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Topic: Some mp3 files won't play on cellphone (Read 8094 times) previous topic - next topic
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Some mp3 files won't play on cellphone

Hi all, I searched the previous posts but didn't find anything relevant to my question. I have an LG C397 cellphone that uses an extra microchip (16gb) on which I've put my mp3 files of various bitrates and file sizes. The device paperwork is essentially useless, so I can't figure this out. Some mp3 files will display in the mp3 player with the correct artist, genre, etc., while others will not. But if I go to the filemanager, I can find them and play them from there - but that doesn't let me make playlists, play by genre, etc.

I have tried editing the IDtags via ID3 Tag Editor, MP3tag, iTunes, and even ripped new audio files by recording them from my pc. Some files were Flac which I converted using FactoryFormat, others have only been mp3. Some work, some not.

This week I upgraded my phone (also LG) and some files which did play, now don't appear at all. Needless to say, this is frustrating. So I'm wondering if there is a default ID3 tagging that I should use, or what might be the best tag editor to use, and if there are even certain tag versions that I should remove. All files play on my pc, fwiw.

Thanks for any help.

Some mp3 files won't play on cellphone

Reply #1 –
Quote from: crazygringo on
I have tried editing the IDtags
Editing in what way?

Quote
So I'm wondering if there is a default ID3 tagging that I should use, or what might be the best tag editor to use, and if there are even certain tag versions that I should remove.
Yes, your inability to locate some files through tag-based browsing is a strong indication that the problem is inherent to the tags of those files. The solution is to determine which version(s) the phone does support and to convert/remove all existing tags to that/those (after backing your files up first as a precaution, naturally). As a first attempt, I recommend converting all tags to ID3v2.3 only. I doubt that v2.4 is usable. If v2.3 fails, perhaps the much-reduced ID3v1 is usable as a consolation prize.

Some mp3 files won't play on cellphone

Reply #2 –
Why not use mp3tag or some other appropriate tool to compare the tag from a file that will play to one that won't?

Some mp3 files won't play on cellphone

Reply #3 –
Quote from: db1989 on
Quote from: crazygringo on
I have tried editing the IDtags
Editing in what way?

Quote
So I'm wondering if there is a default ID3 tagging that I should use, or what might be the best tag editor to use, and if there are even certain tag versions that I should remove.
Yes, your inability to locate some files through tag-based browsing is a strong indication that the problem is inherent to the tags of those files. The solution is to determine which version(s) the phone does support and to convert/remove all existing tags to that/those (after backing your files up first as a precaution, naturally). As a first attempt, I recommend converting all tags to ID3v2.3 only. I doubt that v2.4 is usable. If v2.3 fails, perhaps the much-reduced ID3v1 is usable as a consolation prize.


What I've done is take some files that work fine as samples, determine their ID3 tag versions, and try to do the same with problem files. Sometimes it worked, other times not. I just remembered also, that at one point I had taken a bunch of songs from their folders (e.g., albums) and dumped them into the main folder as ungrouped files. Again, this worked on some but not all. Which raises the question of whether album tags should match the folder in which they're located.

So is there a preferred editor that will let me do a mass convert/remove from one version to another without having to re-enter file information?

Some mp3 files won't play on cellphone

Reply #4 –
Quote from: crazygringo on
Which raises the question of whether album tags should match the folder in which they're located.
I doubt this, but never say never, because stranger things have probably happened.

Quote
So is there a preferred editor that will let me do a mass convert/remove from one version to another without having to re-enter file information?
Yes, there are several. But before we recommend a program and/or method that you might have already tried, why not tell us which programs and methods you have already tried?

Some mp3 files won't play on cellphone

Reply #5 –
I doubt it is anything that complicated.  Don't forget to see whether the tags are using utf or iso.

Are the ape tags? Lyrics? Embedded artwork?  Are the files VBR?  Do they have a lame header?

Some mp3 files won't play on cellphone

Reply #6 –
Quote from: greynol on
I doubt it is anything that complicated.  Don't forget to see whether the tags are using utf or iso.

Are the ape tags? Lyrics? Embedded artwork?  Are the files VBR?  Do they have a lame header?

How do I determine this? I thought ape was a lossless format. How do I check lame headers? I never thought about vbr, but would that still apply to files that were converted from flac?

DB1989, I listed all the editors I've used in the original post.

Some mp3 files won't play on cellphone

Reply #7 –
Quote from: crazygringo on
I thought ape was a lossless format.
It includes a lossless format. It also includes a tye of tag: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/APE_tag

Quote
I never thought about vbr, but would that still apply to files that were converted from flac?
The answer depends completely upon which settings you used during that conversion. Whether the audio came from a CD, a WAV, or a FLAC is not directly relevant as they would all be decoded to PCM in any case.

Quote
DB1989, I listed all the editors I've used in the original post.
Sorry, I forgot that. And did you try converting/removing tag versions using those editors?

Some mp3 files won't play on cellphone

Reply #8 –
Quote from: db1989 on
Quote from: crazygringo on
I thought ape was a lossless format.
It includes a lossless format. It also includes a tye of tag: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/APE_tag

Ok, thanks for clarifying that.

Quote from: db1989 on
Quote
I never thought about vbr, but would that still apply to files that were converted from flac?
The answer depends completely upon which settings you used during that conversion. Whether the audio came from a CD, a WAV, or a FLAC is not directly relevant as they would all be decoded to PCM in any case.

I'll have to check if the problem files are vbr or cbr.

Quote from: db1989 on
Quote
DB1989, I listed all the editors I've used in the original post.
Sorry, I forgot that. And did you try converting/removing tag versions using those editors?
Yes, these are what I used to try and match all the relevant tags with files that work fine.

Some mp3 files won't play on cellphone

Reply #9 –
By my reading of this thread, no files are inherently unplayable; rather, some are invisible to the tag-based browser but can be invoked by navigating the directory tree. This indicates that the problem lies within their tags rather than their audio. If VBR streams were incompatible with your phone, one would expect any files meeting that description simply to be unplayable by any method.

Some mp3 files won't play on cellphone

Reply #10 –
I see that MP3packer will let me take care of any vbr issues, I'll try playing around with that tomorrow.

Some mp3 files won't play on cellphone

Reply #11 –
By all means, try it, but as I have said, nothing that you have posted points towards VBR being related to your inability to find some files through their tags.

Some mp3 files won't play on cellphone

Reply #12 –
While I also doubt VBR has anything to do with it, I was curious about whether the player was rejecting files because the extra header stored in the first audio frame, if Lame-encoded or lack of the extra header otherwise.

I figured I'd bring it up since the problem is likely stuff the phone thinks is junk, or otherwise unreadable.