Issues with USB MP3s in 2015 Subaru Outback

July 23, 2023 11:06 AM

Is there a way to stop my vehicle from re-scanning my thumb drive full of songs every time I start it up?

I have a 2015 Outback with the factory installed stereo (7" LCD screen with Harman Kardon if that matters). I have a USB stick with 1500 or so songs split between 6 folders that I use for my main source of music. Songs are arranged at random throughout the folders, so I just play the folders in sequence and it acts as my library on shuffle.

Things work fine when driving, but if I turn the vehicle off with less than 90 seconds remaining on the current song, the next time I start it up it finishes what's left of the song and then resets back to the first song in the first folder.

Super annoying, right?

During that time frame, it also displays " / " for the song position in the folder (rather than, say, 27/254).

So, my guess is it's taking those 90 seconds to re-scan the entire USB every time I start the vehicle and if there isn't enough time to complete the scan, it just resets back to song 1.

Any ideas of how to disable this re-scan or other ideas? I've reformatted the USB and swapped songs around, but the issue still persists. When listening to songs via Bluetooth or CD everything works as expected.

My previous car was a Camry that had a USB stick in an after-market stereo which didn't have this issue, so I know it's possible to avoid just not sure what to do.

posted by Twicketface to Technology (9 answers total)

Have you dug around in the stereo's deep settings? I wouldn't be surprised if there was a "cache playlist info" or something like that, possibly misleadingly named, in there. If not, it may be worth looking up whether you can create an index file that lives on the USB drive that the player looks for. I wouldn't be surprised if there was some JSON or whatever type file that it checks for before scanning.

Edit: Oh, and if you can figure out the exact model number, people might be able to find stuff like manuals and other docs. It would probably also be deep in the settings.
posted by BlackLeotardFront at 11:49 AM on July 23, 2023

Maybe forward to the next song right before you turn off the engine, to avoid the 90-seconds-from-the-end trigger?
posted by cheapskatebay at 12:02 PM on July 23, 2023

Response by poster: @blackleotardfront - Thanks - unfortunately, nothing in the settings gives playlist/USB options. No files (hidden or otherwise) on the USB other than the mp3s.

Maybe best for me to call the dealership and see if there's a possible software update/fix.
posted by Twicketface at 4:51 PM on July 23, 2023

FWIW I have a Onkyo TX-NR626 "A/V Receiver" (a black box that sits in my house and allows me to play music from a number of different sources). I have a USB flash drive with 300 songs on plugged into the Onykyo . When I switch the source to USB there is an annoyingly long pause while the message "Now Initializing ..." is displayed before you can access any music off the drive.

This is the only device I've heard of this on but your description makes me think it might be a more general USB characteristic rather than something specific to Subaru.
posted by southof40 at 9:33 PM on July 23, 2023

Not necessarily a general USB thing. My 2010 Kia Sportage factory stereo has a USB port for a flash drive; I just leave my drive with some 2000 tracks on it installed in the port all the time. Never scans (or re-scans) the drive, properly displays title/track info, and picks up from where it left off mid-song, when I turn the car off and on again.
posted by xedrik at 10:01 PM on July 23, 2023

Seems like this is the right manual? Doesn't seem like there's a way to do what you're asking.

If you still have a CD burner handy you might try making an MP3 cd and seeing if that changes the behavior.
posted by gregr at 6:56 AM on July 24, 2023

Perhaps using an M3U playlist would work around the issue? Maybe it won't feel the need to scan the files (and then creating a dynamic playlist) if it already has one available.
posted by neckro23 at 7:46 PM on July 24, 2023

Maybe best for me to call the dealership

TBH, Subaru is not going to care about this. My 2018 Outback has more serious issues in the infotainment center and they've never put out a fix for it.

The simplest suggestion is to turn on shuffle mode, which won't solve the problem of it playing recently played tracks again but resolves most of your issues.
posted by Candleman at 8:39 AM on August 5, 2023

Response by poster: Thanks all for chiming in. Unfortunately, the USB drive won't read a M3U playlist and turning on shuffle mode yields the same 90 second delay on playback.

Will grit my teeth until I get a new vehicle or look into an after-market option.
posted by Twicketface at 7:24 AM on August 28, 2023