sync while charging?

[zomigi]

Quick question that doesn't seem to be documented in the official support: can you sync while charging? I'm hoping not, because otherwise the Zune software is not recognizing my Zune. The device is connected, and both the Zune and my computer know it is connected, but the Zune software says I need to connect a device. I'm hoping this is just because it can't sync while charging -- which is what it is doing right now, charging. Is this the case?

Thanks,
Zoe

[zomigi]

Ok, I figured it out. Yes, you can sync while charging. I solved the problem by just plugging the Zune into a different USB port. But here's the weird thing. When it was plugged into the first USB port, it recognized it was connected, the computer recognized it was connected, and even the Zune software said in the bottom pane where the play button is, "Detected Zune," with a checkmark beside it. But even when I would get it to say Detected Zune, it would still say "Connect a Zune device" in the sync pane. Plugging it into a different USB port solved that. Weird, huh?

[zomigi]

For the sake of completeness, I wanted to post one last update to this thread. It turned out that it's not the USB port at all. The Zune software won't recognize my Zune while my external harddrive is plugged in. Once I unplug the harddrive from its USB port, I can plug the Zune into any USB port and the software will recognize it. Still weird.

I don't yet have a fix for this, however. I'm thinking I probably need to assign the harddrive another drive letter, because perhaps Zune wants to use whichever letter it has and the Zune software is getting confused. I'll try it and post back to report if it works.

[Aaron Roma]

Thanks for keeping everyone updated! That is one odd problem. While it does sound like there's most likely some sort of odd resource conflict, I'm not sure it's going to be a drive letter issue, since the Zune isn't seen as a drive by Windows.

[zomigi]

Well, it seems to be an even bigger issue with the Zune not wanting to play nice with *any* other USB device on my computer. See this other thread I started, which no one has even looked at let alone replied to:
http://forums.thoughtsmedia.com/showthread.php?t=755

This is extremely annoying and actually makes me want to get rid of my Zune, since it has become so incredibly inconvenient to use. Is there anyway I can contact someone more official at Microsoft about this? I'm not getting any help in this forum.

Thanks,
Zoe

[bleeman]

What I found was my Zune would "act up" when plugged in via a separate USB hub. However, when I plugged it directly into one of the USB ports on my PC it worked like a charm and has ever since.

[zomigi]

I don't have separate USB ports. I have ports on the front and the back, and my Zune likes to screw with all the other USB devices no matter where I plug it in. However, that's good to know that a separate USB hub is probably not a solution to my problem, but a new problem itself! I will avoid trying that.

[lectric]

Actually, this is usually a power consumption issue. If the external HDD were powered, I bet you lose this problem.

[zomigi]

Yeah, maybe so.

I actually switched to directly connecting my computer to the router instead of using the USB adapter simply because I got tired of the Zune knocking it offline.