FIXED!!!!

at last! my Creative Zen has been revived! Special thanks to Mino! wahahahaha

as promised:

PROBLEM:
a. 'Firmware Problem' error message on Startup and
b. Player cannot be recognized in ANY PC

SOLUTION:
while others might tell you to download the mp3 player recovery tool from Creative or upgrade the Firmware with the latest version... that won't just work if you're having problem b hand-in-hand with a.

so the first thing you should do is perform a hard format (mino taught me this bwahaha i'm so thankful).

how to:
a hard format is basically a formatting process made on the device itself, without any valid link/connection to a PC.

Turn off your Creative Zen by inserting a thin object on the reset button of your device. I figured this is the only way of shutting down the player in my case because the on/off button on the side won't respond.

then, PRESS AND HOLD the play/pause button while turning on the player (with the normal turn/off switch).

TAKE NOTE that you must press and hold FIRST before turning the device on. and you must still be holding the button while the device is turning on.

doing those correctly will lead you the recovery menu with just the right options you need to save your device. if i remember correctly, the options were:

Format All
Upgrade Firmware
Reboot
Rebuild

select FORMAT ALL. you should be aware that all existing files currently present in your player will be deleted after the process.

select yes then, proceed to Rebuild.

your player must now be working well. :)

hope this helps. :)

my zen just crashed on me

a week late!! i thought i would be able to fix it immediately and give a problem-with-solution entry today but i guess i'm too overworked looking for solutions that i decided to just blog about the problem first... then hopefully when i get it fixed, do a solution entry.

PROBLEM!!!
after the Ilocos trip, when i turned on my Creative Zen (8G), it says 'FIRMWARE PROBLEM' and it won't proceed from there. also, the computer won't recognize it!!!! grrr...

yun lang naman... i tried scouting for solutions... i've downloaded this mp3 player recovery tool from the Creative website but when i run the application it says there 'NO ACTIVE INTERNET CONNECTION FOUND' when in fact, i am online. T___T sucks, man.

then there are also firmware upgrade suggestions... i'm trying that out right now, i'm downloading the 17.something MB firmware file that would HOPEFULLY lead me to a better path but another problem arises... HOW CAN I MAKE THE RECOVERY TOOL WORK ON MY PLAYER OR UPDATE THE FIRMWARE WHEN THE COMPUTER DOES NOT RECOGNIZE MY PLAYER! it reads nothing about the device on My Computer what the fuck, man! this is pissing me off big time.

but you seeee, i'm not missing the player... nor the music, i figured that i've established a psychological dependance on the player almost everyday of my student life that i can't possibly leave for my classes without my earphones on. yaaaah, and the one week that i survived having no mp3 player on hand seemed not to have bothered me big time at all.

i'm not saying i don't care, heck, what do you call this entry.

i just want it fixed. it's nearing one year old already. am i cursed or something? cos i change players almost every year...T____T;; and even though i want that new Creative Zen X-Fi, having a dysfunctional old player wouldn't count as an excuse.

Dear Lord,
Please Help Me Fix My Player.
Amen.

(currently on forum boards)
whew.

a brewing delinquent

i don't think 'brewing' fits my case good enough, i WAS a delinquent, till i tried fixing my life. but unfortunately, my futile attempts didn't bring me closer to the 'peace' i was trying to achieve. maybe i am bound to be gravely unfit and utterly hopeless in this place. yeah, and it sucks.

i want to shift. yeah, again. after thinking and rethinking and confusing myself more with my mood swings, i want to shift again. let's get real, i may never be able to get out of my city jail of a college, but I CAN TRY. case is, i'm always trying but i've never gotten past the grade requirement... i must have been really stupid you know. and i know i sound so pathetic like this, wanting to shift from a killer course to a relatively laid back one just because i cannot give the demands of my studies which requires one heck of a brain with the right hemisphere functioning a hundred times more active than the left one... if you get what i mean. at least i know in myself that i'm more visual than analytical.

if i shift here i'll be taking devcom, at least there's writing, if not for a bit of literature and the whole thing about fixing my grammar (i've always wanted to write as well) i wouldn't have taken it as a feasible deal. i chose communication arts in the first place but i think i'll learn more at devcom.

fine arts now is becoming a blur. unless after spending a decade wallowing myself in desperately trying to sound and look like an engineer, i decide to take a double degree and register as an undergrad and go through the whole college life torture again... sure, but that is already HIGHLY unlikely, since i'd be struggling to earn money by then.

i hate this. really.

oh right, VOTE FOR ME! :D

i've been nominated at the Philippine Blog Awards 2008 and is need of your votes to win (well, err, yeah). actually, the voting process could be really tiresome, i need your patience for this hehehehe.

how to vote for me, (well, in case you'd like to check out other nominees go here, but please still vote for me hehehe):

CHECK THIS LINK, or for a condensed version:

## you must create a blog entry stating that you're voting for my blog: Indistinguishable Gibberish. indicate the reason why and finally include the list of this year's sponsors:

Level Up! Games
Nokia
Blog Bank
Smart Communications
Josiah’s Catering
Rsun Technology Store
Yahoo
XFM 92.3
Buddy Gancencia Reality TV
Ultravision Photo and Video
Click Booth
Aloha Board Sports
Sheero Media Solutions
YourPinoyBroker.com
Belo Medical Group
Inquirer.Net
Toshiba
ROAM Magazine
PLDT
Red Box
Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf


## your entry must include the above-mentioned links for it to be validated and counted.

## then, publish the blog post and take note of the URL of the post (not the URL of your blog) and go FILL UP THIS FORM to conclude the voting process.

so what do you get after this? well, your vote will mean a raffle entry for yourself. who knows what great prizes are in store for you (and me too hehe)?

let's get creative: zen x-fi

meet X-Fi, Creative's newest installment in its ever innovating mp3 player line-up. this one's a predecessor of the Creative Zen (which i'm using now), now with richer features like...

:: x-fi sound technology which generally enhances your audio quality unlike regular mp3 players

:: wi-fi lan, which enables the user to download media via wireless connection

:: instant messaging. you got it there.

the last two features i mentioned are only available on the 16 and 32gigs model.
and what's probably best about is that its introductory price is pretty much the same as the Creative Zen, considering it's advancement in features. 16gigs cost around $200 and the 32gigs - $280.

really, it's a good good deal and i want to get my hands on it now.
well, if i manage to save enough moolas, i could sell my creative zen and just buy the x-fi.

i don't seem to stick into mp3 players for long, i always always want a new one... especially from Creative.

a little research won't do bad, go ahead. :)

ilocos trip

PICTURES HERE <---- will direct you my multiply acct, only for people in my network. :) spent 3 days and 2 nights at ilocos. honestly, i think i expected TOOOOOO MUCH on this trip, it was a waste (especially to those who weren't able to get the 'surprise compensation' at baguio..will tell later in this entry). and to think i whole heartedly traded our org's anniv night for this (which was held saturday night)?!?!?! shet sana nag anniv na lang ako! D: i missed a damn lot. pero hindi rin! hahahaha... :) di naman ako umuwing talong talo at hinayang na hinayang sa 3300 na feeling ko napunta lang lahat sa gas! >____<
day 1 (sept 6, saturday): after the super long trip... welcome to vigan! i love the place, it looks so... ancient. haha, ewan. basta maganda... it looks so paris with the cobblestoned streets and old spanish houses, lol, maybe i should say it looks more like spain? hindi parin, gusto ko paris eh. we checked-in at a VERY VERY CHEAP inn, Cordillera Inn. ang arte ko diba, e kasi naman... imagine cramming 14 girls in a room? ang jologs! ang dami namin eh! nakaloka isa lang ang CR, buti na lang may shower sa CR sa lobby, at least... kahit nakakahiya, basta makaligo keri lang. eto pa, the breakfast ALMOST sucked. it was supposed to be a buffet, but the people behind the food trays would only allow us a maximum of two longganisas and a single fried egg. so where did a minute part of 'almost sucked' went? there was instant coffee! that made good enough compensation for me, i had two cups hahaha. :)

so you know, we went to a lot of museum stops. boring boring boring... i didn't learn at all. except for some little facts about vigan which didn't really change my life. we also went to this church and bell tower where gabriela and diego silang met for some, err, i dunno... agenda? (my philippine history sucks, so sorry).... the church looked cool, for some reason it reminded me of barcelona (well, i've never been there... got it from meteor garden 2). ok, so after all i think i should quit saying vigan looks like paris just because of the cobblestoned street. now, it looks like spain. ok, sounds more logical.

that night, we decided to stroll around the place... me, anne and geeza. we navigated ourselves fairly easily to the plaza, which was almost dead by 8:30pm. you know how much that sucked? that's the only place we saw which would give us access to urban civilization; mcdonalds, national bookstore (SALE!), lee, guess... dammit, WHY DO THEY CLOSE SO EARLY?!?! and you know, most of the stalls there are already closed too.

strike one.

so we just walked back, defeated, to the inn, thinking that maybe we should just let this pass and sleep... anyway, it's cold in the room. but guess what? we arrived at the inn, wondering why everyone's heading downstairs and out to the streets... then it dawned on us that THERE'S NO ELECTRICITY and only the lights could be powered by the generator.

strike two.

so we out too and just made tambay on the streets, taking pictures (i swear, the pictures in my multiply would bear no evidence that i didn't enjoy the trip -because some rule of thumb says i should smile for the camera even though i'm having a bad day-, THIS IS THE MORE RELIABLE SOURCE OF WHAT I TRULY FELT DURING THE DAMNED TRIP). so yeah, we pretty much endured it naman so ok lang. hehehe

day 2 (september 7, sunday): we woke up 5am, and left at around 630 to do some more trips. we made a lot of museum stops again, and i didn't pay attention... there were times when we just stay in the bus and wait for them. we also had this super annoying tour guide, she's supposed to be one but i didn't learn anything essential from her. and her voice is always in a bellowing tone, like molly weasley's voice recorded in howler.

anyway, after some stops we headed to ilocos norte for the gigantic wind turbines that covers 40% of norte's electricity. the place was cool, and we were situated at a place where we can see all the 20+ turbines lined up along the shore. coolest!

then we headed to pagudpud beach.
kala ko masaya, hindi pala. we were bored eh, we're not having fun. grr... at least we were, i don't know with the others pero i know hindi kami nag-iisang napapangitan sa agenda.

and you know, we drove there for 5 hours and after that we have to endure another 5 hours back to vigan. napaka uncompromising.

day 3 (september 7, monday): ayoko na, i'll skip through the first part....
baguio: we stopped at burnharm park. panget din pala dito. it looks so congested and polluted, totally not what i expected. and we were insisting na sa SM baguio na lang kami magstop-over, but no. guess what, almost everyone headed to the mall parin. why can't they see that we're not enjoying ourselves?

pero wag ka, the best part was we spotted SAM CONCEPCION with Inaki of PDA (not at the mall, but somewhere near Ibay's)!



ok, yun lang nagpasaya sakin ng todo.
at least nabawi ang inis ko diba? :)

after the trip, i noticed tuloy tuloy ang kamalasan ko. haaay badtrip. :(

UP AChES anniv, to Taran and more...

i'm wearing my violet orgshirt today. yeah, one of the rare times actually. hehehe :) oh, today is my org's 3rd year anniversary! yeheeey! really really busy weeeeeeek. :(

BETWEEN COMPAQ PRESARIO C700 (from HP) and LENOVO G410 (from IBM):

to Taran: you mentioned you were torn between a g410 and a c700. well, c700 is slightly richer in functions because it has a webcam and has a really wide screen (around 15 inches more of less) which is a big plus. HOWEVER, it's pretty heavy to carry around if you're looking for portability... but if pretty much the gadget will just sit on your desktop for the most part, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND IT FOR YOU, and it looks very professional too.

with the g410 though, i haven't bought the unit yet but judging with the specs, it has 40gigs more disk-space than c700 (c700-120gigs, g410-160gigs)... but really, 120gigs is already good enough. it's smaller, lighter and is the best thing i could recommend for STUDENTS like me who wants a readily portable not-a-pain-to-carry-around laptop in school. no webcam, and is about 14.1 inches wide. that's actually big enough for me already. :) and yeah, it has EXACTLY THE SAME SPECS as the c700 xept for the diskspace advantage and weight.

PRICE: the two units really come in cheap (both without OS), so i don't think it should be that bothersome to decide on which without considering the price hehe. price here in the philippines: g410- 28,500 (around 620 US dollars), c700 - 29,500 (around 640 US dollars); they're both without OS so you've got to shell out around 80 to 90 dollars for an authentic one.

hope it helps, taran. :)


LOL. for once, i actually sounded like one those tech-help guys in cNet mailing newsletters to subscribers. hahaha you can ask me more tech stuff guys, i'm kinda savvy with it.

alright, more details later. I'VE GOT TONS TO ACCOMPLISH THIS DAY.