Resuming Playback with 2014 CX-5 GT Tech Stereo and other issues

J

jtcx5

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2014 CX-5 GT + Tech
Does anyone know if it is possible to resume music playback to the same position in a playlist or album/artist on a USB stick after stopping/re-starting the vehicle? It doesn't appear possible unless I am missing something. It also can take a long time to re-read the USB stick after re-starting.

Also, when an iPhone or iPod is plugged into USB, the head unit doesn't seem to support playlists. The best approach appears to be using bluetooth from an iPhone to stream music - in this case it will resume after stopping and re-starting.
 
head unit is poor via USB interface for 2014 CX-5 GT+Tech

After some further testing, I have come to the conclusion that the head unit handles the USB interface poorly. Regardless of what is attached, nothing will resume playback where it left off after re-starting the vehicle. Furthermore, some iPod units have no visibility to playlists at all. Large memory devices take a long time to read as well. Here is a summary for connection via USB port only for several devices:

iPhone 4S 64G: no visibility to playlists, no resuming playback, very long read time at startup
iPod Classic 160G: no visibility to playlists, no resuming playback, very long read time at startup
iPod nano 8G: has visibility to playlists, no resuming playback
usb memory stick 8G: visibility to playlists in m3Uext format, no resuming playback

All devices eventually come up and have visibilty of artists, albums, songs, etc.

My conclusion is that bluetooth playback from the iPhone 4S is the only decent option.
Here, the head unit will automatically start and resume playback if bluetooth is selected.
So, I am happy with the bluetooth functionality only.
 
Have you tried the USB memory stick with all the album folders just copied into the root folder?

Granted mine is a 2013 but it always starts where it left off. From the thread referenced by popeycahn it looked like if the music was copied into subfolders and an attempt was made at arranging it then it confused the software and took longer to load and lost its place when restarted. I don't know if yours were setup in subfolders or not though.

you were able to get playlists to work with the memory stick? I'll have to try generating a m3u file then.
 
No haven't tried that yet, but I will give it a shot. I have tried 2 ways - putting all files at the root of the USB stick with M3UEXT playlists and copying the iTunes folder structure.

There is a convenient tool for exporting iTunes playlists and files into a USB stick:

http://www.ericdaugherty.com/dev/itunesexport/

You have to select M3UEXT type of playlists. It can copy files flat or copy iTunes folders.

Most of my media is AAC (.M4A) by the way - not sure if this is a factor or not.
 
I ran into the same thing yesterday looking at a 2013 CX-9 w/ the tom tom unit. Plugged in a iPod nano (small one you can where as a watch), it took a minute to read the playlist, I could navigate through the playlists and songs no problem. But after the car was turned off and on again it would not resume playing nor would it even allow you to control it. I had to unplug and replug it in to get it to work again followed again by the long startup time. I'm not going to do that everytime I get in the car. I had the same issue with my iPhone 5 and a 2nd gen iPod touch kept giving me errors. I find it so hard to believe this is the way mazda intended it to be. I was almost about the pull the trigger on the purchase and this blew the whole thing out of the water. I even called Mazda and the guy said I shouldn't leave my iPod in the car!
 
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More head unit problems with music playback

More woes with the head unit - today I performed a software update via the TOM TOM HOME 2 software. Now there is a playback issue with my iPhone 4S via bluetooth - upon connecting to the head unit, the shuffle icon goes out and shuffle play becomes disabled and it can't be turned on. I'm pretty sure this wasn't happening before the software update. The GT/Tech stereo has a lot of issues. I am going to bring my iPod classic out and connect it via the AUX IN to be able to do what I want as far as: (1) resuming playback where it left off and (2) the ability to shuffle. What a mess.

By the way, tried some more ideas with USB and have come to the conclusion that it will absolutely not resume playback where it left off upon re-starting the car. What a joke.

I guess that I didn't buy the car for the stereo, but this is ridiculous.

UPDATE: I think there is a scenario where shuffle play will stay on: (1) turn on HD radio, (2) press play on iPhone and turn on shuffle, (3) switch to bluetooth
-but if iPhone is not playing before switching to bluetooth, shuffle is disabled
 
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i have no idea whats goin on with your car, my usb stick resumes just fine same in my wifes cx5, are you unplugging the device from the port?

tomtom has absolutely nothing to do with audio playback, they're two physically separate modules

m3u's are not supported in any testing i've done with mine or my wifes '13 cx5's
 
I'm not unplugging the usb stick. If the TomTom module is separate from the audio system, then the shuffle problem has been there from the start. I have the 2014 CX-5 GT+Tech package, so not sure if it is exactly the same stereo as yours. Playlists are definitely supported on usb sticks but don't seem to work on my larger (64G) iPhone 4s or iPod classic (160G). Frustrating.
 
its the same head unit in all the vehicles/packages except the basic sport
i've put m3u files on my usb drive and there isn't even an option on screen to select playlists, it only shows folders and individual files, i confirmed this with mazda techline as only being supported with crapple interfaces last summer

if your's isn't restarting where it left off it sounds like a problem with your headunit/usb port, you may want to see if dealer can swap it out
 
I don't think it is his car. Same problem existed with 2013 CX-9 tom-tom system I test drove. The sales guy said he later tried the same thing on a CX-5 GT and it also did not resume.

Is there a software version you can display on your head units?
 
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Looking at the TomTom software installed on my PC in more detail, it does appear to me that the NAV unit is separate from the stereo. No mention of anything other than NAV related apps and data. I performed an upgrade from version 10.815 to 10.816. By the way the nav system is the TomTom NB1. Stereo may not even be software upgradeable as far as I know. Definitely have playlist support on the touch screen in addition to folders.
 
stromdriver said:
its the same head unit in all the vehicles/packages except the basic sport
Click to expand...

The 2013 and 2014s have to have different head units as they have different features. I realize it is likely just a software difference but Mazda has to have two different part numbers for the radios so they are technically different.

Does anyone have a 2014 that is resuming play when they restart the car?

Who has a 2013 that isn't?

In either case:

-what format are your music files?

-what sort of folder structure are you using?

-is there anything besides the music files on the drive?

-what size USB drive are you using and how many MB of it are used?
 
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This is the response I received to this issue.


"We have received your e-mail in regards to the USB feature in your 2014 Mazda CX-5 and wanted to inform you that there is nothing wrong with your vehicle’s USB/Audio system as its is operating as designed. We do apologize for any inconvenience that this is causing and have document your suggestions in our corporate record where they will be reviewed and evaluated by our product planning team."

Everybody needs to email them about this as this one of those WTF features that is missing and seems to be an easy to fix.
 
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So it sounds like the 2014 actually lost a key feature from the 2013 setup? Yikes, guess I'm glad they didn't come out with a software update.
 
brainbasher - I'll email them. What's their address? This basically kept me from buying a CX-9. Seems petty, but iPods have only been out for what 13 years now?
 
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