Dan Rigsby - Coding Up Style » Zune

Zune Command Reference

Dan Rigsby — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 18:44:00 +0000

The Zune offers a few command combinations that aren’t well documented. Below is a reference of these commands and how you use them.

If you are unfamiliar with the Zune button names, to the left is a picture with each of the 7 buttons labeled.

Command	Directions
Turn on	Hold the “play” button (3 seconds)
Hibernate	Hold the “play” button (3 seconds) when the device is on
Shutdown	Hold the “back” button and “down” button (3 seconds)
Reboot	Hold the “back” button and “up” button (3 seconds)
Reformat	Initiate a reboot by holding the “back” button and “up” button (3 seconds). During the reset hold the “back” button, “center” button, and “up” button (3 seconds)

Comments:

If you want to extend you battery life you can “shutdown” the Zune when not in use. The device will naturally go in hibernate mode, but it will still use up some of the battery. Shutting it down maximizes the battery life.
Reformatting will delete all data on the Zune including any preloaded content. However, it will keep whatever background you using, even though the original source image was removed.
Some people have noted battery issues with the Zune. These battery issues usually manifest with the device randomly rebooting while listening to music. This issue can normally be fixed by performing a “Reformat” and making sure that the latest firmware is installed. Version 2.3 fixed some batter issues, but the “Reformat” seems to do the trick to clean out any bad spirits that were introduced at the manufacturing plant. This fixed issues that my wife’s Zune was having

Zune 3.0 and Windows Server 2008 64-bit

Dan Rigsby — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 13:23:00 +0000

I have been looking forward to today for weeks now. Version 3.0 of the Zune software was released and adds a slue of new features.

My laptop runs Vista-64 and it upgraded to version 3.0 with no issues. However, when I tried to update the software on my Windows Server 2008 Workstation, I received the following error:

Hmm, doesn’t it looks like it tried to upgrade to the 32-bit version of software? Well, I explicitly went to the Zune site and download the 64-bit version. And guess what… I got the exact same error! Version 2.5 runs fine on this OS. This is very disappointing

Anyone else encounter anything like this? I’ll update this post again if I discover more. Until then, Windows Server 2008 64-bit users may be out of luck.

XNA Game Studio 3.0 CTP, no 64-Bit support (yet)

Dan Rigsby — Thu, 22 May 2008 20:31:25 +0000

As a Zune owner I have been quite excited to get my hands on XNA Game Studio 3.0 CTP. I am excited about not only being about to develop games, but also applications for my Zune (see this post about XNA for the Zune). So, I eagerly downloaded the setup, ran the install, and all was well, until I went into the “XNA Game Studio Device Center” to add my Zune device:

After clicking “Next” I was greeted with the following error:

System.IO.FileNotFoundException: Unable to find the specified file.
   at Microsoft.Xna.GameStudio.DeviceManagement.UnsafeNativeMethods.AcquireZuneTransport()
   at Microsoft.Xna.GameStudio.DeviceManagement.ZuneDeviceInfo.GetAllConnectedDevices()
   at Microsoft.Xna.GameStudio.DeviceManagement.UI.ZuneNamePage.SetCurrentPage()
   at Microsoft.Xna.GameStudio.DeviceManagement.UI.AddDeviceWizard.Proceed()
   at Microsoft.Xna.GameStudio.DeviceManagement.UI.ZuneWarningPage.SetCurrentPage()
   at System.Windows.Forms.Control.OnClick(EventArgs e)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Button.OnMouseUp(MouseEventArgs mevent)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Control.WmMouseUp(Message& m, MouseButtons button, Int32 clicks)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Control.WndProc(Message& m)
   at System.Windows.Forms.ButtonBase.WndProc(Message& m)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Button.WndProc(Message& m)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Control.ControlNativeWindow.WndProc(Message& m)
   at System.Windows.Forms.NativeWindow.Callback(IntPtr hWnd, Int32 msg, IntPtr wparam, IntPtr lparam)

After a bit of digging around, I discovered that this exception is caused because there is no support for 64-bit operating systems in XNA Game Studio 3.0 yet. Unfortunately, all of my PCs right now are 64-bit Vista to take advantage of >3.5 gig of ram and to test applications in 64-bit mode. So, I will have to attempt to run this in a Virtual PC and hope I have better luck.

To save you some frustration, there are a few other things to note about this version of the CTP:

You must be running Visual Studio 2008 Standard Edition or higher or Visual C# 2008 Express Edition. Those of you running Visual Studio 2005 are out of luck for now.
No game development for XBox 360 yet. This CTP was released for working with the Zune. Perhaps more CTPs will come out over time.
No support for 64-bit operating systems. They should have support for this by RTM though (I hope).

Xna Game Development on the Zune

Dan Rigsby — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 20:54:39 +0000

As a Zune30 owner X2, I just had to post about this. Microsoft just announced that XNA Game Studio 3.0 will support building XNA games for the Zune. I was afraid this would only be for the 2nd generation Zunes, but it looks like it will support Zune 4/8, Zune 30, and Zune 80 devices. Some features include:

Ability to write a game in XNA and target it for Zune, 360, or PC
Network support for up to 8 Zunes
A stripped down version of the XNA graphics API
Ability to customize game background soundtracks with mp3s
Ability to create real time visualization. I am guessing this means visualization animations for music.
Games are limited to 16MB for code and content though

A preview of the new framework will be available this spring (maybe as early as April). The full release is expected around Christmas 2008.

Check here for more information: http://forums.xna.com/ShowThread.aspx?PostID=46553