I'm pretty sure this was caused by a track with a plus sign ("+") in the artist's name, and therefore the file name. It reappeared recently because I was using the "Auto-Tag from Web" feature (which added a "+" to the artist's name) and then "Auto-Organize Files" (which put the "+" in the file name).

The following steps fixed syncing the player:
- Removed the "+" from all audio tags and file names
- Deleted all music files using Windows Explorer (although you could probably just delete the offending files)
- Re-synced the player with MediaMonkey

Hope this helps someone.

PS - [b]AWESOME AWESOME AWESOME[/b] job with the iPhone sync in 3.2.0.1294!!! Ended up using my iPhone more during this problem, and the sync worked faster than the MTP sync.

Have you downloaded all the latest creative software and sync manager for your zen? i.e. not just the drivers, but i had this problem until i downloaded the creative suite which included the zencast and cz sync manager program and then it went away.

Also, do you have any mp4 music files by any chance? This used to be a problem for me (crashed the zen during sync) until i downloaded a specific mp4 codec despite mediamonkey having its own one

It's back.... :( Greatly appreciate any help if people are still watching this thread.

[b]Current configuration:[/b]
Windows 7 x64 (8GB RAM)
MediaMonkey 3.2.0.1292
Creative ZEN 32GB (firmware 1.21.01)


[b]Device drivers for Creative ZEN:[/b]
- All drivers are version 6.1.7600.16385 (win7_rtm.090713-1255)
C:\Windows\system32\DRIVERS\UMDF\WpdMtpDr.dll
C:\Windows\system32\DRIVERS\winusb.sys
C:\Windows\system32\DRIVERS\WUDFRd.sys
C:\Windows\system32\WpdMtp.dll
C:\Windows\system32\WpdMtpUS.dll


[b]Symptoms:[/b]
Behavior is identical to [url=http://www.mediamonkey.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=184429#p184429]my original post[/url], except that the MediaMonkey sync process locks up with the player on "Removing old content".
- The Creative ZEN must be rebooted with the reset button. No content is changed.
- If the ZEN is left connected, the MediaMonkey sync process must be manually terminated. If the ZEN is unpluged after locking up, the MediaMonkey sync process will quickly change the status text to indicate it's trying to load the first file, and then terminate itself.


[b]Actions taken:[/b]
Upgraded Creative ZEN firmware from 1.21.01 to 1.21.03
- No change

Upgraded MediaMonkey from 3.2.0.1292 (Debug) to 3.2.0.1294 (Debug)
- No change


[b]Diagnosis:[/b]
I stand by my previous assertion that this is a Microsoft MTP driver issue. My bet is that some of the songs in my library have unusual/unicode characters that are not properly handled by the driver, thereby causing the bug.

The really odd thing about this is that I've been running Windows 7 for over a month now, and the problem just now reappeared. I wonder if the last Microsoft "Patch Tuesday" made changes to the device drivers and re-introduced this bug.

true, but it would be interesting to see what system files it actually copies across. Also, i would like to see the results of other people having this problem copying these steps to see if it fixes it for them. (fingers crossed it will)

And at the end of the day, installing the software isnt all bad, i do actually now use it to auto convert and sync video to my device (something mm cant 'yet' do(hint hint)) so am pretty happy with it in the end. However, no way am i ever gonna use the creative software to sync music.

Ah, that does suggest indeed installation of Creative software is required :(

this is possible, but during my own period of debugging i did keep trying it after installing the WM9 runtimes and WM11 runtimes

> ... so im thinking that maybe it installed some system files which are needed to sync properly.

Maybe. I have seen other MTP device lock-up's fixed by an upgrade to Windows Media Player (and many devices state a version of WMP in the system requirements) so perhaps those users like myself who don't have the Creative software have a WMP (I had 9 and now have 10) or the Windows Media Format upgrade that is part of it (I have 11) and this provides the same fix that the Creative software does.

Alternatively, perhaps the Creative software is essential, and those users who don't have it are did install it, took one look and uninstalled (I'm one), but the uninstaller removed the app software and not the essential driver.

unfortunately not. I had only recently got a new netbook and hadnt installed any creative software whatsoever onto it. This was the first time i had installed any so im thinking that maybe it installed some system files which are needed to sync properly.

Thanks.

Perhaps you had (pre-update) Creative software installed at the time of a the lockups, and a fault in this pre-update version was the cause. Other who like me have no Creative software installed would not experience the problem.

[quote]Did it do a firmware update?[/quote]

Nope, not on this occasion. this was just software. However i did run the 1-touch firmware update a few days ago and keep getting the same sync lock up issue afterwards so that didnt do anything. for the record though my firmware version is: [b]1.21.03_0.3.1[/b]

> It detected my Zen and installed some software (which im not gonna use tbh)

Did it do a firmware update? If so, it would be worth recording the new firtmwave version number here.

Hey all,

I have been have been having this problem for AGES, but yesterday seem to have solved the problem for me. All i did was connect my Zen (32gb) to my pc via usb (XP) and then run the creative auto software update tool. It detected my Zen and installed some software (which im not gonna use tbh) and now ive synced 10 times with mediamonkey without a single lock up. It would be interesting to see if this fixes it for other people too.

For info, i didnt disable any of the software installed by the autoupdate, so for example, i can still see the creative sync manager symbol in the systray.

Hope this helps,

Gyro

I am trying to limit myself to one or two syncs a week, I am a little concerned all these "wipes" are going to cause the Zen some damages in the long run. Luckily I do not have to convert anything but having to check and recheck every time is a major PITA.

Nyn

> Do you have to convert them each time you sync??

I would do if I didn't use a two-stage scheme, because of the need to wipe the ZEN to avoid the MM incremental sync failure.

Do you have to convert them each time you sync??