Resuming Playback with 2014 CX-5 GT Tech Stereo and other issues

[MPTech]

Bummer, I just read through all 16 pages of this post and was hoping to get to the end post and see an ETA for this fix / upgrade.
Add me to the list of USB stick player disappointments.
We just bought our 2013 CX-9 Touring / Tech Package, and I've been messing with the Audio controls for a couple weeks, assuming it was something I did or the way I loaded the USB. I have a Pioneer BT in my other Daily Driver and couldn't be happier with the functionality.

Until Mazda provides the upgrade, is there a how-to topic, on creating the best USB drive?
Format: Fat32 / NTFS?
Music Formats: MP3, FLAC, other?
Playlist creation / formats
Loading / Tagging Folders?

I have USB stick with about 35 albums, I had 3 folders that I attempted to tag multiple times, using Media Monkey, but they kept appearing with blank Artist & Albums and I couldn't locate the Albums. When I look at the Artist and Album in Media Monkey, they look just like all of the rest that work properly.

I also saw recommendations to load all songs to the root.
And a link to a "blank" song, but I couldn't figure out how to download it (I could play it from the website, but couldn't copy it to my USB stick).

Is there another post with this info? Or could one be started? Would really appreciate any help.
Thanks guys! Really appreciate this topic and will stay posted.

 

[Mogambi]

FAT32 works fine, I doubt it supports FLAC, if anyone knows that it does, please chime in.

So far I have tested mp3, AAC, and WAV and all worked. Apple Lossless did not (never expected it to but tried it anyway).

Can't say for sure about any other playlist stuff. I ended up putting a 16 gig iPod Nano in there, at least I get all the metadata.

 

[Fleeecy]

FWIW, I called Mazda Canada today to complain about these issues. The rep told me they are aware of the problems and are working on a fix (no ETA still).

Just how long does it take to fix a few lines of code, good grief!

 

[kmabee]

Thanks for this thread and the info. Picked up my first car, a 2014 CX5 GT in Soul Red on Saturday. Love the car except for the media system and USB slowness (~60 seconds for 7GB of music). I noticed it always starts playing the first song in alphabetical order each time I turn the car on in USB Audio mode.. I don't suppose there is any way around that until Mazda releases a fix...

Would love to have it be quicker to start, quicker to navigate USB audio items, and ability to resume playback after the car is turned off... I will probably write an email to Mazda Canada complaining about it too, just to make sure they realize how many people care about this.

 

[MrWipe]

What annoys me is not the specific problems so much as the fact that Mazda is non-committal on a fix. I would like to know if the unit is software upgradable so that a fix might be even possible without having to rip out the hardware. Mazda made a point of mentioning that in the next Mazda 3 the unit will be software upgradable. Most other manufacturers are putting software upgradable units in their vehicles. With the complexity of today's head units and the fact that there will always be bugs that need to be fixed, I would not buy another without a head unit that the manufacturer acknowledges is software upgradable.

MyFord Touch complaints aside, Ford has released multiple software upgrades for the unit correcting problems and adding new features. Is it perfect? No, but at least they are constantly improving it and making changes that existing customers can take advantage of. If Mazda leaves the only option for bug fixes is to buy a new Mazda, then i won't be buying another Mazda.

Mazda never said the CX-5 was software upgradable though, so I knew what I was buying. Just a lesson learned by me.

 

[Mogambi]

My guess is that the unit is NOT software upgradeable, otherwise, why on earth would it have taken this long for a fix? My guess is that there was a major screwup in the design. They are non-commitle because they don't want to be legally responsible for fixing it. I'm sure bean-counters upstairs are counting the cost of actually repairing / replacing thousands of head units.

 

[MrWipe]

My guess is that the unit is NOT software upgradeable, otherwise, why on earth would it have taken this long for a fix? My guess is that there was a major screwup in the design. They are non-commitle because they don't want to be legally responsible for fixing it. I'm sure bean-counters upstairs are counting the cost of actually repairing / replacing thousands of head units.

I think that is a good explanation. The navigation part is software upgradable through the SD card, but the rest of the unit, I doubt it. Also not everyone has the SD slot.

 

[TreyP]

I'm also thinking may be stalling so that some vehicles will go beyond the warranty period before they start installing new units or applying updates. Hopefully they are not that shady, but their canned responses already strike me as shady, so we'll just have to wait to see what happens next.

 

[MrWipe]

I'm also thinking may be stalling so that some vehicles will go beyond the warranty period before they start installing new units or applying updates. Hopefully they are not that shady, but their canned responses already strike me as shady, so we'll just have to wait to see what happens next.

Ford has been updating their units and extended the warranty to 5 years on Myford Touch. Of course, a lot of this is due to the class action lawsuit they had. So not just pure goodwill on their part.

 

[ranman]

Since the Sirius XM firmware can be updated (p. 5-45 of the US owner's manual) and the Gracenote DB can be updated (p. 5-101 of the US owner's manual), I have to believe the firmware can be be updated; probably via the USB port. Seems like that would be a necessity to support apps like Pandora. Perhaps the fix is taking a while because there are other issues being addressed? Anyway, I continue to remain optimistic.

 

[Mogambi]

I hope you're right.

 

[MPTech]

I've been following this thread and seriously hope they address this problem soon.
My 2013 CX-9 is only a month old, but this bugs the hell out of me starting at the same spot every time.

Meanwhile, to do my part and hopefully encourages others to email Mazda, can someone re-post the email-address and their description of the problem? (let's make this as easy and consistant of a problem as possible. Cut&paste an email address, subject, and body of the message.)

I think a Class-Action suit would sound a little over-the-top for this issue, but MAZDA, really??!! just fix it! how hard can it be.
do we have to get ugly with a facebook campaign?

btw, I did update gracenotes, via USB. It was pretty simple, but frankly, I don't see any difference. I still have a couple Albums on my USB come up with blank Artists and Album names. (did I miss the point of Gracenotes?)

 

[MrWipe]

I've been following this thread and seriously hope they address this problem soon.

Meanwhile, to do my part and hopefully encourages others to email Mazda, can someone re-post the email-address and their description of the problem? (let's make this as easy and consistant of a problem as possible. Cut&paste an email address, subject, and body of the message.)

I think a Class-Action suit would sound a little over-the-top for this issue, but MAZDA, really??!! just fix it! how hard can it be.
do we have to get ugly with a facebook campaign?

I think that is a good idea to be consistent. I think they have gotten plenty, but who knows. It doesn't affect the driving, so it isn't a safety issue and therefore lower priority. I don't like the idea of getting ugly or having a class-action lawsuit is necessary, but I don't see why Mazda is taking such a weak position on it.

btw, I did update gracenotes, via USB. It was pretty simple, but frankly, I don't see any difference. I still have a couple Albums on my USB come up with blank Artists and Album names. (did I miss the point of Gracenotes?)

[/QUOTE]
Actually I didn't realize that gracenote could be updated. I almost use BT exclusively now anyway since the USB interface works so poorly. At least BT lets me stream audio from other apps such as tunein radio.

 

[TreyP]

I don't like the idea of getting ugly or having a class-action lawsuit

I do.

 

[MrWipe]

I do.

A class action against Ford states

"In reality, the system (MyFord Touch) is fundamentally flawed, failing to reliably provide functionality, amounting to an inconvenience at best, and a serious safety issue at worst."

http://www.autoblog.com/2013/07/16/preposed-class-action-lawsuit-targets-defective-myford-touch/

I think that fits the bill here.

 

[Mogambi]

The part of the defective stereo that COULD be a safety issue is that if you are listening to your iPod, then select say FM, and then go back to iPod, it's blank, forcing you to reach in and disconnect the iPod and reconnect it.

I think we'd have a hard time finding a lawyer to take on the case, but I'd sign up if there was one for sure. The Ford thing was a much wider ranging thing. HOWEVER, EVERYONE who cares about this should be writing into Mazda.

http://mazdausa.com/MusaWeb/emailMazda.action

 

[Mogambi]

When I did of course, I got a stock BS 'the unit functions as designed but we have noted your concern.... blah blah.' I wrote back, asking for information to contact a supervisor there. Of course not a word back.

I will file a BBB complaint tomorrow which will get their attention probably, they tend to respond to those. I will point them to this thread.

 

[TreyP]

When I did of course, I got a stock BS 'the unit functions as designed but we have noted your concern.... blah blah.' I wrote back, asking for information to contact a supervisor there. Of course not a word back.

I will file a BBB complaint tomorrow which will get their attention probably, they tend to respond to those. I will point them to this thread.

Awesome, do it! I agree that it can be a safety issue, I play my songs in alphabetical order so that I can be sure to hear them all with minimal repeats. So if I have a playlist with 300 songs, I have to remember which song number I was on and then manually scroll though say, 172 songs to get where I was. Using voice commands results in only the song being displayed, not album or artist, so I do the whole thing manually. This is a lot of time that I am spending with my eyes off the road, unless I plan every trip to leave 5-7 minutes early, and/or pull over when a playlist ends. In a perfect world, yes, but in reality I have to get things done and this is a hazardous distraction for sure. In a perfect world, this thread wouldn't exist either.

 

[atitus]

A class action against Ford states



http://www.autoblog.com/2013/07/16/preposed-class-action-lawsuit-targets-defective-myford-touch/

I think that fits the bill here.

There is no way these two situations are comparable. If you read the Ford article, you'll notice there are issues with it controlling the wipers, defroster, etc. Those are legitimate safety issues. Fiddling with your Ipod to select songs is NEVER a manufacturer's safety issue, that is a negligence issue by the driver who is making a conscious choice to do that instead of focusing on the driving. This thread is really starting to piss me off, and not because I am taking Mazda's side here, but rather from a general concern about being a responsible driver. People, lets not forget that we are talking about a VEHICLE here. Its primary function is for DRIVING, not to be a personal sound studio.

 

[TreyP]

Obviously the car's PRIMARY function is for transportation, but we are not in the wrong to expect its features that we paid dearly for to function in a way that is up to modern standards. Mazda unfortunately needs to have its feet put to the fire to remedy an obviously flawed system.

Fiddling with your Ipod to select songs is NEVER a manufacturer's safety issue, that is a negligence issue by the driver who is making a conscious choice to do that instead of focusing on the driving.

I agree that it is a choice of the driver, but what alternative is Mazda leaving us with if we want to use our iPods? (not an unreasonable request, btw)
We can either add hundreds of hours per year sitting on the side of the road to select songs/playlists/etc, or we can suffer in silence and listen to the radio.

EDIT: I sincerely hope everyone is being safe and that no one gets hurt or killed over this issue.