[sc489]

Music playback of mp3 files from a variety of USB memory stick keeps randomly disconnecting infrequently. It usually restarts after a few seconds or occasionally I have to reinsert the USB stick. I've tried 4 USB sticks approved by Kia or recommended by others on this forum. All the mp3 files are fine and play on my other car. I've also tried cleaning the car's USB socket.

I also get such disconnects on music playback from my Android phone via Android auto. I'm using the recent December software update.

This must be either a poor connection somewhere between the USB socket and circuit board or a software issue. Does anyone else have this problem?

 

[Roger T]

I've had the same experience - I had two older USB sticks that did exactly this. I've got a brand-new 4GB stick in the car now, but I haven't driven with it long enough to know if this one works.

 

[sc489]

I've had the same experience - I had two older USB sticks that did exactly this. I've got a brand-new 4GB stick in the car now, but I haven't driven with it long enough to know if this one works.

Thanks. What make and model of USB stick are you now using?

 

[Roger T]

Thanks. What make and model of USB stick are you now using?

It's just a generic 4GB drive - don't know which brand. I'd have to pull it out and check it.

 

[Roger T]

It's just a generic 4GB drive - don't know which brand. I'd have to pull it out and check it.

sigh my Niro wouldn't acknowledge the USB drive until I restarted Android Auto by connecting my phone to the USB port (although it was playing tracks from my phone via Bluetooth). I could then access the USB stick, where I found that picking "Artist" or "Album" alphabetized the tracks in an album, but "Files" sequenced them correctly. When I started the car three hours later it did not see the USB at all ... but after ten minutes or so I pulled it & re-inserted it, and it worked fine, without disconnecting. Flakey.

 

[sighttomtom]

"4GB" suggest it's a really old drive? I have 32GB mini thumb drive [$10] I have been using for past four years without an issue on many long drives. one level of 44 folders and 2000+ songs. BT streaming sometimes lose connection but USB always been very reliable.

 

[Academiguy]

I’ve been having this problem with Apple CarPlay on my ‘23 Niro EV. Random disconnects, then reconnects 4-6 seconds later. The same phone has no problems on other cars. And the same phone has no problems if playing music via Bluetooth. I strongly suspect some kind of software bug in the head unit—it just seems really implausible that there would be a loose hardware connection on so many cars. Then again, maybe not?

 

[sc489]

I’ve been having this problem with Apple CarPlay on my ‘23 Niro EV. Random disconnects, then reconnects 4-6 seconds later. The same phone has no problems on other cars. And the same phone has no problems if playing music via Bluetooth. I strongly suspect some kind of software bug in the head unit—it just seems really implausible that there would be a loose hardware connection on so many cars. Then again, maybe not?

I didn't mention it but I tried playing back mp3 files from my Android phone via USB and had similar random disconnects.

 

[Roger T]

I've pretty much given up on using a USB drive - I have enough memory on my phone, and the Bluetooth music player is reliable enough (I dumped a bunch of .mp3s onto my phone so I don't have to pay for streaming).

 

[DennisTPM]

I got this 512 gb flash drive for $40. I wanted the best quality music so I ripped my CDs to uncompressed .wav files instead of compressed .mp3 files. The sound is identical to playing a CD. There's plenty of room for hundreds of CDs. It's very low profile and barely sticks out of the USB port.

SanDisk 512GB Ultra Fit USB 3.1 Flash Drive - SDCZ430-512G-G46 Amazon.com

 

[SDeemer]

I got this 512 gb flash drive for $40.

Minor hijack: I bought my first computer hard drive in 1985. It had 10 mb (!) of storage, cost $1000, and died after 2 years. Mercifully, they don't make 'em like that any more.

 

[sc489]

Minor hijack: I bought my first computer hard drive in 1985. It had 10 mb (!) of storage, cost $1000, and died after 2 years. Mercifully, they don't make 'em like that any more.

I remember using DEC RL02 removable drives size 10Mb in the 80s at work. We called them spin dryers!

 

[sc489]

I got this 512 gb flash drive for $40. I wanted the best quality music so I ripped my CDs to uncompressed .wav files instead of compressed .mp3 files. The sound is identical to playing a CD. There's plenty of room for hundreds of CDs. It's very low profile and barely sticks out of the USB port.

SanDisk 512GB Ultra Fit USB 3.1 Flash Drive - SDCZ430-512G-G46 Amazon.com

Great news but I doubt you will be able to tell the difference in music fidelity between a high bit rate mp3 file and wav file in playback. Any dropouts?

 

[XJCasper]

Minor hijack: I bought my first computer hard drive in 1985. It had 10 mb (!) of storage, cost $1000, and died after 2 years. Mercifully, they don't make 'em like that any more.

Remember using 6+ floppy disks to run one game? Then having to switch from disk to disk for game play? The good old days.