Comments on: Zune bug explained in detail

By: Qing Guo

Wed, 06 May 2009 08:12:59 +0000

To be honest I had ever earlier know these bugs and successfully manage them using my own DIY software. Let me teach you how:
1: download from http://www.copy-dvd.org
2: select the problem
3: converting or changing
4: finish

By: James Grenning

James Grenning — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 05:45:30 +0000

It is actually stuck in that loop until the device is turned off. take a look at the tests.

http://www.renaissancesoftware.net/blog/archives/38

By: James Grenning

James Grenning — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 05:42:07 +0000

Test Driven Development can prevent these problems, even in device drivers. Take a look at test driving a fix to this here
http://www.renaissancesoftware.net/blog/archives/38

By: Steve Balmer: Don’t expect a Zune phone

Steve Balmer: Don’t expect a Zune phone — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 18:00:28 +0000

[...] Steve Balmer doesn’t know if the Zune is coming or going. The portable media player hasn’t knocked the iPod off its perch in its [...]

By: Digital Watches are a Pretty Neat Idea « Infovark Underground

Digital Watches are a Pretty Neat Idea « Infovark Underground — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 21:56:50 +0000

[...] the Y2K bug to the recent Zune bug, the inability of computers to tell time properly — and the inability of programmers to [...]

By: Code Reviewing Techniques | Moritz Haarmann's Blog

Code Reviewing Techniques | Moritz Haarmann's Blog — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 15:10:46 +0000

[...] you don’t get it at the first sight: http://www.crunchgear.com/2008/12/31/zune-bug-explained-in-detail/ should [...]

By: Rod

Rod — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 17:52:27 +0000

Did you hear about the Microsoft programmer who was found dead in the shower? He was clutching a bottle of shampoo that said, “Lather, Rinse, Repeat.”

By: Tim Greaves

Tim Greaves — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 03:22:12 +0000

whoops my bad :-)

removal of one bracket “}”

By: Tim Greaves

Tim Greaves — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 03:17:25 +0000

Chris explains the issue very well

http://randomtechnicalstuff.blogspot.com/2009/01/what-killed-zune360.html

what is happening is that the while loop never ends as the variable days always equals 366 in a leap year.

I think if the else statement

else
{
days -= 365;
year += 1;
}

was included inside the if is leap year statement by the remove of two brackets “{” this would be fixed.

By: Chris Sherlock

Chris Sherlock — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 09:37:53 +0000

I wrote about this in my blog:

http://randomtechnicalstuff.blogspot.com/2009/01/what-killed-zune360.html

I’ve tried to show a walkthrough by substituting the variables for the number 366… it shows the problem fairly clearly.

By: versaPC » Blog Archive » New Year’s Eve software bug affects Zune users.

Sun, 04 Jan 2009 03:29:14 +0000

[...] Read More at Crunch Gear News Clips [...]

By: Varun Mahajan

Varun Mahajan — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 10:50:23 +0000

That is a racist remark

By: Zune y el apocalipsis bisiesto : Amuzigi.com

Zune y el apocalipsis bisiesto : Amuzigi.com — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 18:20:08 +0000

[...] parece el problema reside en la programación del calendario interno del Zune, ya que resulta que el contador de [...]

By: Rajesh

Rajesh — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 18:09:26 +0000

My understanding is that this is a Freescale (a semiconductor company) bug. Usually in a device there are different chips from different vendors and most of the times they provide the drivers for those chips.

Reading the link points this as free software available from Freescale for their clock driver.

Surprisingly I have not seen any finger pointing from MS yet, though they are responsible for testing this as well.

By: Little Mistakes, Big Effects « thyme

Little Mistakes, Big Effects « thyme — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 17:19:57 +0000

[...] Software engineering | Tags: bugs, microsoft, Software engineering, zune | An interesting article on why Microsoft Zunes failed all at [...]

By: Leeloo

Leeloo — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 14:38:30 +0000

Will is right, the bug is the while, not any of the ifs. The if checks are right, changing it to == 366 or >= 366 will just make the leap year check wrong.

However, adding “else break;” after the if(days > 366) block would fix the problem too, but in a less obvious way. Because it is less obvious, a different programmer might think “why is this here?” and remove it. Who says that isn’t what happened in the first place?

By: Pierre

Pierre — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 09:42:55 +0000

Heard a rumor: Steve Jobs is in really bad condition, he had a stroke yesterday … from too much laughing.

By: juln

juln — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 05:20:02 +0000

This is plainly retarded – what hell lurks in Windows, if this is the best they can come up with?

And secondly, why should my Zune even care what fricking day it is? I bet it has to do with DRM.

MIcrosfot, give it up. Christ.

By: billy

billy — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 03:17:58 +0000

Put a zune – in your butt.

By: Devin Coldewey

Devin Coldewey — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 23:23:51 +0000

Yes, you’re right. My loops are all messed up in my head. It’s been a long time since I had to do even the elementary coding I did in college. Not my area of expertise, but I swear I understood it for a second there.