[greywalker83]

Hey guys I just put all my music on a flash drive the other day so I could use that rather than my iPod and I've had a few quirks happen already. I'm curious if y'all have too and if so if you found a fix for them. Here's what I've noticed so far...

First off, it seems almost like some songs skip like a scratched cd. These are MP3 files and I didn't have issues with them before so I'm not sure what's causing it. It does seem to be more frequent when I first start listening to anything and less frequent the longer I had it playing. It's random too. Not always on the same song or part so I know it's not the file itself.

Second, today I was listening to a couple albums. I guess I had it playing all albums because I could skip songs in one and move into the next on the list but when I got back in the truck to go home it jumped from g to w and when I tried to get back to my original album I now had a duplicate of each song in the album that wasn't there earlier in the day.

Also I did not have the random setting selected so it should've played them all in order.

Third, when I went back and found the album, after disconnecting and reconnecting the usb drive, it was back to one copy of each song but now only would play through that album rather than moving to the next on the list as I went through the songs.

Lastly, on a positive note I did notice that skipping through songs seemed to be quicker using the drive vs the iPod. The iPod would take a moment after skipping to actually advance.

Thanks guys for any ideas/advice.

 

[mtyler11]

Hey guys I just put all my music on a flash drive the other day so I could use that rather than my iPod and I've had a few quirks happen already. I'm curious if y'all have too and if so if you found a fix for them. Here's what I've noticed so far...

First off, it seems almost like some songs skip like a scratched cd. These are MP3 files and I didn't have issues with them before so I'm not sure what's causing it. It does seem to be more frequent when I first start listening to anything and less frequent the longer I had it playing. It's random too. Not always on the same song or part so I know it's not the file itself.

Second, today I was listening to a couple albums. I guess I had it playing all albums because I could skip songs in one and move into the next on the list but when I got back in the truck to go home it jumped from g to w and when I tried to get back to my original album I now had a duplicate of each song in the album that wasn't there earlier in the day.

Also I did not have the random setting selected so it should've played them all in order.

Third, when I went back and found the album, after disconnecting and reconnecting the usb drive, it was back to one copy of each song but now only would play through that album rather than moving to the next on the list as I went through the songs.

Lastly, on a positive note I did notice that skipping through songs seemed to be quicker using the drive vs the iPod. The iPod would take a moment after skipping to actually advance.

Thanks guys for any ideas/advice.

Wow.... that is weird... :serious:
let's start with what you're playing with... (I'll just assume you have a later model SV without the RF package). Your symptoms are odd to say the least. The Nissan HU can be a bit fussy with USB drives (both make & size). Do you have any others you can test with? What brand & size is the drive thats causing the trouble? It's also possible the HU is taking issue with the file structure. PM me a reminder to post/send you a program that will order/organize the drive's file structure (I don't have it here at work with me).
It's also possible the HU just needs a cold boot (or a boot to the head... you'd be surprised how often that fixes a transmitter at work). You can either unplug the stereo from the vehicle harness (difficult) or disconnect the vehicle battery positive cable for... 15 min to an hour (easy). TBH I'd be surprised if the cold boot did anything but it's usually the last or first thing I try, depending on time and frustration level.

 

[greywalker83]

Sorry guess I should've mentioned that. I've got a 2016 pro 4 x with nav. USB in center storage console. I can try some older drives when I get back home but the one I have now I just bought for the purpose of using it in the truck. It's a Sandisk Cruzer glide 128gb drive. I had the same skip issue at times with my iPod but it wasn't happening nearly as much. The iPod is the last gen they made before switching over to just the iPod touch. I formatted the drive on my Mac to dos I believe. That was the only Windows option it gave me and I needed it to be able to work on both Mac and Windows. As for the music I just went in and took my iTunes library and copied it over to the drive so all folders are set alphabetically on the drive. It is weird and it did it again to me today too so it's not just a fluke.

 

[mz-s]

Make sure the MP3 files are ecoded as 128 Kbps or whatever, and are not VBR (variable bit rate). Some MP3 playback devices have difficulty playing VBR files.

Could also be a bum USB drive - try another? Though it would be strange to get a bad one out of the box, I've had it happen before.

 

[Contra]

Everything on my USB works fine and slightly faster than my iPod but if wont recognize all my songs, it only recognizes 255 (if i remember correctly), so i play from my phone through bluetooth


Sent from my iPhone 7 plus using Tapatalk Pro

 

[greywalker83]

Yeah so far I haven't had an issue with it recognizing songs. Just the issues I mentioned in the original post. It happens pretty often but if it does it to a song and I start it over it doesn't do it again to that song so it's not the file it has to be something with the truck or the drive.

 

[The Dali]

Hey guys I just put all my music on a flash drive the other day so I could use that rather than my iPod and I've had a few quirks happen already. I'm curious if y'all have too and if so if you found a fix for them. Here's what I've noticed so far...

First off, it seems almost like some songs skip like a scratched cd. These are MP3 files and I didn't have issues with them before so I'm not sure what's causing it. It does seem to be more frequent when I first start listening to anything and less frequent the longer I had it playing. It's random too. Not always on the same song or part so I know it's not the file itself.

Second, today I was listening to a couple albums. I guess I had it playing all albums because I could skip songs in one and move into the next on the list but when I got back in the truck to go home it jumped from g to w and when I tried to get back to my original album I now had a duplicate of each song in the album that wasn't there earlier in the day.

Also I did not have the random setting selected so it should've played them all in order.

Third, when I went back and found the album, after disconnecting and reconnecting the usb drive, it was back to one copy of each song but now only would play through that album rather than moving to the next on the list as I went through the songs.

Lastly, on a positive note I did notice that skipping through songs seemed to be quicker using the drive vs the iPod. The iPod would take a moment after skipping to actually advance.

Thanks guys for any ideas/advice.

Sorry for the zombie thread, but I am having the exact same issue. Playing through USB it works fine and then starts to stutter... it stops playing the song for like 1 second and then resumes. Happens completely randomly. Was there any resolution to this?

(I have a 2014 SV, standard radio)

 

[bgee]

I have come to the conclusion that the factory head units are seriously lame with regard to USB playback. You are better off to get some external player and run it through the AUX input.

1) They will only recognize about 6 or 7 thousand songs.
2) No play lists.
3) Playback sequence is the order that songs are listed in the FAT file system tables. This is NOT the same as sorted order. You have to get a special utility (alluded to in a previous comment) which will sort the FAT directory tables.
4) No playback of anything but WAV and MP3. No FLAC or OGG or M4A, for example.
5) I suspect the maximum file system size is 64gb.
6) Navigation controls are near impossible to use while driving.

My 12 year old, $50 Sansa Clip+ is a FAR better player.

 

[Skibane]

I have come to the conclusion that the factory head units are seriously lame with regard to USB playback. You are better off to get some external player and run it through the AUX input.

Or just install an aftermarket head unit.

The full Android head units will run any of several hundred different MP3 player apps - each with a choice of dozens of different "skins".

If you don't like the MP3 player you're using, just download another one!

Ditto for navigation, satellite maps, weather radar, Waze, video players, Zello, web browers, email apps, OBD readers... the list is endless.

 

[bgee]

An aftermarket head unit is certainly an option. Not for me, though! By the time I spend $1000 on a head unit, several hundred more dollars on adapters, a couple of days to tear apart the dashboard to install it, several more days and two bald spots trying to fix problems with the rear view camera and CANBUS ...

A $50 Sansa Clip+ running Rockbox is quicker, cheaper and faster.

I have an Android music player (FIIO) and am not very happy with it. It takes close to two minutes to boot up to where it can play something. The Sansa takes almost 5 seconds to boot.

Bill Gee

 

[The Dali]

Well, a head unit is a drastic update for a small issue. I will likely install a new head unit at some point, but in the meantime I am fine with the current OEM unit. I think I have figured out the issue... and it is with the USB itself. I am testing it out, but it appears that the unit does not like the USB. I swapped out for a 16GB USB and it is working fine. My thoughts on the reasons... it could be one of the following:

• Did not like the PNY USB. I read somewhere that the OEM unit doesn't like PNY USBs. Not sure why that would matter, but that could be the reason it wasn't working. I swapped with a Sandisk
• Did not like such a large USB. The USB I used was 128GB and I swapped to 16GB
• Did not like so many songs or file folder structure. Using the smaller 16GB USB there are fewer songs so the OEM headunit might have an easier time sorting
• The PNY USB was defective. I am testing this with my other vehicle

Thanks for all the input!

 

[The Dali]

As a follow-up, the USB works fine in my other car so I am going to say that the Frontier HU doesn't like PNY USBs or the size of this USB (128GB vs 16GB).

 

[keith56]

There is very little in the owners manual about USB drives so I have been learning by trial and error. I have a Mac and all my music was m4a for itunes and my ipod. The Frontier will not play m4a unless it is on an ipod, it will not play them from a USB. I let Apple Music convert all my music to mp3, it will only convert them to 192kbps. If you want the 320kbps, you have to use another program like audacity and that is a song by song conversion, I don't have that kind of time (I do but I'd rather take a nap). I use the scandisk cruiser fit in both 64GB and 32 GB size, both way bigger than necessary. These are the tiny drives that only stick out about a 1/4" so they blend in with the dash.

I made folders for playlists instead of for albums or genres. To each his own. With the USB on, I found that I can touch the USB Menu button on the upper left hand corner of the screen. Then touch the folder list button in the same location. Now I can select the folder (playlist) that I want. When I touch on the top song, it starts to play and it goes back to the main screen. This is where I had the biggest issues. I want the playlist to shuffle the songs so I touch the shuffle button, what I didn't notice is that under the shuffle button, it will say either "all" or "1 folder". All comes up the first time you touch this button and that causes the system to shuffle through all the folders. You have to touch it a second time so that it says "1 folder" under the shuffle icon for it to stay in that folder.

I haven't tried sub folders yet so I don't know if they will work.