Thread: IT Weirdness

I've never tried a USB stick with songs, will dig one out then have a go tomorrow. I normally leave my phone in my pocket and connect via BlueTooth to play what's on the phone. Or using Apple CarPlay but I found that the sound after 20 minutes of playing got distorted. It wasn't the cables, I swapped those. Will let you know over the weekend how mine behaves with a similar number of songs on a FAT32 formatted USB stick, I might have a 32Gb one somewhere.

Ron

I had 2 spare memory cards to go with a USB adapter, one 16Gb and one 32Gb. I put 1695 songs in m4a format on the 16Gb not indexed. I know it's not mp3, but thought I'd give it a try just in case it is volume related. Formatted both cards as FAT32 so they were empty.

Plugging in the USB with that card, it takes about 4-5 seconds for the car ro register the memory device. At that time it becomes visible in under "Select Source" but is still greyed out. I can't switch to the memory card yet until 1 min 10 seconds when it becomes available to select. During that time, I put the car in reverse but camera remains visible. None of the symptoms you mention. In the audio options the autocorrect song titles was off first time, I did this a second time but there was no measurable difference after 4-5 seconds the device is visible but I was able to select it after 1 min 10 seconds. Rear camera worked correctly again.

I then tried the 32Gb card which had all files indexed in folders, "Media" top folder, artists level 2, album level 3 then songs. Reading the card took a little bit longer but again worked fine, camera was working correctly as well during that time. Also while the memory cards were being read, the radio was playing normal or Bluetooth from the iPhone.

It seems though from the memory cards all songs are played in title order. Maybe that can be changed but if you have multiple songs performed by different artists you'll hear one after the other. I'll stick to using CarPlay where I know I can shuffle the songs.

I'll see if I can get some mp3s on the 32Gb card and check this again. Although I have an SE, I upgraded the audio to Meridian from the HSE so should be identical to yours.

Ron

edit: I found the shuffle but when the car has gone to sleep, it starts again at the first song alphabetically. When you're just popping into a shop and back, the music will continue to play on where it left off.

Thanks Ron. Appreciate your efforts.

It must be my particular car then. This morning I've tried the same USB stick with ~1000 MP3 in SWMBO's 4yo Golf and No2 son's new Seltos. USB audio works perfectly and immediately. Using the same stick I deleted all but 100 MP3s and tried it again in the D5. Again the same issues of blinking displays, frozen controls and no sound but it came good after a minute or so, instead of the usual 15-20 minutes. I'm still convinced this is an indexing issue combined with a lack of processing power in the infotainment carputer.

I agree your stereo should be the same as mine. I think the meridian bit is just plugged into the back end of the base stereo for better sound.

Thanks again.

Mark

Having kept the USB stick in for a while now, I find that there is that one minute delay before the music starts playing from the USB stick every time the car is woken up from sleep. During that time, you cannot switch to radio or BT audio. It would seem that the system is getting an inventory of what is on the device before starting to play music from it.

Ron

Thanks again. Yesterday arvo I tried a 32GB stick with ~250 MP3 in various scenarios. Tagged, untagged, all in the root, indexed to max 3 levels and < 255 characters.

Average wait time to pay music was 20 minutes!

I would still think this is a data throughput issue, the question is where though. I would ask the dealer to install a new USB module plus wiring to the head unit. It's definitely not right. And if that doesn't resolve it, the head unit itself.

Ron

Put the USB stick in on Sunday. ~1500 MP3 files, indexed by artist to 1 level of folders, short and simple file names, tagged.

Monday morning saw two trips of 30 and 60 minutes. USB audio worked fine and was playing within a minute. So all good.

The audio quality from the USB MP3 at 320 kbps through the Meridian hifi is fantastic.

Monday arvo saw one trip of 60 minutes. USB audio started and played OK but the HMI was frozen while the drivers TFT slowly cycled through the default car symbol, map and media.
So this morning I inserted the same USB with one folder and 10 MP3. After 30 minutes its still indexing (4 coloured rectangles). TFT doing its dance again.

I give up.

I had given up on ever getting the D5 to play the game with my music collection. It might be just my car or I'm somehow special. I don't know.

But recently I updated the infotainment and being a masochist (says SWMBO) and stubborn to boot, I had a another shot. Unbelievably things seem to work!

20GB, 2700 MP3 songs on a 32GB, FAT32 stick. Folder for each artist but that's all. All songs tagged.

It works and sound is so much better (bigger?) than what I was getting via Android Auto and my phone.

There's still some hesitation when the infotainment boots up and the map in the driver display refuses to show unless I toggle between views at each start-up.

3.5 years of ownership and it finally works. I should be happy.