Audible.com and PPC 2003

09-03-03, 11:17 PM

Hi all,

I have searched on this subject but have not found anything that resembles the problem I'm experiencing. First off I am a Palm convert. So far my experience with my new Axim has been less than enjoyable. Ever since I loaded the Audile.com player my Axim has been doing some really weird stuff. First of all the unit locked up right after installing the audible.com software. A Soft reset did the trick and I was able to activate the player and transfer a book or two. While playing a book I would get clicking sounds if running anything other than the audible.com player. Then after a while the little box where the switcher bar is located would wash out. Then finally the whole title bar and start button disappeared and I was not able to exit the software. I had to do another soft reset. Someone told me not to use the player from audible but use Microsoft Reader. Well..... Microsoft Reader does not show the audible.com books in the library. Then someone else told me that Audible format 3 (the format I use) will not work with MS Reader.

I'm about to scream. One of the deciding factors for me to convert was to be able to use audible.com on my PPC equipped with a SD card. Has anyone else seen this problem or read of a fix? I'm thinking that the Audible.com software was written for 2002 and never checked on 2003. As with any other call to Audible the customer support was pretty much non-existent.

Frustrated,
Tom

damack1 · 09-11-03, 07:48 AM

I've been an audible subscriber for more than 2 years. When my old player broke, I bought an axim X5. I THOUGHT that I might avoid some of the problems I've had with audible software by buying a pocket pc, a common platform. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to get the audible software to run at all. And even though I've downloaded 2 books in format 2 to my compact flash card, Microsoft Reader doesn't see them. I've writted to audible 3 times, and have gotten zero response.

Have you managed to solve the problems you mentioned? My plan is to uninstall everything this weekend and start over. I like the idea behind audible (obviously, since I've been subscribing so long), but their customer service is non-existant. I would never, never recommend it to someone who was not technically savvy. I am a programmer myself, and I've spend untold hours troubleshooting their buggy software to make it work.

Anthony · 09-11-03, 02:33 PM

I feel fortunate in saying i have had the complete opposite experience in terms of both usage and customer support. I was able to get the audible player up and running on my ax fairly easily. I have also found their custmer support very responsive. Twice had to send a email to them with a question or issue and received replies within 24 hours. I have also used their live online support system. Within a couple of minutes, a rep will log on and guide you through your problems. So you know in advance, the solution to any problems always seems to require deleting audible player from your computer and ax.

Good luck.

damack1 · 09-11-03, 07:44 PM

I finally got a response today, a week after my first question. It didn't help, because my Axim runs Pocket PC 2003, and the response is targeted to Pocket PC 2002. I think that is the crux of the problem. There is nothing on the website anywhere about Pocket PC 2003 compatiblity.

The live support system is down for the next 2 weeks. I guess I'll have to wait another week for a followup response from audible.

09-12-03, 02:19 PM

I un-installed the program last week and all the lock-ups and soft resets went away. My contacts were also going away until a soft reset was performed. That problem has not returned in a week or so since the program was removed. I'm back to listening to my Audible format 3 books on my old Iomega HipZip which is limited to 40 MB. My 256 MB Simple Tech SD card was purchased with Audible in mind. But now it sits there for backups and a handfull of documents only. Just a quick question. Are you using switcher bar? I stoped using that app as well. So I'm not sure if the audible player or switcher bar was the culprit.

damack1 · 09-14-03, 09:01 AM

No, I'm not using switcher bar. I bought the Axim only for playing audible books, and I have yet to get it working for that. I've now purchased a Zire 71, and I'm using it as my audible player instead. I'm going to return my Axim. I don't think it's Dell's fault, though. The audible software is horribly buggy. So far, I've used a Digisette, a HipZip player, a Casio Cassiopia, and now the Axim and Zire 71. In every case, there have been problems using the audible software, and I had to discover workarounds to get it going.

mhoel · 09-14-03, 10:09 AM

:bang: I've banged my head more than once with Audible. Too long to describe but let it suffice to say I've used the Otis (:ax: ) and luckily it was stolen. Used a Casiopia PDA with some success but very slow. Audible would not work on my X5 when originally purchased (Feb 2003). After many emails back and forth and finally got it to work. None of the other difficulties mentioned but will keep any eye out for more problems. Since my difficuties have run across several platforms I don't think it's Dell fault.

Suggest emailing Audible for their updated PPC drivers that include the Axim.

Merak · 09-14-03, 07:50 PM

I am somewhat new to Audible and feel very lucky not to be running Windows Media 2003 yet. I am not having any difficulty with Audible on my Axim, but this may be attributed to running PPC2002.

My only complaint right now is that the books take FOREVER to load.

Merak

mhoel · 09-14-03, 08:43 PM

I'm using the early version of the Axim ROM Version A00. Had difficulties at first but once Audible provided the new drivers all improved. You think this is slow - try the Otis or an older version PPC.

Good luck with your new toy. I really like mine - it's my 4th PDA, without a doubt the best so far.

09-16-03, 01:02 PM

UPDATE - After waiting a week to let things stablize I re-loaded a fresh download of audible manager Ver. 4 for my PC and Audible player Ver. 3.5 for the Axim. Then I loaded a couple of format 3 books and so far it's working OK. The more I think about it the more I am blaming "switcher bar" for my problems. Since I discontinued it's use I have not needed to soft reset my Ax once. I commute abut an hour and a half round trip each day. I plan on using the audible player pretty heavily in the next week or so. I will also continue to use my other programs as normal. I'll post a follow up next week letting you all know if things are still working OK.

-Tom

Timdjohn · 09-17-03, 01:54 PM

Well must agree the audible player is a bit clunky. But you don’t have to use it. Built in windows media player will play the audible files. Also when you download your books save then to burn to a CD even if your don’t have a burner. It will still save to your hard drive and then just convert it in your desktop media player to WMA format. Then load manually onto the SD or were ever on your PDA. Use media player or any other MP3 or WMA player. I use my MP3 player for Audible stuff. I have always burned all my audible stuff directly to CD, just seems to be more flexible that way and also making it unnecessary to use the audible player.

mhoel · 09-20-03, 08:08 AM

Timdjohn, Thanks for the info. I've recorded to CD's in the past but find them difficult to change while driving at 75 mph down I-75. Wasn't aware I could save the CD format to the hard drive. Should be able to convert the wav to an mp3. I'm looking at purchasing a Satelite radio with a CD player capable of playing mp3, that would cut down on the number of CD's needed for one book (10 to 15 for an unabridged book). Again thanks and enjoy.

Timdjohn · 09-21-03, 09:52 PM

Just a word of advice. When you down load in CD quality format to your hard drive make sure you have selected the "no device" in the audible manager. Then you will not get the nag screen to load a blank CD.
I just upgraded my Audible manager from the 3.5 to the new 4.0 version. In 3.5 it had a plug in to work with my Roxio Easy CD creator. In this new 4.0 version they have their own built in burner software. I guess it doesn’t matter but just a sore spot with me.

mhoel · 09-22-03, 10:01 AM

Thanks again for the reply. I tried this weekend and found the nag screen. Will reset to "no device" and try again. Went ahead and burned a book - took 3 hours to complete 6 disks - I think I can read faster than that !! I have version 4 on my pc and it uses a down graded burner as compard to Roxio. But it does work okay, just seems slow.

brettkillam · 09-23-03, 09:53 PM

I hate tosay it, but Audible on my Axim with WinMobile 2003 is one of the only things that is working... Not much has worked since the upgrade...