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You read that subject line correctly. I'm one of the die-hards who's still rockin' a Zune. I actually bought it when MS pulled the plug on the original Zune, and the Zune HD was still a US-exclusive - that's well over a decade ago. Stores were clearing out their inventory and I paid $100 for it, including docking station and car adapter. I've owned cheaper MP3 players before that, but they all turned out to be pure garbage. And giving even a single dime to "that fruit company" goes against my religion or something. To me, the Zune was the right balance of (clearance) price and feature. Little did I know I'd ever get so much use out of an electronic device.
During its lifetime, it's been dropped on hard wood flooring and a concrete patio more times than I can count, and it's found itself half-buried in dirt once or twice when I accidentally kicked it when bending over to pick it up after dropping it. During this decade+, I've pretty much used it daily to listen to podcasts. I still haven't replaced the battery. I have no idea how long it can still go for between charges - but it's longer than I listen to it in a single sitting.
In any case...this last winter's been exceptionally dry, and for those who aren't aware of this sort of thing, dry cold air = lots of static electricity. I've been zapped around the house this winter a ridiculous number of times. Sometimes as I happened to pick up the Zune. A few times, that was bad enough to cause it to immediately reset itself (it never randomly resets itself otherwise as so many MS products do). I even once reset a laptop by zapping it.
About a month ago, it seems that this was one time too many. After it reset itself, it went back to a black screen. Holding down the power button (repeatedly) to force it to shut down/restart didn't seem to do much. I left it alone for a few hours, then tried again - the screen came back on, instructing me to hook it up to a computer with the Zune software via USB so it can reinstall the firmware. Neat trick if it can actually do that. How many devices today would simply be permanently bricked if they found themselves in that state?
Of course - and I guess this is my real rant - the Zune software tries to contact some MS server to download whatever firmware it can find. And that server's long been retired by now.
After a bit of googling, it seems like I'm not the first one in this situation...I did find a copy of the latest MS firmware files in someone's public Dropbox account and some (incomplete) instructions.
Long story short: With a web server in place that can serve the files, I set my hosts file to point to that machine's IP, and had it pretend to be resources.zune.net. Then the Zune software contacted it, downloaded and installed the firmware. After a final reset, the Zune is as good as new again. It didn't even wipe the podcasts I already had on it.
Now...dear Microsoft...it's one thing to keep a web server up and running, dedicated to hosting files that one guy might need a decade after a product's been discontinued. You could even have moved it to a tiny VM to make it more cost-effective, an idea you've been trying to push on to us since the first days of Azure. Too much still? What's the cost of hosting an additional 150MB worth of files on dedicated download servers that are already serving terabytes daily? The Zune software itself (that you install on a PC) is still available, but that doesn't include any firmware.
Anyway...after all this...the Zombie-Zune lives on.
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Since we all know that Sheldon was about the only one who bought a Zune: Welcome to CP.
You will understand if your favorite spot on the couch is already taken. 
I have lived with several Zen masters - all of them were cats.
His last invention was an evil Lasagna. It didn't kill anyone, and it actually tasted pretty good.
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I've had one in the past as well. OK, two. 
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We think we know that you are not Sheldon, right? But ok, Zune sales just doubled.
I have lived with several Zen masters - all of them were cats.
His last invention was an evil Lasagna. It didn't kill anyone, and it actually tasted pretty good.
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dandy72 wrote: And giving even a single dime to "that fruit company" goes against my religion or something.
Just for some perspective...  .
My 2007 Gen 1 Apple iPod Touch still works great. No problems with static or firmware installs. Apple's servers still support it.
I bought it at roughly the same time and for the same money as when my son got his Zune. I doubt his lasted 3 years...
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Mike Mullikin wrote: My 2007 Gen 1 Apple iPod Touch still works great. No problems with static or firmware installs
Bring it over. We'll see how it fares.
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We had a brief 2-3 second power failure today. A number of our lab systems came back up with errors of one sort or another, but the Boat Anchor™ came up like a champ. The B.A. is an Intel server box with four Pentium III 550 MHz Xeon processors and 4GB RAM, six hard drives configured as a 2TB RAID array, running Windows 2003 Server. It is 18 years old.
At one time this was our deparment server: files, builds, source control, everything. Today it acts solely as a file and source control server. Builds and other things have moved to hotter boxes we've salvaged from the scrap pile.
This thing reminds me of the old janitor you see moving slowly around the building, that you find out later took four bullets in 'Nam getting his buddies into the evac chopper.
Software Zen: delete this;
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Gary Wheeler wrote: This thing reminds me of the old janitor you see moving slowly around the building, that you find out later took four bullets in 'Nam getting his buddies into the evac chopper.
5'd, just because of that sentence.
".45 ACP - because shooting twice is just silly" - JSOP, 2010
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You can never have too much ammo - unless you're swimming, or on fire. - JSOP, 2010
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When you pry the gun from my cold dead hands, be careful - the barrel will be very hot. - JSOP, 2013
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Thanks, John.
Software Zen: delete this;
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You are way beyond the mtbf for those drives!
I had a ten y/o spinner crap out on me last year, now they're all SSD, still the box (office server) itself is nearing 10 y/o. The hardware is still relevant but I'll be switching from Server '08 to '16 in the next few months...see if I can get a few more years out of it.
"Go forth into the source" - Neal Morse
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This is only the second time in the last four years this box has been powered off, and the previous time was a controlled shutdown for building maintenance. Every time I'm worried that the hard drives won't spin back up  .
Software Zen: delete this;
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Solution - big-ass UPS, along the lines of 3500mA. With just the server attached, it should run for a few hours before the battery craps out.
".45 ACP - because shooting twice is just silly" - JSOP, 2010
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You can never have too much ammo - unless you're swimming, or on fire. - JSOP, 2010
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When you pry the gun from my cold dead hands, be careful - the barrel will be very hot. - JSOP, 2013
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Given that our three servers are all salvaged from product machines (and therefore have little or no capital value), I've never been able to make a business case for a UPS big enough to keep them running for an orderly shutdown. The three machines back up to each other every night, so losing one wouldn't hurt us that badly.
We have a building backup generator that kicks on 8-10 seconds after a failure. Unfortunately our lab isn't deemed 'critical' and isn't on a protected circuit. Critical systems include our de-ionized water supply (if the flow stops, water flows back through the filters and the whole system gets contaminated) and the positive pressure blowers for our clean rooms.
Software Zen: delete this;
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Business case: If we lose power, the hardware is so old they may not spin back up and we won't be able to find parts to repair the boxes if the motherboard, CPU, or RAM decide to go south.
(This happened to me a few months ago - lost power, and the 5-year-old motherboard went to hell in a handbasket. Had to replace the motherboard, CPU and RAM because I couldn't find a new motherboard that would accept the old parts. :/
".45 ACP - because shooting twice is just silly" - JSOP, 2010
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You can never have too much ammo - unless you're swimming, or on fire. - JSOP, 2010
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When you pry the gun from my cold dead hands, be careful - the barrel will be very hot. - JSOP, 2013
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I hear you. Unfortunately I work for a hardware company. One of the mechanical guys needs a $50,000 pair of pliers and it's hand-delivered to his desk the next day by the Swedish Bikini Team. Software guys are just a bunch of whiny little bitches.
Software Zen: delete this;
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Silver lining - you get to eyeball the Swedish Bikini Team every once in a while.
".45 ACP - because shooting twice is just silly" - JSOP, 2010
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You can never have too much ammo - unless you're swimming, or on fire. - JSOP, 2010
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When you pry the gun from my cold dead hands, be careful - the barrel will be very hot. - JSOP, 2013
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It seems that the value of the box is not in the hardware - it's in its data. If the data really isn't that valuable then it's a non-issue. If it is then it should be backed up often and a UPS should be easily justifiable.
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Gary Wheeler wrote: This thing reminds me of the old janitor you see moving slowly around the building, that you find out later took four bullets in 'Nam getting his buddies into the evac chopper.
Back when I first started HS (1977) there was an old teacher in his last year before retirement. Many of my "less well behaved classmates"* treated the guy poorly (back talk, insults, stealing stuff from his desk, etc...). He always tolerated it with class. About a decade after graduation I saw his obituary in the local newspaper. OMG! The guy was a certifiable WW2 hero - a total stud. One of the few US soldiers who served in both the European and Pacific theaters. Earned 2 Purple Hearts and a Distinguished Service Cross.
Only after reading his obit did I understand why he ignored the BS from these kids. They weren't worthy of his efforts.
*Read complete idiots
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Sounds like my chemistry teacher. Mr. Conrad looked like a derelict and sounded like he was a few ions short of a compound. Like yours, he was a hero. I don't know what medals he may have had, but he had a plate in his head and walked with a limp from injuries received in WWII. For all that, you didn't screw around in his class. The man was lethal with a chalkboard eraser thrown from the front of the room.
He was a great teacher. I learned enough from him that when I was required to take chemistry in college, it was a cake walk.
Software Zen: delete this;
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Has moved this week to the Soapbox: I felt the need for some slightly non-KSS ones after all these years ... not rude, so much, but ... risque perhaps.
It'll be back in the Lounge next Monday!
Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay...
AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!
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Me thinks he doth wish to lead us astray; lost sheep, as it were.
A Welshman, sheep, . . . I'm on my way to the door, backing away.
| Ravings en masse^ |
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| "The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits." - Albert Einstein | | "If you are searching for perfection in others, then you seek disappointment. If you are seek perfection in yourself, then you will find failure." - Balboos HaGadol Mar 2010 |
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Dismayed, indeed.
(well, actually, that happens midnight on June 1st...)
The best way to improve Windows is run it on a Mac.
The best way to bring a Mac to its knees is to run Windows on it.
~ my brother Jeff
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