USB music erratic behavior

rviscuso · February 15, 2020

As the title suggests the USB music is exhibiting erratic behavior.

Sometimes folder view is not available (it is not indexing as the flash drive was not removed).

When returning to vehicle and turning on key, the music played will typically be what I was last listening to; sometimes it will randomly play something else.

Sometimes it shows “No Media Found” then after a period of time when it does recognize the USB it shows “No Artist Info”. The song title will display but no artist or album title. When this happens there is no sound and adjusting the volume control has no effect. If I press radio the sound works, then pressing media and now the sound works and the song title, artist and album display correctly.

2017 Silverado LT. The USB is Patriot Slate 3.1 256GB NTFS. I have another one which works fine in a 2017 Corvette. The owner’s manual page 203 states USB format FAT16/32 or ex FAT is recognized but NTFS is not. Page 201 states USB 2.0. However, page 27 of the Infotainment manual states that it supports file systems FAT32 and NTFS. So, what to believe?

What do you guys think? Anyone have the same or similar issues?

lonestardiver · February 16, 2020

I have had similar issues with my iPad used as a media source.

Sometimes the system wants to default to the first track it ever played.

Also, it appears to drop packets of music data from time to time causing a “skip”.

Mdhunter63 · February 16, 2020

How many files and folders are on usb stick. I had too many and starting acting wierd. The manual states-USB storage device that are in
capacity with a limit of 5,000
files, such as music, photo,
video, 15 stages of folder
structure. Normal usage cannot
be guaranteed for a storage
device that exceeds this limit.
The iPod/iPhone can play all
music files that are supported.
The music file lists will only
display up to 5,000 files on the
screen. These files are sorted in
alphabetical order.

I down sized the amount of files below max number now works fine.

rviscuso · March 1, 2020

On 2/16/2020 at 5:35 AM, Mdhunter63 said:

How many files and folders are on usb stick. I had too many and starting acting wierd. The manual states-USB storage device that are in
capacity with a limit of 5,000
files, such as music, photo,
video, 15 stages of folder
structure. Normal usage cannot
be guaranteed for a storage
device that exceeds this limit.
The iPod/iPhone can play all
music files that are supported.
The music file lists will only
display up to 5,000 files on the
screen. These files are sorted in
alphabetical order.

I down sized the amount of files below max number now works fine.

There are 16,933 files and 1,430 folders, 122GB.

I replaced the 256GB with a 128GB NTFS. The 128 wasn't quite big enough so I had to remove a few albums prior to copying. There was no improvement.

I reformatted the 256GB to FAT32 and guess what, that seems to have solved the problem. It was questionable the first day; indexing took maybe 20-30 minutes but then folder view was not always available. Sometimes it would show 'unknown' and slow to recognize the song. However, for the past week and maybe a dozen or so on/off cycles it has been consistent in picking up where it left off. It does not start up instantly; it typically shows 'unknown' but within a few seconds or so recognizes and displays the song. So for now I will consider it a success.

rviscuso · March 11, 2020

Well that was short lived. The erratic behavior has returned. This past week it reverted back to loosing the 'folder view'. When turning on the key it did not continnue with playing the previous days song but rather went into random mode. Apparently the index was lost as folder view was not available. I pulled the USB then reinstalled then waited a half hour or so as it hourglassed which I believe is the index process.

I spoke with the dealer. His suggestion was to only use a flash drive as new and not one that has had song deletions. There may be a software upgrade other than the automatic one. I will bring the truck in next week for a software check/upgrade.

Ravenkeeper · March 11, 2020

I've had ALL of our MP3s on mine, and recently deleted all of my kid's songs, all of the music on it (now) is mine. Haven't had any issues with mine, other than it seems to pull up some songs more than others, in random.

Pearl2017 · March 12, 2020

Try a different USB stick they are not all the same. a 128gb Sandisk Cruzer from Costco formatted Fat32 works for me. You can also try using the SDFormatter app or or sandisk formatter to wipe the media then copy the files back on. I have repaired unusable thumb drives with that tool before.

Ravenkeeper · March 12, 2020

15 hours ago, Pearl2017 said:

Try a different USB stick they are not all the same. a 128gb Sandisk Cruzer from Costco formatted Fat32 works for me. You can also try using the SDFormatter app or or sandisk formatter to wipe the media then copy the files back on. I have repaired unusable thumb drives with that tool before.

That's what I'm using. Grabbing a couple more for my wife's Benz, and daughter's Cruze.

HA!!! Using a Cruzer memory stick in a Cruze.

rviscuso · March 13, 2020

Thanks for the advice guys. I did try a Patriot 128GB NTFS with no improvement. The 256 FAT32 continues to hourglass from time to time. I have an appointment with the dealer for this Tuesday. Stay tuned.

My brother has a 2015 Sierra which does not exhibit any issues with his flash drives; 128GB FAT32. And, my 2017 Stingray does not have any issues using my other Patriot 256GB NTSF. Different software? Strange

rviscuso · April 22, 2020

The dealer upgraded the software. For the first week or two all was well then the problem returned. I may have discovered a cause. I think that bluetooth from my phone may be having an effect. I noticed that with bluetooth turned off on my phone then start the engine that the problem does not occur. My phone is Samsung Android. Any thoughts?

3rdrock · April 22, 2020

On 2/15/2020 at 11:26 PM, lonestardiver said:

I have had similar issues with my iPad used as a media source.

Sometimes the system wants to default to the first track it ever played.

Also, it appears to drop packets of music data from time to time causing a “skip”.

My 2016 LT does the same thing.

Also it plays a song,but displays the next song title on the screen.

rviscuso · May 6, 2020

I went back to the dealer to have them take another look. The answer is that my truck does not have a hard drive which would store the music index. With the key off and after a few hours or so memory is lost for the music index. The next time the key is turned on the index has to be reestablished. The other vehicles I mentioned have hard drives and therefore do not exhibit this behavior.