[Medser]

Just finished my first road trip in my CR-V. I loaded a small (1 GB) thumb drive with several folders of mp3 files. These were mp3 files that I've played successfully multiple times on my computer and mp3 players. Here's what I found. Most tracks played fine, but about 1/4th of the tracks did not play--instead the player would beep and say the track was not playable and skip it. But the other tracks (in the same album, converted to mp3 at the same time) played fine. Also, when I plug the thumb drive into my laptop or chromebook, they *all* play fine. It's only the Honda CR-V system that is having trouble playing them...

How can I fix this? What makes one track unplayable, while the next track works fine?

 

[robbyg]

You need to read the Metadata (using your laptop) from one that works and compare it to one that does not work and see what the difference is in the way they are encoded.

 

[Medser]

They were all encoded the same way at the same time. And all play flawlessly on my other computers and devices. I'm playing the USB drive on my Windows computer now and it's fine. It's only Honda that can't play some of them. So I'm not sure how I can fix this...

I wish that I just had a 3.5 auxiliary line in port that I could use. But apparently the audio system on the 2019 CR-V does not have that option. :-/

 

[mnestrud]

They were all encoded the same way at the same time. And all play flawlessly on my other computers and devices. I'm playing the USB drive on my Windows computer now and it's fine. It's only Honda that can't play some of them. So I'm not sure how I can fix this...

I wish that I just had a 3.5 auxiliary line in port that I could use. But apparently the audio system on the 2019 CR-V does not have that option. :-/

Do they always beep on the same tracks in the same place? I ask because you might try and ruling out drive errors... Some computers may skip drive errors or unreadable spots more gracefully than the CRV. Try a different drive and only put some of the broken mp3s,?

Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk

 

[GaryGygax]

Transfer files to a different USB drive and test that to rule out Honda's readability of that particular drive.

 

[JB in AZ]

I don't know a whole lot about this issue, but I did have this problem when I used to use a USB flash drive in my cars. I found out that when I copied the files from the computer to the Flash drive, some music files that I had downloaded did not transfer the license files with them, and wouldn't play in the car, but would play fine on the computer, apparently the license files were located on the same hard drive on the computer... It has been several years since I used the Flash Drive in a car, but perhaps this is something to look into.

 

[Marty913]

While it "shouldn't" make any difference, as GaryGygax noted it wouldn't hurt to try another flash drive. Over the years, I have found a lot of quirkiness with different car head units and MP3's and have settled in on a couple things that seem to help.

Use a fairly good quality flash drive. Use 8GB to 32GB in size You mentioned you had a 1GB drive which must be ancient. Format the drive to FAT32 (not NTFS). The MP3 file itself bit rate should be 256kbps or less. If you are creating the MP3 from a CD, FLAC, or other format - use constant bit rate (CBR) as opposed to Variable (VBR). In a perfect world, all the MP3's should be the same bit rate combination (ie: 192kbps CBR).

I have several flash drives I use in my 2019 CR-V everyday. They each have around 700 songs, all 192kbps CBR, created by the free MediaMonkey program (there a several good free conversion programs). ALl play fine.

Hope this helps.

 

[Medser]

[Jump down below to the edit I made to see the fix.]

Thanks for all the input. I just spent some time sitting in my car parked in the garage going through all the tracks.

First, it's not the drive. It happens even after I copy the album folders onto a different drive.

Also, all the tracks are playing correctly. What is happening is that the Honda audio system is falsely identifying "unreadable" phantom tracks in between tracks.

For example one of the folders is Simon & Garfunkel's "Live at Central Park". On my laptop, chromebook, mp3 player, it sees this on the drive:

1. Mrs. Robinson
2. Homeward Bound
3. America
etc...

HOWEVER, this is what the Honda Audio System shows:

1. Mrs. Robinson
2. "Unreadable" error message with annoying beeping.
3. Homeward Bound
4. "Unreadable" error message with annoying beeping.
5. America
etc...

It's incorrectly "identifying" and trying to play non-existent tracks.

This is happening with almost all folders. (And again, these are folders that all my other devices handle correctly.)

Has anyone else had this problem? Is there any fix?

EDIT: I think I found what was causing the issue. The albums that were not playing correctly had hidden files. I guess all my other systems/devices have software that is "smart" enough to ignore these files, but not Honda's.

In any case, if you have this issue, look at the thumb drive on your computer and see if there are hidden files. Here is how to do that on a Windows 10 machine:

How to view hidden files and folders in Windows 10:
Open File Explorer from the taskbar.
Select View > Options > Change folder and search options.
Select the View tab and, in Advanced settings, select Show hidden files, folders, and drives and OK.

(Sorry, if you have a Mac, you'll have to find a different solution. And BTW, these files were probably added by my Mac.)

 

[JB in AZ]

Thanks for all the input. I just spent some time sitting in my car parked in the garage going through all the tracks.

First, it's not the drive. It happens even after I copy the album folders onto a different drive.

Also, all the tracks are playing correctly. What is happening is that the Honda audio system is falsely identifying "unreadable" phantom tracks in between tracks.

For example one of the folders is Simon & Garfunkel's "Live at Central Park". On my laptop, chromebook, mp3 player, it sees this on the drive:

1. Mrs. Robinson
2. Homeward Bound
3. America
etc...

HOWEVER, this is what the Honda Audio System shows:

1. Mrs. Robinson
2. "Unreadable" error message with annoying beeping.
3. Homeward Bound
4. "Unreadable" error message with annoying beeping.
5. America
etc...

It's incorrectly "identifying" and trying to play non-existent tracks.

This is happening with almost all folders. (And again, these are folders that all my other devices handle correctly.)

Has anyone else had this problem? Is there any fix?

There should be a setting on the computer to "show hidden items/files". I know Windows 10 has this. I would see if these phantom files are visible and able to be deleted. Not sure about this setting on the Chromebook.

 

[Kai Winters]

I'll offer a tip based on something I've been going through and just learned through trial and trial and trial and error and finally an understanding and solution.
I've been adding my music files...flac and apple lossless...to a usb flash drive to play on my home theatre's Marantz AVR but I could not get them to play...the avr kept showing "no connection"...I had one drive, 32gb, that would work but I need over 70gb...grrr...I tried everything I could think of and look up on Google/etc. to solve this problem.
I finally figured it out today...the drives that would not play were all formatted to "exFAT" rather than the FAT/FAT32 my avr requires...duh...I realized this when I decided to format one of the drives and could only format to exFAT or NTFS...huh didn't realize there was a new file system in town...guess it goes with the new 3.0 drives...I'll be googling it to learn...

It may not help in this instance but good to know...especially if a drive won't work in a car's system it may just be the file system...

Oh all the drives worked just fine via my TV usb connection but I wanted as pure a signal as I could get in my system...my avr is 5 years old...while the TV is just a couple of years old...that also nearly drove me crazy as to why it would work via my TV but not the avr.

WOW...I'm apparently way behind the times...it appears the exFAT system has been around since '06...It allows for files of 4gb and greater and 8tb whereas FAT32 and partitions greater than 32gb...now I understand

 

[James M]

If you are using a Mac to load music to your thumb drive I have great news. I just used a free app that is on the Apple App Store. It worked perfectly. The app is called CleanMyDrive 2. Give it a shot. It's easy and quick.

 

[williamsji]

You need to read the Metadata (using your laptop) from one that works and compare it to one that does not work and see what the difference is in the way they are encoded.

Exactly. This root cause is probably something to do with DRM rights embedded in the meta data. When you rip tracks off a CD.. you can eliminate this in the ripping... but for downloaded music.. depending on the origin source.. DRMs may be embedded such that it causes the HeadUnit to skip them.

And the old meme of.. "I can play it fine on my computer, it is just the Honda won't play it" .. could be tied back to what DRMs are embedded within your computer that are transparent to you and thus you are unaware of them.

To the original poster.. first step is to always rule out the USB drive by using a different one with the exact same tracks on it.

 

[DW1]

[Jump down below to the edit I made to see the fix.]

Thanks for all the input. I just spent some time sitting in my car parked in the garage going through all the tracks.

First, it's not the drive. It happens even after I copy the album folders onto a different drive.

Also, all the tracks are playing correctly. What is happening is that the Honda audio system is falsely identifying "unreadable" phantom tracks in between tracks.

For example one of the folders is Simon & Garfunkel's "Live at Central Park". On my laptop, chromebook, mp3 player, it sees this on the drive:

1. Mrs. Robinson
2. Homeward Bound
3. America
etc...

HOWEVER, this is what the Honda Audio System shows:

1. Mrs. Robinson
2. "Unreadable" error message with annoying beeping.
3. Homeward Bound
4. "Unreadable" error message with annoying beeping.
5. America
etc...

It's incorrectly "identifying" and trying to play non-existent tracks.

This is happening with almost all folders. (And again, these are folders that all my other devices handle correctly.)

Has anyone else had this problem? Is there any fix?

EDIT: I think I found what was causing the issue. The albums that were not playing correctly had hidden files. I guess all my other systems/devices have software that is "smart" enough to ignore these files, but not Honda's.

In any case, if you have this issue, look at the thumb drive on your computer and see if there are hidden files. Here is how to do that on a Windows 10 machine:

How to view hidden files and folders in Windows 10:
Open File Explorer from the taskbar.
Select View > Options > Change folder and search options.
Select the View tab and, in Advanced settings, select Show hidden files, folders, and drives and OK.

(Sorry, if you have a Mac, you'll have to find a different solution. And BTW, these files were probably added by my Mac.)

I'm having the EXACT same problem. My music is download from my mac to the USB drive. I didn't find any hidden files on the USB drive but in the car they still appear & fail to play (along w/ the annoying beep). Did you figure out a solution?

 

[Nuke]

You could also try a full format of your USB, not just the short version if you have not tried a second usb; this would identify any bad sectors. Even a new usb could have bad sectors.

 

[DW1]

I'll try it. But so far it's been 3 for 3 on usb drives (one new & two older).

 

[James M]

The solution to your problem, at least it was for me, is to download the free CleanMyDrive 2 from the Apple App Store onto you Mac. Run the program on your usb thumb drive and it will remove the hidden files that the Mac OS saves onto the drive between each song. Once removed my music plays without interruption. Hope this helps you.