.m3u playlist won't play

[jowlsey]

I have a 30 GB video Ipod.

I've created a test .m3u file that is in the \playlists folder.

I can go to playlist \ playlist catalog, and I see my test.m3u file there. When I click on it, 'loading' flashes on the screen for a second, then the device goes back to the playlist view where I see create playlist, view current playlist, save current playlist, playlist catalog.

Here are the entire contents of test.m3u file:

\1Music\A\track1.mp3
\1Music\A\track2.mp3


These tracks exist (on this PC) in:

e:\1Music\A\track1.mp3
e:\1Music\A\track2.mp3

I'm able to play these tracks via the file browser with out problems- I navigate to files \ 1music \ a \ track1.mp3, and it plays as expected.

Any idea why this playlist isn't working for me?

[evilnick]

Silly question, but is that directory structure replicated on your iPod? If not then Rockbox won't be able to find the songs.

[jowlsey]

Yes, that's the directory structure on the iPod.  At the moment the iPod is plugged into a Windows pc.  The iPod is e:, and the fully qualified path is  e:\1Music\A\track1.mp3.

[Llorean]

Have you tried adding those files to a playlist in Rockbox, saving the playlist, and comparing the two?

[Lear]

Another silly question: are you sure playback hasn't started? When I start a playlist from the Playlist Catalog (via Root menu > Playlist), that's what happens. I.e., playback starts, even if Rockbox doesn't switch to the WPS.

[jowlsey]

OK, save a seat for me on the short bus.

I'm at work and didn't have my headphones plugged in. I was just trying to build the play lists and wanted to make sure they worked.  I expected to see the 'now playing' screen to appear (I assume that's wps).

Thanks for covering all the bases and asking the stupid questions.  Once I plugged in the headphones it was playing what I expected it to even though the screen didn't display what I expected.

[evilnick]

Yeah, this can be slightly confusing until you get used to it. IIRC (and there's no guarantee of THAT) rockbox _used to_ display the WPS screen directly after you loaded an .m3u, but to be honest, I rely on the dynamic playlist to such an extent that I might be making that up!

[bascule]

OK, save a seat for me on the short bus...

Whoa, quite a specific Americanism there. Had to look that one up  

[jowlsey]

I thought I'd add an observation that I believe is what lead to my confusion.

If I start playing a playlist while nothing else is playing, the device will go back to the playlist view (create playlist, view current playlist, etc).

If I have a track playing, and then start playlist, the device will go back to the wps screen.

This seems like inconsistent behavior to me. Perhaps someone that does development work on RockBox would consider changing this. I'm not a programmer or I'd take a stab at it myself.

Just a suggestion.