Player Randomly Pausing During Playback

[CaryMajors]

I just got a Samsung Captivate (Eclair 2.1) from AT&T. This is my first Android phone. I currently listen to Audio-Books all the time, but on a Creative Labs Zen MP3 player. I am evaluating this software (free version) to see if it will be a workable replacement for my Zen and will purchase the Pro version it if it works out.

Now the problem, the player is randomly pausing during playback and I haven't found any setting that would account for it. Normally, it happens while the screen is off, but it has also happened once while the screen was on. The free version does not have the Sleep feature as far as I've found, so I am wondering if it just isn't compatible with the phone.

Any help would be appreciated.

[Howard]

There are a number of signals which can cause the player to switch between play and pause mode. Many of these can be turned on or off in the preferences which can help you troubleshoot the source of the problem.

If you are using a wired headset or a stereo mini-plug connection, one of the first things that I would check is if the headphone jack connection might sometimes be signaling that the headset is disconnected. In the preferences you can turn off the option for "Headset Unplug Pause". If turning off this option clears up the problem there may be an issue with the sensor that detects when the headphone jack is plugged in. It is possible that bumping the headset jack might be causing the sensor to signal that the headset was unplugged.

If you have turned on the "Power Disconnect Pause" that will also cause the player to pause if the power connection indicates that it is disconnected.

There are also several other signals such as Bluetooth headset buttons, and incoming phone calls that can also cause the player to pause.

If you are using a headphone jack that is the first thing I would check.

[CaryMajors]

I tried the "Headset Unplug Pause" option and that didn't make any difference. The "Power Disconnect Pause" option was not turned on and there are no Bluetooth devices associated with the phone nor is Bluetooth turned on.

It seems like the phone is going to sleep after approximately 7 minutes (not consistant, sometimes 8 or 9 minutes) and your app isn't preventing it. I am new to the Android OS, so if there are options that can be configured to prevent the phone from going to sleep, I would like to hear them. However, I would prefer that the app does it only when it is running because the battery life on this is already much shorter than I am used to coming from a Blackberry.

Thanks.

[Howard]

Some earlier versions of the Ambling BookPlayer for the Android did not hold the CPU wake lock while playing. This allowed the phone's power management system to shut down the CPU and the audio playback while you were listening to the book.

The current version has code to hold the CPU wake lock while the player is actively playing. Can you confirm that you are running with the latest version of the Ambling BookPlayer for the Android. When you select the "About" option on the menu you should see v2.01.

[CaryMajors]

The problem was a Task Manager app that was automatically killing most processes 5 minutes after the screen was locked. Your app is now running just fine. Thanks for the help.