Microsoft KB Archive/945016

= Known problems that may occur when you play media files on a Zune device =

Article ID: 945016

Article Last Modified on 11/17/2007

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APPLIES TO


 * Zune 30GB Digital Media Player
 * Zune 80GB Digital Media Player
 * Zune 8GB Digital Media Player
 * Zune 4GB Digital Media Player
 * Zune Digital Media Player

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SYMPTOMS
Media files may not play back correctly on a Zune device.



CAUSE
This problem can occur if one or more of the following conditions are true:
 * The media files are not encoded correctly.
 * The media files are corrupted.
 * The codec that was used to encode the files does not encode files as expected.



THINGS TO TRY
You may be able to resolve this issue by deleting the files from the Zune device and then resynchronizing the files. To do this, follow these steps:  Use the Zune Sync Cable to connect the Zune device to the computer. Start the Zune software. For reach of the files that do not play back correctly, click device, right-click the file, and then click Delete from .

Note The placeholder  represents the name of the Zune device.

 Click collection, right-click the file that you deleted in step 3, and then click Delete from .

Note The placeholder  represents the name of the Zune device.



If the media files still do not play as expected, review the following sets of symptoms, causes, and resolutions or more information.  Symptom On the Zune device, a video file is listed in the songs section of the music category instead of in the video category. When you play the file, only the audio plays.

Cause The file was encoded by using the Sorenson Video 3 codec.

Resolution Use a different codec to encode the file. Symptom On the Zune device, a video file does not appear in the correct aspect ratio. For example, the video may appear compressed from both sides (&quot;squished&quot;).

Cause This problem occurs when you play a Video Vault file that has a nonsquare aspect ratio. Video Vault files that have a nonsquare aspect ratio store the data for the aspect ratio on a frame basis instead of in the sequence header of the file.

More information For more information about Video Vault, visit the following Bamboo Technology Web site:

http://www.bambootech.com/Products/Video-Vault-Complete

</li> Symptom A video file plays as a slide show on the Zune device or in the Zune software.

Cause This problem occurs if you play a Windows Media Video (.wmv) file that was encoded by using the Windows Media Audio (WMA) Voice codec for the audio track.

Note This is a known problem. This problem is scheduled to be fixed in future versions.

More information To determine the codec that was used to encode the file, follow these steps:  Start Microsoft Windows Media Player.</li> Click Add, and then add the file to the Media Library.</li> Play the file in Windows Media Player.</li> While the file is playing, right-click the file, and then click Properties. Verify the audio codec and the video codec that were used to encode the file.</li></ol> </li> Symptom On the Zune device, a video file may not play back correctly. The audio may not be synchronized with the video, or the video may not play at all.

Cause You may experience this problem if the file was encoded by using Windows Media Encoder 9. This problem has been reported when the sample files that are included with Windows Media Encoder 9 are played on a Zune device.

Resolution To resolve this issue, install the latest updates for Media Encoder 9, and then re-encode the file.</li> Symptom On the Zune device, the quality of preloaded video content is poor. This problem is especially noticeable when you play the &quot;1.618&quot; video or when you use the TV Out feature.

Cause The preloaded content may contain encoding artifacts that affect video quality. This problem may be more noticeable when you use the TV Out feature to view the content on a television.

More information This is a known issue when you view preloaded content. There is no workaround or resolution.</li></ul>

Keywords: kbzunehardware kbtshoot kbpubtypekc kbzuneamericasportal kbexpertisebeginner KB945016

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