Music Playback Randomly Stops

[mikehardez]

First, let me just say that I'm running stock 2.1 and I'm not rooted; the only significant modification I've made to the phone's function is running Launcher Pro.

When playing back music stored on my SD Card with the default "Music" app, playback will randomly stop, even in Airplane mode (where there should be no data transfer of any kind to create notifications to interrupt the playback).

And though it is seemingly random, I have found a way to reliably reproduce the problem. I'll start playing a track, and then I'll let the screen go out naturally (or I can manually turn it off with the button, it doesn't matter). I'll let the track play for a bit, and then I'll press the button to reactivate the screen and unlock the phone. Roughly 5 seconds after unlocking, the music playback stops. The interesting part is that if I go to resume the music, it is paused where I first resumed playback of the track.

For example, if I pause a track at 1:27 and then let it play for a bit (to say, 2:00) before reactivating the screen, when the playback stops, the track has "rewound" itself to 1:27.

But even when the screen is off, playback will stop for no apparent reason.

It seems like the OP of this thread: http://forum.androidcentral.com/sprint-epic-4g/43096-music-playback-issues.html
had the same issue as me, but I'd prefer not to do a factory reset before exhausting other options (rebooting the phone after removing and reinserting the SD card did nothing).

Does anyone have any ideas as to why this could be happening?

 

[Donmeister85]

I would try another music app from the market, just for kicks. I'd like to see if it's a problem with the music player app, or the background service that controls the music. Try it out.

 

[Cyber Warrior]

If its happening while using the headphones: its a problem with the phone thinking the headphones are being unplugged causing the music to pause. The app "Headset Blocker" will fix the problem.

 

[mikehardez]

It happens whether I use headphones or the phone's speakers. I'll try using a downloaded music app and see what happens.

 

[Donmeister85]

It happens whether I use headphones or the phone's speakers. I'll try using a downloaded music app and see what happens.

Keep us posted.

 

[mikehardez]

Just tested with Winamp and the problem still exists; it doesn't seem to be app specific.

 

[Donmeister85]

Hmm... I really don't know what else to try except a hard reset honestly.

When did this first start happening? Are there other apps that you've put on your phone around the time it started?

 

[mikehardez]

Hard to say, since I only recently put music on my phone and it exhibited the problem from the get-go. Since I had already installed a number of applications, it's difficult for me to pin it on any particular one (assuming it is some sort of conflict with another app).

Most of the reason I'd prefer not to factory reset is having to redownload all my apps. I know you can save apps to your SD card with 2.2, but since I'm on 2.1 is there anyway to back up my apps before resetting?

 

[mikehardez]

Think I got it solved! I was using the app Startup Auditor to disable the startup of "DRM Protected Content Storage" and "DRMContentLauncher". I decided to re-enable them as a test, and after rebooting, music plays continuously without stopping.

Why these services mattered is a mystery to me, as the mp3s I was playing off of my SD card have no DRM, but this is the solution. Thanks to everyone for their suggestions.

 

[Donmeister85]

Think I got it solved! I was using the app Startup Auditor to disable the startup of "DRM Protected Content Storage" and "DRMContentLauncher". I decided to re-enable them as a test, and after rebooting, music plays continuously without stopping.

Why these services mattered is a mystery to me, as the mp3s I was playing off of my SD card have no DRM, but this is the solution. Thanks to everyone for their suggestions.

Wow, seriously? I have all that DRM stuff frozen in Titanium Backup. Since I'm rooted, that's what I use to prevent all kinds of crap from showing up in memory, and also what I used to get rid of that Sprint crapware that I'll never have any use for. I've never had a problem with music playback ever! But hey, as long as it's working, then you're all good! Glad you figured it out!

 

[Skunkape60]

I have a different problem with mp3 playback. I will be listening to music with my computer speakers plugged into my head phone jack. When I get a call I unplug the speakers from my phone and answer it. When I am done with the call and reconnect my speakers to my phone, the music comes out of my phones speakers and not the speakers hooked to the phone. I have found no fix for this except restarting the phone.