Microsoft’s 30-gigabyte Zune music players suffered from a leap year bug on Tuesday, December 30, 2008. Late Tuesday night, thousands of Microsoft Zune units froze as a problem associated with the fact that 2008 was a leap year surfaced.
Microsoft acknowledged the problem and indicated that it was a timing bug in the Zune that caused the players to disable themselves on the last day of the year.
In order to correct the Microsoft Zune Leap Year Bug, users were asked to:
- Disconnect the players from USB and AC power sources to drain the battery;
- Wait until noon GMT on Thursday (7 a.m. EST or 4:00 a.m. PST);
- Connect the player to either a USB port or to AC power and let it charge;
According to Microsoft Zune support, the player should start normally once the unit has sufficient power.
While this is not a fix for the Microsoft Zune Leap Year Bug, it is a remedial solution. Many Zune users are critical that this is simply a temporary fix and that it may come back under similar conditions.
