[Bug]: Downloaded Audiobook - Playback failed Source error #1008

New Issue

2026-04-24T23:45:46+02:00

adam commented

2026-04-24 23:45:46 +02:00

Originally created by @Klar on GitHub (Jul 31, 2024).

What was the Problem?

Download Audiobook for offline listening mode. In offline mode i.e no Wif I see the book and start play, it gives me a loading animation and fails with the error: Playback failed Source error

Other Audiobooks work. I did delete the files and re-downloaded the files with the same error.

Steps to Reproduce the Issue

Download Audiobook and press play while in offline mode

What was Expected?

Audiobook plays in offline mode

Phone Model

GT-I9505

Phone OS

Android 11 - Lineage OS

Audiobookshelf App Version

Android App - 0.9.74

Installation Source

SideStore

Additional Notes

If I open the downloaded .mp3 files with VLC the file plays correct.

Audibook Server version is 2.11.0

Originally created by @Klar on GitHub (Jul 31, 2024). ### What was the Problem? Download Audiobook for offline listening mode. In offline mode i.e no Wif I see the book and start play, it gives me a loading animation and fails with the error: `Playback failed Source error` Other Audiobooks work. I did delete the files and re-downloaded the files with the same error. ### Steps to Reproduce the Issue Download Audiobook and press play while in offline mode ### What was Expected? Audiobook plays in offline mode ### Phone Model GT-I9505 ### Phone OS Android 11 - Lineage OS ### Audiobookshelf App Version Android App - 0.9.74 ### Installation Source SideStore ### Additional Notes If I open the downloaded .mp3 files with VLC the file plays correct. Audibook Server version is 2.11.0

adam added the bug label 2026-04-24 23:45:46 +02:00

adam closed this issue

2026-04-24 23:45:46 +02:00

adam commented

2026-04-24 23:45:47 +02:00

@nichwall commented on GitHub (Jul 31, 2024):

Sounds like there may be a problem with the audio file itself. Does streaming the audiobook work, and if so, is it direct playing or transcoding? The server will attempt to transcode the file if playback fails during streaming (unsupported codec by client device, corrupted file, etc), but no transcoding is performed for downloads.

VLC does extra magic to help make corrupted files play.

@nichwall commented on GitHub (Jul 31, 2024): Sounds like there may be a problem with the audio file itself. Does streaming the audiobook work, and if so, is it direct playing or transcoding? The server will attempt to transcode the file if playback fails during streaming (unsupported codec by client device, corrupted file, etc), but no transcoding is performed for downloads. VLC does extra magic to help make corrupted files play.

adam commented

2026-04-24 23:45:48 +02:00

@Klar commented on GitHub (Jul 31, 2024):

streaming works, in the player menu on middle top it says direct, so I assume it is direct.

is there a helpful command in linux / ffmpeg to convert to a format which should be better? or command to give an output of the file for debug information.

@Klar commented on GitHub (Jul 31, 2024): streaming works, in the player menu on middle top it says direct, so I assume it is direct. is there a helpful command in linux / ffmpeg to convert to a format which should be better? or command to give an output of the file for debug information.

adam commented

2026-04-24 23:45:48 +02:00

@nichwall commented on GitHub (Jul 31, 2024):

You could try running ffprobe on the file https://www.audiobookshelf.org/guides/ffprobe/#inspecting-an-audio-file or running the file through ffmpeg with the copy argument to recreate metadata on the file and copy contents to a new file (without transcoding). Ffmpeg should provide more information while doing the copy if it finds problems with the file. If it still doesn't work, you could get rid of copy and just write to a temp file to see if that catches anything from the source file either

@nichwall commented on GitHub (Jul 31, 2024): You could try running ffprobe on the file https://www.audiobookshelf.org/guides/ffprobe/#inspecting-an-audio-file or running the file through ffmpeg with the `copy` argument to recreate metadata on the file and copy contents to a new file (without transcoding). Ffmpeg should provide more information while doing the copy if it finds problems with the file. If it still doesn't work, you could get rid of `copy` and just write to a temp file to see if that catches anything from the source file either

adam commented

2026-04-24 23:45:49 +02:00

@Klar commented on GitHub (Aug 2, 2024):

Thanks for your help. I re coded the mp3 files and now it is working

@Klar commented on GitHub (Aug 2, 2024): Thanks for your help. I re coded the mp3 files and now it is working

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Reference: starred/audiobookshelf-app#1008