OK.. good news.

I dropped to the shell and ran 'player -i' as you suggested and I am back to a complete boot. I just tried it out in the car and it works. I have to do a few little tweeks on some settings it seems but at least my ride home will not be silent!

I owe you guys many beers big time for the help!

Just out of curiosity, what exactly does the 'player -i' command do anyways?