Creative Zen MP3 Player Firmware and HDD Upgrades

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the 3 zens I upgraded

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I’ve been on a kick lately buying bulk lots of MP3 players and reviving/updating/upgrading them. Keeps me busy, keeps them out of landfills, and is fun for me. Recently I got a bulk lot that had numerous Creative Zens: two Micro, one Touch, and one Vision:M. It was a major PITA to get these working so I wanted to document this for myself and others. I archived all the files on github – see brianpipa/CreativeZen.

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Sony Walkman NW-S764 and NW-S14 from Japanese to English

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I picked these two up from ebay and both were in Japanese and have no option to change languages. Did some research and figured out how to switch them to English. Despite them not being listed on https://www.rockbox.org/wiki/SonyNWDestTool the tool does work. Watch this youtube video (different model, but the concept is the same) and follow the instructions on the SonyNWDestTool page. Once you run the command and safely eject, reset the settings.
To reset the settings on either one the steps/menus are the same:
  1. From the Main screen – choose toolbox in the bottom left
  2. push up once to get to the bottom of the list and choose that (Common Settings)
  3. push up twice then choose that (Reset/Format)
  4. Choose what is selected (Reset All Settings)
  5. Press left once to select Yes

and now the interface should be in English!

Kindle ereader case with clear window so you can see the book cover

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Someone on Reddit asked if this existed. As far as I can tell, it doesn’t (didn’t).

Here are my two proof of concepts. The brown one has a magnet and will turn the screen on/off when it’s opened/closed. The black one does not have a magnet. They both use a piece of plexiglass as the “window”. The brown one has the plexi embedded in the case (the cardboard), where the black one has it attached to the inside cover. I like the black one better because it was WAY easier to make so I’ll create more that look like the black one (though not all black) and add in the magnet. I also have an idea to make the inside left look cleaner (where the plexi is attached).