setPlaybackParams Prevents Playback from Starting on API 23

user_3257936 0
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For some reason and specifically on an Acer Iconia tablet if setPlaybackParams() is called before starting the media player and after the MediaPlayer is prepared, nothing happens: start() 'succeeds' and no audio is heard.

Everything works in the emulator and other devices I have as well as a few thousand devices using the app.

How can I detect this failure on this and other devices that don't work well with setPlaybackParams() if no exceptions are thrown and no errors are generated? The only solution I can think of is having a playback timeout mechanism. Are there any others?

media android-mediaplayer android
1 Answers

This is how I solved this problem for my own application:

My app has a playback progress broadcaster that starts when onPrepared(), it broadcasts the mediaplayer progress to any UI elements interested in it. I added gear in it to detect the condition where onPrepared() calls MediaPlayer->start() but doesn't exhibit any playback progress (The mediaPlayer stalls).

The progress broadcaster runs once a second and has this code in it:

int stall_cntr = 3;
// WORKAROUND FOR ACER ICONIA TABLETS
// Gear to detect if stall has occured.
if (last_position != position) {
    last_position = position;
} else {
    // last position is the same it previously was which shouldn't happen if
    // mediaplayer isPlaying
    if (stall_cntr == 0) {
        // set setPlaybackParam_unsupported configuration value.
        SharedPreferences settings = mService.getApplicationContext().getSharedPreferences(Settings.metapod_settings, 0);
        SharedPreferences.Editor editor = settings.edit();
        editor.putBoolean("setplaybackparams_not_supported", true);
        editor.apply();
    } else {
        stall_cntr--;
    }
}

The code will detect a media player stall (where onPrepared calls start() but progress isn't realized) in 3 seconds. If a stall is detected then the features that require setPlaybackParam() API is disabled thus avoiding the issue instead of fixing it...

user_32579360
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