Index: apps/misc.h
===================================================================
--- apps/misc.h	(revision 17152)
+++ apps/misc.h	(working copy)
@@ -100,6 +100,8 @@
 int get_replaygain_mode(bool have_track_gain, bool have_album_gain);
 #endif
 
+int open_utf8(const char* pathname, int flags);
+
 #ifdef BOOTFILE
 #if !defined(USB_NONE) && !defined(USB_IPODSTYLE)
 void check_bootfile(bool do_rolo);
Index: apps/playlist.c
===================================================================
--- apps/playlist.c	(revision 17152)
+++ apps/playlist.c	(working copy)
@@ -198,9 +198,6 @@
 static const char playlist_thread_name[] = "playlist cachectrl";
 #endif
 
-#define BOM "\xef\xbb\xbf"
-#define BOM_SIZE 3
-
 /* Check if the filename suggests M3U or M3U8 format. */
 static bool is_m3u8(const char* filename)
 {
@@ -210,11 +207,6 @@
     return !(len > 4 && strcasecmp(&filename[len - 4], ".m3u") == 0);
 }
 
-/* Check if a strings starts with an UTF-8 byte-order mark. */
-static bool is_utf8_bom(const char* str, int len)
-{
-    return len >= BOM_SIZE && memcmp(str, BOM, BOM_SIZE) == 0;
-}
 
 /* Convert a filename in an M3U playlist to UTF-8. 
  *
@@ -534,9 +526,11 @@
     int result = 0;
 
     if(-1 == playlist->fd)
-        playlist->fd = open(playlist->filename, O_RDONLY);
+        playlist->fd = open_utf8(playlist->filename, O_RDONLY);
     if(playlist->fd < 0)
         return -1; /* failure */
+    if(lseek(playlist->fd, 0, SEEK_CUR) > 0)
+        playlist->utf8 = true; /* Override any earlier indication. */
     
     gui_syncsplash(0, ID2P(LANG_WAIT));
 
@@ -564,14 +558,6 @@
         
         p = (unsigned char *)buffer;
 
-        /* utf8 BOM at beginning of file? */
-        if(i == 0 && is_utf8_bom(p, nread)) {
-            nread -= BOM_SIZE;
-            p += BOM_SIZE;
-            i += BOM_SIZE;
-            playlist->utf8 = true;  /* Override any earlier indication. */
-        }
-
         for(count=0; count < nread; count++,p++) {
 
             /* Are we on a new line? */
@@ -2970,7 +2956,7 @@
         return -1;
     }
 
-    fd = open(filename, O_RDONLY);
+    fd = open_utf8(filename, O_RDONLY);
     if (fd < 0)
     {
         gui_syncsplash(HZ*2, ID2P(LANG_PLAYLIST_ACCESS_ERROR));
@@ -3008,12 +2994,6 @@
         if (action_userabort(TIMEOUT_NOBLOCK))
             break;
     
-        if (count == 0 && is_utf8_bom(temp_buf, max))
-        {
-            max -= BOM_SIZE;
-            memmove(temp_buf, temp_buf + BOM_SIZE, max);
-        }
-
         if (temp_buf[0] != '#' && temp_buf[0] != '\0')
         {
             int insert_pos;
@@ -3488,7 +3468,7 @@
         {
             if (rename(path, playlist->filename) >= 0)
             {
-                playlist->fd = open(playlist->filename, O_RDONLY);
+                playlist->fd = open_utf8(playlist->filename, O_RDONLY);
                 if (playlist->fd >= 0)
                 {
                     index = playlist->first_index;
Index: apps/cuesheet.c
===================================================================
--- apps/cuesheet.c	(revision 17152)
+++ apps/cuesheet.c	(working copy)
@@ -146,7 +146,7 @@
     char *s;
 
     DEBUGF("cue parse\n");
-    int fd = open(file,O_RDONLY);
+    int fd = open_utf8(file,O_RDONLY);
     if (fd < 0)
     {
         /* couln't open the file */
Index: apps/recorder/radio.c
===================================================================
--- apps/recorder/radio.c	(revision 17152)
+++ apps/recorder/radio.c	(working copy)
@@ -1090,7 +1090,7 @@
         snprintf(filepreset, sizeof(filepreset), "%s/%s.fmr",
             FMPRESET_PATH, filename);
     
-    fd = open(filepreset, O_RDONLY);
+    fd = open_utf8(filepreset, O_RDONLY);
     if(fd >= 0)
     {
         while(!done && num_presets < MAX_PRESETS)
Index: apps/recorder/keyboard.c
===================================================================
--- apps/recorder/keyboard.c	(revision 17152)
+++ apps/recorder/keyboard.c	(working copy)
@@ -143,7 +143,7 @@
         return 0;
     }
 
-    fd = open(filename, O_RDONLY|O_BINARY);
+    fd = open_utf8(filename, O_RDONLY|O_BINARY);
     if (fd < 0)
         return 1;
 
Index: apps/settings.c
===================================================================
--- apps/settings.c	(revision 17152)
+++ apps/settings.c	(working copy)
@@ -265,7 +265,7 @@
     char* name;
     char* value;
     int i;
-    fd = open(file, O_RDONLY);
+    fd = open_utf8(file, O_RDONLY);
     if (fd < 0)
         return false;
 
Index: apps/gui/wps_parser.c
===================================================================
--- apps/gui/wps_parser.c	(revision 17152)
+++ apps/gui/wps_parser.c	(working copy)
@@ -1452,19 +1452,6 @@
 
 #endif /* HAVE_LCD_BITMAP */
 
-/* Skip leading UTF-8 BOM, if present. */
-static char *skip_utf8_bom(char *buf)
-{
-    unsigned char *s = (unsigned char *)buf;
-
-    if(s[0] == 0xef && s[1] == 0xbb && s[2] == 0xbf)
-    {
-        buf += 3;
-    }
-
-    return buf;
-}
-
 /* to setup up the wps-data from a format-buffer (isfile = false)
    from a (wps-)file (isfile = true)*/
 bool wps_data_load(struct wps_data *wps_data,
@@ -1522,7 +1509,7 @@
 #endif
 #endif /* __PCTOOL__ */
 
-        int fd = open(buf, O_RDONLY);
+        int fd = open_utf8(buf, O_RDONLY);
 
         if (fd < 0)
             return false;
@@ -1557,9 +1544,6 @@
         memset(bmp_names, 0, sizeof(bmp_names));
 #endif
 
-        /* Skip leading UTF-8 BOM, if present. */
-        wps_buffer = skip_utf8_bom(wps_buffer);
-
         /* parse the WPS source */
         if (!wps_parse(wps_data, wps_buffer)) {
             wps_reset(wps_data);

Index: apps/misc.c
===================================================================
--- apps/misc.c	(revision 17152)
+++ apps/misc.c	(working copy)
@@ -78,6 +78,9 @@
 #endif
 #endif
 
+#define BOM "\xef\xbb\xbf"
+#define BOM_SIZE 3
+
 /* Format a large-range value for output, using the appropriate unit so that
  * the displayed value is in the range 1 <= display < 1000 (1024 for "binary"
  * units) if possible, and 3 significant digits are shown. If a buffer is
@@ -1170,6 +1173,25 @@
 }
 #endif /* !defined(__PCTOOL__) */
 
+/** @brief open a utf-8 file, set file descriptor to first byte.
+ *         Skip BOM if present. Identical to open() otherwise
+ */
+int open_utf8(const char* pathname, int flags)
+{
+    int fd;
+    unsigned char bom[BOM_SIZE];
+
+    fd = open(pathname, flags);
+    if(fd < 0) return fd;
+
+    read(fd, bom, BOM_SIZE);
+    /* check for BOM */
+    if(memcmp(bom, BOM, BOM_SIZE))
+	lseek(fd, 0, SEEK_SET);
+    return fd;
+}
+
+
 #ifdef HAVE_LCD_COLOR
 /*
  * Helper function to convert a string of 6 hex digits to a native colour