m4b audiobook extention support

[XBLgamertag]

Hi,
Can XBMC play audiobooks in the m4b (ipod) format, I'm not sure if I'm missing a trick here ?

I know it supports m4a files. m4b files are the same but with a different extension - they are not mentioned as a supported filetype (but m4a is) in the wiki.

Is there a way to configure it to play them ?

Cheers ;)

[sho]

Don' t really know... but this would be a good start if they actually work and the extension is just not known.
http://www.xboxmediacenter.com/wiki/index.php?title=PAPlayer#Troubleshooting

[Gamester17]

is the format DRM (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_rights_management) protected?, simply rename the .m4b extention to .m4a and try to play it in XBMC, if it do not play then it is DRM protected, however if it do play then we just need to add the .m4b extention to XBMC as default for it to be permenetly supported, ...but in the mean time you can add the extention yourself by creating an AdvancedSettings.xml (http://www.xboxmediacenter.com/wiki/index.php?title=AdvancedSettings.xml#.3Cmusicexten sions.3E) file and adding the parameter.

[XBLgamertag]

thanks, will look at AdvancedSettings.xml - I think m4b can be DRM protected but my files are not... I'll let you know how I get on ;)

[XBLgamertag]

I added m4b to the AdvancedSettings file and it recognises them as music now and will play them, the display goes black whilst playing (something to do with a visualisation maybe ?). But if I press the "Display" button on my remote then it returns to the normal music list and shows the count of time played. Back on the main menu screen (using PM3 theme) it displays time played and time remaining but not the filename (maybe a tagging problem with my files? I'll check).

So the short version is.. it works ;)
Thanks

[Gamester17]

I added m4b to the AdvancedSettings file and it recognises them as music now and will play themGood, now please submit an official RFE if you like the extention to be permently added to XBMC static extention list for music, that way you and others will not have to add it manually to AdvancedSettings.xml each time you install/re-install XBMC:
http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?group_id=87054&atid=581841

the display goes black whilst playing (something to do with a visualisation maybe ?). But if I press the "Display" button on my remote then it returns to the normal music list and shows the count of time played.Yes probabely an issue with the visualisation, try a different visualisation (see settings), or if you are using Milkdrop then try a other preset (from the OSD while playing the file)

it displays time played and time remaining but not the filename (maybe a tagging problem with my files? I'll check).Yes probably a tagging issue, but it could also be that XBMC is not hardcoded to read tags from files with .m4b extention and that is why it does not show it. You can mention that in the RFE once you are sure that the file is tagged.

[bitmaster]

Hello XBMC-Team,

It would be nice if PAPPlayer would support m4b (audiobook), with Chapters / Bookmarks navigation.:nod:
Today only m4a playback is supported.:(
By renaming m4a I can not access to several chapters / bookmarks in the file.
MPlayer does not play m4b files properly, navigation with remote is not acceptable (you can only jump 2 chapters forward and you can't stop or pause playback):no:

It would be sufficient to handle m4b files as folders and the extracted bookmark information as files (audio or video).:rolleyes:

Here are some solutions (and example files) how to extract m4b file information (in xml format) to create user friendly bookmark navigation.
http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=125941
http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=106184
http://www.audiocoding.com/faad2.html
http://gpac.sourceforge.net/doc_mp4box.php
Example audio (aac) file (http://download.jw.org/files/media_magazines/g_E_200902.m4b) with 18 chapters/bookmarks and jpeg inside the file for each chapter:


thanking you for this great software