MP3's take forever to load

SndChsr

Member
:
2017 CX-5 GT
This will be a deal breaker should I ever consider buying another Mazda again. Does anyone experience random delays for their storage device to be accessible where the mp3's are stored?
I use a 256gb SSD drive, formatted to FAT32. Sometimes all my albums are available almost immediately, other times, it can take up to 30 minutes, and the only way to play anything I want is to browse by Folder as all other options (artist/song/album) are not available for some time. This is infuriating as by the time they are actually ready for browsing, I'm already at my destination.
I assume gracenote has something to do with this? Yet on other occasions, instead of starting play where I left off last time, it will by default go to the first folder on my drive and again, take about 30 mins for the rest of the contents to be available.
Can anyone provide any input as to why this stupidity is happening?

Any feedback greatly appreciated.
 
Are you using an actual SSD or is this a USB stick? Do you have 256GB of music on this drive? Although SSD are generally faster, they do act differently then USB sticks. And if you really have 256GB of music, that is a lot to index when the system does have to do it.

As seen in the new mazda 3, the Mazda connect system is new for 2020, but I doubt our older systems will get it, but it does mean behavior changes in the future.
 
Hi Alphadog,
Thanks for your reply. I was previously using a 256gb USB stick but since it was sticking too far out of the usb port inside the center arm rest, I switched to an SSD drive connected via an external enclosure. As of now, not all 256GB is being used, but who knows what can happen in the future.

You say that is a lot of data that needs to be indexed. That's precisely what my question is. If I plug the drive into a computer, then all my files are immediately ready. I can open any song with winamp or whatever and it is available. How does the Mazda connect garbage work? Does each song need to be somehow recognized or something? Also, as I've stated, the slowness doesn't happen always. Sometimes, my music is ready within 4 minutes of driving, sometimes within 30 minutes. I think that's the most frustrating part. Also, I've noticed if I start the car for a short period of time, or just turn on the power to close a window, this is when for sure the next time, the "indexing" of music will take a long time.

THanks!
 
The only time I am waiting is for 1-2 minutes after I startup the CX-5 and then all my music is there and no issues searching or playing any of it.

I am a pre-Mazda Connect model. Don't know how it might have changed since then.

I can't say for sure, but the SSD might not function the same way as a USB stick. For example, put an SSD computer to sleep and then wake it back up and sometimes it takes forever to load back up. If I were you I'd get one of these types of https://www.amazon.com/dp/ (commissions earned). I don't have this one, but mine is small like that and doesn't get in the way. I guess a better question is did you ever encounter this type of slowdown with the USB stick you used previously?
 
I've never had an SSD be slow to wake up...(dunno)

There's a HUGE difference between a PC and your Mazda, OP.

Almost positive the reason it takes so long to index is so that you can use voice commands to play your music?!? This might be why it's faster in Colorado's CX5 which doesn't support that.
Agree it would be annoying.

Cue someone coming on telling you to just use your phone and bluetooth it.
 
The only time I am waiting is for 1-2 minutes after I startup the CX-5 and then all my music is there and no issues searching or playing any of it.

I am a pre-Mazda Connect model. Don't know how it might have changed since then.

I can't say for sure, but the SSD might not function the same way as a USB stick. For example, put an SSD computer to sleep and then wake it back up and sometimes it takes forever to load back up. If I were you I'd get one of these types of https://www.amazon.com/dp/ (commissions earned). I don't have this one, but mine is small like that and doesn't get in the way. I guess a better question is did you ever encounter this type of slowdown with the USB stick you used previously?

Yes, with the USB stick it was the same...if not worse! It has always been an issue and for that reason alone, I would not buy a Mazda again. It's ridiculous that by the time my music is "ready" I'm already at my destination.
All my MP3 folders on my storage device have been cleaned up as well. No image files, no additional files of any type. Just Mp3's.

Thanks again for replying.
 
I've never had an SSD be slow to wake up...(dunno)

There's a HUGE difference between a PC and your Mazda, OP.

Almost positive the reason it takes so long to index is so that you can use voice commands to play your music?!? This might be why it's faster in Colorado's CX5 which doesn't support that.
Agree it would be annoying.

Cue someone coming on telling you to just use your phone and bluetooth it.

Yea, as mentioned in my other reply, the SSD is actually slightly better than the USM stick:) None the less, still slow at times. I know, it's only a matter of time before someone says "use your phone man". Ughhhh...no thanks.

Thanks for your reply.
 
Yes, with the USB stick it was the same...if not worse! It has always been an issue and for that reason alone, I would not buy a Mazda again. It's ridiculous that by the time my music is "ready" I'm already at my destination.
All my MP3 folders on my storage device have been cleaned up as well. No image files, no additional files of any type. Just Mp3's.

Thanks again for replying.
That's not normal. I'd have the dealer take a look. It most definitely should not take 30 minutes to be loading up music.
 
Someone explain to me why using your phone as a front end is so horrible.

I want to listen to MY music, not the radio, not satellite, not some internet service.

I put my music on a 128Gb SD card in my phone, and play it with Poweramp over bluetooth.

It's available as soon as the BT connection is made, no indexing necessary. Gracenote is not necessary. Album art is on the phone screen! I can do everything with Poweramp than I can with Mazda. And the Poweramp interface is far superior to MazdaConnect. It responds to the steering wheel commands and the commander knob, as well as touch on the phone.

Why wouldn't that work for you, or anyone? Unless you've got an iphone... then, sorry.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Meanwhile, here's something in the 17 manual that might be relevant:

NOTE
* * *
If a file name in the USB memory is too long, it could cause operation problems such as
not being able to playback the song.
*
(Recommended: Within 80 characters)


Many of my path/filenames are FAR > 80. Yours?
 
This is in the owners manual "The recommended capacity of the USB memory is 16 GB or less" Maybe this is the problem. (dunno) I use 32gb USB sticks with no problems.
 
Oh, I agree with you Shado. I have 25gb of music on my phone. And I also use Spotify and a podcast app.
I just wasn't going to be that guy to suggest it. [emoji16]
I used PowerAmp. Switched to Rocket Player for it's OTF playlisting ability. (On the fly).
 
This is in the owners manual "The recommended capacity of the USB memory is 16 GB or less" Maybe this is the problem. (dunno) I use 32gb USB sticks with no problems.

No issues here, have used 16gb, to 64gb USB sticks.

What are the power requirements of the SSD drive? perhaps using the rear USB that supplies more amperage might help?(scratch)
 
No issues here, have used 16gb, to 64gb USB sticks.

What are the power requirements of the SSD drive? perhaps using the rear USB that supplies more amperage might help?(scratch)

Good thinking but the rear USB sockets are for charging only and not data.
 
Oh, I agree with you Shado. I have 25gb of music on my phone. And I also use Spotify and a podcast app.
I just wasn't going to be that guy to suggest it. [emoji16]
I used PowerAmp. Switched to Rocket Player for it's OTF playlisting ability. (On the fly).

I've yet to hook up my Android to my car. I've never had a need to load music onto it or use it as a receiver for Spotify or Pandora. How does using those apps affect your data consumption? Do they use a lot? I have the same concern in using a navigation app.

Verizon gives you an allowance at 4g, then chokes speed back the rest of the month.
 
No issues here, have used 16gb, to 64gb USB sticks.

What are the power requirements of the SSD drive? perhaps using the rear USB that supplies more amperage might help?(scratch)

That's an interesting thought.

Here is a 2014 article with a table of watts consumed by various model SSDs.

They all seem to be well within the capacity of the rear USB ports. From the 2019 Mazda CX-5 manual: "Only use USB devices that have a maximum power consumption of 10.5W (DC5V, 2.1A) or below."

I wonder if the system would even read drives of this capacity. Perhaps you could do logical partitions.

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That's an interesting thought.

Here is a 2014 article with a table of watts consumed by various model SSDs.

They all seem to be well within the capacity of the rear USB ports. From the 2019 Mazda CX-5 manual: "Only use USB devices that have a maximum power consumption of 10.5W (DC5V, 2.1A) or below."

I wonder if the system would even read drives of this capacity. Perhaps you could do logical partitions.

70043.png

Nice find!

Another option I would consider trying to see if it makes a difference, is to try plugging the SSD in AFTER the infotainment is booted up.
 
I've never had a need to load music onto it or use it as a receiver for Spotify or Pandora.
It is pretty cool having my ENTIRE LIFETIME collection of music in the palm of my hand. Over the years I have ripped every CD I own and the rest I've bought always gets added to it.
So you only listen to the radio?

How does using those apps affect your data consumption? Do they use a lot?
Here's the thing, most people assume ALL STREAMING = BAD, USES TOO MUCH DATA. That is NOT true.
As long as you don't tun on USE THE HIGHEST QUALITY DATA EVEN ON CELLULAR. All these music apps default to medium quality streams to conserve data over cell. As a result of this, streaming music in all the major players uses a shockingly low amount of data. My wife streamed almost daily on her 30 minute commute downtown and I don't think she even ever crossed the 2GB threshold.
As you know, all these services offer a free tier. These are good but in these tiers they act more like radio stations: you can choose a genre but you can't actually pick specific songs or make playlists out of them. When you move up to the pay tier, you can. Another benefit of moving up to the pay monthly tier is that you get to download ALL of your playlists or liked tracks to your phone for local playback, using no data.

I have the same concern in using a navigation app.
If we were listing what things use the least data to the most, Maps would be solidly in the middle. Music > Maps > Video so this is a valid concern. However, there are ways around this, too. In Google Maps and several other mapping apps you can download as much of the map as you want. You can download your county, your state, or the whole eastern seaboard if you have the space on the phone. (I doubt you could do the entire USA). When you download the maps, the only cellular data you are using is for traffic conditions. In this state, maps probably uses less data then music does. Even though I have 'unlimited' data (22gb) I still cache my county in Google Maps (or maybe a larger area if I am going somewhere) and enable the 'offine mode' for Spotify. You can also cache a specific trip. Example if I am driving to Detroit, before I leave the house I can ask for directions to my destination. And then save that route to the phone. for 'offline' use.

/Edit/ Retraction. There is a size limit to offline maps. It's still pretty big.
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It is pretty cool having my ENTIRE LIFETIME collection of music in the palm of my hand. Over the years I have ripped every CD I own and the rest I've bought always gets added to it.
So you only listen to the radio?
Yeh, in my CX-5, I only listen to radio...almost exclusively XM. Even in my truck with a CD player, I always listen to XM. (At home it's XM, vinyl & CDs.) I have a few tunes I've downloaded on my laptop, but that was just an impulse to hear that specific song I don't own on a physical medium.

Thanks for the info on the bandwidth consumption. I thought I would be eating up the 4g I need for my home internet use.

I initially got XM specifically for jazz many years ago, but eventually they punted their many jazz offerings (gotta have more bandwidth for Skynyard, doncha know) and now only one jazz station remains. If it weren't for a couple of talk radio guys, I would have punted XM a long time ago. Maybe a genre-specific streaming service would be the way for me to go. I'll have to check them out.

Regarding maps, for my limited use, I can't see where the Mazda NAV won't meet my needs. I'll have to check out Google Maps and see if playing with Big Brother is worth it ;)

I downloaded Mazda's Android Auto guides when I first got the car. That part looks pretty basic.
 
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