USB Sticks and playlists

jlanger · Jan 19, 2015

So besides the really annoying starting over every time I start up the car I can't get my USB sticks to show playlists. I've taken the exact same stick and used it in a rental car and it showed the playlists. The rental car was a 14 Malibu but it also ran the same gracenote OS. Not sure why it won't work.

Basically created folders in the USB stick which show up as playlists in other cars. Any suggestions? Do I need to do a different format? I've also tried smaller USB sticks to see if that was the problem, to no avail. I tried both a 16 and an 8g.

Love the car, love the fact that I can actually use USB sticks and have some connectivity but really am frustrated with the interface and lack of support. If the Head unit wasn't so involved with other aspects of the electronics I'd seriously think about replacing it.

voldsom · Jan 19, 2015

jlanger said:
So besides the really annoying starting over every time I start up the car I can't get my USB sticks to show playlists. I've taken the exact same stick and used it in a rental car and it showed the playlists. The rental car was a 14 Malibu but it also ran the same gracenote OS. Not sure why it won't work.

Basically created folders in the USB stick which show up as playlists in other cars. Any suggestions? Do I need to do a different format? I've also tried smaller USB sticks to see if that was the problem, to no avail. I tried both a 16 and an 8g.

Love the car, love the fact that I can actually use USB sticks and have some connectivity but really am frustrated with the interface and lack of support. If the Head unit wasn't so involved with other aspects of the electronics I'd seriously think about replacing it.

I'm with you on the frustration. I have all but given up on the USB interface for music due to the re-starting each time the car is turned off. I'll just use my phone over bluetooth and select (much more quickly, and safely) what music I want. It's frustrating that this stuff is sold as such a feature and then you live with it for 2 months and realize it's not that great... I totally agree on the integration stuff too, as I don't really want to pay to upgrade the headunit and have some other issue pop up. Granted, it's pretty easy to replace the HU and it's a standard size (CRAZY, right?! at least with new cars), but I just like everything being integrated. If there was a way to keep the stock microphone, GPS antenna, etc, I would probably drop it tomorrow.

Don't have any insight for your playlist stuff, sorry. Just wanted to b****

BTW: I totally agree with your signature! (drinks)

mxer · Jan 20, 2015

When I was playing through the features on the head unit, I found a tab that asked me if I wanted to update the software or something and that it would help with playlist organization.....am I on to something to solve your problem? Maybe Mazda will come out with better firmware in the future to upgrade the headunit.

voldsom · Jan 20, 2015

mxer said:
When I was playing through the features on the head unit, I found a tab that asked me if I wanted to update the software or something and that it would help with playlist organization.....am I on to something to solve your problem? Maybe Mazda will come out with better firmware in the future to upgrade the headunit.

I saw that update feature too. I plan on giving it a shot, any idea how you do it? Lol.

mxer · Jan 20, 2015

No, but I'm guessing you have to load the files on the USB stick. Do you know who makes the headunit? Maybe that's a start.

xxxmonoxidechil · Jan 20, 2015

I have a 09 Kia Sportage with a USB reader, and it works the exact same way as my 13 CX9. So its never been a big deal to me. I thought all worked this way since both of my cars by 2 totally different makers work the exact same way.

voldsom · Jan 20, 2015

Instructions PDF per Mazda
http://infotainment.mazdahandsfree.com/files/Mazda_GracenoteUpdateHandsFree.pdf

Gracenote Update Page:
http://infotainment.mazdahandsfree.com/gracenote?language=en-US

I'm going to put the package by itself on a freshly FAT32 formatted usb drive and give it a shot.

To Monoxide's comment, I've noticed most of these systems are made by two or three major companies, so the same clunky system ends up in multiple makes, lol. I guess it makes more sense then Mazda spending a bunch of R&D on what amounts to a technology company's expertise.

From reading other threads, it seems Gracenote is used primarily to help voice identification and artist / song id more than anything (which makes sense, as this company has been in iTunes for a while to help ID cd's you import)... So to the OP's original question, I doubt this will help show your playlists correctly. But who knows, it's worth a shot.

mxer · Jan 21, 2015

I just remembered something about playlist and upgrading...you're probably right in that it won't do anything.

voldsom · Jan 21, 2015

mxer said:
I just remembered something about playlist and upgrading...you're probably right in that it won't do anything.

upgrade went fine. It does say after it's complete "Great! Now more artists and songs will be recognizable by voice recognition"... As I don't have any playlists on my USB drive, I can't comment if that changed (I just have artists separated into folders, albums, and songs).

Off Topic: Decided to do a reset on the phone stuff too to see if I could get it to just start playing music/podcasts/pandora faster. Sort answer, nope. Still around 30 to 40 seconds, as it states "Audio playback not available while downloading phone data." I suppose it's useful to download your phone book occasionally if there are any changes, but I would prefer this to only happen if I initiate it. It takes my phone all of 2-3 seconds to sync up to any other Bluetooth audio adapter (Logitech to speakers, headphones, my Sena motorcycle helmet communicator.)

jlanger · Jan 23, 2015

Bummer about the upgrade. I know for certain a smaller stick with less on it starts a lot faster. Anyone know if the upgrade helps with the shuffle play? Mine currently no matter what stick or even from my iphone, seems to have about 3-4 patterns of shuffle. ugh.

voldsom · Jan 26, 2015

jlanger said:
Bummer about the upgrade. I know for certain a smaller stick with less on it starts a lot faster. Anyone know if the upgrade helps with the shuffle play? Mine currently no matter what stick or even from my iphone, seems to have about 3-4 patterns of shuffle. ugh.

I can definitely attest to the smaller stick loading faster. I was trying a 64gb with ALL my music on it and the thing would never load. So I down-graded to a 4gb with a curated list of music now. Loads in about 5 to 10 seconds now...

USB Sticks and playlists

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