At some point after I got the Clip and started downloading podcasts in January, I found that some would play their introduction but not the rest of the podcast.
For example, I get a lot of German podcasts from the Deutsche Welle radio site, most of which have an introduction that means “This is a download from Deutsche Welle radio. If you want to know more about us, visit us at [their web site].” That part plays, but none of the rest of the podcast.
Other podcasts from the same source play on the Clip in entirety.
And all the podcasts with which the Clip has this problem play in entirety, introduction and body, in all other players that I have tried (iTunes, Window Media Player, and QuickTime player) on my laptop.
I can’t be sure whether I’ve experienced this problem with podcasts from other sources, but I think I have. I noticed it particularly on those from the Deutsche Welle site because of that set introduction.
I had hoped the new 1.01.29 firmware update would fix this, but it doesn’t.
Anybody else have this problem? Any idea? I can send files with which I have this problem to Sansa support if requested.
Thanks for looking at this. The podcasts that play completely and those that don’t are from the same source. For example, of 22 interviews I got so far from one podcast, the Clip plays 20 completely and doesn’t play 2 completely (it plays the introduction, then jumps to the next podcast).
I installed mp3tag to see and perhaps change the tags. There’s no correlation between tags and Clip behavior. The two that the Clip doesn’t play completely have Tag=ID3v2.4, Track=1/1, Genre=podcast, Codec=MPEG1 Layer III, Bitrate=64kBit/s, Frequency=41000Hz. So, however, do the ones that play completely. No file, whether the Clip plays it in entirety or not, is missing a value for any tag that mp3tag displays. Same deal with another set of podcasts, some of which the Clip plays completely and some of which it doesn’t.
Based on all that, I conclude they are in a Clip-supported format and their ID3 tag information is filled in.
None of the 3 played completely when I loaded them onto the Clip via WMP, which automatically puts all podcasts in “Music.” I dragged those three, and all the other podcasts that I could remember as not playing completely on the Clip, to the Clip’s Podcast folder, in Windows Explorer. The Clip still plays the introduction only, as it does when they’re in Music.
So I have to conclude the problem is an internal problem, in the way the Clip code is processing the audio file itself, not in the way the Clip is using the taqs of the audio file.
could you provide a link to the place you download the problematic podcasts and maybe point out the file name so I could check out the actual one? thanks.
Do you use iTunes on a computer? If so, go to the iTunes store, search for “Stichwort” and click on “stichwort deutsch lernen” in the dropdown that appears This brings up a screen to subscribe. When you subscribe, iTunes on your computer will download the most recent file, and give you the option of downloading more. The most recent one at this time, from 26 May, with the title “Stamm,” happens to be one that the Clip only plays the 7-8 second introduction for, at least on my Clip. (I have the latest firmware, but this is a problem I’ve had with other files and firmware levels since late December 2007.) Also download the next most recent file of the podcast, from 19 May, with the title “Banane.” This one plays in entirety, almost 5 minutes.
If you don’t use iTunes, I can give you directions on how to get the mp3s on the internet, but it’s more involved so I won’t type it in unless I have to.
although I don’t use itunes, I think I know what your problem is. I think it may be unsupported file format. doesn’t itunes provide acc / m4a files? if so those aren’t compatible with the clip at the moment.
Are the audiobooks that don’t work with your clip all from itunes? if so than I’d definitely think it to be format support issue.
If there are some podcasts from itunes that work with your clip, could you check to see if the files are different from the ones that don’t work?
No, this podcast, even from iTunes, provides mp3 files. And the vast majority play fine on the Clip–less than 10% don’t. I’d think they were just bad files, except that they all play fine, in entirety, on at least three different software-based players on my Windows computer.
I set out to give you directions to download from the radio station’s own web site, downloaded the Stamm file from there to my laptop and then to my Clip, and discovered that the mp3 file the web site has does not have the introduction at all–and the Clip plays the mp3 with just the main text with no problem. Unfortunately I can’t subscribe to the podcast direct from the web site–they only offer that through iTunes. But I guess I have a workaround–when I find the Clip plays only the introduction, download the version with no introduction and use that.
Unfortunately, the Clip only will display and play the files I get from radio station’s web site when I load them into the Clip’s Podcasts folder, so I can’t put these files with the others of the same podcast, in the Clip’s Music folder. When I try, the files show up via Windows Explorer, but they don’t show up on the Clip’s own display. That’s the same problem as another thread I opened. Not fatal, but annoying.
I still think SanDisk should look into this problem, as well as the “shows only in Podcast one.” If other players can play the files, the Clip code should be able to also.
Thanks for the help along the way, thoma and Miikerman!
