Home > Braille and Talking Book Library > Guide to Talking Book Service > Digital Talking Book Machine FAQ

Digital Talking Book Machine
Frequently Asked Questions

How do I change the language to/from Spanish? Turn off the player. Hold down the Tone Down, Sleep, and Rewind buttons and press the Power button. After a few seconds the player will beep and say “Player Status.” Press the Rewind button twice and you will hear “Set Language.” Press the Play button and you will hear “English.” Press Rewind or Fast Forward if you wish to select Spanish and then press Play. If you wish to return the player to English, press Play without pressing another button.

How do I reset the player? Hold down the Power button firmly for at least 7 seconds. A reset beep will be heard. This will not erase any bookmarks or prior book “last marks” from the player. The player will only need to be reset in the unlikely event that it becomes unresponsive in normal operation.

The player said “cartridge error” when I removed the book. Have I damaged the book? No. The cartridge cannot be damaged by this action. A cartridge error may occur if the book cartridge is removed while the book is playing. The book will play normally after this has occurred. The player keeps a record that a cartridge error has occurred and this record can be reviewed when the player is returned to the library.

Every time I put the cartridge in the player the machine says “cartridge error.” This may indicate a problem with the files on the cartridge or with the cartridge itself. Power cycle the player to clear the error but if this is unsuccessful, the book should be marked as defective and returned to the library for further testing. If this occurred using a patron’s USB flash drive, suggest they reformat the drive then recopy the book.

When I turned on the player this morning it announced “greater than 27 hours” of battery time. I have been playing a book all morning and it still says “greater than 27 hours.” Is it broken? The player has a large battery capacity. You still have greater than 27 hours of play time remaining even after playing all morning. (Note to Librarians: To preserve battery service life, a recharge is not performed until the battery has been discharged to 75 percent of full capacity. A patron is likely to be more confused if they noticed that the player was not recharging every time they connected it to the AC power.)

When I turned on the player this morning it announced “less than 1 hour” of battery time. I have been playing a book for 2 hours and it's still going. Is it broken? The battery estimation may be inaccurate when discharged to this level. The player will always underestimate the remaining capacity.

How do I make the player stop talking so much? To configure the player for reduced verbosity, press and hold the Fast Forward button then the Speed Down button so that both buttons are held down simultaneously for 2 seconds when the player is in Key Describer mode (no cartridge inserted).

The book I am reading gets to the middle of chapter 4 and says “Book Error.” What does that mean? This is an error in the book itself, not in the individual cartridge. If it is a book produced by NLS, report the book number and any information about where the error occurred to Arizona Braille and Talking Book Library.

The narrator sounds like an auctioneer (or a drunk). How do I return it to normal? Turn the player on. With the particular book cartridge in the player, but not playing, use the Speed Up and Speed Down buttons until you hear a “Speed Normal” message. The player remembers the specific speed and tone settings for each book. If a new book is played (one never before played), the speed will be set to normal and the tone to neutral.

If I don’t turn off the player, will I wear out the player sooner? No. The player draws very little power when not playing. It is not necessary to turn off the player.

How do I get to the User Guide with a Standard Model? Press and hold the Play button for a few seconds.

How do I get out of the User Guide when I’m done with it? Press and hold the Play button again for a few seconds.

Can I leave the player plugged in when I am reading a book? Should I unplug it when I’m done reading? Is there anything I should know to avoid damaging the battery? The player can remain connected to the main power indefinitely with no ill effects. You don’t need to worry about charging patterns in order to maximize battery life. The player does not have the battery “memory” issues that were common with the batteries in cassette book players.

How long do I need to leave the player plugged in to fully charge the battery? The battery will fully charge from a completely discharged state in less than 3 hours. The battery does not recharge each time you plug it in. To extend the service life of the battery, it will only charge after you have used it for several hours or after being unused for several weeks.

What is the rectangular socket on the side of the player? It is a USB port intended for assistive technology devices for people with physical impairments and for playing books from a patron’s own USB flash drive.

Can I put a book on a thumb drive and use the side port? Yes, most USB flash drives can be used to store a book; however, not all USB drives will work correctly.

Can I safely remove the cartridge without stopping playback first? Yes.

Can other people see my bookmarks? No, the bookmarks are stored on your player, not on the book. How many bookmarks will the player hold? Over 1,000.

Can I copy multiple books onto one of my own blank cartridges? You can copy multiple books onto a blank cartridge but only one will play unless you place each book in its own directory. To get to the bookshelf function on the digital player, press and hold the play key for 5 seconds and the player will announce “bookshelf”. Once there you can use the fast forward and rewind buttons to browse between books.

Can I plug the book cartridge into my computer? You can plug it in and copy the book on another USB drive for later use. You won’t be able to read it from the computer because of the copyright protection of the book.

How do I skip over the front matter (Annotation)? With the Standard Model, press and hold Fast Forward and listen for a beep. With an Advanced Model, use the Next button.

How will I know how long a book is when there is always only one cartridge? The narrator will tell you the total duration at the beginning of the book. The player can also tell you the current position when you insert the book (Standard Model) or when you press Info (Advanced Model).

How do I go back to where I was when I pressed the Sleep button? Press the Rewind button and hold it until it says, “Back 15 minutes.” Repeat this, if you had set the sleep timer for a multiple of 15 minutes, until you return to the desired reading position.

It seems like sometimes when fast forwarding to the beginning of the next chapter, it doesn’t actually land on the beginning. The player will announce the chapter title when you lift the Fast Forward button after crossing a chapter boundary. If you lift up immediately after a chapter beep, it will snap to the beginning of the chapter; otherwise you will hear “Within” and the chapter title.

Playing Non-NLS books and audio
Can I play RFB&D books in my machine? It is possible for RFB&D to format their books to play in the NLS player. Contact RFB&D to see if the specific book is available in a format that will play in the NLS player. The player may need to be enabled to play protected RFB&D books. The patron can do this by inserting a cartridge containing a Key Exchange file provided by RFB&D.

Can I play MP3 files in my machine? Yes, the player will play MP3, AMR-WB+, and WAV audio files copied to a cartridge or USB drive. They are played in the alphabetical/numerical order of their file name.

Does the NLS DTB player play text-based DAISY files? No.

Does the NLS player play DAISY2 books? Yes, but not if they are encrypted by the publisher and the player has not been enabled to play protected books.

Does the NLS player play Audible.com recorded audio books? No.

top of page