Meto

So.. I test drove the Hyundai Palisade last night and plugged in my 128GB drive with tons of music...

It started playing in less than 10 seconds and then I started moving through different folders and switching songs extremely fast...

My RDX takes 10 minutes to "Initialize" my drive and it is slow as molasses to move through the menus..

I will admit the sound system is not as nice as the RDX, but it looks like I am serious about the Palisade now...It rides better, has more standard features and I need more cargo space..

Ginoj56

Never tried music from the USB, I only use bluetooth. Could it be that you need to reformat or try a different drive?

Btw, where do you get your songs for the USB?

Meto

Not the problem as I have used many different types of USB and it doesn't matter as far as the RDX is concerned. As far as music, it is a combination of Digital downloads and ripped CD's from my collection all placed in directories by band or by genre

Ginoj56

Ok, sad to hear that the USB reads awfully slow. We'll see what other members have to say.

I suggest you also bring it up to the dealer, if you have time.

I'm using Spotify, got no CD collection to rip anymore and couldn't find anywhere else to download legally and free.

Meto

Oh I have.. MANY times... They just ignore the problem and say it is working as expected. My other car is a 2015 Hyundai Sonata and it loads it fast as well.. So did my 2010 Mazda CX-9 before my RDX...

Njbrandon

The USB worked flawlessly until the December update. It completely stopped reading my old ipod nano and ever since I have to unplug and replug my USB stick or it gets stuck on 'initializing' . Something in that update screwed up the USB connection.

Mustachio

I've also experienced slow USB load/initialize when I first plug it in. If I keep it plugged in, it'll start immediately. However, then I can't use CarPlay. I tried using a usb splitter but it did not let me use CarPlay and the usb stick. This could have been a problem of the splitter though.

mathnerd88

Are you trading in your RDX Meto?

Padre Dave

Interesting observations. Before the RDX, I drove a 2012 CX-9. That one had its share of frustrations for me. I used a USB drive in that one too and it took quite a while for it to set up. When I used my phone, it always tried to default to the Bluetooth. Once I figured that out it went better....

Otherwise, I hear your frustration. I have it figured out now and while I pray that Honda gets this figured out sooner rather than later, it is not a deal breaker for me. I am loving this car and this is just a minor irritant for me

Meto

Sure if I can work out the deal... It looks pretty good right now, but if the deal isn't right, then I will sell it myself

Wander

The system needs to index or "catalog" the contents of a generic USB drive the first time it is plugged in. It "should" retain that information for the next time that drive is used, so it doesn't have to do it again.

I think the index is actually stored on the drive. IIRC this is why some devices are incompatible; they won't allow the system to store the index at the root level of the drive.

Apple devices do their own indexing and organization, and CarPlay works pretty well with my iPhone. Much better than the generic USB drives I used in my previous Honda vehicle ( 2016 Pilot ).

I'm not sure what flavor of USB the system is using, but it's no speed demon.

Padre Dave

It seems like it takes around a minute or three for the indexing to be loaded. I was wondering if the data was retained, but noticed that when I switch from CarPlay to my USB, the initializing takes much longer for the USB. Then my index is faded, as nit ready to be used. I am not sure the system retains the indexing in any kind of equivalent of a hard drive. It is more like it loads the index onto something like RAM that then operates the system.

We returned from California today and I had the weirdest occurrence that is new to me. The whole screen was dimming and then loading and repeating this every 5 seconds or so. Nothing worked during that time, so I did the old pull the USB cord and turn the system off and then everything was fine. Nice drive back across the desert, listened to an Audible book with my wife’s iPhone for the firsts time using her phone....worked like a charm.

This whole system is just weird. I too expected more, but really love the car.

Meto

Just received my new Palisade today and on initial load of a 128GB drive it took 15 seconds to initialize. I took video of the performance of the system and will upload and share soon

rogersje1428

So I plugged my Ipod Nano directly into the usb receptacle with an Iphone cord. The screen indicates SOMETHING is plugged in, but I cannot access the music. I am assuming the only way to use this player is via Bluetooth?

LAJ

I've tried lots of drives with different brands/sizes/formatting (32, 64, FAT, exFAT) and they all suffer from the same problems...extended re-initialization every few starts that prevents use for 5-10 minutes and music selections that don't stick between starts (reverts to playing all songs). Ford Sync may not be as sexy but works great day in and day out in our Expedition. The rest of the infotainment is laggy/buggy as well. I would not purchase this vehicle if given a second chance (2020 RDX with latest firmware 1.1.1.4).

-AoW-JP

I use a USB stick that I leave plugged in all the time. It’s got music from 1969 to 2004 billboard top 100 of each year. I can instantly access it. My frustration comes when trying to navigate to the folder which is three levels in. I miss my RLX dash with split screen.

Cuzz

Has anyone confirmed the best way to use a USB thumbdrive for music? Does it have to index every time, or just once? I have about 100 gb of music, I wonder if I would be better off with all of it on 1 drive, or breaking it out into 3 or 4 smaller drives according to genre or something (Rock, Country, Rap, etc), and then keep them all on a keychain and use which ever one I want?

I'm not sure if the latest OTA update fixed/changed/broke anything related to using USB media for music.
Or, I guess I could just buy a large media player with Bluetooth and use it that way. I wonder which way would work better???

Thanks.

arjaykay

Nothing has changed on my 2019 Advanced relating to using USB media for music after the D.1.2.1 update. The drive initializes every time the car is started. Sometimes it takes 30-40 seconds and picks up the music where it was when the car was shut off previously. Other times it does a complete reinitialization (10-15 minutes) and then starts playing a random song on the drive. Once the drive is initialized, it plays fine until the car is shut off.

I am using a 128GB PNY USB 3.1 flash drive with about 90GB of music on it. If someone is using a USB flash drive for music and is not having the initialization problems, could you post the size and brand of USB flash drive that you are using.

Jerzy

I use SanDisk 32GB Ultra Fit USB 3.1 and had 50/50 success rate before last D.1.2.1 update. Every other time it would take forever to start or would display "No Data" or "USB Error" messages. I like to play songs in random order, but often after an error it would reset and play from the beginning. I use only 10GB, but there is still a lot of songs (approx 3000), since I use AAC compression. I've tried 5 different flash drives, all 32GB, to no avail (two Samsungs, two SanDisks, one Transcend). Extended FAT vs. plain FAT did not make any difference. After last update it works every time so far. I started car about 10 times and only twice got about 30s delay, otherwise starts very fast. Judging by your experience Acura still has some work to do, but at least there is some improvement. I know that software is very complicated, since many things happen on the start-up, but something like USB Error or "No data" would require only to attempt few times, instead of quitting after just one try. Also, after last update people reported no HUD navigation arrows discrepancy. At least it is all going in positive direction, fingers crossed.

Perhaps delay is related to amount of data (not amount of songs). If your music isn't compressed you can use compression like AAC or MP3 (AAC has better quality for the size). I used 256kbps VBR (variable bit rate) compression. They claim somewhere that AAC has to be purchased from Itunes. I used diiferent program to batch convert and it works fine - otherwise there is always MP3 to try.

arjaykay

Thanks Jerzy.

I use 320kbps AAC files exclusively. I have about 90GB of music on the flash drive. None of my music files were purchased from iTunes. I batch convert like you do. I like to play songs by album and have the music separated into folders. I search by artist and then choose the album that I want to play. I have tried smaller drives and still have the same problems. Once the flash drive is completely loaded, it works fine for awhile (about a week) and then will totally reinitialize the flash drive again. I always get the 30-40 second initializing delay and then it starts playting. I have never had the music start right up. About half the time the music will start right up after the blue screen disappears, but it then goes into the initializing mode for about 30-40 seconds and then it starts to play again.

I have done the factory reset and the three finger restart and still have the problem.

My friend has a 2017 Honda CR-V Touring and his 128GB stick initially loads in about ten seconds and after that he has no delays when starting his car.

Hopefully Acura will get it right someday.

Cuzz

I wonder if a 3rd party media player would be better? It could connect via Bluetooth or by the 3.5mm Jack. Then all the indexing takes place on the media player and just feeds the music to the radio. If I can find one that I can plug a memory card into I may try it. Of course, this means you would need to choose your musi from the player rather than the car, but it may be better since that was what it was designed to do.

Jerzy

Arjaykay, I spoke too soon - just got "USB error". Still, it is better than before. I started with full 32GB and slowly deleted one by one songs and albums I don't listen often to. I'm not sure if it made any difference - perhaps slightly shorter wait for music to start. I had 2013 Honda Accord before and had long delays or random mode resetting from time to time (with 64GB of music), but Acura is much worse. There is some hope now, but improvement might be accidental (order of things on start-up etc.). Acura software engineers are not very competent, not only for allowing problems to persist in 4 software updates, but also for releasing car software without testing (5 times!)

oblio98

I have a 512Gb Samsung T-5 SSD that I have loaded with 5.1 music (and a few stereo tunes). Since the D.1.2.1 update, I have yet to have the "surprise screech" during playback, but I have had times when I've had to unplug it and plug it back in before it will start after a car shutdown. Not every time. Many times it just picks up where it left off.

As for initialization, it's interesting to see how it works. I added a new album to the drive, and when I attached it the next time it didn't take long to index the entire thing yet it found the new album folder fine. BUT - other times, out of the blue, when I get into the car with it left attached, it will revert to playing the first song from the first album as it reindexes the drive.

It really doesn't make much sense really, but I can live with it after the previous versions of the software.

subin

I have Kingston DT50 32GB thumb drive with mp3 music. Before the 1.2.1 update, if I started the car with it connected to the USB port and played USB music before turning off the car, I often get "initializing..." and needed to unplug and replug to get it to work again.
After the update (about 5 days now), no more such issue. I did experienced one time that it took about a minute for it started playing music.

Jerzy

Today I got message "Unfortunately USB Audio stopped working, OK?" across large screen. I couldn't get rid of it, so I turned off the car, opened the door and restarted again. It worked fine for a while, but next time I started the car I got the same message again.

ACURA, YOUR SOFTWARE PEOPLE ARE INCOMPETENT !!!

LAJ

I'll bet Acura regrets putting this infotainment system in a "luxury" SUV. Definitely pulls it down a few notches! The latest update from a few days ago solved some problems but the USB is still a mess.

EFR

This is really the crux of the problem with Acura these days....IMO. If you can divide a car into the mechanical, the electronics and software.....Acuras ability and competency with software has to rank pretty low. Yes, after an absurd amount of time they finally came out with an update. A lot of problems were finally resolved but only after people were at a boiling point. And quite frankly there should be another one released within weeks to clean up the few remaining issues getting mentioned. But there won't be....it will another 10 months. A very good vehicle hampered by terrible software leadership.

jmg_rdx

Have the latest update.
The USB drive, my main source of listening to music, sometimes starts up instantly at the place where it left off. Ah, it's nice when it works properly. Occasionally it starts up quickly but playing all songs - that's annoying. Other times it starts by immediately reinitializing and then usually only finally starts after I pull the USB stick and reinsert it. Totally annoying.
All-in-all almost as bad as the almost unusable navigation system. I feel silly with my Garmin sitting there just behind the screen so I can find my way to places.

Meto

Meanwhile in Hyundai Palisade land, my USB starts up as soon as I start the vehicle and works flawlessly

(quick jab)

EFR

Awesome Meto,...I have finally seen a couple more of these 'twins' on the road.Look nice and remain in my top tier when my LR3 goes....maybe for the 2021's? I'm anxious to see the new MDX/TLX's which I guess will be for 2021 and the GLB which was posted here with pictures.

Mustachio

I have a USB with about 20 FLAC albums. Takes 5-10 minutes too initialize when first plugged in. After that, it'll boot immediately when I start the car. Too bad I use CarPlay so I'm always unplugging the USB. I really wish there were 2 USB ports connected to the audio system. Can't even use a USB splitter.

JB in AZ

I'm not all that familiar with Apple phones, but my Galaxy S8 Has a 256 GB micro SD card...I assume this can hold many audio files, and this would only need 1 USB port connected to the audio system and I assume also allow the use of Android Auto? Does your iPhone have the capability to use a larger Micro SD card?

WoodyB

JB - iPhones don't have an expansion slot. Never have. it's one of the nice features of the Samsung and other Androids.

JB in AZ

I seem to recall that, but wasn't 100% sure, as we don't have any iPhones in the family.

rogersje1428

I use the menu of speedometer screen with the thumbwheel to find my plugged in Nano.

dcmod

That is how Apple makes a ton of money selling different storage size for their Iphone . And that is why I buy only Android with Micro Sd slots. If you need a 512 GB storage , it only cost you less thsn $20 for a 512 GB MicroSd as opposed to paying Apple at least $100 for another built in 512 GB Iphone

srvadlamani1

Guys -

is the only USB port that plays music the one which is used for Apple Car Play/ Android Auto? So, it's using one or the other?

Regards

Sri

Padre Dave

Yep, the only USB that plays music on the infotainment system is the one that you plug your phone into for CarPlay. All of the other USB ports are for charging only.

Padre Dave

Too pricey for me...having to drive that car just to get your USB to work better......I’ll stick to my RDX, thanks......(jab returned)

srvadlamani1

Thanks for that response! Somebody had an idea on using the AUX in option... I wonder if we can make that wrork.