Audiobook File Order

Try eliminating the word “Chapter” and just use the numbers (01, 01, etc.) Also your MP3Tag screen shot does not show what the format of the tags are. They should be ID3v2.3 ISO 8859-1.

I have the same problem.

I formatted my clip jam using the clip jam options/settings menu.

I am using IDv3.2 tags.

I entered single-digit track numbers for all tracks.

My track titles start with numbers, and are numbered in the order I want to play them. (This is redundant with track number, but I’ll do anything to get my audiobooks to play in order.)

I individually copy each audiobook to the clip jam, one at a time, in the order I want them played.

None of this helps. The Clip Jam stubbornly refuses to play my audiobooks in proper order. They’re always shuffled.

What happened over at SanDisk? My Clip+ always played my audiobooks in the proper order. Why is the Clip Jam such a huge step backward in functionality?

  1. You should use leading zeros (01, 02, 03 or 001, 002, 003, etc.) & not single digit numbers.

  2. The Jam & Sport models use a different (and less powerful) processor than previous players as it is not made by SanDisk and was discontinued by the manufacturer. They got the only one that was feasibly (& economically) possible. Hence these models work differently and some features are no longer available.

I tried using chapter #s with leading zeroes (01, 02, 03, etc…) but still no joy.

Maybe provide a few examples of the folder names, file names and ID3 tag data you are using?

Make sure you are using ID3v2.3 ISO-8859-1.

Actually, now that you mention file names, my chapter titles are the same for the first 18 characters. The track titles start with numbering, but not the filenames.

I’ll try adding a numbering order to the front of the filenames and see if that helps.

Your suggestion for revising your filenames (01, 02 etc) will hopefully work when you are using FOLDER MODE.

Also, maybe take a quick look at this web-page.

     http://www.techsupportalert.com/content/sort-files-alphabetically-usb-stick-or-mp3-player.htm

If you similarly revise your Track Titles in your ID3 tags, then ordered playback will hopefully work when you are using BOOK MODE.

Folder mode won’t work for books, though, right? It won’t preserve my place I don’t think.

However, that directory sorter looks like a winner. Thinking back, I definitely recall the command DirSort (or was it SortDir?) from my DOS days in the late 80s/early 90s. Since that was the same FAT system, this could very well be the solution I’ve been looking for.

I’ll give it a shot the next time I copy audiobooks to my player (later this week, mostly podcasts) and post back here with the results.

Thanks much, this could actually work.

Just completed some quick testing of your questions.

FOLDER MODE

         The FAT sorter program will enable sequential display of files using ClipSport (and Jam).

         ClipSport (and Jam) will not create a “Resume File” for mp3 files in the AUDIOBOOKS folders.

AUDIOBOOKS MODE

        The FAT sorter program will have no effect on the display of files using ClipSport (and Jam).

             The sequential display of files depends on the first 12 characters in the Titles and Albums fields in the ID3 tags.

         ClipSport (and Jam) will create one “Resume File” for each mp3 file in the AUDIOBOOKS folders.

Thanks much for testing that.

Renaming the filenames themselves to start with a 2-digit number doesn’t help.

Copying the files one at a time in proper order (to ensure FAT order is correct) doesn’t help.

The ID3v2.3 titles start with a 5-digit date (eg: 03-16) in proper order, but that doesn’t help.

Track numbers have 2-digits (eg: 01, 02, 03…) but that doesn’t help.

No matter what I do, Clip Jam consistently plays (and shows) my tracks in random order.

Should I remove the track numbers?

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Your comments about problems with audiobook playback order seem to relate to ID3 tagging problems using BOOK MODE.

        Filename ordering problems (and FAT table sequencing) applies only to FOLDER MODE.

Maybe it is hard to provide best advice without seeing examples of your ID3 tags??  

Maybe you could post here one example of your data entries for all the ID3 fields in one of your audiobook files?

I have never tried using 5-digit dates in the audio title field of my ID3 tags.  I typically use 2-digit prefixes (followed by a space or a hyphen) then text labels of 8 or more letters in the audio title field. The first 8 letters of the text labels should readily indicate the specific title of the audio file (not the artist name, etc).   Seems like you have proven that 2-digit track numbers do not solve your situation.  Maybe you can try using helpful data in the Album Title field in your ID3 tags.

        And maybe you have discovered that BOOK MODE ignores your physical layout of subfolders in your AudioBook folder. Your subfolder layout can be used to help you properly manage your files on your player.

I can tell you that it really is possible to get this all to work in BOOK MODE with the correct combination of data entries in the ID3 tags.  Once you have a working set of files you will hopefully start to enjoy using this handy little audio player.

The complete ID3v2.3 tag info for the three audiobooks currently on my player right now:

Title: 03-14 Monday

Track: 01

Artist: Podcast name

Allbum: Podcast name show

Year: 2012

Genre: Comedy

Title: 03-15 Tuesday

Track: 02

Artist: Podcast name

Allbum: Podcast name show

Year: 2012

Genre: Comedy

Title: 03-16 Wednesday

Track: 03

Artist: Podcast name

Allbum: Podcast name show

Year: 2012

Genre: Comedy

All other ID3v2.3 tag fields are blank. The year is set at 2012 because I don’t bother to update it. The “Podcast name” and “Podcast name show” are the same for all files. (It’s the same show, different days.)

EDIT: And as mentioned, these three audiobooks are displayed and played in random order.

The pattern below is a kind of “trial starter” series to test. If it works then you can expand on it and be the new Podcast Guru here.  Play using BOOKS MODE (Not Folder Mode).  Please write back here soon with your results.

    Hopefully more Sansa regulars will make better suggestions.

Title: 14-Monday

Track: 

Artist: Podcast name

Album: 03-Podcast name show

Year: 2012

Genre: Comedy

Title: 15-Tuesday

Track: 

Artist: Podcast name

Album: 03-Podcast name show

Year: 2012

Genre: Comedy

Title: 16-Wednesday

Track: 

Artist: Podcast name

Album: 03-Podcast name show

Year: 2012

Genre: Comedy

I see where you’re going with that, and it’s certainly worth a shot.

When I get a couple hours to mess around with it I’ll take that idea and run with it, testing every variation I can think of. I’ll certainly post back with my results, but fair warning it could easily be a week or so.

Turns out that changing the artist or album name to include a “sort key” number in the front of the name is self-defeating, as those files are now considered to be in separate folders, which isn’t workable. Only files with the exact same artist and album go into the same folder.

I edited the ID3v2.3 tags on a handful of smaller (~25megs) files for testing purposes. Every single field was blanked except for the following:

Filename: 01.mp3

Title: 01

Artist: Test

Album: Test

Track: 01

Filename: 02.mp3

Title: 02

Artist: Test

Album: Test

Track: 02

Filename: 03.mp3

Title: 03

Artist: Test

Album: Test

Track: 03

Filename: 04.mp3

Title: 04

Artist: Test

Album: Test

Track: 04

Filename: 05.mp3

Title: 05

Artist: Test

Album: Test

Track: 05

Filename: 06.mp3

Title: 06

Artist: Test

Album: Test

Track: 06

Filename: 07.mp3

Title: 07

Artist: Test

Album: Test

Track: 07

Filename: 08.mp3

Title: 08

Artist: Test

Album: Test

Track: 08

Starting with an empty Clip Jam, I manually copyied the first three files, one at a time, so they were also physically ordered on disk properly. I then checked the player, which showed my three books in the following order:

03

02

01

I then selected 04 through 08 and bulk copied them all to the player at the same time. Windows copied them in the following order, if it matters: 05 06 07 08 04

Then checking the player, my books are now listed in the following order:

03

02

04

06

07

08

05

01

Meaning not only does the player randomize the order, but it randomizes the previous order of tracks that were already on it when you copy additional tracks.

Any other ideas?

The results you described here are consistent with my experiences using FOLDER MODE.

Folder Mode typically does not provide for reliable linear playback of audio files. Folder Mode allows simple access to audio files for users who do not want to spend time & effort to curate their ID3 tags.

Your “testing” ID3 tags appear to me to be appropriate for linear playback using MUSIC MODE or BOOK MODE.

     For AudioBook and Podcast playback on your SD card, use CARD MODE (not Folder Mode).

Beyond these few comments I am confused why you are having these problems.

Maybe another SanDisk user can suggest a solution to your problems?

   

Two more ideas, under “Settings”

    System Settings -> Customize -> Folder = Off, Card = On 

    Music Options -> Shuffle = Off

Best Wishes

I had already turned off Music Shuffle.

I’m not entirely sure what FOLDER MODE is.

In settings, I customized it so that the only two menu options I ever see are Settings and Books. I even tried a “reset options” and then redid my preferences before the test.

As an additional check, I removed the Track numbers from the ID3 tags, but the order is still random.

Until this discussion with you, I really thought I was able to provide helpful advice for other SanDisk Jam/Sport users.

     Now I am as confused as you about why your files are not playing in linear order.

Here is a solution that works for me when I want to play around with Folder Mode.

      Fat Sorter 1.0.4.0  from HolosTec

     http://www.techsupportalert.com/content/sort-files-alphabetically-usb-stick-or-mp3-player.htm

Until this discussion with you, I really thought my experience with 2 SanDisk Clip Sport players would enable me to provide helpful advice for SanDisk Clip Jam users.   I am confused about why your files are not playing in linear order.

 Maybe during the progressive evolution of several Clip Sport firmware versions over the past few years, the SanDisk programmers corrected an error in ID3 tag reading for linear playback ?

     Maybe the Clip Jam has not received the same firmware correction ??

I guess the main reasons why I bought the Clip Sport and not the Clip Jam were their in-store display in several electronics and department stores in my home town and the modest price of the player compared to iPod models. And looking at the clip art in the 1x1 inch display helps me to recognize the album playing without looking at scrolling text.

Try removing the track number from the ID3 tag. I saw on another forum this will let the Jam sort audiobooks correctly.