Index: apps/buffering.c
===================================================================
--- apps/buffering.c	(revision 19983)
+++ apps/buffering.c	(working copy)
@@ -86,7 +86,7 @@
 /* default point to start buffer refill */
 #define BUFFERING_DEFAULT_WATERMARK      (1024*128)
 /* amount of data to read in one read() call */
-#define BUFFERING_DEFAULT_FILECHUNK      (1024*32)
+#define BUFFERING_DEFAULT_FILECHUNK      (1024*256) /* AB: enlarged to 256KB */
 
 #define BUF_HANDLE_MASK                  0x7FFFFFFF
 
@@ -685,7 +685,11 @@
     if (!h)
         return;
 
-    h->ridx = h->widx = h->data;
+    /* Align sector boundaries so reads are aligned */
+    h->widx = h->data;
+    h->ridx = h->data + (h->offset & 3);
+    h->offset &= ~3;
+    
     if (h == cur_handle)
         buf_widx = h->widx;
     h->available = 0;
@@ -925,8 +929,10 @@
     size_t size = filesize(fd);
     bool can_wrap = type==TYPE_PACKET_AUDIO || type==TYPE_CODEC;
 
-    size_t adjusted_offset = offset;
-    if (adjusted_offset > size)
+    /* Align sector boundaries so reads are aligned */
+    size_t adjusted_offset = offset & ~3;
+
+    if (adjusted_offset > size)    
         adjusted_offset = 0;
 
     struct memory_handle *h = add_handle(size-adjusted_offset, can_wrap, false);
@@ -939,7 +945,7 @@
 
     strncpy(h->path, file, MAX_PATH);
     h->offset = adjusted_offset;
-    h->ridx = buf_widx;
+    h->ridx = buf_widx + (offset & 3);
     h->data = buf_widx;
     h->type = type;