Trouble with Downloading Podcasts / Podcasts not playing

Question

Level 1

1 points

Trouble with Downloading Podcasts / Podcasts not playing

I have an iPhone 3Gs that was recently upgraded to IOS4 on 6/21/2010. I also installed the new iTunes 9.2 at that time.

Yesterday I decided I'd wade into viewing/listening to podcasts. They seemed to download properly to iTunes and I could play them fine. But when I synced them with the iPhone I got messages to the effect that the podcast could not be read or written. I have PLENTY of space on the iPhone. And I seemed to be able to download some but then when I try to play them, the iPhone complains with an error message that it can't play the "movie".

I tried downloading the podcasts straight from the iPhone eliminating iTunes, and I get the same behavior... error saying that it can't play the podcast.

These are all Free subscriptions and play fine in iTunes. Why won't they transfer and play?

Thanks for any help you might provide.

Korky

iPhone 3GS, iOS 4, 32GB, 23GB remaining

Posted on Jul 4, 2010 7:10 AM

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Answer 1

dvscrobe

Level 1

42 points

Jul 4, 2010 7:16 AM in response to kkathman

What podcast are you trying to download from iTunes, directly onto your iPhone, if I may ask?

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Answer 2

kkathman Author

Level 1

1 points

Jul 4, 2010 10:12 AM in response to kkathman

There were actually a couple...one was NPR Fresh Air. The other was the Mac Tips and Tricks podcasts. There were others, but the NPR one was the ones that froze each time, though the very first one was downloaded. I checked to see if they all were selected, and they were.

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Answer 3

dvscrobe

Level 1

42 points

Jul 4, 2010 10:22 AM in response to kkathman

Huh, learned something. iTunes wouldn't let me download NPR on 3G network because WiFi is required for anything over 20MB. Will have to check when I get a WiFi spot.

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Answer 4

kkathman Author

Level 1

1 points

Jul 4, 2010 11:18 AM in response to kkathman

OK, I just tried downloading directly through iTunes on the iPhone. The Fresh Air episodes seem to work ok. However, the "Mac Tricks" podcasts do not. Each one I try to DL says it "cannot be played on this iPhone. This seems to be true for ALL of the episodes in this series.

Perhaps the author doesn't know how or wants their work only viewed on a Mac?

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Answer 5

dvscrobe

Level 1

42 points

Jul 4, 2010 11:33 AM in response to kkathman

Huh, same thing happened to me. I can only assume the video format is different than what is required for iPhone, which I believe is MP4. Don't have a solution.

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Answer 6

dvscrobe

Level 1

42 points

Jul 5, 2010 2:24 PM in response to dvscrobe

Yep. I tried downloading a Mac Tricks podcast. The video is a M4V file, which I believe the iPhone can't play. I am sure this can be converted to MP4, probably using an upgraded version of Quick Time. Ask some people who have a Mac. They should be able to tell you how to do this, if you can.

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Answer 7

Jul 5, 2010 2:47 PM in response to dvscrobe

iPhone does playback m4v.

Saying a video is mpeg 4 and should play on the iPhone is meaningless.
What is the bit rate, what profile was used, etc.

If the video does not conform to these specs:
Video formats supported: H.264 video up to 720p, 30 frames per second, Main Profile level 3.1 with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats; MPEG-4 video, up to 2.5 Mbps, 640 by 480 pixels, 30 frames per second, Simple Profile with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps per channel, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats; Motion JPEG (M-JPEG) up to 35 Mbps, 1280 by 720 pixels, 30 frames per second, audio in ulaw, PCM stereo audio in .avi file format

It won't play.
Contact the podcaster and report the problem to them.

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Answer 8

dvscrobe

Level 1

42 points

Jul 5, 2010 3:00 PM in response to Johnathan Burger

That's good information. Thanks. I did say I believed, to imply I was leaving room for error on my part. I didn't say it should not play. I knew a Macster would have the right information.

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Answer 9

dvscrobe

Level 1

42 points

Jul 5, 2010 3:06 PM in response to dvscrobe

Here is what I have on the video that won't play on my iPhone. It plays in iTunes, but it won't play on my iPhone.

MPEG-4, 28.9 MB Size, 89 kbps Bit Rate, Low Complexity Profile, 451 kbps Total Bit Rate, 640x480 Video Dimension, H.264 Video Codec.

Do any of these specs reveal a reason for not playing on the iPhone?

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Answer 10

dvscrobe

Level 1

42 points

Jul 5, 2010 5:08 PM in response to dvscrobe

Apple support had me select the video in question and create an iPhone version. To do this, options are available in the menu bar in iTunes. This process took at least a 1/2 hour for me. The new file that was created was still a M4V file but the size of the file was a little larger. The file did move to the iPhone and played successfully there. Apple support says M4V files play on the iPhone. They are not sure why this particular file did not play. As implied by previous poster, something might be wrong with the creation of the podcast.

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Answer 11

Jul 23, 2010 7:42 AM in response to kkathman

I am having a similar problem to the one outlined in this string. However my trouble is with audio podcasts. Ever since 4.0 I can download audio podcasts on my MacBook Pro and then sync to my Touch and they play. If I try to download the VERY SAME podcasts directly to my Touch through iTunes Mobile I get the "cannot be played on this ipod" error. I used to do this same thing with the same podcasts before 4.0 and everything worked fine.

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