Playing music via USB

[Bishman]

Hi, 

I just got a 2019 Corolla Touring Hybrid 1.8 which I really like.  I have 4 usb sticks and I have had trouble getting the car to play music from them.  Most of the time it just plays a few seconds of each track and then skips to the next track.  Sometimes it plays perfectly but that is the exception.  I have used all 4 sticks in my previous car (Hyundai i40) without issue.  I have tried deleting all the files on one stick and just having about 40 .mp3 files in the root folder but it still has the same issues.  Also,  twice will i have been messing about pulling the USB stick in and out the sat nav map reboots itself.  Anybody had a similar issue?  Thanks.

[Bernard Foy]

Hi Andrew, with a car that age if you are sure that the usb stick is not faulty, back to a Toyota dealership and let them resolve the problem under the warranty.

[FROSTYBALLS]

Moved to the Corolla club.

[AndrueC]

I had a few issues playing from USB when I tried it. These days I use my Apple iPod Touch (the only Apple device I'm prepared to buy) which works flawlessly.

Ah, here's my experience of USB:

and

 

[OXYGEN]

Sounds like a software issue with your infotainment system.

 I took my usb stick, formatted to Fat32, with multiple folders and mp3, ogg, etc. files from my old car, and sticked it to the Corolla the day I received it.

Since then I am often using it without any issues.

Actually there is just one “inconvenience”. The Corolla has this feature - online searches for track data from a Database and amended some of my hard created album artwork. So for some of the tracks instead of the carefully added correct album pictures, it shows on the display some generic pics like “Best rock” etc. But once I removed the priority of that database from settings, everything is back to normal.

[Clockwork]

I never use anything but USB sticks to play music!  I have loaded 32GB sticks with lossless FLAC music files in album folders.  The handbook doesn't say it will play FLAC but it works fine (of course I had tried it before loading the USB sticks!).  The only issue I've noticed is that in full (32GB) shuffle mode, it does seem to repeat the odd track sooner than I might expect but it does move on (ie it doesn't seem to repeat that track more than once) - and it's all my chosen music so not really an issue.

[Bishman]

The dealer said he will try to get it booked in this Saturday to have an engineer take a look.  The car was a demonstrator and was registered in March last year, how can I check whether I have the latest version of the firmware and maps?

[Timmon]

On 1/21/2020 at 6:35 PM, Bishman said:

The dealer said he will try to get it booked in this Saturday to have an engineer take a look.  The car was a demonstrator and was registered in March last year, how can I check whether I have the latest version of the firmware and maps?

If it is going in on Saturday, ask the dealer to check that too.

[Finfin]

Mine won't play my 128gb card. What is the supported limit in drive size? It's a 2022 corolla cross. I know older vehicles had trouble with larger cards, but I  expected more from a newer car. My 2015 chrysler plays it fine.

 

 

 

[Finfin]

It was to large of a memory card. I put in a 16gb card and it plays fine.

[frizzbee30]

Could actually be the card, I'm sure I used to use 128gb before I swapped to Android auto (when tomtom go became available on AA)

Memory sticks aren't just 'sticks', and generic/budget are a disaster,  even premium sticks can vary by line/batch  (as someone in IT who has used literally thousands)

[Tech429]

Just to add to this I have never had any issues with playing music on Flashdrives - apart from in my last car (Vx Astra).

I have a SanDisc 128gb and it works fine for music on all vehicles i have driven.  I tried a Samsung 64gb stubby drive (as i wanted not protrusion from the dashboard) and it would play in my other half's Corsa but not in the astra (both 2017 models).

As an aside I would recommend formatting any drive in the vehicle if it has this option to do so - then connect to your computer, add the files, then in theory should work. 

[Ian.S]

Check that you do not have any unsupported files on the flash drive. I have occasionally found that some automation files can be added at the top of the. Directories/folders and that car system just stops and ignores the drive. After deleting them the drives works fine. 

[2badmice]

On 1/19/2020 at 9:20 PM, Clockwork said:

I never use anything but USB sticks to play music!  I have loaded 32GB sticks with lossless FLAC music files in album folders.  The handbook doesn't say it will play FLAC but it works fine (of course I had tried it before loading the USB sticks!).  The only issue I've noticed is that in full (32GB) shuffle mode, it does seem to repeat the odd track sooner than I might expect but it does move on (ie it doesn't seem to repeat that track more than once) - and it's all my chosen music so not really an issue.

It's doing shuffle correct.  That's how shuffle (random) works believe it or not

[Clockwork]

3 hours ago, 2badmice said:

It's doing shuffle correct.  That's how shuffle (random) works believe it or not

Well over two years have passed since I posted that observation and if anything, it's actually worse that I thought then!  Every day there will be tracks that are repeated and regularly more than once.  It's not stuck in a loop because it will move on; maybe I could best describe it as a "rolling shuffle"!  Sometimes I interfere and randomly choose a track to hopefully set it off on a different shuffle path.

[FiestaRed]

40 minutes ago, Clockwork said:

Well over two years have passed since I posted that observation and if anything, it's actually worse that I thought then!  Every day there will be tracks that are repeated and regularly more than once.  It's not stuck in a loop because it will move on; maybe I could best describe it as a "rolling shuffle"!  Sometimes I interfere and randomly choose a track to hopefully set it off on a different shuffle path.

I'm still getting the same. Although I have 'shuffle' on and I get random tracks from all over the USB stick, every couple of days I start getting continuous tracks from one album and on checking, the 'shuffle' has been set back to normal, ie 'No Shuffle'.

[AndrueC]

5 hours ago, 2badmice said:

It's doing shuffle correct.  That's how shuffle (random) works believe it or not

I wanted it it to shuffle by album (ie; the contents of the root directory) and it failed to do that. The only thing I managed to get it to do was repeat the same track over and over. I think I might once have got it to repeat the same album over and over but I gave up on it. And of course you can't do anything for a couple of minutes while the USB stick is indexed. Completely broken and pathetic.

Thankfully playing my phone as a BT source and using Rocket Player on the phone gives me what I need.

Except for:

* The times when the car randomly fails to pick up track information. music plays which is good but no information available.

* The times when the car doesn't automatically start playing. Sometimes tapping '>' will start it going other times not.

It's tolerable but but rather sad that here we are in 2022 and streaming music over BT from a phone is hit and miss.

[Extreme_One]

3 hours ago, AndrueC said:

It's tolerable but but rather sad that here we are in 2022 and streaming music over BT from a phone is hit and miss.

Have you tried Android Auto or CarPlay?

music playback is flawless with Android Auto, and far superior quality compared with bluetooth!

As it's a wired connection there's far greater bandwidth available, resulting in higher quality audio and a seamless experience.

I assume CarPlay would be equally good, don't have an iPhone so I can't test.

[AndrueC]

The problem with Android Auto is having to plug the phone in. It's what I do if I want satellite navigation these days but otherwise it's not worth the bother.

On that subject has anyone found out how to adjust the Google Maps voice level? On the settings screen all it shows is a message something like 'Adjust the volume using your vehicle's controls'. All that does is adjust all the output from the infotainment. There appears no way to reduce the voice volume while keeping music playback volume the same.

[Kental]

On CarPlay if you adjust the volume while a Google Maps message is playing, that adjusts the message volume, not aware of any way to do it proactively so to speak. 

[Extreme_One]

On 7/18/2022 at 2:14 PM, AndrueC said:

The problem with Android Auto is having to plug the phone in.

I get what you mean, but for the convenience of flawless audio playback, better quality audio compared to bluetooth, and a better overall interface than the fugly Toyota interface, I think the inconvenience is worth it.

That said I'm looking forward to the UK availability of Motorola's wireless Android Auto dongle.

If you change the "Voice" volume in the audio settings on the car that affects the a volume in Android Auto too. Hope that helps.

.

[2badmice]

On 7/17/2022 at 12:48 PM, Clockwork said:

Well over two years have passed since I posted that observation and if anything, it's actually worse that I thought then!  Every day there will be tracks that are repeated and regularly more than once.  It's not stuck in a loop because it will move on; maybe I could best describe it as a "rolling shuffle"!  Sometimes I interfere and randomly choose a track to hopefully set it off on a different shuffle path.

That's definitely how shuffle random works, if it requires intervention it isn't shuffle, otherwise it's being told what to do.

[2badmice]

On 7/17/2022 at 2:30 PM, AndrueC said:

I wanted it it to shuffle by album (ie; the contents of the root directory) and it failed to do that. The only thing I managed to get it to do was repeat the same track over and over. I think I might once have got it to repeat the same album over and over but I gave up on it. And of course you can't do anything for a couple of minutes while the USB stick is indexed. Completely broken and pathetic.

Thankfully playing my phone as a BT source and using Rocket Player on the phone gives me what I need.

Except for:

* The times when the car randomly fails to pick up track information. Music plays which is good but no information available.

* The times when the car doesn't automatically start playing. Sometimes tapping '>' will start it going other times not.

It's tolerable but but rather sad that here we are in 2022 and streaming music over BT from a phone is hit and miss.

If you can get yourself an android or IOS handset and then ask for the software update for your head unit next time you visit the service centre at the dealership to install Car Play / Android Auto update on it.

 

Use your phone this way and use the apps to play/stream your music.  It's a so much better experience than using a USB device or bluetooth IMHO as the visual experience makes life more comfortable for your music, along with maps and receiving messages / using voice reply.

 

Shuffle / Random will always repeat because that's how it works, otherwise it's not random/shuffle.  If you don't want repetition, create a playlist to avoid repetition.

 

 

[2badmice]

On 7/17/2022 at 1:32 PM, FiestaRed said:

I'm still getting the same. Although I have 'shuffle' on and I get random tracks from all over the USB stick, every couple of days I start getting continuous tracks from one album and on checking, the 'shuffle' has been set back to normal, ie 'No Shuffle'.

Edit, that seems to be an issue with one of the devices if the shuffle is being reset.  Not sure what the solution to that is.  Sorry

[2badmice]

On 7/20/2022 at 5:55 PM, Extreme_One said:

I get what you mean, but for the convenience of flawless audio playback, better quality audio compared to Bluetooth, and a better overall interface than the fugly Toyota interface, I think the inconvenience is worth it.

That said I'm looking forward to the UK availability of Motorola's wireless Android Auto dongle.

If you change the "Voice" volume in the audio settings on the car that affects the a volume in Android Auto too. Hope that helps.

.

Before purchasing my Corolla I had the luxury of wireless AA in a 2021 Tiguan, and I only found out the head unit supported wireless in error.

One morning I set off on a drive forgetting I hadn't plugged my phone in to see Android Auto on the screen, it was an absolute game changer and the Battery drain was not as dramatic as expected.