Non-RF Sound System USB Issue

KansasKid · Sun Apr 07, 2013 8:58 pm

I am trying to figure out how to get my Android phone to sync up with the sound system in my 2011 Kizashi SE.

I would probably just use the Bluetooth, but I'm pretty sure that that only comes with the RF system. That and I definitely do NOT have the Bluetooth buttons on the steering wheel. My car also doesn't have an AUX 3.5 mm jack; it only has the AUX USB port.

I have an HTC myTouch 4G running Android 2.3.4. When I use a USB cable to connect my phone to the system, and switch it over to "USB" mode, I can't get the device to connect properly, I think. I don't get an error message saying my device is incompatible either though. All that happens is the display on my system shows: "READING..."

I looked through the driver's manual, and it says I should be able to use the "TUNE" dial to navigate through the file system of my device, and get to my music for the system. The majority of the music files on my phone are MP3 or WMA, so it should be able to find something to play. The manual also said that the system does not support devices that draw more than 500 mA of power. This may be my entire issue, but I'm not positive.

Might anyone have a glimmer of insight into my plight?

Chris6748h · Mon Apr 08, 2013 12:10 am

Yeah, save yourself the aggravation and just pick up a 4 gig USB stick and throw your music on that and wala all the music you want. Works great

murcod · Mon Apr 08, 2013 12:19 am

It might be because your phone is attempting to charge through the USB port and exceeding the 500mA? (That's just a guess as I know my HTC will charge when I hook it up to my PC in drive mode.)

IshaanIan · Mon Apr 08, 2013 5:17 am

I think you will need to have a jelly bean device to stream audio via usb

CLLee · Mon Apr 08, 2013 9:23 am

The USB will only work with FAT16/32, or the iPod file system. Refer to the manual, pg.5-34.
Android devices use a different file system. So, it doesn't matter what audio files you have in your phone, the car stereo won't be able to read it (incompatible file system).

Agree with Chris6748h. USB stick is the best.

murcod · Mon Apr 08, 2013 1:06 pm

IshaanIan wrote:I think you will need to have a jelly bean device to stream audio via usb

You might be able to update the phone? I've updated mine from Android 2.x to 4.0.3 - try Googling as it wasn't an official release for my phone. (I have uninstalled my non RF head unit so can't tell you if it works or not!)

KansasKid · Mon Oct 28, 2013 1:42 am

Sorry for kinda raising this thread from the dead, but I'm actually going to do a quick update!

So back in April, I got a 32 GB USB 3.0 flash drive that holds all my music. Chris6748h and CLLee are right, that the USB stick works pretty good. I just forgot to tell anyone until now...

Anyways, in September I got a Google Nexus 4, and recently updated it to Android 4.3 (which is technically still Jelly Bean). So as per some of the suggestions earlier in the post, I'm going to try and see if I can get my NEW Android phone to work through the USB slot in Azumi. I don't have high expectations of a positive outcome, but anything can happen I suppose.

I'll post back when I have another update.

mgp123 · Mon Oct 28, 2013 2:36 pm

Can you tell me what make of 32gb usb drive works? I have a 4g that works and a 8g that doesn't, both formated with fat partitions. Of course my radio is a 2012 base version(no bluetooth), so I need to get the usb working.

Thanks

KansasKid · Mon Nov 04, 2013 12:20 am

UPDATE: I tried my Google (LG) Nexus 4G which runs Android 4.3, and have discovered that the device is incompatible with my Kizashi. The radio LCD announces "UNSUPPORTED" when I plug in my new android phone. I suppose we can add that one to the "Don't work" list.

I still have my old Android 2.3.4 phone, so I might investigate rooting it/wiping-android-off-of-it in hopes of turning it solely into a device for playing back music in a fashion compatible with Kizashi's. It is not likely as there are some other apps ideas that I want to start working on as side projects in the near future, but I'll add it to my backlog of stuff that I'm never going to get to...

mgp123 wrote:Can you tell me what make of 32gb usb drive works? I have a 4g that works and a 8g that doesn't, both formated with fat partitions. Of course my radio is a 2012 base version(no bluetooth), so I need to get the usb working.

Thanks

Azumi doesn't have Bluetooth either, so I feel your pain. The brand of the flash drive shouldn't matter because the purpose of USB is so that way all of the devices share a common standardized interface. It defeats the purpose of USB if the company is not going to make the device inherently compatible. Can you supply some more info about how the 8GB flash drive isn't working? Does the 8GB flash drive work when you put it in a computer/laptop? Are you getting a "UNSUPPORTED DEVICE" message in the LCD display when you plug it into your Kizashi, or does it just display the "READING" message for all eternity. I had device that would do the later one.

Details yo, details.

IshaanIan · Mon Nov 04, 2013 12:58 pm

isn't there any app that can make the head unit think of your phone or recognize it as an i-pod?
Forgive me for sounding naive but it should be possible no? Like how palm had the Pre sync up with itunes years ago. Or is it a hardware issue?