-zune-tech-specs.html) weren't good enough for you, try this ZuneBoards registry tweak to enable conversion (http://www.zuneboards.com/content/view/66/2/) (though not playback) of a ton of formats to one that the Zune can actually read. [I'm not sure if this works on the gen2 software. I'll check on that]
Avoid 99% (not an actual figure) of installation issues. I can't tell you how useful SZIP was to me over the last year. Thankfully, marshilboy updated SZIP, or Superior Zune Installation Program, to v2 (http://www.zuneboards.com/forums/completed/13531-superior-zune-installation-program-v2-redux.html), bringing his know-how with him. SZIP strips out all the unneeded components for the Zune install, and just plain works. Check it out.
And if the new software/firmware just plain isn't doing it for you, check out the downgrade instructions (http://www.zuneboards.com/content/view/176/1/).
Device:
Use Zune as an external harddrive. This is another ZuneBoards original from last year. Simply put, you change a few registry values, and presto! Zune shows up (complete with an icon) in the My Computer folder in Explorer. Unfortunately, it suffers some setbacks, namely that it's pretty difficult to actually transfer files to and from the device using this method.
Cool button combos (http://www.zunerama.com/articles_024.php#071121_zune_story):
Holding back and then pressing the down button on the Zune Pad/D-Pad will turn the Zune off "hard" (meaning the next time you start it up, it'll begin at the bootloader)
Holding back and pressing up will reset the Zune. This was especially useful to me last year during the winter, when my Zune30 had "static issues"
Zune Pad isn't just quad-directional. Want proof? Go to a photo, and zoom in. You can move the zoomed-in photo in any direction. This bodes well for future game support and other cool features
Send any file via wifi. Last year, programmer Shaun Peoples saw the loophole in Zune's wireless sharing: music, even tracks you own, is automatically protected with the 3x3 DRM, while pictures have no such restrictions. Shaun found that by embedding a file in picture metadata, the Zune is tricked into believing it's just another snapshot of your kids you've been passing out to all your coworkers, and will allow you to share practically any file--you just have to have the foresight to know what to send, and the other person has to be patient enough to wait 'til they get to a computer to check it out. Still interested? Check out ICHWM (http://www.durhamgames.com/ichwm.htm). You won't be disappointed. Social
Zune Card: One of the ways to "make it you" is to customize your avatar, background, and status. For whatever reason, the background uploader doesn't care about resolution and wants to use the thumbnail box no matter what. A workaround for this I've found is to use Paint--that venerable tool that hasn't received an update in over a decade--and open your desired picture. Go to Edit | Select All, or use Ctrl-A to grab everything. then go to Image | Stretch/Skew (or Ctrl-W), and resize to an appropriate dimension. Save the file, and try re-uploading it to Social. You may have to do this process several times to get it right.
So that's what I've got so far!
It's by no means complete, so tell me: Anything I've missed? Any cool feature/hack you want to share? Just post it and the link where you got it from, and I'll throw it on the front page.
Lately, I've been looking through a lot of articles on how to get the most out of our devices, and here's what I've come up with:
Software:
Change your background: The boys at ZuneBoards have developed a nifty little hack (http://www.zuneboards.com/forums/completed/13291-custom-zune-background-hack.html#post99248) to allow you to set any background you want. It's even selectable from right within the Settings page of the software.
In case the newly supported codecs (http://www.zunethoughts.com/news/show/56/diving-deep-on-the-zune-tech-specs.html) weren't good enough for you, try this ZuneBoards registry tweak to enable conversion (http://www.zuneboards.com/content/view/66/2/) (though not playback) of a ton of formats to one that the Zune can actually read. [I'm not sure if this works on the gen2 software. I'll check on that]
Avoid 99% (not an actual figure) of installation issues. I can't tell you how useful SZIP was to me over the last year. Thankfully, marshilboy updated SZIP, or Superior Zune Installation Program, to v2 (http://www.zuneboards.com/forums/completed/13531-superior-zune-installation-program-v2-redux.html), bringing his know-how with him. SZIP strips out all the unneeded components for the Zune install, and just plain works. Check it out.
And if the new software/firmware just plain isn't doing it for you, check out the downgrade instructions (http://www.zuneboards.com/content/view/176/1/).
Device:
Use Zune as an external harddrive. This is another ZuneBoards original from last year. Simply put, you change a few registry values, and presto! Zune shows up (complete with an icon) in the My Computer folder in Explorer. Unfortunately, it suffers some setbacks, namely that it's pretty difficult to actually transfer files to and from the device using this method.
Cool button combos (http://www.zunerama.com/articles_024.php#071121_zune_story):
Holding back and then pressing the down button on the Zune Pad/D-Pad will turn the Zune off "hard" (meaning the next time you start it up, it'll begin at the bootloader)
Holding back and pressing up will reset the Zune. This was especially useful to me last year during the winter, when my Zune30 had "static issues"
Zune Pad isn't just quad-directional. Want proof? Go to a photo, and zoom in. You can move the zoomed-in photo in any direction. This bodes well for future game support and other cool features
Send any file via wifi. Last year, programmer Shaun Peoples saw the loophole in Zune's wireless sharing: music, even tracks you own, is automatically protected with the 3x3 DRM, while pictures have no such restrictions. Shaun found that by embedding a file in picture metadata, the Zune is tricked into believing it's just another snapshot of your kids you've been passing out to all your coworkers, and will allow you to share practically any file--you just have to have the foresight to know what to send, and the other person has to be patient enough to wait 'til they get to a computer to check it out. Still interested? Check out ICHWM (http://www.durhamgames.com/ichwm.htm). You won't be disappointed. Social
Zune Card: One of the ways to "make it you" is to customize your avatar, background, and status. For whatever reason, the background uploader doesn't care about resolution and wants to use the thumbnail box no matter what. A workaround for this I've found is to use Paint--that venerable tool that hasn't received an update in over a decade--and open your desired picture. Go to Edit | Select All, or use Ctrl-A to grab everything. then go to Image | Stretch/Skew (or Ctrl-W), and resize to an appropriate dimension. Save the file, and try re-uploading it to Social. You may have to do this process several times to get it right.
So that's what I've got so far!
It's by no means complete, so tell me: Anything I've missed? Any cool feature/hack you want to share? Just post it and the link where you got it from, and I'll throw it on the front page.