Problems found - please provide solutions

[Mayoo]

Radio Unit - Known problems

Hi all,

Here is a list of known problems. If you find new problems, please reply to this post and I'll add it. I also ask for someone else to confirm if the issue is true or not. Please also take time to confirm the ones listed below.

1- Very slow USB read on car start (using thumb drive) - Reported by Mayoo, Confirmed by []
2- USB restarts to track 1 on car start - Reported by Mayoo, Confirmed by []
3- USB can't detect folders, only genre, albums, etc. - Reported by Mayoo, Confirmed by []
4- Bluetooth contacts with the same address are merged. Using Nexus 5 on 4.4.2. So right now, my wife isn't showing but "home" is showing will her number. - Reported by Mayoo, Confirmed by []
5- Bluetooth connectivity information would be helpful on other screens than phone, principally to known if I am roaming or not. - Reported by Mayoo, Confirmed by []
6- When using a thumb drive, if you put the car on Accessory, then start then engine, the USB thumb drive isn't detected - Reported by Mayoo, Confirmed by []

Thank you.

 

[davidhbrown]

I might be able to help with the USB issues -- which have already been answered. Remember that this is not as powerful a device as your personal computer; its memory is rather limited. Thus I've been keeping my music files on a set of several *small* (2-4GB) USB thumb drives on a keychain, each labeled with the genre of music it contains. When I tried to get it to use a flash drive with thousands of MP3s, it was indeed slow and generally unhappy as you experienced.

Additionally, I've been using a small utility called mp3dirsorter to make sure the FAT structure is sorted. (Do make sure the drive is formatted for FAT, not ExFAT or NTFS). This helps ensure that albums play in proper sequence (I prefix filenames with track numbers).

Edit: skimmed the thread TreyP linked to. Ouch. What a bonehead design error/oversight on not maintaining the track position. Note that Trey's own solution was to buy a different radio :-(

 

[TreyP]

Start here. You're in for a lot of reading, but not a lot of solutions, unfortunately.

 

[Fleeecy]

Salut Mayoo!

Here's from a fellow quebecer to another...

Bienvenue dans le club des CX-5 Il me semble t'avoir lu sur le forum Mazda3Qubec, non?... Tous les Mazda 2014 qui ont cette radio ont les problmes que tu dcris (Mazda6 et CX-9 aussi). Mazda a promis une solution, mais la promesse date de juillet dernier et on est sans nouvelles. Je te suggre de te joindre nos voix et de chiler toi aussi Mazda Canada et ton concessionnaire, a va aider trouver une solution!

HD Radio : the HD button allows you to access HD broadcasts (fully digital, CD quality radio stations). It seems to block RDS signals (the text info that comes up on the radio display) when HD is on.

Since there's only one american HD radio station available around Montreal (a Vermont-based station, I think), you can leave the HD option off at all times.

Not using Android, can't help on that, dsol!

 

[CaptainFurious]

1- Very slow USB read on car start (using thumb drive)
Do not insert a 16GB usb stick with 5000 songs, it will take 5mins to load. The stereo is extremely slow so I'd recommend you use 2 or 4 Gb Sticks, it will take under 30seconds to load.

2- USB restarts to track 1 on car start
Known Problem with Stereo. Mazda is "Working on it." Load your USB Stick with a blank mp3 and label it 000. Download it here: http://www.xamuel.com/blank-mp3s/
This way you don't hear the same song over and over. Then you can select your playlist.

3- USB can't detect folders, only genre, albums, etc.
You will have to setup playlists. The stereo doesn't see folders.

4- HD radio button is shown offline (no light) but I see the HD info. Seems like the button is shown in reverse state.
Turn it off, there's no HD providers that I'm aware of in Canada.

5- Bluetooth contacts with the same address are merged. Using Nexus 5 on 4.4.2. So right now, my wife isn't showing but "home" is showing will her number.
I have a Samsung Galaxy S3, and never noticed this. But since the recent OS upgrade the texting portion no longer works with the stereo.

6- Bluetooth connectivity information would be helpful on other screens than phone, principally to known if I am roaming or not.
Would be nice, but I don't believe it has the capability of doing this.

There's a lot of problems with the Stereo. I'm seriously considering buying an aftermarket one.

 

[snadowitz]

Yeah - the car is great but the radio and the functions of it suck like a vacuum cleaner. What is a good recommendation for an aftermarket head unit? I still want Tom Tom, reversing camera, hands free and access to all the car setup functions though. i have a 2013 Maxx Sport AWD 2.5l

 

[Mayoo]

Il me semble t'avoir lu sur le forum Mazda3Qubec, non?

Ouaip, j'avais une M3 2004 GT Hatchback Blue Vainqueur. CAI, HID, Open Mouth et AVIC-Z2. Malheureux locataire d'une Corolla ces deux dernires annes. Maintenant heureux avec la CX-5. Je retrouve le plaisir de conduire. J'ai effectivement mlang RDS et HD. Je le laisse dsactiv alors!

CaptainFurious : Wow, thanks a lot for all that info. Really useful.

All: Why does Mazda gets out something like this in 2014? I see the same bad move as Nintendo did with the Wii U. It's great, but not for the current time.

 

[vroom]

I know this is mentionned a lot in other threads, but posting a link here won't hurt I guess. So all of you annoyed with this problem PLEASE sign the petition here.

Le Qubec envahit le forum!

 

[Mayoo]

You are right vroom. I signed this petition before even creating my account to this forum. I encourage everyone to do so. Mazda is overpricing their underdeveloped features. Let's get what we pay for!

 

[tobeychris]

HD Radio : the HD button allows you to access HD broadcasts (fully digital, CD quality radio stations). It seems to block RDS signals (the text info that comes up on the radio display) when HD is on.

The lack of RDS signals has bugged me from the very beginning - I had never played with the HD button but I am eager to test this out! Thanks for the tip!

 

[RedBaron]

3- USB can't detect folders, only genre, albums, etc.

As others have said, you need to create folder playlists. Fortunately there's a great and very fast free utility, sPlaylistMaker, to do this...

Details/how-to at post 26 here: http://www.mazdas247.com/forum/show...p3-playlists&p=6241023&viewfull=1#post6241023

 

[Chris_Top_Her]

I use a 16gb flash drive that starts very quickly.. not all flash devices have the same read/write speed (same thing with using a faster sd card for the nav).

 

[vroom]

I use a 16gb flash drive that starts very quickly.. not all flash devices have the same read/write speed (same thing with using a faster sd card for the nav).

I have a fast USB 3.0 drive (blindingly fast on my computer), but it makes no difference. Takes severeal minutes to load. The CX-5 is USB 2.0 so the read speed is limited no matter the drive. The size of the drive is not as important as the quantity of data (number of songs) you have on there.

 

[CaptainFurious]

As others have said, you need to create folder playlists. Fortunately there's a great and very fast free utility, sPlaylistMaker, to do this...

Details/how-to at post 26 here: http://www.mazdas247.com/forum/show...p3-playlists&p=6241023&viewfull=1#post6241023

I use Winamp, it's really easy to create a play list.
What I do, is separate all the music into different folders. Then add the folder to Winamp and create the playlist into the main director of the USB Stick.

 

[tobeychris]

The lack of RDS signals has bugged me from the very beginning - I had never played with the HD button but I am eager to test this out! Thanks for the tip!

This works!

For the first time in 11 months I can actually see the song title on the radio - I never though to touch the HD button. It's actually pretty decent - once it's done scrolling through the data and has a full message, it prints the whole thing below in a much easier to read way.

 

[Mayoo]

Hi all, I added a new problem I found. I also changed the name of the post. Admins, can this be made into a sticky so that everyone can contribute?

Thank you.

 

[Mayoo]

Hi all,

Some good news. But a good chance I work in IT because finding this would have been impossible. The problem #4 where contacts were merged is fixed. Here is why. Don't worry, I won't do into IT nerdy stuff.

Basically, the contact that was merging with another had all of his address into the "street" field. Further more, and I think most importantly, the address had lines breaks (when you press enter to change line). This particular detail made the sync go haywire and continued reading the following contact instead of thinking the contact was done.

Long story short: Make sure you enter the addresses in your contacts in the right field and don't use line breaks/don't change line in a single text entry.

Thank you.

 

[ErgoZoom]

Hi all, I added a new problem I found. I also changed the name of the post. Admins, can this be made into a sticky so that everyone can contribute?

Thank you.

Can you change the name of this thread to something meaningful like "Radio Unit Problems"
"Problems found - please provide solutions" is about as nondescript as it gets as to what this thread is concerning.

 

[Mayoo]

I will change it right now.

That's odd, I though I did it earlier.

I changed it but only inside the thread it shows "Radio Unit - Known problems". The thread itself doesn't seem editable.

 

[lwh1993]

So I'm a new Cx-5 owner with tech package. What's the average connect time for Bluetooth from start up to connection? It seems like it's almost a minute every time or longer.

It also says it's downloading info from the phone. what does it need beyond the connection?