Downloaded Audiobooks appear on iPod but will Not play

Casper,

Not trying to be hard on the support person, but i
believe it is the responsibility of the company to
address mistakes that they make and not charge me $30
to answer a question.

Be that as it may I appreciate your input,
unfortunately this addresses the filing question, but
not the core issue. One of the audiobooks I
downloaded came back with the correct extension and
it shows up as an audiobook, but nevertheless it does
not play on the Ipod, only on the PC.

So the issue remains unfortunately.

Yes, it is their responsibility, but suppose the answer has not been handed down to the technical support agents. Often the engineers hold on to the information until they're sure it's a solid fix, and then it's posted on the support site for access to people who are no longer eligible for complimentary support and are unwilling to pay for technical support.

If the file is not playing on the iPod it's a good chance it's an issue with the file itself. (I experienced the same thing with an audiobook file from audible.com). In this case, even if you'd paid for the technical support the agent would not have had the ability to assist you. What you should do is e-mail the iTunes Store support if you haven't already done so.

http://www.apple.com/support/itunes/store/audiobook/

CG

I have the same problem with all audiobooks I recently downloaded. They will play on the PC but not on the Ipod. It reverts right back to the main menu screen.

Sounds like Apple is screwing up here. I've had adudiobooks in the past on the same machine (in fact the old ones are still working).

Anyone have a solution?

Windows XP Pro

I am also having the same problem...There is no "Audiobook" folder when you plug in the Ipod (I have 5th Gen with Video version); and Itunes is putting the audiobooks in the Music folder. The Audiobook will play on the Mac but not on the Ipod....What's up with that?

i called technical support today and I was highly unimpressed. They wouldn't even talk to me unless I pay them $30. And upfront they won't even tell me whether they have a solution or not. The tech support guy said " we can try a few things" Try? that was highly non committal. He also referred me to the apple support site which I checked and it is utterly useless when it comes to this specific problem.

I've downloaded many audiobooks before with no problem, all the ones i downloaed in the past 2 weeks have this problem.

This is an Apples issue and I find it incredulous that they won't talk to me unless I pay them $30. This is not a operator error issue here, it is their fault, they need to address it.

Very disappointed by the support from Apple..



Windows XP Pro

Try to remember that it isn't the fault of the person who answered the phone. They're just doing their jobs.

I believe there is some sort of issue within iTunes, where purchased audiobooks are not going into the audiobook subcategory on the iPod. What you have to do is change the file extension within Windows, add the files into iTunes, and then re-sync your iPod.

To find the file in Windows, right click on it in iTunes, click Get Info, and click the Summary tab in the resulting dialog. Towards the bottom you'll see the file path.

Close iTunes.

Follow this path in Windows (Open My Computer, double click Local C, Documents and Settings, etc).

When you find the audiobook file, right click on it and click Properties. Change the file extension (the 3 characters after the . for example, .m4p) to .m4b

Once you've done this, click OK, and open iTunes again. Find the Audiobook files in iTunes, right click on them, and click Delete. Remove the files from iTunes but choose the option to Keep Files in the next window.

Then, click File -- Add file to library. Add the files that you just modified.

Then, connect the iPod and let iTunes sync it again. This should resolve it for you.

CG

Casper,

Not trying to be hard on the support person, but i believe it is the responsibility of the company to address mistakes that they make and not charge me $30 to answer a question.

Be that as it may I appreciate your input, unfortunately this addresses the filing question, but not the core issue. One of the audiobooks I downloaded came back with the correct extension and it shows up as an audiobook, but nevertheless it does not play on the Ipod, only on the PC.

So the issue remains unfortunately.

I am having this same problem. I have also been combing the support and discussion pages and have found other folks with the same problem but no one with any solutions.

I hope that if enough people post on this subject that someone will offer a solution.

Goman

MacPro Mac OS X (10.4.9) Maxed

I too have the same problem with my iPod. My selection of "God is Not Great" in audiobooks, when clicked goes to the book on the iPod momentarily, then goes back to the Music menu. I have chased the online tutorials and even downloaded the book again. During both downloads, I received error messages for the first segment of the book and had to click "resume" to complete the download. I have deleted from library, syncd, reloaded from files, syncd and still have issue. I have emailed iTunes Store [iTunesStoreSupport@apple.com] to either credit my account or provide solution to problem. Windows XP

I have exactly the same issue with same book (God is Not Great). This is ridiculous. I just downloaded the file so I obviously don't have a backup of it and I've tried everything else I've found (e.g. deauthorize/reauthorize computer, remove file from iPod, etc.).

I have the same problem but with a different book. I purchased "At the Center of the Storm" by George Tenant, and it plays fine on my Powerbook. But the iPod skips through each chapter of the book and will not play. I've sent an email to apple support, and they allowed me to re-download the book, but the problem remains. This is a problem affecting many users who have paid a premium for their audiobooks. I hope Apple is looking into a solution. I suspect there is an authorization problem where the iPod thinks I'm not authorized to play the the book, even though I bought it and it plays fine on my computer. It may be a problem with Audible, I don't know. But I do know that if this problem continues, I will not be buying any more books from either iTunes or Audible.

Michael

Same problem. I have done the 5 R's, made sure all software was updated, and followed discussion tip to reload my enitre library - nothing has worked. Apple not any help w/issue. All of my protected AAC files that are songs (all purchased from itunes before last week)play on mini and pc. The new audiobook purchased last week from itunes plays on PC is listed on mini but will not play, it just revets back menu. The only thing I have noticed is that all of my other audiobooks are MPEG-4 Audio File (protected) and this one is a Protected AAC audio file. I saw something about chaging file extentions but how do you do that w/protected files?

Something to add to my original: all of my audio book files are listed on my PC as MPEG-4 Audio File (protected) but when you copy or move them back to your libary they change to Protected AAC and get put into the new audiobooks location under Libary. Older audiobooks do the same thing. Note, before the audiobooks section under Libary was added I never had a problem.

same problem, but only for new audio books---old ones work fine.---also new podcasts play fine----strange---

I noticed the problem after buying new 5th gen 80kb---so i wonder if it is something to do with software in that ipod.

I downloaded a purchased audio book which wouldn't play on ipod and then downloaded free chapter of another book---same problem.--so it's not file specific.

I did everything suggested on web as well called ipod support twice and did everything they suggested. Next step was to send ipod in for servicing. Since ipod was a week old, I returned it and got a new one---but as I said the problem continues.

My operating sytem is Vista, but it appears that others using other operating systems have same problem.

it is very frustrating!!!

I hope Apple soon acknowledges the problem and finds a solution.

Dell Other OS

Whoops! My first communique with this forum, or any computer forum. I have the same problem with "God is Not Great." I can't do all of that file change stuff. I figure paying $25 should get me access with my book. Has C Hitchens been blacklisted? Have I?

I'm having the same problem. I've bought and downloaded four recent audio books. They downloaded and play on my computer but not on the IPOD. When you click on it just goes back to the main screeen. On the same day I paid and downloaded some music and it plays fine on the IPOD. Did you get an answer on how to solve it? I'm heading to the Genious Bar in Manhattan in the morning. I'll let you know if I find out anything