DESPARATELY SEEKING PAUSE PLAY MOVIE CLIP HELP !!!

I can't tell you how many forums I am currently listed on with this query and NO ONE has been able to solve this problem - PLEASE don't tell me the obvious solution, I've already tried stop(); and play(); and NOTHING works!

I have a main SWF called index.swf. This SWF has a main navigation bar with 5 buttons; each button, when clicked, brings the user to a different area of the timeline via frame names.

Each frame has a specific name: for example, "genInfo," "setup," "maintenance," etc. Each frame set contains its own navigation side bar - these buttons load external SWF's.

Each external SWF contains a series of MovieClips in succession along the timeline. I did not code this; these MovieClips actually sit in the time line. Each MovieClip has an instance name, which coincides with the frame name where it rests: for example, MCseg1 is located in frame 'seg1'; MCseg2 is located in frame 'seg2;' etc.

I need to be able to pause and play the timeline, no matter which MovieClip is playing; each SWF contains roughly 10 or more MovieClips which run in succession. At any given time, the user needs to be able to click a pause button to stop the time line, and then to click a play button to restart the timeline where it left off.

HOW DO I DO THIS? The very obvious: " MCseg1.stop(); " DOES NOTHING. No matter WHERE I put this pause button, this code DOES NOT WORK. No matter how I script the path, THIS DOES NOT WORK.

I have put the button within the individual MovieClip with no success.

I have put the button within the individual external SWF with no success.

I have put the button within the main index.swf with no success.

No one on the Internet has any other solution to this very real problem - why isn't this working? What am I doing wrong? My project is due in two weeks, I still have mega tweaking to do to get the aesthetics completed and now the customer wants a *&^^%&* pause button!

PLEASE HELP - I AM ABSOLUTELY DESPARATE - NEED YOUR BIG BRAINY IDEAS TO SAVE MY DAY !!!!

Okay, for some reason I actually was able to get the MovieClip to pause (stop) by placing the PAUSE and PLAY button within the individual MovieClip; the PAUSE button does stop the MovieClip, however the sound continues.

I placed this code on the button:

on (release) {
stop();
stopAllSounds();
}

- and that stops the MovieClip and the sound -

I placed this on the PLAY button:

on (release) {
play();
}

- this starts the MovieClip where it paused, BUT the sound does NOT start back up!

YIKES!

So I'm halfway solved here - BUT HOW DO I GET THE SOUND TO START UP AGAIN WHERE IT'S LEFT OFF?