Ugh, more techmology problems.

"I attempted to update my Zen Vision M (30GB) from f/w version 1.41 to 1.61. During this process the player hung during rebuilding approximately 60% through. The update utility did not say the process had finished.

Eventually I rebooted using the reboot switch on the bottom of the player. The player hung at rebuilding at the /exact/ same place. I rebooted several more times and at all times it froze at the same place. Looking online I found out about the recovery mode.

I ran the clean up utility and that did not address the rebuilding hang. I tried re-updating the firmware to the latest version and initially that did not alter the behavior at all. I then chose the 'reload firmware' option from the recovery mode and then updated the firmware.

At this point the update utility claims 'Firmware Update Failed' after the progress bar fills. Now when I reboot my player it simply flashes 'firmware problem' and returns to the recovery console. On the recovery console it lists the firmware version as "v1.61.01_0.0.23".
Formatting the player through the recovery screen does not affect anything.

I have read extensively about other people with this same problem. I find it very distressing that an otherwise reputable company producing fine hardware, like Creative, would publish firmware updates that seem to so widely cause problems. I would purchase more Creative products in the future, assuming this debacle does not leave me with the impression that your tech support is bumbling morons with no regard for the customer. "