Microsoft: Bricked Zunes Fixed, But Users Still Rankled

Zune users of the world, rejoice. Microsoft ( MSFT ) announced Wednesday afternoon that it had discovered a bug in the clock software on 30-gigabyte models of its Zune player that hampered the device’s ability to handle the leap year (the one that just ended), causing the device to freeze . Users around the world had found their devices useless. The fix was to let the device’s battery drain , then plug it back into power yesterday, the 1st of the year, whereupon the clock issue resolved itself with the turn of the calendar. Today, most users on Microsoft’s Zune discussion forums seemed to report the devices working again . One discussion thread even described how to remove the battery from the unit in order to force a reset of the device . There were, however, some disgruntled reports from Zune users, including one who likened the whole matter to being asked to “wait and drink tea” while the battery drained. Some were asking whether Microsoft would give away free songs, or pursue some other ... (link)