title: Android: unable to create Media Player (using pls URL)
body: <p>I'm trying to create an app that plays an internet radio stream from a .pls file. I know that the Android Media Player can't read .pls files, so I read it beforehand and obtained the URL that is stored in the .pls file. That's what's in the <code>R.String.audio_stream</code> variable I pass to setDataSource(). However, when I run my code on the simulator, it fails when I try to start the media player. LogCat returns the error message, "Unable to create media player." Does anyone know what might be the problem?</p>
  
  <p>Here's my code:</p>
  
  <pre><code>import android.support.v7.app.ActionBarActivity;
  import android.support.v7.app.ActionBar;
  import android.support.v4.app.Fragment;
  import android.os.Bundle;
  import android.view.LayoutInflater;
  import android.view.Menu;
  import android.view.MenuItem;
  import android.view.View;
  import android.view.ViewGroup;
  import android.widget.Button;
  import android.widget.Toast;
  import android.os.Build;
  import android.media.MediaPlayer;
  import android.util.Log;
  import java.io.IOException;
  
  public class MainActivity extends ActionBarActivity {
  
      private Button mStartButton;
      private Button mStopButton;
      boolean isPlaying = false;
      private static final String TAG = "MyActivity";
  
  
      @Override
      protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
          super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
          setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);
  
          final MediaPlayer mp = new MediaPlayer();
  
          mStartButton = (Button)findViewById(R.id.start_button);
          mStartButton.setOnClickListener(new View.OnClickListener() {
              @Override
              public void onClick(View v) {
                  if(isPlaying){
                      //do nothing
                  }else{
                      isPlaying = true;
                      try{
                          mp.setDataSource(getString(R.string.audio_stream));
                          mp.prepare();
                          mp.start();
                      }catch(IOException e){
                          Log.e(TAG, "prepare() failed.");
                      }
                  }
              }
          });
  
          mStopButton = (Button)findViewById(R.id.stop_button);
          mStopButton.setOnClickListener(new View.OnClickListener() {
              @Override
              public void onClick(View v) {
                  if(!isPlaying){
                      //do nothing
                  }else{
                      isPlaying = false;
                      mp.release();
                  }
              }
          });
      }
  
      @Override
      public boolean onCreateOptionsMenu(Menu menu) {
  
          // Inflate the menu; this adds items to the action bar if it is present.
          getMenuInflater().inflate(R.menu.main, menu);
          return true;
      }
  
      @Override
      public boolean onOptionsItemSelected(MenuItem item) {
          // Handle action bar item clicks here. The action bar will
          // automatically handle clicks on the Home/Up button, so long
          // as you specify a parent activity in AndroidManifest.xml.
          int id = item.getItemId();
          if (id == R.id.action_settings) {
              return true;
          }
          return super.onOptionsItemSelected(item);
      }
  
  }
  </code></pre>