diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 1f455e2..c36ba1c 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -286,8 +286,18 @@ The unmount is the point of doing this in a script. FAT32 has no journal and
 the device is reached through disk mode, so an interrupted write is corruption
 that needs `fsck.vfat` from another machine.
 
-`submit_scrobbles.py` sends the Rockbox scrobbler log to Last.fm and sets it
-aside. Rockbox writes `/.scrobbler.log` in AUDIOSCROBBLER 1.1 format, one
+`submit_scrobbles.py` sends what was played to Last.fm and sets the logs aside.
+
+It reads **Rockbox's own `playback.log`**, which core Rockbox writes whenever
+"play log" is enabled, with no plugin running. Each line is
+`timestamp:elapsed_ms:length_ms:path` — a path and nothing else, which is why
+the on-device scrobbler plugin exists at all: reading tags back off the player
+is slow. Off the mirror it is free, so `--mirror` lets the conversion happen
+here and the plugin never has to be run. A play counts as listened at half the
+track's length, the same fraction the plugin uses, so the two cannot disagree
+about what a play was.
+
+It still reads a `.scrobbler.log` if the plugin has been run and left one. Rockbox writes `/.scrobbler.log` in AUDIOSCROBBLER 1.1 format, one
 tab-separated line per track rated `L` for listened or `S` for skipped; only
 the listened ones are sent. It runs **before** the copy, since the plays
 already happened and a failed transfer is no reason to lose them.
diff --git a/tests/test_submit_scrobbles.py b/tests/test_submit_scrobbles.py
index d91e8b5..ae48c7b 100644
--- a/tests/test_submit_scrobbles.py
+++ b/tests/test_submit_scrobbles.py
@@ -187,3 +187,125 @@ def test_write_credentials_are_required(tmp_path, capsys, monkeypatch):
 
     assert code == 2
     assert "LASTFM_API_SECRET" in capsys.readouterr().err
+
+
+PLAYBACK_LOG = """1700000300:180000:245000:/Music/Pendulum/Immersion/01.mp3
+1700000200:9000:180000:/Music/Green Day/Dookie/07.mp3
+0:180000:245000:/Music/No/Clock/track.mp3
+malformed line without colons
+"""
+
+
+def tags_of(artist="Pendulum", title="Watercolour", album="Immersion", track="1/11"):
+    def runner(path):
+        return json.dumps(
+            {"format": {"tags": {"ARTIST": artist, "TITLE": title,
+                                 "ALBUM": album, "track": track}}}
+        )
+
+    return runner
+
+
+def test_the_playback_log_format_is_four_fields():
+    """timestamp:elapsed_ms:length_ms:path, written by Rockbox core."""
+    plays = submit_scrobbles.parse_playback_log(PLAYBACK_LOG)
+
+    assert len(plays) == 3  # the malformed line is dropped
+    assert plays[0] == (1700000300, 180000, 245000, "/Music/Pendulum/Immersion/01.mp3")
+
+
+def test_a_device_path_maps_onto_the_mirror():
+    assert submit_scrobbles.device_to_local(
+        "/Music/Pendulum/Immersion/01.mp3", "/Music", "/mnt/mirror"
+    ) == Path("/mnt/mirror/Pendulum/Immersion/01.mp3")
+
+
+def test_a_path_outside_the_prefix_is_not_mapped():
+    """Something played from elsewhere on the card is not in the mirror."""
+    assert submit_scrobbles.device_to_local(
+        "/Podcasts/episode.mp3", "/Music", "/mnt/mirror"
+    ) is None
+
+
+def test_a_path_at_the_card_root_maps_straight_across():
+    assert submit_scrobbles.device_to_local(
+        "/Pendulum/Immersion/01.mp3", "/", "/mnt/mirror"
+    ) == Path("/mnt/mirror/Pendulum/Immersion/01.mp3")
+
+
+def test_a_short_play_is_a_skip_not_a_scrobble(tmp_path, monkeypatch):
+    """Nine seconds of a three minute track. The on-device plugin uses the same
+    fraction, so the two never disagree about what counted as a play."""
+    monkeypatch.setattr(Path, "is_file", lambda self: True)
+
+    played, skipped, unresolved, timeless = submit_scrobbles.plays_from_playback_log(
+        PLAYBACK_LOG, "/Music", "/mnt/mirror", runner=tags_of()
+    )
+
+    assert skipped == 1
+    assert [entry["timestamp"] for entry in played] == ["1700000300"]
+
+
+def test_a_zero_timestamp_is_refused(tmp_path, monkeypatch):
+    """Without a real-time clock Rockbox logs ticks, not dates. Scrobbling
+    those would mean inventing when they happened."""
+    monkeypatch.setattr(Path, "is_file", lambda self: True)
+
+    _, _, _, timeless = submit_scrobbles.plays_from_playback_log(
+        PLAYBACK_LOG, "/Music", "/mnt/mirror", runner=tags_of()
+    )
+
+    assert timeless == 1
+
+
+def test_tags_come_from_the_mirror(tmp_path, monkeypatch):
+    """The log carries only a path -- which is precisely why the on-device
+    plugin exists. Off the mirror the tags are free."""
+    monkeypatch.setattr(Path, "is_file", lambda self: True)
+
+    played, _, _, _ = submit_scrobbles.plays_from_playback_log(
+        PLAYBACK_LOG, "/Music", "/mnt/mirror", runner=tags_of()
+    )
+
+    assert played[0]["artist"] == "Pendulum"
+    assert played[0]["album"] == "Immersion"
+    assert played[0]["trackNumber"] == "1"       # "1/11" -> "1"
+    assert played[0]["duration"] == "245"        # milliseconds -> seconds
+
+
+def test_a_track_missing_from_the_mirror_is_counted_not_guessed(monkeypatch):
+    monkeypatch.setattr(Path, "is_file", lambda self: False)
+
+    played, _, unresolved, _ = submit_scrobbles.plays_from_playback_log(
+        PLAYBACK_LOG, "/Music", "/mnt/mirror", runner=tags_of()
+    )
+
+    assert played == []
+    # One: the skip and the clockless entry are filtered before the file is
+    # looked for, since neither would be submitted either way.
+    assert unresolved == 1
+
+
+def test_playback_logs_are_found_including_rotations(tmp_path):
+    """Rockbox rotates the log once it passes half a megabyte."""
+    rockbox = tmp_path / ".rockbox"
+    rockbox.mkdir()
+    for name in ("playback.log", "playback_0001.log", "playback_0002.log"):
+        (rockbox / name).write_text("1700000000:1:1:/Music/a.mp3\n")
+    (rockbox / "empty.log").write_text("")
+
+    found = submit_scrobbles.find_playback_logs(tmp_path)
+
+    assert [path.name for path in found] == [
+        "playback.log", "playback_0001.log", "playback_0002.log"
+    ]
+
+
+def test_without_a_mirror_it_says_what_is_needed(tmp_path, capsys):
+    device = tmp_path / "IPOD"
+    (device / ".rockbox").mkdir(parents=True)
+    (device / ".rockbox" / "playback.log").write_text("1700000000:1:1:/Music/a.mp3\n")
+
+    submit_scrobbles.main([str(device)], transport=fake_transport([]))
+
+    assert "pass --mirror" in capsys.readouterr().err
diff --git a/tools/submit_scrobbles.py b/tools/submit_scrobbles.py
index 3468852..71d4840 100755
--- a/tools/submit_scrobbles.py
+++ b/tools/submit_scrobbles.py
@@ -31,6 +31,21 @@ BATCH = 50
 # scrobble.
 LOG_NAMES = (".scrobbler.log", ".scrobbler-timeless.log")
 
+# Rockbox core writes this whenever "play log" is on, with no plugin running:
+#     timestamp:elapsed_ms:length_ms:/Music/Artist/Album/Track.mp3
+# It is rotated once it grows past half a megabyte. Converting it needs tags,
+# which is why the on-device plugin exists -- reading them back off the player
+# is slow. Off the mirror it is free, so the plugin can be skipped entirely.
+PLAYBACK_LOG_NAMES = ("playback.log", "playback_*.log")
+
+# The plugin counts a track as listened at savepct of its length, defaulting to
+# fifty. Same rule here, or the two disagree about what a play is.
+LISTENED_FRACTION = 0.5
+
+# Below this a timestamp is not a wall-clock time. Without a real-time clock
+# Rockbox logs ticks in milliseconds instead, which is not a date.
+EARLIEST_PLAUSIBLE = 1_000_000_000
+
 SESSION_FILE = Path(
     os.getenv("XDG_CONFIG_HOME", Path.home() / ".config")
 ) / "music-mirror" / "lastfm.json"
@@ -83,6 +98,98 @@ def parse_log(text):
     return played, skipped, timeless
 
 
+def parse_playback_log(text):
+    """Return (timestamp, elapsed_ms, length_ms, path) for each logged play."""
+    plays = []
+    for line in text.splitlines():
+        fields = line.strip().split(":", 3)
+        if len(fields) != 4:
+            continue
+        stamp, elapsed, length, path = fields
+        try:
+            plays.append((int(stamp), int(elapsed), int(length), path))
+        except ValueError:
+            continue
+    return plays
+
+
+def device_to_local(path, device_prefix, mirror):
+    """Map a path as the player sees it onto the mirror it was copied from."""
+    prefix = "/" + device_prefix.strip("/")
+    if prefix != "/":
+        if not path.startswith(prefix + "/"):
+            return None
+        path = path[len(prefix) :]
+    return Path(mirror) / path.lstrip("/")
+
+
+def read_tags(path, runner=None):
+    """Return the tags of a local file, via ffprobe."""
+    runner = runner or _ffprobe
+    try:
+        payload = json.loads(runner(path))
+    except (OSError, ValueError):
+        return {}
+    return {
+        key.lower(): value
+        for key, value in (payload.get("format", {}).get("tags") or {}).items()
+    }
+
+
+def _ffprobe(path):
+    import subprocess
+
+    return subprocess.run(
+        ["ffprobe", "-v", "error", "-show_entries", "format_tags",
+         "-of", "json", str(path)],
+        capture_output=True, text=True, check=True,
+    ).stdout
+
+
+def plays_from_playback_log(text, device_prefix, mirror, runner=None):
+    """Return submittable entries, plus counts of what was left out.
+
+    Skips are decided by the same fraction the on-device plugin uses, so the
+    two never disagree about what counted as a play.
+    """
+    played, skipped, unresolved, timeless = [], 0, 0, 0
+    for stamp, elapsed, length, device_path in parse_playback_log(text):
+        if stamp < EARLIEST_PLAUSIBLE:
+            timeless += 1
+            continue
+        if length > 0 and elapsed < length * LISTENED_FRACTION:
+            skipped += 1
+            continue
+        local = device_to_local(device_path, device_prefix, mirror)
+        tags = read_tags(local, runner) if local and local.is_file() else {}
+        artist = tags.get("artist") or tags.get("album_artist") or ""
+        title = tags.get("title") or ""
+        if not artist or not title:
+            unresolved += 1
+            continue
+        played.append(
+            {
+                "artist": artist,
+                "track": title,
+                "album": tags.get("album", ""),
+                "trackNumber": (tags.get("track") or "").split("/")[0],
+                "duration": str(length // 1000) if length > 0 else "",
+                "timestamp": str(stamp),
+                "mbid": tags.get("musicbrainz_trackid", ""),
+            }
+        )
+    played.sort(key=lambda entry: int(entry["timestamp"]))
+    return played, skipped, unresolved, timeless
+
+
+def find_playback_logs(device):
+    """Return every playback log on a device, oldest first."""
+    found = []
+    for pattern in PLAYBACK_LOG_NAMES:
+        found.extend(sorted(Path(device).glob(f".rockbox/{pattern}")))
+    return [path for path in found if path.is_file() and path.stat().st_size]
+
+
 def sign(params, secret):
     """Return Last.fm's method signature for a set of parameters.
 
@@ -193,6 +300,18 @@ def find_log(device):
 def main(argv=None, transport=http_post):
     parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(description=__doc__)
     parser.add_argument("device", help="the mounted device, or a scrobbler log file")
+    parser.add_argument(
+        "--mirror",
+        help="the mirror the device was copied from. Given this, Rockbox's own"
+        " playback.log is converted here rather than needing the on-device"
+        " plugin run first",
+    )
+    parser.add_argument(
+        "--device-prefix",
+        default="/Music",
+        help="where the music sits on the device, stripped when mapping a logged"
+        " path back onto the mirror",
+    )
     parser.add_argument("--api-key", default=os.getenv("LASTFM_API_KEY"))
     parser.add_argument("--api-secret", default=os.getenv("LASTFM_API_SECRET"))
     parser.add_argument("--dry-run", action="store_true", help="parse and report only")
@@ -203,12 +322,46 @@ def main(argv=None, transport=http_post):
 
     target = Path(args.device)
     log = target if target.is_file() else find_log(target)
-    if log is None:
-        print("no scrobbler log to submit", file=sys.stderr)
+    logs = []
+
+    if log is not None:
+        played, skipped, timeless = parse_log(
+            log.read_text(encoding="utf-8", errors="replace")
+        )
+        unresolved = 0
+        logs = [log]
+        print(f"{log}: {len(played)} listened, {skipped} skipped", file=sys.stderr)
+    elif args.mirror:
+        # No plugin has been run, but the core log is there. Tags come off the
+        # mirror, which is the only reason the plugin was needed at all.
+        logs = find_playback_logs(target)
+        if not logs:
+            print("no scrobbler log to submit", file=sys.stderr)
+            return 0
+        text = "\n".join(
+            path.read_text(encoding="utf-8", errors="replace") for path in logs
+        )
+        played, skipped, unresolved, timeless = plays_from_playback_log(
+            text, args.device_prefix, args.mirror
+        )
+        print(
+            f"{len(logs)} playback log(s): {len(played)} listened, {skipped} skipped",
+            file=sys.stderr,
+        )
+        if unresolved:
+            print(
+                f"  {unresolved} could not be matched to a file in the mirror"
+                " and were left out",
+                file=sys.stderr,
+            )
+    else:
+        print(
+            "no scrobbler log to submit. Rockbox's own playback.log can be used"
+            " instead -- pass --mirror so tags can be read from it.",
+            file=sys.stderr,
+        )
         return 0
 
-    played, skipped, timeless = parse_log(log.read_text(encoding="utf-8", errors="replace"))
-    print(f"{log}: {len(played)} listened, {skipped} skipped", file=sys.stderr)
     if timeless:
         print(
             f"  {timeless} entries have no timestamp, so this target has no clock."
@@ -245,9 +398,10 @@ def main(argv=None, transport=http_post):
     if not args.keep and accepted:
         # Renamed rather than deleted: if Last.fm quietly dropped something,
         # the evidence is still on the device.
-        aside = log.with_name(f"{log.name}.{played[-1]['timestamp']}.submitted")
-        log.rename(aside)
-        print(f"log moved to {aside.name}", file=sys.stderr)
+        for path in logs:
+            aside = path.with_name(f"{path.name}.{played[-1]['timestamp']}.submitted")
+            path.rename(aside)
+            print(f"log moved to {aside.name}", file=sys.stderr)
     return 0
 
 
diff --git a/tools/sync-to-ipod.sh b/tools/sync-to-ipod.sh
index 206293d..97690db 100755
--- a/tools/sync-to-ipod.sh
+++ b/tools/sync-to-ipod.sh
@@ -158,7 +158,11 @@ if $scrobble; then
     else
         scrobble_options=()
         $dry_run && scrobble_options+=(--dry-run)
-        python3 "$here/submit_scrobbles.py" "${scrobble_options[@]}" "$destination" ||
+        # --mirror lets it convert Rockbox's own playback.log, so the on-device
+        # scrobbler plugin never has to be run. The device root, not the music
+        # directory: the logs live in .rockbox.
+        python3 "$here/submit_scrobbles.py" "${scrobble_options[@]}" \
+            --mirror "$mirror" --device-prefix "$device_prefix" "$mounted_on" ||
             die "submitting scrobbles failed; nothing has been copied"
     fi
 fi