• After 15+ years, we've made a big change: Android Forums is now Early Bird Club. Learn more here.

Help phone won't play files from sd card?

My S5 will show the mp3 files in the music player, and even play them right after downloading, but sooner or later I always get an "unsupported format" message. I know it's not the card, because it works fine in my tablet. When I unmount the card and put it back in, it tells me it's blank or has unsupported files. Any ideas why would be appreciated!
 
My S5 will show the mp3 files in the music player, and even play them right after downloading, but sooner or later I always get an "unsupported format" message. I know it's not the card, because it works fine in my tablet. When I unmount the card and put it back in, it tells me it's blank or has unsupported files. Any ideas why would be appreciated!

Hello Miss D, I have had a few mp3 woes myself. One might think that mp3s are all the same.....

In my exprience, the source of the mp3 matters. If you have mp3s from the cloud or an app.....there seems to be some sort of licensing file that accompanys them. Which means moving mp3s from one phone to another can be tricky, cause you need to include this file(s). I believe this is all an attempt to retain control of the copyrighted file.

I use Google Play and have never been able to transfer/copy cloud downloaded files between phones. It appears you must re-download from the cloud. Once when changing SD cards (same phone), I was able to grab the entire folder and get it to work.

Finally, as much as any cloud sourced mp3 may be a PIA, I believe any mp3 files direct from pc should be working.

good luck!!!!
 
Upvote 0

BEST TECH IN 2023

We've been tracking upcoming products and ranking the best tech since 2007. Thanks for trusting our opinion: we get rewarded through affiliate links that earn us a commission and we invite you to learn more about us.

Smartphones