Books on Tape: how to listen?!

[ozweepay]

I like to listen to books on tape and/or podcasts in my MS. I download them onto a USB drive and then insert the drive into one of the USB ports in the center console.

The problem is this: if I'm (say) 15 mins into chapter 4 of some book, then park and go to bed, the next morning the car resume playing from 0 mins again. So I lost my "spot" in the book.

Sometimes it will switch chapters altogether.

I have started the habit of writing down where I am on paper now, when I park the car. But even this isn't so easy to manage because after I resume the book and try to go back to 15 mins, the seek bar doesn't show the time interval as I scrub back and forth trying to find 15 mins. So I have to repeated guess, look at the timer, guess again, etc., to re-find my spot.

Is there a simple way to have the car "remember" where it was when I last exited?

 

[gene]

I have my audio books on my iPhone. The phone remembers where i left off. I bluetooth it through the tesla audio system.

 

[Canuck]

Is there a simple way to have the car "remember" where it was when I last exited?

Not since about a year ago. This is a real pet peeve of mine since for about the first year of owning the car I simply hit pause when getting out and the next morning or whenever the podcast was at the same place. Now, the car will list to podcast after podcast by itself no matter what you do, and despite a number of updates since, it never gets fixed. The only thing I have found to do to make it somewhat better is to press repeat so that the podcast repeats itself rather than goes on to the next one or next chapter (the arrows on the bottom so that the number 1 appears in it - meaning "repeat"). Then you just have to remember the time you left off. I keep a sticky and pen if I will be gone for a while since I usually forget. Then when you are done the chapter or podcast, you can change it back to next one (the straight arrows rather than the criss-crossing ones for random play) and move to the next chapter, then put the repeat back on.

If anyone has any better tips to deal with this, I'd like to hear what else can be done.

 

[MrClown]

A similar thread from a while back: Issues trying to listen to an audio book on my MS (MP3)

Personally I use my phone to play books so I can listen in and out of the car without any issues keeping the right place.

 

[ozweepay]

A similar thread from a while back: Issues trying to listen to an audio book on my MS (MP3)

Thanks MrClown. I tried searching but didn't use the right keywords to get that thread from last Sept.

Amazing to me that this (fairly fundamental) feature has been broken for so long!

 

[bob_p]

Losing USB playback position has been a problem since "sleep mode" was first added to the Model S in 2013.

Up until the late 6.x releases, it was possible to fix this problem by setting the sleep mode to "OFF". But one of the late 6.x releases redefined OFF to only turn off sleep mode during the day. There no longer is a way to completely disable sleep mode.

And now, instead of just losing the position in the currently playing USB file, it appears the media player runs by itself overnight.

Like with the navigation software, for owners unsatisfied with the media player software end up using their smartphones for playback of audio books or music, providing more reliable control and more functionality (like playlists).

I've been using my smartphone to listen to audio books for the last 3 years - and that combination works well - plus it allows me to continue listening to the audio book away from the car, and always be at the right position, something you wouldn't be able to do with a USB/MP3 solution.

 

[scottdoc]

This has been a big pet peeve of mine as well. It may have been a fluke, but it seemed to be fixed with software update v7.1 (2.9.154) (1/13/2016) on my 2015 70D with autopilot. But one day later they released v7.1 (2.9.172) and the problem returned.

 

[tliving]

I use Audible. Over 200 books. I listen on the commute then continue in the gym etc. Works great in the car and no fuss.

 

[ozweepay]

Guess what guys? I just got a new Tesla last week... and this issue with USB playback is... EVEN WORSE!

Yup, now it not only loses your place, but will sometimes switch to Radio instead of USB. And if you had the volume up on the USB playback, the Radio will make your ears bleed until you manage to turn it down.

I guess 2.5 years isn't quite enough time to fix this problem....

 

[xyeahtony]

then play from your phone. My tesla always remembers where my songs leave off.

 

[ozweepay]

I decided to take your advice here... I downloaded everything to my phone and then connected to the car via bluetooth.

It doesn't work either: the car shows that the song is playing (from YouTube or from Audible on my phone) but no sound comes out. This is apparently a known bug, but it means I still cannot play music or audiobooks on my $100,000 brand new car.

 

[Need]

I decided to take your advice here... I downloaded everything to my phone and then connected to the car via bluetooth.

It doesn't work either: the car shows that the song is playing (from YouTube or from Audible on my phone) but no sound comes out. This is apparently a known bug, but it means I still cannot play music or audiobooks on my $100,000 brand new car.

I listen to 3 hours of audiobook everyday on my commute and didn't have this problem? Have you tried a MCU reset? One time I have no audio from BT no matter what and a reset fixed it.

 

[ozweepay]

Hi Need.

Yes, I did an MCU reset and nothing changed. I may just have a lemon... brand new car.

 

[Need]

Hi Need.

Yes, I did an MCU reset and nothing changed. I may just have a lemon... brand new car.

One other thing to check is your phone's Bluetooth's volume. Many phones will default the BT volume to about half strength claiming that it could damage your ear when it is too loud (I am talking to you Samsung!). And when the phone BT output is at half volume, the car's volume needs to be at MAX to even hear anything. So I would check that and if BT volume is at half, you need to max it out at 100%.

 

[ucmndd]

I decided to take your advice here... I downloaded everything to my phone and then connected to the car via bluetooth.

It doesn't work either: the car shows that the song is playing (from YouTube or from Audible on my phone) but no sound comes out. This is apparently a known bug, but it means I still cannot play music or audiobooks on my $100,000 brand new car.

First I've heard of this "known bug". I have listened to hundreds and hundreds of hours of Audible over Bluetooth in my MS without a hitch.

 

[ozweepay]

I was saying it was "known" because of other threads reporting the same problem. For example,

Bluetooth audio - sometimes no sound