N200 + Windows = trauma

On my operating system of choice, Debian Linux, when you want to install and run something, you say "apt-get install " and it goes and gets the thing from the net and installs it and configures it properly. No prompts, even. Then you just run it…

As I mentioned a moment ago, my Creative MuVo Micro N200 MP3 player ate itself somehow. I investigated its "Recovery Mode", but it appeared it also needed a firmware upgrade. Besides, it would be wrong for the device to be able to recover itself without talking to a Windows box.

So I downloaded the Windows N200 firmware updater from the Creative website, and tried to follow these instructions:

Filename: MuVoN200_PCFW_LF_1_20_04.exe

This upgrade improves the functionality of your Creative MuVo® Micro N200 player. For complete functionality, make sure that you meet the requirements listed below before installing this upgrade.

Enhancement:

Supports Thai unicode character display

Fixes:

Restores proper playback time display when you play large WMA files
Reduces your player's startup time

Requirements:

Microsoft® Windows® XP, Windows 2000, Windows Millennium Edition or Windows 98 Second Edition (SE)
Available USB port (version 1.1 or higher)
Creative MuVo Micro N200 player
For Windows 98 SE only: Creative MuVo drivers 1.04.00.250 available from the Installation CD or Creative Mass Storage drivers 1.07.00.250 available from the Internet.

Notes:

This firmware upgrade only works with Creative MuVo Micro N200 players. Do not install this upgrade to other players.
You will lose all content in your player when you install the firmware. Back up any audio or data files in your player to your computer before upgrading the firmware.
To install this firmware upgrade, do the following:

Download the MuVoN200_PCFW_LF_1_20_04.exe file into your local hard disk.
Connect your player to your computer.
Double-click the firmware upgrade file.
When prompted to set your player in Recovery mode, disconnect your player from your computer.
Press and hold the Play button while connecting your player to your computer's USB port.
Continue to hold the Play button for about 10 seconds after connecting your player to your computer.
Release the Play button when the Find New Hardware dialog box appears on the computer screen.
Follow the instructions on the screen to install recovery drivers for your player.
Double-click the firmware upgrade file and follow the instructions on the screen.

(My apologies to Creative for quoting their instructions rather than linking them; there was no convenient way I could find to do the latter.)

First of all, wow. Can consumers really figure all that out?

Second, and more importantly, it took me literally 8 or 10 tries to follow these instructions to a successful conclusion. I don't have the notes or the patience to reconstruct all of it, but here's a few highlights:

One of the first pieces of instruction given is that you don't need Creative's special mass storage driver unless you're running Win98SE. That doesn't seem to be true.

The order in which USB is plugged in, the play button on the N200 is pushed, dialogs and programs are activated, etc. is crucial. Do not screw up a step, or you'll have to start over.

The basic strategy, which of course Creative couldn't bother to explain, seems to be this: plug in the N200, which will be detected normally (hopefully—what if it's badly broken?) and then run the self-installing zip file they gave you, which will install and run the firmware installer.

The installer then finds the device sitting on the USB bus and notes its bus address. You then unplug the N200 and plug it in while holding down the play key. It now is identified by Windows as a "Player Recovery Device" and the Windows "New Hardware" installer pops up. Do not let it search for a driver; you're going to "install manually".

When you get to the next dialog, you do not "have disk"; just let it try to do the right thing without prompting. Whether because the Creative mass storage driver is installed or because the firmware installer is unpacked, Windows finds the "Player Recovery Driver" and installs it. Now you click "OK" at the firmware installer, which is still waiting around, and it goes and looks to see if the N200 is sitting at the same USB bus address, but this time as a "Player Recovery Device". (BTW, hope you remembered to release the play button after the "new hardware" dialog popped up. I forgot once.)

Now you only have one more pitfall. The firmware installer dialog will give you a checkbox to "format data area" when doing the firmware upgrade. Do not check it—it will get confused about a busted data area (??) and hang. Instead, just tell the installer to get started, at which point it will automatically check the format data area checkbox for you, then gray it out. This works fine.

I don't know how much of this is Windows being really hard to work around, and how much is Creative doing a really bad job. What I do know is that there's no way the average consumer is ever going to be able to reset and upgrade the N200, given the complexity of the process and the low quality of the instructions and help.

Which is too bad, because the N200 firmware is buggy and the device eats itself.