Getting Audible To Work On Your Pocket PC 2003

[Ed Hansberry]

<a href="http://www.audible.com">http://www.audible.com</a><br /><br />I have been an Audible user since 1999. They have fantastic content, but their software is the absolute pits. In getting 3 new PCs in that time and probably a dozen Pocket PCs, I have <i><b>never</b></i> been able to just dock my device, activate it and use content. There is always a problem. Not to mention their Audible Player on the device is just about the worst piece of software I've ever used. It keeps launching when I dock my device. I don't know, I guess it assumes I want to listen some more while I synchronze my email. :roll: <br /><br /><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/hansberry/2003/20030627-audible.gif" /><br /><br />Well, this week was no exception with my new iPAQ 2215. If you have a new 2003 device and use Audible content with MS Reader, read on. <!><br /><br />• First, you are going to have to install Audible Manager 4.0 on your desktop, so if you don't have that, uninstall 3.x then upgrade to 4.0. That's right, Audible can't "upgrade" like normal software. You must uninstall losing all of your preferences.<br />• Now, install the Audible Player for the iPAQ 2002 device.<br />• Activate your device<br />• Transfer over something and verify that Audible Player 3.5 can see it and play it. If so, you have successfully activated your device. If not, scream, then call Audible to find out why it won't activate with their player.<br />• Now soft reset your device, uninstall Audible Player and soft reset again.<br />• Manually delete the following files from the Windows folder, because I'm not sure what their uninstaller removes except Audible from the list of installed applications:<br /><br />aud_file.dll<br />ce_player_dll.dll<br />utils.dll<br />d_aud1.dll<br />cefaccess.dll<br /><br />• Soft reset again, and find and remove any *.pls files that look like Audible files. Also remove any .FLS and .AA files.<br />• Dock your device and try transferring over content. Launch Reader. It <i>should</i> play.<br /><br />It boggles my mind why, when the Pocket PC has a good player built into ROM, MS Reader, they insist on not playing well with it and spending resources on Audible Player.

[DaleReeck]

On PPC 2002, I used to only need to install Audible Player and activate it. Microsoft Reader would then just work for Audible content and I wouldn't need to use Audible Player (though I kept it installed anyways just in case).

With PPC 2003, using the same procedure, I would get a weird error number (x800000 or something like that) if I used Microsft Reader to listen to Audible content. The exact same problem would happen with PPC 2000 because the security format of Audible files wasn't compatible with the old Microsft Reader on PPC 2000.

So, this procedure should work? It would seem strange that removing Audible Player would allow Microsoft Reader to work.

[CoreyJF]

That is strange, on PPC 2002 I have olny played audible through ms reader. Infact I never installed audibles player on my machine. did you try playing it with out audible being installed through ms reader. I use audible all the time and want to upgrade to 2003 once HP gets there act together. I also like the fact with ms reader you don't have to sync to get it to show up in you libray, I just drop and drag with my wifi connection the desktop verson and it plays fine with out the conversion.

[davidm]

I too find Audible very cumbersome to use, and as a result, have used it seldom.

The only reason to use it rather that MS Reader is/was that the highest fidelity Audible format can/could only be played back with the Audible player. I do not know if that has changed. I wish they would make content available in a friendlier format such as MP3.

Dave

[Ed Hansberry]

That is strange, on PPC 2002 I have olny played audible through ms reader. Infact I never installed audibles player on my machine. did you try playing it with out audible being installed through ms reader.
Of course. This is a 2003 device and Audible Manager is unable to properly activate the 2003 MS Reader, so you have to do this back door method.

[GingerTommy]

It's been a wee while since I listened to Audible audiobooks, but was "reading" them heavily at one point. This following technique (as alluded to by CoreyJF) made the whole experience more enjoyable:

When you download Audible programs into AudibleManager they are stored on your computer as individual files. I cannot recall the default location but I will check and post when I get to my home PC.

If you want partial content you have to use the AudibleManager to select the portion you want copied and sync your device. It's painfully slow, but the only way.

However, if you want the full program on your device you can just copy the whole file onto My Documents on a flash card and it will be available in Reader. If you are using a USB flash writer it will be blazingly fast compared to the AudibleManager / ActiveSync solution.

[feo]

I had VERY bad experiences with Audible. Great concept, good marketing, BAD tech support. I kept sending emails, as their work hours are the same as mine. It wasn't until I called to cancel that they really wanted to help me out. They 'conviniently' were unable to find any reacord of any of my numerous emails. One of the stupidiest things was that even though I was calling to cancel, I was never given the free book I was offerred, and the the data was unable to download to the device the guy kept telling me that he was still going to 'give me' the free book. They have audible problems (as in they don't hear you).

[weisco]

Ed--thanks for writing about this topic! I have enjoyed Audible for a few years, and embarrasingly did not realize I could use Microsoft Reader to listen until I read your article!

I'll use Microsoft Reader--it doesn't continually give me error messages when my T-Mobile wakes up (this happens EVERY time I pause Audible and the T-Mobile goes to sleep because of inactivity).

With the activation of new devices (laptops & PDA's), I have contacted Audible twice. Unlike others experiences, I received an appropriate response immediately.

If one reading this hasn't tried Audible, I think they have free books to try. It might open up even more uses for your PDA!

[Will T Smith]

It would have been nicer for Microsoft to add the "robotic" voice reading to Pocket Reader like the desktop version has.

[ianbjor]

I agree that Audible Reader on the PPC sucks, but I continue to use it for one reason: MS Reader doesn't automatically remember where I stopped listening in an audiobook. Am I missing something?

[Ed Hansberry]

I agree that Audible Reader on the PPC sucks, but I continue to use it for one reason: MS Reader doesn't automatically remember where I stopped listening in an audiobook. Am I missing something?
I've found that if you go bacK to the Library it saves your Position -just fine.

[ctmagnus]

I've found that if you go bacK to the Library it saves your Position -just fine.

This looks like it was entered using Transcriber :)

(Now for the :nonono: )

[Ed Hansberry]

I've found that if you go bacK to the Library it saves your Position -just fine.

This looks like it was entered using Transcriber :)
It was. Every once in a while I go back and try TS. That was my shot for 2003. I am back to Fitaly again. :lol:

[rmcadams]

Well, I guess I'm the odd man out. :D I have used Audible player for years and find it much more useable than MS Reader (for Audible content files). The difference, I guess, is that I have subscriptions to daily content (WSJ) and I need to be able to jump to the next section oft he paper by clicking the "next section" button on the Audible player... (anyone know how to do that in MS Reader? I also like to be able to tell Audible Manager to download the first four hours of a 16 hour book. I will admit that I've had some issues over the years with 4-5 changes in PPCs, but I have found their tech support comparable to most (notice I didn't say great... just comparable to everyone else). I use MS Reader heavily for written content (books, 2 bibles, dictionary, encyclopedia, etc), but still prefer Audible Player for my audible content. One other thing that Audible Manager does for me... it automatically sends the new subscription conent to my device... no dragging, no dropping, no copying, no thinking... it just happens. :wink:

[Ed Hansberry]

Well, I guess I'm the odd man out. :D I have used Audible player for years and find it much more useable than MS Reader (for Audible content files). The difference, I guess, is that I have subscriptions to daily content (WSJ) and I need to be able to jump to the next section oft he paper by clicking the "next section" button on the Audible player... (anyone know how to do that in MS Reader?
That is almost all I do - WSJ. Very rarely got books, maybe 2-3 a year. MS Reader has four navigation buttons. |&lt;&lt;, &lt;&lt;, >> and >>|. the ones with the "|" in them move between sections and/or chapters.

Interesting side note. I found out that some of those files you need to delete come are overwriting newer 2003 ROM files. This is apparently why the 2003 reader choked with those Audible files in the Windows folder. :?

[UGAMatthew]

I have audible manager 4.0 installed. And uninstalled my audible player.

for some reason i can not find the following files after uninstalling:

aud_file.dll
ce_player_dll.dll
utils.dll
d_aud1.dll
cefaccess.dll

i do not see the PLS, FLS, or AA files either.

But when I transfer books over to my device, I see them in the File Explorer but they don't show up in Microsoft Reader. Could some help? What am I doing wrong? :roll:

[Ed Hansberry]

for some reason i can not find the following files after uninstalling:

aud_file.dll
ce_player_dll.dll
utils.dll
d_aud1.dll
cefaccess.dll

i do not see the PLS, FLS, or AA files either.
DLLs are hidden by default, so you neet to tess File Manager or desktop Explorer to show DLLs. Then Reader will show you the files. you may not have any .aa or .fls files, which is fine.

[AndrewShuttleworth]

Got to say that I've never had a single problem with Audible on either the desktop or the PPC and their customer service has always been great (which I used to enquire about the details of the credit on my account and return one subscription when I accidentally bought it twice - doh!)

The only thing I don't like is that it takes so long to load the library when you turn on the device but that's relatively easy to live with unless you need to turn on and off frequently.

Having said that, MS Reader is not compatible with the Japanese Genio e550G so I can't compare it to that.

Andrew
(Who never thought he would like audio books but has become a huge convert this year thanks to Audible and his Genio)

[UGAMatthew]

is there a particular area where i have to place my audio books in order for reader to recognize they are there?

(PS i found the dll's.... thanks ed.)

EDIT: Nevermind. I've got it working now. Awesome!

[csterns]

First of all I really don't have a complaint about Audible except for the starting up when you dock. I did try Ed's suggestion and tried following his instructions but must of goofed up or something. Then when it came to moving the books over I dawned on me, where do I find the files and where do I put them? Duh?

So I reinstalled Audible, activated MS Reader but MS Reader is recognizing my books as it did in preivous versions. How do I get it to recognize my books?

[DaleReeck]

I just installed the Microsoft Reader update for PocketPC 2003 to an iPaq 5555 and now Audible books do not even appear in the Reader book list. Mind you, this isn't the problem discussed here where the books weren't readable without some hacking. Now, the books do not even appear at all in the library list. Any ideas?

[scubascott]

I have been using Audible for a while now, I have listened to a lot of books and love it. But the Audible Player has always been a hassle to use, the most anoying being it frequently looses it's position. I am still using the 3.01 version, 3.5 is unuseable, for some reason it has to reload books everytime you turn the PPC off and on, which takes forever. I am constantly in and out of my car so I have to do this a lot.

Also, transfering books fails often and with it being so slow transfering files that is a big time waster.

My audible player also pops up when I dock if I have Audible manger running on the pc, even if it is just in the system tray. Shutting it down completely stops it from popping up.

So, since I have had so many problems I thought I would try out MS Reader, but of couse that didn't work either, it tells me that my book was activated by another user. Oh well, back to Audible Player 3.01. :?

[journey]

I agree that Audible Reader on the PPC sucks, but I continue to use it for one reason: MS Reader doesn't automatically remember where I stopped listening in an audiobook. Am I missing something?
The last time I used MS Reader on my Maestro (i.e., 2 weeks ago before I got my h2215), MS Reader did rememeber where I stopped. When you first open an audible book, it looks like you are at the beginning of the book. When you press play, MS Reader starts playing where you left off. A little deceptive...

[journey]

On my old PPC, I was able to use the d-pad to move through the book (i.e., it would activate the 'rewind' or 'fast forward' buttons). When I briefly press the d-pad on my h2215 to scroll through content, Audible Player behaves as if I held down the d-pad and scrolls all the way to the end (or to the beginning) of the book.

Its very annoying, especially if I accidently hit the d-pad. I have been able to stop the scrolling once or twice by pressing the d-pad straight down--that does not always work and usually I have scrolled a couple hours ahead. Is anyone else seeing this?

[Ed Hansberry]

On my old PPC, I was able to use the d-pad to move through the book (i.e., it would activate the 'rewind' or 'fast forward' buttons). When I briefly press the d-pad on my h2215 to scroll through content, Audible Player behaves as if I held down the d-pad and scrolls all the way to the end (or to the beginning) of the book.

Its very annoying, especially if I accidently hit the d-pad. I have been able to stop the scrolling once or twice by pressing the d-pad straight down--that does not always work and usually I have scrolled a couple hours ahead. Is anyone else seeing this?
It is the hyperactive D-pad in the 2215. It is the one issue I dislike. I recommend you call HP about it. Diagonal presses are worthless for most of us and we should be able to disable them unless we want to play a game.

[JonathanWardRogers]

I have some issues with Audible's software (their tech support is so abysmal as to seem non-existent, so I won't go on about that):
Loading and unloading the player eats up program memory. Eventually you run out.
Turning on your device when the player is running (even in the background) takes forever!
No way to discard previously listened to audio to free up storage card space.

That said, Audible is still my favorite use for the PPC. I like the fact that I can listen to them in Reader (I also didn't know this and I've been an Audible subscriber for 3 years!), and I didn't have to do anything special to use it. I loaded up Reader (for the first time ever on my new 2215) and it worked with my already installed Audible books. Wierd...

[brent_anderson]

Trying to listen to my Audible content on my Pocket PC is why I bought a 20GB iPod just for my library (over 100 books)

Brent

[joelevi]

I haven't used Audible in a long time... they simply didn't have the "books" that I wanted to "read."

But I thought I'd give them another go...

I logged back on to my old (years and years old) account, it still worked and I was still able to download my previously purchased content! WOW!

Next I looked for a book that I'd always wanted to read: How to Win Friends and Influence People. They don't have it. I tried half a dozen other self-improvement titles: none... Until... I searched for "Seven Habits" of Highly Effective People by Steven R. Covey... One hit! I immediately bought it, downloaded it, and started to listen to it...

Hmmmm... odd... not really what I expected... Turns out it was "The Seven Habits of Highly DEFECTIVE People" a parody on the Covey book.

I immediately went to their website and started a chat session with their customer support, after we both stopped "LOL"ing I got my purchase price gladly refunded.

So... what they lack in out-of-the-box-functionality and book selection, they make up for in customer service...

No, that doesn't solve every issue, but it goes to show that their are understanding, helpful humans behind the technological curtain... and that's always a good thing.

[gbutler6721]

Ed - I've been screwing with reader all day today, and your steps did the trick! I don't know how the #$%!! you figured that out, but my hats off to you. audible's software (desktop and ppc) SUCKS!

[Islanti]

Is there some trick to getting Audible Player 4.5 and Reader 2.3 to play nicely together? I can listen to the inital "Welcome to Audible" content in Reader, but nothing else. The Audible Player seems to play everything fine (but oh, what an ugly skin!).

On my HP hx4700 I have Reader and Audible installed to the Ipaq File Store, if that makes a difference. Reader is activated for encrypted e-books. Audible is also activated.

Any help would be appreciated.