Help Ford Sync/other car HU's using USB (problem is phone cant mount as MASS Storage, only MTP)

VSpike915 · Jul 2, 2012

Hey all, quick question for the community here. I have a 2012 Ford Escape with Ford SYNC. I have the USB port which I always plugged the iPhone into and I could always use the voice command to change my song. I tried plugging the EVO into the USB today and all it did was charge. I tried to go to the USB source and it said no device detcted. Any sugestions or person experiences?

marctronixx · Jul 3, 2012

vspike,

reason is ICS 4.x uses MTP and not MASS STORAGE. Your Sync system is looking for a MASS STORAGE device and with Google using MTP to access files, etc, your sync system will not be able to recognize it.

Bluetooth and/or aux input may be your best options at this point...

Will Rickards · Jul 3, 2012

But if he puts an SD card in it with his music on that, he'll have the sync as disk drive option and that should work no?

marctronixx · Jul 3, 2012

I believe the issue is with MTP protocol. this has been an issue with other handsets as well.

i do not have a ford, but from what i read its is looking for a different protocol (old school MASS STORAGE) other than MTP.

FORD and many other car makers will have compatible handsets on their site that work with their systems. i would send then am email or check the website.

EarlyMon · Jul 3, 2012

I'm confused.

In the other thread, the OP mentioned that he was connecting in his car using Media Sync. I was surprised, I thought that USB storage was more popular.

Either way, neither of my Fords have this, wish that they did.

Oh well, something else to upgrade.

USB storage is strictly for the external sd card, yes?

sikclown · Jul 5, 2012

To the OP I have a 2011 Ford Explorer with Sync and I just connect it via Bluetooth and it works great.

marctronixx · Jul 5, 2012

I think the OP is not having any issues with the BT side, I think the OP wants to connect thru the SYNC in order to initiate the voice command feature.

RLCollector · Jul 5, 2012

Are you using your USB cable that came with your phone or another cable like from car charger?

Not all USB cables allow data to pass through it. I found this out when I tried to use my USB cable from my car charge to connect to my PC at work. I thought I could use any USB cable and know otherwise now.

sikclown · Jul 5, 2012

marctronixx said:
I think the OP is not having any issues with the BT side, I think the OP wants to connect thru the SYNC in order to initiate the voice command feature.

Gotcha, I missed that part.

marctronixx · Jul 5, 2012

this is true. some cables are sync only- so the handset will know to charge the unit in AC mode. it shorts pins 5 and 6 if memory serves.

I would hope the OP tried different cables and/or used the cable previously used with the prior handset that worked perfectly.

RLCollector said:
Are you using your USB cable that came with your phone or another cable like from car charger?

Not all USB cables allow data to pass through it. I found this out when I tried to use my USB cable from my car charge to connect to my PC at work. I thought I could use any USB cable and know otherwise now.

sikclown · Jul 5, 2012

Ok I turned off my BT and plugged my phone in via USB. To the OP, you need to pull down the notification bar and click on Change Connection type. You can then go to a screen that gives you choices. Use Mount as a Disk Drive (this may only be an option if you have an SD card in) or choose Media Sync. The problem I found with both of these options are that I could not get Pandora or any other Music Apps to play. Also Sync notifies you that the LTEvo doesn't allow the playback of protected content via USB, which for me isn't a problem. I still prefer the Bluetooth connection which also kicks on Beats Audio. I will play around some more with BT to see what Sync commands if any work.

marctronixx · Jul 5, 2012

i think those other apps may be on the card so when you change to storage mode, it will prevent you from using apps on the card.

sikclown · Jul 5, 2012

marctronixx said:
i think those other apps may be on the card so when you change to storage mode, it will prevent you from using apps on the card.

Actually I should have said I can use the apps but the sound will not play via USB. Makes sense actually because Sync is using it like a Hard Drive and opening the files itself.

Gladius Nova · Jul 12, 2012

I have a 2011 Lexus and it connects with my iPod via USB perfectly. I have my music on the ext. SD card on my Evo and when I connect it via USB nothing happens. I have it set to disk drive and still no dice. Anyone have any advice on a fix?
(And yes, I have tried Bluetooth and that works)

dustwun77 · Jul 12, 2012

Just curious if you have tried that Media synch, or whatever it is called option? You select it the same place. Worth a try.

Gladius Nova · Jul 12, 2012

dustwun77 said:
Just curious if you have tried that Media synch, or whatever it is called option? You select it the same place. Worth a try.

Oh...didn't think of that. I will try and report back.

dustwun77 · Jul 12, 2012

I hope it works. It may be some real technical thing we need someone from MIT to explain though...

marctronixx · Jul 12, 2012

@Gladius Nova,

merged your thread here. You are probably having the issue with other car HUs in that they are looking for a "Mass Storage" device and not "MTP" as the latest version of Android is setup for once the handset goes into USB mode.

You can also try to drop down the notification drawer and under the USB connections, select Disk storage and see if this makes any difference. NOTE that in this mode, some apps may not work if installed on the card.

darkleafar · Jul 13, 2012

VSpike915 said:
Hey all, quick question for the community here. I have a 2012 Ford Escape with Ford SYNC. I have the USB port which I always plugged the iPhone into and I could always use the voice command to change my song. I tried plugging the EVO into the USB today and all it did was charge. I tried to go to the USB source and it said no device detcted. Any sugestions or person experiences?

Welcome to the club of official MTP Loathers. I have been dealing with this issue for over a month now, never found a solution and eventually gave up. I have not listened to music in my car in 3 weeks, which is depressing. Anyway, here are the threads I had started on this, but yours seem more successful so lets keep it here.
http://androidforums.com/evo-4g-lte...bum-art-information-my-cars-display-root.html

[Q] Evo 4G LTE car's usb port/bluetooth connectivity issues. Please help! - xda-developers

http://androidforums.com/evo-4g-lte-all-things-root/577732-avrcp-1-3-enabled-rom.html

HTC EVO 4G LTE: How to get track and album art information on my - Android Forums at AndroidCentral.com

Evo 4G LTE car's usb port/bluetooth connectivity issues. Please h - Android Forums at AndroidCentral.com

darkleafar · Jul 13, 2012

I should also make a note that my car is a Prius V 2012, and that all of the features that I am currently trying to get to work used to work perfectly on my HTC Evo 3d.

So to summarize the important info in the threads I linked above:

AVRCP Bluetooth stacks thing needs to be version 1.3 or higher in order to display album art and track info in head display (which would enable voice commands as well). This applies if you want to solve your problem through bluetooth. Unfortunately, HTC did not implement AVRCP 1.3 as of yet.
MTP does not recognize any of my songs, and disk drive mode does not trigger anything at all when plugged into the car's USB port.
Retagging the songs with tag scanner software does not seem to work either, so it does not seem to be an ID3 tag issue
Moving the songs into the phones internal memory (instead of having them on the SD card) did not do anything for me either.
When selecting Media Sync USB option (MTP), My car keeps finding this random audio file now called "Join Hangout" and "Facebook pop" instead of my music. So I know the problem has to do with MTP, but why doesnt disk drive mode work anymore? THats what I dont get. Disk drive mode works perfectly on my computer, and my songs are all there. so why cant my car see it?

9Zambezi · Jul 16, 2012

VSpike915 said:
Hey all, quick question for the community here. I have a 2012 Ford Escape with Ford SYNC. I have the USB port which I always plugged the iPhone into and I could always use the voice command to change my song. I tried plugging the EVO into the USB today and all it did was charge. I tried to go to the USB source and it said no device detcted. Any sugestions or person experiences?

Interestingly, I was able to get Sync to recognize my Galaxy S3 and play music from the phone's internal memory -- for about 45 minutes. Then it just paused halfway through the song I was listening to and refused to play. I could still seek through music and call up tracks, but no sound. Here's what I did:

1. Connected everything, selected MTP on the phone in the USB connection menu. Sync didn't recognize anything and defaulted to Line-In mode.
2. Switched the phone to "Camera (PTP)" mode. At this point, Sync recognized a USB device, but couldn't access any music, so it switched back to line-in.
3. Switched the phone back to MTP, switched Sync back to USB, and it started indexing my tracks. I played them for about 45 minutes without a problem.

Haven't tried to replicate this yet, but I'm going to try it again tonight and see if it works. If not, I'll try out BT audio. Might be the best bet for now...

MuttR · Sep 16, 2012

I have no issues syncing my phone up with the car over blue tooth or usb directly. Phone and music work. My issue is that the car doesn't recognize the music on the micro sd card. It only sees the music on the phone main memory. Anybody have any luck playing music off the memory card?

Deleted User · Dec 19, 2012

I have an Atrix HD:

I was able to use the USB mass storage mode and use the sync with a USB cable. After the 4.1 JB update, I can no longer use this and I'm pissed about it!

KingFatty · May 9, 2013

Hi all,

I connect my phone to the USB port in my car. For a short duration, the car will provide power and 'investigate' my phone as though it were a USB memory stick. The phone doesn't appear to be a USB stick, so the car gives up after a short while and cuts power to the USB.

So my problem is how can I get the phone to present itself as a typical USB memory stick? On my old original EVO, I could adjust a setting to always set the phone that way. However, with the EVO 4G LTE, I need to pull down the task pane, click on the USB thing, choose the memory stick option, and then it should work with my car at that point but my problem is the car has already ended its investigation into the phone and cut power to the USB.

So I am just not fast enough to get my phone to work with the car via USB. Has anyone found a way to get their phone to stay in USB memory stick mode even when unplugged and plugged back in? Or is there a faster way, such as somehow using a widget to toggle the phone's USB mode that I can click on really fast during the window of time the car allows? It's a 2012 Kia Optima SX premium.

P_Dub · May 10, 2013

I think if you set disk drive as the default option, it should work. I can't find that option, though. There use to be charge only, media sync, disk drive, and one other. I can't be sure, since when I tried Disk Drive instead of HTC sync manager, my car still states it is an unsupported device.

Help Ford Sync/other car HU's using USB (problem is phone cant mount as MASS Storage, only MTP)

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