[rvoll]

This is the a recent problem I've been having again with my phone/USB port.

It may work for an hour or more with Android Auto, then it will do this. Any function run through the USB (Android auto, Amazon Music) fails out. If you remove/reinsert the USB cable at the port it will resume operation on the screen until the error happens again. The malfunctions happen in shorter and shorter intervals, and eventually it happens only a few minutes in-between malfunctions. This of course makes Android Auto totally useless.

I typically have a very small form factor USB drive in the port for music. I have ibthink twice heard a strange electronic tone and the USB failed playing.

The first time this problem appeared, I had a broken phone. This is happening with a new replacement phone and different cables.

Does the flash drive still work? Disconnect the battery for a minute so you can hard boot your infotainment system and see what that does. When you say a "small form factor drive" does than mean a thumb drive or an SSD type drive?

 

[rvoll]

Hi.

Sportage SX 2017 here and I got the same random phone connected/disconnected when using Android auto.

Unplug / Plug the USB cable seems to solve it for a while.

I had weeks of that not happening and then a couple of time that it came about 1h driving the car. This had been going on and off since since I have the car

2 different good working phones (Samsung S8 and S10+). OEM usb cable.

Didn't happen yet my new Samsung S20

Dealer did a reset but no effect on the problem.

My warranty ends in September. If this comes back this summer I'll try to get a least some components replace (usb connector maybe and even head unit if needed)

Keep us posted!

Envoyé de mon SM-G981W en utilisant Tapatalk

The likelihood of it being a bad port or bad head unit is very, very small. Phone ports are either micro-USB or USB-C ports, and if not careful, can start giving you weak connections because they are so small and connections are tiny. Just a little bend in one of the connectors can cause intermittent problems. Generally, problems with head units are software related and very consistent. You really don't want to replace the head unit unless you absolutely rule out all other causes because they are so expensive. I have never seen a head unit on a newer car with a hardware failure. It doesn't mean it can't happen, but it is extremely rare. OTOH, software/firmware issues are far more common but they can be fixed by upgrading them. The outlet port on your car is a standard USB A and is extremely stable as it is large -- they are hard to ruin. USB cables with micro-USB or C connectors can also be rather easily bent enough to weaken connections. Most people don't want to believe it is your phone port as the only real solution is to replace an expensive phone. Be very careful when plugging a cable into your phone. Do it slow and straight.

 

[rvoll]

Same form factor, different color. Basically it's the smallest I could find so that it didn't get bumped and torque on the USB port. I have to keep a paperclip in the loop opening so I have something to pull it out with. It's so small it's hard to grab in the storage well with my hand.

I've used two different phones (new A71 and a new replacement A71). Two cables including Samsung OEM. I have also had a couple of playback malfunctions with the USB drive pictures above. It sounded like when a computer or game console from the 90's would lock-up while playing a digital sound. Just like it's hung while playing a specific tone. This has happened twice. There is also a strange thing where it will start playing a track, but will skip to the next song midway through. Not every song, I've only noticed it on two specific tracks, and I don't know that it's every time either. Yes I've tried replacing the files on the drive.

Did you hard boot your infotainment system by disconnecting the battery? I also use an even smaller flash drive for music files. These ports are very simple connections. I would still try another (different brand) phone for testing to see if this happens. Hopefully, it isn't a phone OS issue. I had similar issues with a couple of cables -- two of them new from Amazon. Those micro-USB ports on your phone are pretty sensitive. The C ports, even though small, seem to be better.

 

[rvoll]

Well things continue to be flaky. The Android Auto issue seems to be resolved. I functioned perfectly on a 7+ hour drive from Phoenix to Solvang, CA and back.

However Sunday, the head unit acted strangely. It was playing from the new USB and the "music" icon was activating without being touched. It was like the screen was getting tough inputs on its own. It was so bad the entire head unit was essentially locked up for 5 minutes or so. It was like a 90's computer when it would freeze up and just hang.

No touch inputs would work, I removed the USB drive, I even attempted a power off using the know. Eventually either the system managed to process through something and my power off went through or the system crashed and rebooted. After that it worked normally. I had my daughter in the car so she was able to video some of this non behavior where the icons are activated and it is locked up.

This morning on the drive to work, I had the radio on listening to the local news and traffic station when it decided I needed to listed to the USB drive and switched to that source on its own.

The dealership has said it is difficult for them to fix anything without being able duplicate the issue. So unless I have a passenger to record I can essentially never collect any proof of the behaviors.

It's been a couple of years, but I had USB music issues until I recoded all of my music. A few of my mp3's were corrupted and a couple had formats the infotainment system didn't recognize that were mis-labeled. That solved all of my USB music issues. I also reorganized all of the songs into a better folder structure so I could play whole albums at a time. I stream most of my stuff now and don't remember the computer software I used -- but it worked great.

 

[rvoll]

When you have a problem like this, you should do a hard boot first. That means disconnecting the battery for 10 minutes or so. If you just open the door after turning the car off, it is a soft boot, not a hard boot unless there was a handshake issue and the unit automatically hard boots.

 

[rvoll]

Wouldn't pressing the reset button on the unit accomplish a reset?

Where is the reset button?

 

[rvoll]

Disconnecting the battery resets a whole lot more than just the the Infotainment system. Most of these have a small hole for a pin to do a reset. I have no idea where it is on that model, but I do know where it is on all the cars we own, and they all have it. For instance, on my 2020 Sorento...

#5 is the reset, you use a small pin to reset the system.

There is a reset button on the Sportage to the upper right of the volume knob on the navigation model. And yes, that should be tried first before you disconnect the battery. However, I don't know if that is a hard boot or a soft boot. I've never used it... I've disconnected the battery several times because of some of the electronics mods I've done on the car. Reconnecting it doesn't seem to change anything. What do you think it resets besides the infotainment system?

 

[rvoll]

Well, it will also reset the ECU and it will forget all the stuff it's learned like shift points, etc.

Car Battery – Before You Disconnect It – Know What Can Go Wrong

You can find a lot of scare posts on the internet -- and in my opinion, this is one of them. In fact, I can find an article that supports anything I want to believe. Perhaps this forum is being run by aliens!!!! If you go to any MAJOR source, no one is concerned with this issue. Why? Because the basic settings, like when you first got your new car, are just fine. In addition, many of the settings are kept in non-volatile memory which holds them even when the battery is disconnected. Don't take seriously everything you read on the internet. Personally, I've disconnected the battery on my Sportage on several occasions and I couldn't tell anything that was different afterwards. All of my settings on my infotainment system are kept just fine. If you have a Ferrari, there may be an issue. However, if you have any volume oriented car like our Sportage, there really is no issue. It's still a good idea, as you said, to hit the reset button first, but you never get a complete reboot unless you disconnect the battery. If you don't believe me, disconnect your battery yourself and see if there is any noticeable difference.

 

[rvoll]

Yep, you can find a lot of bad information, so I tend not to believe any of it.

There are reputable sources for car information. Any of the MAJOR car mags who actually test vehicles I'd tend to believe. Consumer Reports is not bad. The government website is good if you understand the testing methodology. Edmund's isn't bad. The AAA has decent information. Things like "Dannysengineportal" or "Bobtheoilguy" or forums like this are more like a dollop of sludge. People these days tend to trust the misinformation coming from Russia and China posed as American "News" Sites. The good news is that they don't do much on cars. One of the big problems is that there are always quality control issues with a small minority of vehicles no matter what brand you are talking about. While the percentage is small, people take this all out of proportion and people with problems post a lot more than those of us who don't have them. Again, the problems stated with disconnecting your battery are way overstated. Do it yourself and see what I mean.... The only thing I had to do last time was reset the clock. Big deal....

 

[rvoll]

Nothing in that clip refutes what I said. The memory save doubtless is also "saving" all the Infotainment system settings you were trying to reset! I didn't recommend such an approach.

FYI, the infotainment settings are saved in non-volatile memory and therefore are automatically saved. Disconnecting the battery doesn't lose any information with the possible exception of the clock. And I'm pretty sure you have access to a clock somewhere to reset that.

 

[rvoll]

I've found that these intermittent problems are mostly the cable. Each cable has very small connectors that sometimes do not fully contact each internal connector. The tiny connectors flex which enables the connections. These can wear over time and not give a strong connection. This sometimes even occurs with "high quality" cables. Sometimes, these connectors get dirty. One time, I went through three cables before I found one that offered a stable connection. This can occur on the USB side or the phone side. Cables are cheap. Buy several of them from different manufacturers.