Archived from groups: microsoft.public.pocketpc.multimedia (More info?)

I am finding that the Media Player is unreliable. I have a 256MB SD card
with several MP3s on it. When I play these using Media Player, it plays
fine for a while and then it will just stop and skip to the next track. In
testing this, I have not seen that it is a particular amount of time or a
particular track. It seems to be completely random.

Anyone else experience this or have any ideas on how to resolve this?

Thanks.

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.pocketpc.multimedia (More info?)

"Rod" <nospam.rod_barnes@adp.com> wrote in message
news4$PwZfOFHA.3704@TK2MSFTNGP12.phx.gbl...
>I am finding that the Media Player is unreliable. I have a 256MB SD card
> with several MP3s on it. When I play these using Media Player, it plays
> fine for a while and then it will just stop and skip to the next track.
> In
> testing this, I have not seen that it is a particular amount of time or a
> particular track. It seems to be completely random.
>
> Anyone else experience this or have any ideas on how to resolve this?
>
> Thanks.
>


This is the normal behavior for the later versions of Media player when it
has trouble reading a file - it will skip forward to the next one in the
current playlist (or now playing list).

It sounds like you mave have a very slow SD card and/or a really high rate
MP3, or you are just getting general read errors. I would suggest trying a
slower bitrate mp3 (64k, if not already) and see if it plays better. If
not, then move the mp3 to local memory and verify that the problem does not
reproduce. If it is good then the problem may be the card itself or the
connection. Reformat the card and try it again - if the problem persists
then try a different card. If the problem happens again then look for solid
connections on the SD card interface, etc.

Too many variables to go into a lot of detail, but this may be at least a
few ideals to try.

Good Luck.

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.pocketpc.multimedia (More info?)

"xTenn" <xTennREmoveThisPart@tds.net> wrote in message
news:uKI4u3fOFHA.2356@TK2MSFTNGP14.phx.gbl...
>
> "Rod" <nospam.rod_barnes@adp.com> wrote in message
> news4$PwZfOFHA.3704@TK2MSFTNGP12.phx.gbl...
>>I am finding that the Media Player is unreliable. I have a 256MB SD card
>> with several MP3s on it. When I play these using Media Player, it plays
>> fine for a while and then it will just stop and skip to the next track.
>> In
>> testing this, I have not seen that it is a particular amount of time or a
>> particular track. It seems to be completely random.
>>
>> Anyone else experience this or have any ideas on how to resolve this?
>
>
> This is the normal behavior for the later versions of Media player when it
> has trouble reading a file - it will skip forward to the next one in the
> current playlist (or now playing list).
>
> It sounds like you mave have a very slow SD card and/or a really high rate
> MP3, or you are just getting general read errors. I would suggest trying
> a slower bitrate mp3 (64k, if not already) and see if it plays better. If
> not, then move the mp3 to local memory and verify that the problem does
> not reproduce. If it is good then the problem may be the card itself or
> the connection. Reformat the card and try it again - if the problem
> persists then try a different card. If the problem happens again then
> look for solid connections on the SD card interface, etc.
>
> Too many variables to go into a lot of detail, but this may be at least a
> few ideals to try.

Good advice. I'd also like to point out that most devices should be able
to handle high bitrate MP3s - I can't think of any WMP10-shipping devices
that couldn't handle 320kbps MP3s.

--
Alex Zambelli [MSFT]
WMP Mobile Test Team
------------------------------------
Please do not send e-mail directly to this alias. This address is for
newsgroup purposes only.
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.
WMP (PC) FAQ: http://www.zachd.com/pss/pss.html

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.pocketpc.multimedia (More info?)

"V Green" <vanceg@nowhere.net> wrote in message
news:%23r0tFdwOFHA.3356@TK2MSFTNGP12.phx.gbl...

> I have a *really* hard time believing that almost
> all his MP3's have an encoding defect that causes
> WMP to cease playing the current track and jump
> to the next one...that kind of behavior is most likely
> WMP's fault.

I'm not sure I agree with your logic there. There are a number of issues
that can go wrong, to name a few: audio driver (yes, even devices have
them), storage card driver, hardware malfunction. This is actually the first
report I've seen of such broken behavior.
Actually, now that I look at the original post, I notice that the OP didn't
specify what player version or hardware he was using.

> If he installs GSPlayer and all his stuff works, well...

Well, we never got a reply from the OP so we don't know if that's the
case.

> Good ol' WMP, the proprietary player for a proprietary
> format...

Not at all. Both MP3 and WMA playback are our primary scenarios that we
thoroughly test before release. You'd be surprised how many thousands of
MP3s pass through our player before the product goes through the door.

--
Alex Zambelli [MSFT]
WMP Mobile Test Team
------------------------------------
Please do not send e-mail directly to this alias. This address is for
newsgroup purposes only.
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.
WMP (PC) FAQ: http://www.zachd.com/pss/pss.html

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.pocketpc.multimedia (More info?)

"Alex Zambelli [MSFT]" <alexzam@online.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:egtvUD%23OFHA.2348@tk2msftngp13.phx.gbl...
> "V Green" <vanceg@nowhere.net> wrote in message
> news:%23r0tFdwOFHA.3356@TK2MSFTNGP12.phx.gbl...
>
> > I have a *really* hard time believing that almost
> > all his MP3's have an encoding defect that causes
> > WMP to cease playing the current track and jump
> > to the next one...that kind of behavior is most likely
> > WMP's fault.
>
> I'm not sure I agree with your logic there. There are a number of issues
> that can go wrong, to name a few: audio driver (yes, even devices have
> them), storage card driver, hardware malfunction. This is actually the
first
> report I've seen of such broken behavior.
> Actually, now that I look at the original post, I notice that the OP
didn't
> specify what player version or hardware he was using.
>
> > If he installs GSPlayer and all his stuff works, well...
>
> Well, we never got a reply from the OP so we don't know if that's the
> case.
>
> > Good ol' WMP, the proprietary player for a proprietary
> > format...
>
> Not at all. Both MP3 and WMA playback are our primary scenarios that we
> thoroughly test before release. You'd be surprised how many thousands of
> MP3s pass through our player before the product goes through the door.

So, why no .PLS support, then?


>
> --
> Alex Zambelli [MSFT]
> WMP Mobile Test Team
> ------------------------------------
> Please do not send e-mail directly to this alias. This address is for
> newsgroup purposes only.
> This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no
rights.
> WMP (PC) FAQ: http://www.zachd.com/pss/pss.html
>
>

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.pocketpc.multimedia (More info?)

"V Green" <vanceg@nowhere.net> wrote in message
news:eBkdnKLPFHA.2680@TK2MSFTNGP09.phx.gbl...
>> > Good ol' WMP, the proprietary player for a proprietary
>> > format...
>>
>> Not at all. Both MP3 and WMA playback are our primary scenarios that we
>> thoroughly test before release. You'd be surprised how many thousands of
>> MP3s pass through our player before the product goes through the door.
>
> So, why no .PLS support, then?

Are you asking about PLS/M3U support, or general Shoutcast streaming
support?

--
Alex Zambelli [MSFT]
WMP Mobile Test Team
------------------------------------
Please do not send e-mail directly to this alias. This address is for
newsgroup purposes only.
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.
WMP (PC) FAQ: http://www.zachd.com/pss/pss.html