The IPlayer download links for portable devices have been unavailable for over a month. The portable device links just give the full Windows Media Player download (which don't play on my Sony player). BBC had this listed as an issue "under investigation" for weeks. Now that's gone, and after emailing they say it's been resolved. Not as far as I can see it hasn't. Is every one else having this problem? If so, what on Earth does it take to get the BBC to sort it out?

I am also having this problem, if I download a file for transfer to my portable device it says 10 hours to convert and transfer - very frustrating.

Hi, i also have been experiencing the same problem for two months.I have raised the issue with bbc about a month ago and have had no real response.Today i have made a formal complaint and will let you know of outcome.All said and done the bbc is a publicily funded organisation and their response to customers complaints leaves a lot to be desired.

Have you tried a different browser? Only i remember a while back i discovered for some unknown reason portable downloads showed up in one but not the other.

Tried it in Google Chrome and IE. The portable player link goes to the full WMP download in both.

Into another month of this now. Hasn't even been re-listed under "issues" so I assume absolutely nothing is happening. Emailed again, but I expect to get the same "sorry for the inconvenience" stock answer.

There seems no end in sight here. Fixing the system to produce the correct links shouldn't be a huge task. I'd urge anyone who uses this facility (or anyone who believes Iplayer should be properly maintained) to contact the BBC through the Iplayer help form about it. Perhaps that's the only way to get them to take notice.

Device downloads works for safari on my mac, Im currently downloading something about midwives(first thing i saw) Ill try safari on my laptop later to see if it works

Tried it using Chrome on the midwives show. Whichever download option I pick I only get the 583mb WMP version. I'm surprised the correct link would be appearing only for certain browsers. The download URL I get is electradl.iplayer.bbc.co.uk/windowsmedia/prod/hi/[programme title and ref].wmv - the full download even if choosing the portable media option. What URL for portables is it showing on Safari Rob?

Incidentally last emailed BBC Sat about this again. No reply as yet. The message system states they wont accept offensive language in correspondence. So I need to find another way of saying "useless lazy b*stards".

Got another cut and paste reply from Usha Devi Peri: "We hope to resolve the issue soon and suggest that you regularly keep checking our BBC iPlayer help site." Which wont help as it's not listed under current issues on site. Which also begs the question as to whether it is actually under investigation. Contacting Usha has about the same effect as not contacting Usha. I'm starting to consider that this may not be fixed, noted, considered, or in anyway thought about by anyone with even the most passing connection to the BBC.

Got my reply today to my second complaint about this issue and yet again i am told that it is under investigation

Just seen that bbci have closed their message boards as a cost cutting measure.I suspect that the inability of the bbc to fix the portable device download option has more to do with saving money than a technical issue.I think i may save my self a few quid and not pay my licence fee as they are not providing the service i am paying for(forced payment at that)

Another week and still no progress. Unbelievably we're heading toward quarter of a year of no correct links for the portable media downloads. Contact and complaints have had absolutely no effect. A real shame because it's how I watch(ed) most BBC shows.

I can only hope that all technical staff are occupied with the Olympics. If so could easily be September before anyone looks at this problem. Considering companies like Sony and Samsung advertise the compatibility of their media players with IPlayer on their marketing, I'm half tempted to contact them and tell them what's going on.

Another week, still not fixed. Edging ever closer to 3 months. Shameful.

And another week - still not fixed. Just got this reply today "We’re currently aware of this issue. Please accept our apologies for the inconvenience caused and we hope to resolve the issue in due course." Word for word the same reply I got two months ago.

I can only assume they have inspector clouseau investigating this problem.
I sent quite a forcible e-mail to the bbc recently,and got much the same reply,how seriously they are taking this matter is debatable.I'm no computer geek but surely it cannot be that hard to fix a software problem.I'm sure if they were ,a for profit company, this would have been fixed months ago.

Got his reply after emailing Marcus Parnwell (Executive Product Manager, iPlayer on TV Platforms)

"We are aware of the issue but have been blocked deploying a fix due to our commitments to the Olympics. The good news is that we have this issue in an upcoming release which is currently under test and is scheduled for early September."

I am amazed at your reply,so not only have they been doing nothing.they were also sending e-mails saying they were investigating,when they were not.

From the above discussion it may not be clear to everyone that the problem is portable device download files not presently being made available. This is not a matter of broken links or browser problems. It is perhaps due to DRM issues which need to be addressed and this may be why the BBC is reluctant to explain what is going on. There is a freeware program (mention of which is banned on many UK forums) which allows you to get iPlayer downloads without using the BBC web pages or apps. This can display the available modes (bit rate and format) for any programme.

I picked a few programmes at random and all the mode options are there except the mobile device one. You can still select relatively small downloads (eg The Midwives mentioned previously ranges from 174 MB to 1230 MB for Episode 1) but of course the format will not play on many portable devices without transcoding.

Err... what?

They did investigate. And they fixed it, and it went into testing, and now it's waiting for deployment.

Did you actually read the reply?

I've just looked at the iPlayer FAQs and the following message has been posted:

"Why am I offered the larger WMV file when downloading the version for Portable Media Devices?

This is a known bug that occurs when attempting to download the smaller WMV file (for Portable Devices), the larger WMV file (for Windows Media Player) is offered instead.

This issue will be addressed with an upcoming release"
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This is the first time I've seen this.

Perhaps Dorisspassing's email prompted action higher up?

i have been in contact with bbci for four months about this issue ,and dorispassing's reply was they were blocked from issuing a fix ,so why didn't they tell me that.All i have been getting is e-mails telling me they are investigating,when clearly they had a fix but were blocked from implemeting it.

A few shows are now available for portable media download. It seems pretty random which ones give the correct link and which ones don't. Hopefully we haven't had the full fix yet. Hopefully.