Standard Stereo MP3 playback issues

[Blackdog007]

For many years now I have always had a head unit that will play MP3 files off a usb stick. I generally have all of my albums in separate folders, all in the root directory of the USB drive. I have never had a problem with other stereos making sense of this organization and my naming conventions within those folders. The problem I am having revolves around the standard stereo not playing tracks out of any given folder/album in chronological order. Of course file names are always preceded with two digit number, 01, 02....09, 10, 11 etc. I have even gone to dealership and tried the stick in another new 3 (again with the standard stereo) only to get the same results. There really seems to be no rhyme or reason to what order it does choose to play the files in either. Additionally has anyone who might be playing off a USB stick (or perhaps an ipod)noticed that when you take calls on Bluetooth it does not seem to actually pause whatever song is playing? When you hang up the song may be over or a new one has begun. Seems like a very simple firmware fix to me. I have called the number they have listed for "Bluetooth Help" in the smart start guide. While the tech did speak very good English he was not able to offer a solution but did take down my info and said he would forward the issue upstream. I think this is simply going to take a multitude of complaints to be lodged before they fix this. I would fix it myself with a proper head unit but alas where would it go? I know this is certainly one of those annoying first world problems but man you can't listen to Darkside of the Moon if its out of order...Arrrgh

 

[Blackdog007]

For many years now I have always had a head unit that will play MP3 files off a usb stick. I generally have all of my albums in separate folders, all in the root directory of the USB drive. I have never had a problem with other stereos making sense of this organization and my naming conventions within those folders. The problem I am having revolves around the standard stereo not playing tracks out of any given folder/album in chronological order. Of course file names are always preceded with two digit number, 01, 02....09, 10, 11 etc. I have even gone to dealership and tried the stick in another new 3 (again with the standard stereo) only to get the same results. There really seems to be no rhyme or reason to what order it does choose to play the files in either. Additionally has anyone who might be playing off a USB stick (or perhaps an ipod)noticed that when you take calls on Bluetooth it does not seem to actually pause whatever song is playing? When you hang up the song may be over or a new one has begun. Seems like a very simple firmware fix to me. I have called the number they have listed for "Bluetooth Help" in the smart start guide. While the tech did speak very good English he was not able to offer a solution but did take down my info and said he would forward the issue upstream. I think this is simply going to take a multitude of complaints to be lodged before they fix this. I would fix it myself with a proper head unit but alas where would it go? I know this is certainly one of those annoying first world problems but man you can't listen to Darkside of the Moon if its out of order...Arrrgh

Solution

When copying files in windows explorer in mass quantities with many directories or even nested folders you will most likely never get them physically written into the FAT directory alphabetically. I even realized that all the folders were not written in alphabetical order either. Luckily I found an awesome little piece of freeware for windows that will do all the reorganizing of the directory entries so that all files in any chosen directory are stored in alpha-order, including subdirectories. Super sweet fix, and relatively quick too because it doesn't actually re-write any of the files, just the directory entries... The program is FATsorter and you can find it here. http://fenux.net/story/fatsorteroneohfour
I was using a windows 7 machine and it worked fine, sais it will work with xp and .net framework. Thanks npaladin for the brainstorm that sent me in the right direction for this fix. I believe this will help many people that use USB sticks in multiple different MP3 players. It seems from what I found that a good number of players out there do not recache the drives file structure in alphabetical order.

 

[npaladin2000]

Maybe we do need the 2014 audio section. This deserves a sticky too.

Wish there was a "request sticky" button.

 

[Blackdog007]

One More standard stereo issue

Maybe we do need the 2014 audio section. This deserves a sticky too.

Wish there was a "request sticky" button.

Perhaps there should be an audio section, for issues with both stereos.

Has anyone else noticed that when a call is answered(through Bluetooth) on the standard stereo it does not pause the music being played off the USB source? When you hang up the call it is as if the track(s) have continued playing in the background while you were talking on the phone. I have not tried taking calls while using the CD player yet to see if the problem persists. But really, do they still make CD's anymore???

 

[npaladin2000]

Perhaps there should be an audio section, for issues with both stereos.

Has anyone else noticed that when a call is answered(through Bluetooth) on the standard stereo it does not pause the music being played off the USB source? When you hang up the call it is as if the track(s) have continued playing in the background while you were talking on the phone. I have not tried taking calls while using the CD player yet to see if the problem persists. But really, do they still make CD's anymore???

Interesting, because when I take a call through Bluetooth on the upgraded system it does actually pause the USB source.

I have a funny feeling that CD player might not make it to M.Y. 2015. The target market for this car isn't really going to use them, and it's in a bad spot anyway.