In my PC, I create folders for the songs, i.e., Oldies60s, Oldies70s, etc, then copy them to my USB. That way you have folders showing on the radio screen. Simple setup and it works really good. Never had any hiccups.

 

Do I need to add playlist files (m3u, etc.)?

 

Nope, playlist files not needed. Have you tried playing the files on your computer to make sure there is not a problem with the files on the USB?

 

You can create and name any folder you like and add any songs to the folders. I sometimes use a usb drive and I have folders named "60's music", "favorites", etc. some folders have the same songs...it doesn't matter.
Just add the mp3 files to the folder.
I too use iTunes for my music library and I copied/pasted my entire music library...only a bit over 1000 songs...to my laptop in a folder. I then used "Switch Sound File Converter" which is part of the NCH suite and is free but a bit limited...I bought the full version and was able to add every song to the file converter then converted them to mp3 format and saved them to a folder I named mp3 files...very original I know, thank you very much...I then did the old copy/paste the files to individual folders in my usb drive and now have a very nice collection of music I can easily access. I have had absolutely no problems with any of the files...they all play perfectly.

I also cleaned up any file naming problems and edited some of the song names ie "Cecelia" by Simon and Garfunkel...I renamed it "Cecelia or the Crazy Ginger" for my wife whose name is Cecelia and she doesn't like the song...I wonder why hehehe...any way the first time she saw the name come up on the display she side eyed me all squinty eyed and I burst out laughing hehehe.
Anyway good luck and keep us informed.

 

I have Windows 10 and iTunes and all songs are mp3. I created folders on the USB drive and copied the mp3s to the respective folders. The song shows up on the screen and plays for 5 to 10 seconds and then stops. The screen goes back to a USB icon. When I pick a different folder and/or track, the same thing happens with that song. I've tried different USB drives, same result. I tried switching to the other USB port, same issue.

 

This seems to be a problem with the car's head unit trying to read the mp3 files from iTunes.
I had the same problem.
The cure was to use a third party converting program and convert/reconvert the files, from mp3 to mp3, etc, to mp3. I used the NCH program as indicated in my first reply.

 

Flash drives for music

I like using a flash drive to play music in my CR V, it's much easier then loading CD's. The only downside is your flash drive will pick up defects in some of your CD's and as a result it sounds like a record skipping every once in a while.