IPod shuffle forgetting playback position with audiobooks

My iPod shuffle (2nd gen) sometimes forgets my place in the audiobook I'm listening to. The only solution I've found is to go into File > Get Info > Options> Start Time and set a start time. It's annoying to have to do this manually every time I listen to the book. Is there a way to improve the memory of my iPod, or is this a common glitch? Should I buy a newer or different iPod? I.e., does the iPod nano or iPod touch have a way to advance the playback position from the iPod, i.e., when I'm out and my iPod isn't plugged into my computer?

Hello Thomas,
Have you double checked to make sure you have the *Remember Playback* position enabled for each of your audiobook tracks in iTunes from under the Options tab of the *Get Info* window as well?
B-rock

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IOS Music app forgets playback position for audiobooks

The iOS music app on my phone repeatedly is losing playback position for audiobooks. I go to the Music app > Audiobooks > BookTitle and get to a menu where I see part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, and part 1 says, below the title/author listing, says
8:53:58 6hr 49 min left
And I touch the title to start it playing, and it shows the little red marker on the progress bar at about the right position for 2 hours having been played, and as often as not, there is a little flash and then the red marker is back at the far left side and it starts playing again at the beginning.
These are books from various sources--today's example was a Librivox download, others have been books on CD, and checking in iTunes verifies that they have been correctly coded as audiobooks and 'remember playback position' is automatically checked.
It's a PITA hunting through an 8 hour long recording with only the crude control of the little progress bar and 15 second skip forward/back to find the spot I left off.
It doesn't happen with the same titles in iTunes on the computer.

Clicked reply by accident, and now can't edit the post.
Has anyone else seen the same problem?
These are books from CDs or librivox recordings, linked into one or a few multiple-hour files with Join Together. I have never bought an audiobook from iTunes so don't know if those are handled better.

Playing Position with Audiobooks

I am at wit's end--I cannot get my iPod shuffle to start playing an audiobook where I want it.
I have a G4 Powerbook and am using OS X 10.4.2 and iTunes 5.0.1 (4) with all current updates from Apple installed.
I have meticulously read the Audible iPod Shuffle User's guide at:
http://www.audible.com/adbl/site/deviceCenter/myDevices/appleIpodShuffle.jsp
and the Apple FAQ for playing audiobooks on the ipod shuffle at:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=300558
Specifically, the bookmarks marking the place where the iPod should start playing the file do not seem to be synced between the iPod and iTunes. That is, neither iTunes nor the iPod seems to care where the other thinks the file should be started.
I saw the section in the Audible documentation that says that bookmarks are only set when you hit Pause on the Shuffle. Carefully hitting pause either on the iPod or in iTunes doesn't seem to make a difference in getting iTunes and the iPod to communicate.
I saw the section in both Apple's and Audible's documentation stating that bookmarks are not synced until a track plays to completion and transitions to a new track. This doesn't seem to make a difference, either.
I am aware that the bookmark is supposed to be synced to the one that's further along in the file. This doesn't seem to make a difference--moving the iTunes start-point early in the file and then trying to sync the iTunes bookmark to the iPod bookmark doesn't change the iTunes bookmark at all.
A separate issue is that when I press play after the iPod has been synced or turned off, it never starts playing. The LED turns green for about two seconds and then nothing happens. The audio only starts when I press play again.

I also use my 1GB Shuffle for listening to audio books from Audible. I use format 4 only, syncing through iTunes 4.9 (I've got 10.4 waiting in a box to be installed before I update to 5/6) on a PowerMac G5. I have installed the latest iPod update. I have observed the following behaviors:
* When turning off and restarting the Shuffle, the bookmark point can be anywhere from a few seconds to a few minutes ahead of where it should be. At one point I thought this might have been related to how long the Shuffle had been turned off for, but this turned out to be untrue. It just appears to be random.
* If I play any other files on the Shuffle before or after playing the audio book file, when I turn the Shuffle off and back on, the Shuffle will not remember the bookmark, but instead return to the bookmark in use before I played the audio book file. Additionally sometimes when I turn the Shuffle back on, it will return not to the audio book but to the same point it did the previous time I turned it on, on a completely different file. I'm not sure when this behavior occurs, but I know it will happen if the Shuffle is turned off while fast forwarding or rewinding (I have big fingers, and I have accidentally slipped the switch a few times while holding down the buttons).
* If I turn off the Shuffle while paused in the middle of the audio book, the same behavior as above will occur.
All in all, using the Shuffle for audio books has been a very frustrating experience. I do properly eject the shuffle after syncing, and in general the sync point on the Shuffle is correct the first time I sync. But on any subsequent listening, the above behaviors occur.
No amount of reformatting or resetting the Shuffle has helped. I came to this forum looking to see if anyone else is experiencing the same problems, and it appears that at least some people are seeing similar behavior. My conclusion is, then that there is a problem is how the Shuffle handles Audible files, at least on some Shuffles if not all.
I'm thinking about upgrading to one of the new iPods or a Nano, but I think I'll search those forums first to see if those have any similar problems.

HT4235 iPod nano 6th generation, syncing with audiobooks does not work now, had been working. Sync test says: No iPod touch, iPhone, or iPad found. Connectivity test OK, no physical problems, iTunes shows the iPod. Any clues what to do?

iPod nano 6th generation, syncing with audiobooks does not work now, had been working. Sync test says: No iPod touch, iPhone, or iPad found. Connectivity test OK, no physical problems, iTunes shows the iPod. Any clues what to do?

Hmm.. Thank you for the response.
Have you tried using the iPod with another user account or computer, to help narrow down whether the problem lies with the computer, account, or the iPod itself?
Maybe try reformatting it, using the tools provided by Windows. Instructions on how to reformat your iPod can be found in this article.
http://www.methodshop.com/gadgets/ipodsupport/erase/index.shtml
B-rock

IPod shuffle doesn't sync with iTunes??

iPod shuffle doesn't sync with iTunes??

After connecting it, the light should continue to flash (if you use the Manually manage music or Enable disk use setting), or it should become a solid (not flashing) color (if you use automatic syncing). The light going OFF may indicate that the shuffle is not able to charge. You are using the original USB cable that came with the shuffle (it has a mini-dock), correct?
That problem could be caused by the shuffle itself. Since a 2nd gen shuffle is at least five or six years old at this point, it may be the battery becoming worn out. It may also be a problem on the USB port. As a test, try shutting down (powering off) the Mac and disconnect all USB devices (including any hub), except for standard keyboard and mouse (if used). Do this to reset the shuffle
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1655
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IPod not remembering playback position

hi all. i have converted many movies files into the mp4 for my 5g 30gb ipod (mainly from .avi files already converted from DVD's) and my ipod wont remember the playback position. if i watch a movie, stop, auto-sync my ipod with itunes, the position is reset.
it used to stay even after syncing. ive already tried the "reset all settings" from the menu, but it doesnt seem to help. and yes i have up-to-date firmware.
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Sure!
iPod Agent: http://www.ipodsoft.com/software.aspx
PodPlayer: http://www.ipodsoft.com/software.aspx
iPodCopy: http://www.wideanglesoftware.com/ipodcopy/mac/index.html
PodUtil: http://www.kennettnet.co.uk/software/podutil.php
YamiPod: http://www.yamipod.com/
You only need one, those are the choices I've found.
Glad to be of service
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Just got My ipod shuffle, was working great had about 120 songs on it, then walking down the street oneday listening to my ipod and it just stoped, wouldn't start back up.. got it home to realize that all my songs were gone on it and it would add any songs to it with auto fill or manual.. also it gives me no errors.. if anyone has an idea about this , it would be great.. I might just send it back , as it is under warrenty

The "just stopped" part of your problem sounds like the Shuffle's battery just reached its discharge limit and shut down the Shuffle. If that's the case you need to put a good four hour charge on the battery, and then check for your songs. My Shuffle has done the same thing about three times, but I've never lost (in my case) the audiobooks currently in its memory. Hope you find your songs.
Roger

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Prior to updating to ios 8 I would set the timer on the clock app to stop playing my music/audiobook after a set amount of time. Then in the morning, I could turn on the music app again and continue playing the album or audiobook from where it had stopped.
Since the update it doesn't seem to be remembering the playback position, however I only have this problem when I've used the timer. If I manually pause the song, then it remembers as "now playing". I've been scouring the internet and no one else seems to be experiencing this. I updated to 8.1 and I'm still having this problem. I went into itunes and checked Get Info --> Options --> Remember playback position.
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I have the same problem using Apple's Music and Clock apps on iPhone 6, iOS 8.1. I don't know why this changed, as I had been using this function for years on previous iPhones / iOS to play audio-books at night, and then easily find the place where I dozed off the next night.
While I try to keep the array of apps on my phone limited to Apple originals, this problem led me to explore. And I found that 2 free apps - 1. Music Timer and 2. Beat - that allow me to do what I have always done previously with the Apple apps. That is, Beat plays a track until turned off by Music Timer, and then Beat resumes playing where it stopped the next evening. Read the on-screen directions before using these apps, and it is then simple.
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My shuffle is acting weird lately. For example, when I plug in the iPod and try to add songs and/or sync the device, iTunes says, "iPod sync failed. Disconnect and reconnect, then try again." It's really annoying because I can't add any songs to it or change any settings. Please help me! I have tried almost everything to save my shuffle and have restored it about 6 times!
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Message was edited by: Robert Boyer

Have you tried a Disk Repair in the Disk Utility?
Also, you could have a damaged iPodDriver.kext file.
You can replace it by doing an archive and install or
use a 3rd party extractor and get it from your
Install disk. Or copy it from a friends Mac.
I have tried the Disk Repair in Disk Utility and it says my iPod shuffle is perfectly normal. I then decided to erase it with Disk Utility using Mac OS Extended (Journaled) but it didn't work, either. I am beginning to think this is a software problem with my computer...
I will try to replace the iPodDriver.kext file, but unfortunately, I lost the Tiger install disc. Can I use the install disc that came with my eMac (Mac OS X 10.2 Jaguar, I think)? Please let me know soon, and thanks for helping!
P.S. If I can't install it from my eMac install disc, I think I will copy the iPodDriver.kext file from a computer at my library or somewhere else. I can also borrow a friend's Tiger disc and use Pacifist, a great program for extracting .pkg files, to get a fresh iPodDriver.kext file.
Message was edited by: Robert Boyer

How to add new songs to ipod shuffle from different computer with different itune library without change old songs on ipod?

Hello,
I am using ipod shuffle. Now it's having some songs.these songs was synchronised with my old desktop itune library. Now i changed to laptop and downloaded latest itune software. Now i need to add more songs to ipod without change old songs on ipod. How it's possible? Please help.

The way iTunes and iPods are designed is not compatible with what you want to do. The best approach would be to open iTunes on your old desktop, and make a backup of your iTunes library, from which you can copy across all the songs from your old library onto your new laptop - not just the ones that were synced to the shuffle. One place to start for instructions on how to do this: http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1364
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Basically, last week I lost my ipod shuffle (4th gen). ****. so consequently I have bought a second hand 2nd gen shuffle, thinking that the USB - minijack cable would work fine - and it fits perfectly. But my 'new' ipod is not showing up in itunes, and neither is it illuminating...
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Ta!

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Excuse me for jumping in.
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IPod shuffle forgetting playback position with audiobooks

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