Connecting a Creative Zen X-FI

[ScottyK]

I have a Creative ZEN X-FI that I would like to connect to Kubuntu and drag files back and forth. I use other programs to convert music and video, so I have no need to install the creative bundle.

Am I missing some sort of driver? When I plug it in the USB, nothing happens. Yet Kubuntu immediately sees a USB flash drive and my external hard drive.

I read that I need to load "MTP libraries"?

Under Synamptic I loaded the only MTP tools I could find, and still nothing.

Thanks!

[askrieger]

Re: Connecting a Creative Zen X-FI

I don't use MTP so I might be missing something, but I believe that the package that you need (if you are running Kubuntu 10-04) is called "mtpfs". This package will drag in some other things that you need as well.

The next questions that need to be asked (Please don't be offended if you have, in fact, done all these things. This is just the general audio debugging path) are:
Category Hardware --
(1) Does the device itself work? Can you use it in your other OS, (if you have one)?
(2) Do other USB devices work (in Kubuntu) when plugged into the jack that you intend to use? Did you try another jack, and another cable?
(3) Did you "mount" the device (if necessary)?

Category Software --
(0) Is your sound system in general set up properly (i.e. Do you hear system sounds?)
(1) Which music player are you using (e.g. Amarok, Audacity, etc.)?
(2) Can you play music files from other storage media (like your hard-drive)? (i.e. Is the software set up properly? For example: you have to point Amarok at your "collection" in "Configure Amarok".)
(3) (Saving the best for last) Have you installed all the restricted media codecs that you need from the Medibuntu repository?

[ScottyK]

Re: Connecting a Creative Zen X-FI

OK, here we go!

Category Hardware -

1. Device works fine under Vista.
2. I grabbed a USB flash drive and plugged it in, and Kubuntu immediately saw and mounted it. Tried the MP3 player on other USB ports, still nothing. The MP3 player does indicate that its "docked".
3. Not sure how to mount it manually.

Category Software -
1. Sound system works, I can hear system sounds and mp3's played with Amarok.
2. Amarok
3. I installed whatever Amarok asks for the first time you start it up. After that I can play MP3's and videos using Dragon Player.

I just installed the mtpfs package you recommended.

[doctordruidphd]

Re: Connecting a Creative Zen X-FI

Here are the condensed instructions I found while searching:

$ sudo apt-get install libmtp mtptools mtpfs

$ sudo mkdir /media/MyZen
$ sudo chmod 775 /media/MyZen


Next, plug in your player and mount it:
$ sudo mtpfs -o allow_other /media/MyZen

$ sudo umount /media/MyZen
If you get a message stating that the device is busy, then give it a minute or two and try again.

I have also tried kzenexplorer and gnomad2.
I am sorry to report that all of this stuff is buggy as hell, and none of it works.
I can occasionally get gnomad2 to work, but nothing else does.
This is with a Zen Vision M 30gb. Maybe you will have better luck; you couldn't have worse.

[ScottyK]

Re: Connecting a Creative Zen X-FI

Here's one thing I noticed today.

I had a virtual XP machine running under VmWare, and once the XP machine came on, I plugged in my Zen, and windows immediately found it and installed the drivers.

However an error message pops up saying,

"The specified device appears to be claimed by another driver (usbfs) on the host operating system".

So that means Kubuntu is seeing?

It's working fine under the virtual machine, and if necessary I can use it as the solution. I would just like to be able to plug it into linux and run it from there.

[Snowhog]

Re: Connecting a Creative Zen X-FI

If you have your VM up and running, and you plug in your Zen, Windows will see and mount it - If you are 'in your VM' when you do so. If you then move back to the Host, and you want to use the Zen, you just have to 'disconnect' the Zen device from the VM - the device icon at the bottom of the VM window. It then becomes available to the Host.

[nhtrader]

Re: Connecting a Creative Zen X-FI

Thought I share how I got my Creative Nomad Jukebox Zen Xtra 60Gb to connect.

I just installed 10.04 today and have been figuring out various "how tos" all day.
1. How to rip CDs to mp3
2. How to play commercial DVDs/Movies?
3. How to rip DVDs?
4. How to connect my Creative Nomad Jukebox Zen Xtra?

(my wish list is that future versions include a link to each "how to". I understand that these tasks involve proprietary code, but since everyone wants to be able to due the same things, these Distros should contain symbolic links to webpages and/or scripts that semi-automate these additional installs. And all the user has to do is click on the icon to "activate/enable ripping audio CD to MP3" or "activate/enable connection to MP3 player")

As for Nomad, here's what I did (I used a gunshot approach. I don't know if I really needed all of these packages but I kept installing these one by one as I hunted through the zillions of google results)...

from the command line (terminal mode)...

sudo apt-get install libmtp-doc
sudo apt-get install mtpfs
sudo apt-get install libmtp8
sudo apt-get install mtp-tools
sudo apt-get install libusb-dev
sudo apt-get install gnomad2

exit terminal mode

Now back to GUI/Kstart|Applications|Multimedia|Audioplayer(Amarok)

open Amarok
Follow menu: Settings|Configure Amarok
Select Collection Icon (left side)
Now scroll through tree to select/check "media" folder (note media is under root folder. This is not a subfolder under home)
Click "Fully Scan Entire Collection" Button
Click "OK" Button
(Note: now your back to Amarok window)
Click mini Home folder Icon (this is located under Search Collection box)
Click "Local Music"
Viola! Nomad Jukebox Zen Xtra contents visible along with any other folders selected in "Collections"

At this point I can double click any song within Nomad and Amarok plays it.

Now I'm trying to learn how to transfer songs from Nomad to HDD. Anyone have any ideas?

[doctordruidphd]

Re: Connecting a Creative Zen X-FI

Now I'm trying to learn how to transfer songs from Nomad to HDD. Anyone have any ideas?

Using Amaork, navigate to your player, then right click either on the player, or the specific songs/albums you want to transfer, and "copy to local collection". If you want to put the stuff somewhere other than the "local collection", you would need to reconfigure Amarok, telling the local collection is somewhere else, restart it, and then do the transfer. There may also be a "sync" option, but I haven't found it yet.

For some reason, the instructions for using mtpfs that I found while searching don't work. I used to be able to do this with Dolphin or Nautilus, or gnomad2, but no more. Seems Amarok is the only way I can transfer between the player and the disk.

[nhtrader]

Re: Connecting a Creative Zen X-FI

Yippee! Thanks for the tip. It worked great.

I just selected a bunch of songs and selected Copy Collection -> Local Collection and then followed the prompts to create the appropriate folder and file names.

That was too easy. Gotta love it.

[ScottyK]

Re: Connecting a Creative Zen X-FI

Update to connecting the ZEN problem.

Last night I plugged in my ZEN to recharge, and noticed that this time it was indicating that it was "docked". Before it would simply charge.

I opened up Dolphin, and still didn't see it come up as a USB device on the left hand side.

However when I started Amarok, there it was! I was able to click on it and play straight from the player.

I plugged in my other ZEN, and that one also came up in Amarok.

So the question now is, how can I see it to transfer files to it in Dolphin? Kubuntu is obviously seeing and mounting the device, I just can't find it in the file manager. Thanks!

[doctordruidphd]

Re: Connecting a Creative Zen X-FI

First thing to try is mounting it with mtpfs, and see if dolphin recognizes it then. I could never get dolphin to see the device, but nautilus does. Strange.

[ScottyK]

Re: Connecting a Creative Zen X-FI

There it is! Installed MTPfs, then Nautilus, unplugged the device and replugged it back in, and Nautilus sees it.

But while Nautilus sees it, suddenly Amarok doesn't.

Does that mean only one program (Nautilus or Amarok) can use it at a time?

Thanks..

[doctordruidphd]

Re: Connecting a Creative Zen X-FI

Yeah, I think once it's mounted as mtpfs, the file system controls the i/o stream, and amarok won't see it as a player. Unmounting it should restore amarok's access to it; at worst, it would require a reboot. The problem I have noticed is that if I transfer files with nautilus, or with the command line -- that works with mtpfs, too -- the player does not see the music files. I haven't tried video files, but I suspect it's a different way of handling the files.

[ScottyK]

Re: Connecting a Creative Zen X-FI

A minor update to this question.

in 10.10, Dolphin still will not "see" the Zen, but the default install of Nautilus sees it, without the install of MTPfs.

What is the difference between these two programs? Why can Nautilus access it, but not Dolphin?

I know one answer is to just use Nautilus, but I'm trying to keep the Kubuntu system using KDE!

Thanks

[doctordruidphd]

Re: Connecting a Creative Zen X-FI

The problem I noticed with using nautilus is that if you transfer music files, the zen won't recognize them and add them to its menu. So they are basically just stored there on the disk, pretty much useless to the zen. I use amarok at this point, seems to work fine.
Don't know what the issue is with dolphin, but I doubt that even if it saw the files, it would do the transfer properly.