01-19-2007, 05:18 AM
|
|
Executive Editor
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 29,160
|
|
Zune Desktop Software Irritations
As many people have pointed out, the Zune desktop software is, in some ways, the Achilles heel of the Zune experience: it's just not as good as it should be. Tonight I experienced a new glitch that surprised me: I just finished watching an episode of Smallville (what can I say, I'm a sucker for anything with a superhero in it because I was a comic book geek for so many years as a kid) and at the end they highlight the music by the artists used in the show. That happens to be a fantastic marketing move, because I've purchased several songs/CDs based on songs I've heard in the show. This episode happened to feature an artist named Greg Laswell and his song "High and Low". I jumped onto the Zune Marketplace, did a search, and had the song purchased in about 10 seconds. The Zune Marketplace is amazingly fast and easy to use. After it downloaded, I immediately clicked on the Recently Added section of my library - and nothing was there other than a message saying "There are no recently added items in Music." Huh? If a Zune Marketplace download doesn't count as a recently added song, what does? I thought perhaps it was linked to the folder monitoring functions, and that if I left it for a minute it would find the song - 10 minutes later there's still no music listed in the Recently Added section. It only seems to list music that has been imported, and even then it does so in a dysfunctional way. Microsoft simply has to do a better job with this software if they want to grow their market.
What are your frustrations with the Zune desktop software?
|
| |
|
|
|
01-19-2007, 05:47 AM
|
|
Contributing Editor Emeritus
Join Date: Sep 2006
Posts: 1,053
|
|
It drives me nuts that there's no good way to sort video on the desktop or on the zune. It all ends up in teh same place.
|
| |
|
|
|
01-19-2007, 06:13 AM
|
|
Pupil
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 32
|
|
I swear you are cursed, Jason.  That's the one function that works for me reliably... at least for the local library. I keep it sorted in reverse... (Last added first.) All my Marketplace downloads appear the second they finish downloading and get moved from the temp directory to the the final directory. Even if you add files from Explorer... Zune watches for NTFS file system changes, so it catches all new additions almost immediately if the Zune software is running at the time.
Now, for browsing stuff on the Zune device itself via the PC... that's not always a perfect experience. In fact, it sucks. In many cases, it takes a long time for the software to index or "do maintenance" on the device... so you don't always see everything you have on it (so stuff like "recently added" is empty)... and album grouping often gets fried. That really needs improvement. Not to mention you can't play or manipulate the content, like you can with iTunes/iPod. Grrr. I guess this isn't a big deal for auto-sync users since you know what's there already in most cases... but for people like me (that only add selective content manually), it's a pain.
Last edited by grommet; 01-19-2007 at 06:16 AM..
|
| |
|
|
|
01-19-2007, 07:04 AM
|
|
Executive Editor
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 29,160
|
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by grommet
I swear you are cursed, Jason. That's the one function that works for me reliably... at least for the local library. |
Cursed? Maybe.  I'm using v.1.2 of the software on Vista. I had thought this worked well before on XP...(fires up the software on different machine running XP). Ok, this is strange, there's no Recently Added option at all. It must vanish if there's nothing recently added...but that seems odd, and it's not the same behaviour on Vista. 
This software is so badly in need of more testing and polishing...
|
| |
|
|
|
01-19-2007, 07:41 AM
|
|
Editor Emeritus
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 1,221
|
|
Had this happen last night. I loaded up the Zune software and my library was EMPTY. It said it was searching for files in the background but nothing was showing up. I double-checked manually and the audio files were still where they were supposed to be. I rebooted, thinking that was the problem. Nope. Still gone. I ended up unistalling, rebooting, and then reinstalling. At least this time I've gotten better at pointing it to the monitering folders.
The reinstall also fixed another oddity...I think. I wanted to monitor a folder under Documents and Settings. So, it added that one, and the whole D&S folder (and all the junk under it.) Fine, I'll just delete that monitoring item. It came back and kept coming back. Nothing I did made it go away...except perhaps this reinstall.
I'm not sure because I hadn't changed any audio settings when it resynced to the Zune. So, when I went in and changed from auto to use best audio, it's now resyncing all 1800+ songs, so I'll let it enjoy that while I get some sleep. Thanks Microsoft! 
|
| |
|
|
|
01-19-2007, 07:59 AM
|
|
Pupil
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 32
|
|
Why did you set the device audio properties to use "best" instead of auto?... If I understand what you set, you just told the Zune software to transcode every song you have to WMA @ 192 Kbps before syncing to the Zune. So, it would resync everything! Auto (the default) = "Only transcode if necessary" (which most people want)
That feature is really only necessary if you want to, say, use a lower bitrate (like 128 Kbps) to save space on the Zune... and don't mind the slowdown caused by transcoding at sync. (You get to keep the higher bitrate content on your desktop where it matters more.) This feature is more aimed at smaller capacity flash players, which don't currently exist in Zune-land.
Last edited by grommet; 01-19-2007 at 08:01 AM..
|
| |
|
|
|
01-19-2007, 07:23 PM
|
|
Ponderer
Join Date: Dec 2006
Posts: 88
|
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by pmradio
The reinstall also fixed another oddity...I think. I wanted to monitor a folder under Documents and Settings. So, it added that one, and the whole D&S folder (and all the junk under it.) Fine, I'll just delete that monitoring item. It came back and kept coming back. Nothing I did made it go away...except perhaps this reinstall.
|
That's one of the first problems I had to overcome when I got my Zune. I would delete things I didn't want, and then they would keep coming back. Apparently when you monitor a folder it will automatically send any compatible file in that folder to the Zune software- even if you already deleted in the Zune software. It's definitely an odd decision. I eventually had to move all the files I wanted on my Zune to their own separate folder and just monitor that folder instead.
The joys of owning a first generation product 
|
| |
|
|
|
01-19-2007, 05:15 PM
|
|
Neophyte
Join Date: Jan 2007
Posts: 4
|
|
more software issues
just recently i can't get videos off my zune when i sync. i'v erased them from the marketplace and even from my hard drive. when i connect the zune and click on my player, it says there'are no videos. new videos are getting on, but the old ones aren't coming off. any suggestions?
|
| |
|
|
|
01-19-2007, 05:44 PM
|
|
Intellectual
Join Date: Jan 2007
Posts: 116
|
|
Ftw!!??
[quote="There are no recently added items in Music."quote]
That was my same very irritating experience too Jason.
Then the USB connector malfunctioned so that to get a connection I had to prop it up against the edge of my laptop and weigh it down with my iPod.
That was pretty irritating too.
Two irritating weeks have passed and I was told the RMA would be back today. Today I was told it would take two months.
All of the cool "recently added" music from the Marketplace 15-day Free Pass
"recently departed". Now to top it all off, in a vain attempt to salvage anything worthwhile from the irritating experience, I tried to pay for the music with my Canadian charge card. "IRRITATION" doesn't even come close!
|
| |
|
|
|
01-19-2007, 07:26 PM
|
|
Executive Editor
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 29,160
|
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by Noel
Two irritating weeks have passed and I was told the RMA would be back today. Today I was told it would take two months.
|
Two MONTHS to get your Zune repaired/replaced? That's insane! 
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
Hybrid Mode
Similar Threads