Audio Books are not resuming from last position played

[stephen_hill 35]

Hi

I have this problem that quite often Emby will try to resume an audio book from a previous chapter, even if that chapter has been marked as played, and there is progress in the next chapter.

Here is an audio book I am listening to and Emby thinks that this is where I want to continue from. However, I have listened to this chapter in full and thus, Emby marked it as Played.

However, if we look at the list of chapters, you will see that I am actually part way through chapter 17.

Are you aware of this issue and is there anything that can be done to fix it?

For info, I'll add that I listen to my audiobooks in the car using the Android app. I stream the audio over 4G internet. And the audio is via bluetooth to my car.

Cheers
Stephen

[jaycedk 389]

I hade the same experience, with books with multiple files.

I found a work around and combined all the mp3 files into 1 m4b file.

Have had no issues since

[stephen_hill 35]

10 minutes ago, jaycedk said:

I hade the same experience, with books with multiple files.

I found a work around and combined all the mp3 files into 1 m4b file.

Have had no issues since

Does Emby support chapters in single files? If so, how does that look in the UI?

[jaycedk 389]

Yes it supports chapters in single files, if you have chapter markers in them.

It looks like chapter markers in movies

[GregMo 21]

2 hours ago, jaycedk said:

I hade the same experience, with books with multiple files.

I found a work around and combined all the mp3 files into 1 m4b file.

Have had no issues since

I am often wrong but if memory serves, I think I've read elsewhere that this is the only way to get Emby to handle this properly.

 

I've not used any of these, but I imagine a good tool to do the job could be found here:  https://superuser.com/questions/9667/merge-mp3-files-into-audiobook-with-chapters

Edited April 13, 2023 by GregMo

[Happy2Play 8319]

There will always be issues when there are multiple resume points.

Resume will be linked to the first item.

You have to fix the issue by clearing the resume point so there is only one by toggling played or start from the beginning and stop playback one the already played item.  Then the next resumable item will be used.

 

Edited April 13, 2023 by Happy2Play

[stephen_hill 35]

1 hour ago, Happy2Play said:

There will always be issues when there are multiple resume points.

Resume will be linked to the first item.

You have to fix the issue by clearing the resume point so there is only one by toggling played or start from the beginning and stop playback one the already played item.  Then the next resumable item will be used.

 

Do you know why multiple resume points are being created in the first place?

More often than not, for example, if I resume chapter 5 from 50% and listen through to chapter 6 until 75%, the result will be that

- Chapter 5 remains at 50%

- Chapter 5 is marked as played

- Chapter 6 is at 75%

Shouldn't Emby clear the progress of Chapter 5 when it is marking it as played?

I often jump in the car, click resume, start driving and then realise I've already listened to it. I either have to stop or put up with it.

I'm happy to convert all my audio books to single files, but was wondering if the underlying bug could be fixed?

[Happy2Play 8319]

5 minutes ago, stephen_hill said:

Shouldn't Emby clear the progress of Chapter 5 when it is marking it as played?

It does unless it is replayed at least in all my tests/plays.

But could be a client specific issue.

[stephen_hill 35]

Just now, Happy2Play said:

It does unless it is replayed at least in all my tests/plays.

But could be a client specific issue.

Could I therefore report a possible bug with the Android client.

Is there any additional information you need?

[Happy2Play 8319]

1 minute ago, stephen_hill said:

Could I therefore report a possible bug with the Android client.

Is there any additional information you need?

How do you reproduce the issue?

Does it only happen in the car?

Is it reproducible in all clients or just one? 

But would need logs for when the issue happened.

[stephen_hill 35]

I will try and reproduce the issue and will report back.

[stephen_hill 35]

First commute of the week. Above issue did not happen, but another did.

When I got to the end of track 19, it jumped to track 23, skipping all the tracks in between. You could argue that it was the internet, but I can see in the server logs that it reported playing ended. And if it was a connection problem, for audio books the player should NEVER skip chapters, but simply stop.

Attached are the server logs.

embyserver.txt

[stephen_hill 35]

@Happy2Play

On my commute home yesterday, I discovered yet another issue. I resumed chapter 23, and continued through to chapter 24 (with a break while I stopped at a shop).

However, it marked Chapter 1 as being partially played. I, at no point, touched this chapter.

These are the playback session line extracted from the log file.

2023-04-20 16:15:12.944 Info SessionManager: Playback stopped reported by app Emby for Android 3.2.92 playing Chapter 1. Stopped at 0 ms
2023-04-20 16:15:12.944 Info SessionManager: Playback start reported by app Emby for Android 3.2.92 playing Chapter 23. Started at 772601 ms
2023-04-20 16:15:13.786 Info SessionManager: Playback start reported by app Emby for Android 3.2.92 playing Chapter 23. Started at 0 ms
2023-04-20 16:22:42.452 Info SessionManager: Playback stopped reported by app Emby for Android 3.2.92 playing Chapter 23. Stopped at 1214953 ms
2023-04-20 16:22:42.511 Info SessionManager: Playback stopped reported by app Emby for Android 3.2.92 playing Chapter 23. Stopped at 1214953 ms
2023-04-20 16:35:43.951 Info SessionManager: Playback start reported by app Emby for Android 3.2.92 playing Chapter 1. Started at 0 ms
2023-04-20 16:35:43.951 Info SessionManager: Playback stopped reported by app Emby for Android 3.2.92 playing Chapter 23. Stopped at 1214953 ms
2023-04-20 16:35:44.002 Info SessionManager: Playback stopped reported by app Emby for Android 3.2.92 playing Chapter 1. Stopped at 1214953 ms
2023-04-20 16:35:44.003 Info SessionManager: Playback start reported by app Emby for Android 3.2.92 playing Chapter 23. Started at 1209953 ms
2023-04-20 16:35:44.561 Info SessionManager: Playback start reported by app Emby for Android 3.2.92 playing Chapter 23. Started at 1214953 ms
2023-04-20 16:53:16.828 Info SessionManager: Playback stopped reported by app Emby for Android 3.2.92 playing Chapter 23. Stopped at 2261686 ms
2023-04-20 16:53:16.909 Info SessionManager: Playback start reported by app Emby for Android 3.2.92 playing Chapter 24. Started at 71 ms
2023-04-20 17:02:49.623 Info SessionManager: Playback stopped reported by app Emby for Android 3.2.92 playing Chapter 24. Stopped at 570307 ms
2023-04-20 17:02:49.802 Info SessionManager: Playback stopped reported by app Emby for Android 3.2.92 playing Chapter 24. Stopped at 570307 ms

As you can see, it first marks chapter 1 as stopped. (There is no coresponding start). It's does this later on at 16:35. And finally marks it as partially resumed.

What is obvious here is that, the stop duration for Chapter 23 is exactly the same as Chapter 1: 1214953 ms.

And just to re-iterate, at no point did I interact with Chapter 1. At no point did Chapter 1 play.

Attached are full logs.

Cheers

 

embyserver-63817632000.txt

[stephen_hill 35]

@Happy2Play

Do you need any more info to start looking into this problem?

I'm happy to continue putting in time trying to replicate the problem, but only if I know the problem is being investigated at your end.

Cheers
Stephen

[Luke 37133]

Hi, we’ll take a look at it. Thanks .

[lorac 100]

I don't know if it happens with iOS but it's an issue on Android for sure. I believe if you remember to stop playback as opposed to just pausing it then you end up with this issue. 

I typically will listen to an audiobook and then pause it hoping to resume playback later but more often than not it takes time to determine where you last left off. 

[Luke 37133]

Hi, how does it compare when trying to perform the same operation in the web app (on any device) ?

[lorac 100]

I'm not sure since I typically download the audiobooks as it is much simpler to keep listening when I leave the house.

I could try switching to cellular so there's no interruption and see how the web app works then.

[Luke 37133]

On 4/28/2023 at 11:29 PM, lorac said:

I'm not sure since I typically download the audiobooks as it is much simpler to keep listening when I leave the house.

I could try switching to cellular so there's no interruption and see how the web app works then.

Or perhaps the web app on the local network? Just trying to isolate the conditions where this is being experienced and where it is not. Thanks.

[stephen_hill 35]

50 minutes ago, Luke said:

Or perhaps the web app on the local network? Just trying to isolate the conditions where this is being experienced and where it is not. Thanks.

For me personally, I've only been able to replicate the problem on my Android Phone via Bluetooth.

However, I've not tried very hard to replicate the issue elsewhere.

 

[Luke 37133]

On 5/1/2023 at 3:32 PM, stephen_hill said:

For me personally, I've only been able to replicate the problem on my Android Phone via Bluetooth.

However, I've not tried very hard to replicate the issue elsewhere.

 

Are they downloaded to the android device, or are you playing from the server?

[stephen_hill 35]

Playing them from the server.

[Luke 37133]

20 hours ago, stephen_hill said:

Playing them from the server.

Can you please try again with the latest update to Emby for android? Thanks.

[stephen_hill 35]

@LukeI haven't listened to an audio book for a while, but decided to listen to one on my commute this morning. I also thought I would try a single audio file instead of one per chapter as others have recommended.

Again, I resumed the audio book and listened to it in my car over bluetooth from my Android phone.

2023-06-20 07:36:10.973 Info SessionManager: Playback start reported by app Emby for Android 3.3.07 playing Judge Anderson: Year One (Unabridged). Started at 508154 ms

When I got the the office, I noticed that Emby had reset/cleared my playback progress.

2023-06-20 07:48:11.130 Info SessionManager: Playback stopped reported by app Emby for Android 3.3.07 playing Judge Anderson: Year One (Unabridged). Stopped at 0 ms

Attached are the full logs.

Cheers

embyserver.txt

[Luke 37133]

On 6/20/2023 at 4:39 AM, stephen_hill said:

@LukeI haven't listened to an audio book for a while, but decided to listen to one on my commute this morning. I also thought I would try a single audio file instead of one per chapter as others have recommended.

Again, I resumed the audio book and listened to it in my car over bluetooth from my Android phone.

2023-06-20 07:36:10.973 Info SessionManager: Playback start reported by app Emby for Android 3.3.07 playing Judge Anderson: Year One (Unabridged). Started at 508154 ms

When I got the the office, I noticed that Emby had reset/cleared my playback progress.

2023-06-20 07:48:11.130 Info SessionManager: Playback stopped reported by app Emby for Android 3.3.07 playing Judge Anderson: Year One (Unabridged). Stopped at 0 ms

Attached are the full logs.

Cheers

embyserver.txt 31.8 kB · 1 download

@stephen_hillhow did you stop it? Did you just pause it but move the app to the background? That would be why, and that's something we need to look at improving.

In the meantime if you stop it using the stop button then everything gets torn down and I don't think this will happen.