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GS4+Uconnect USB= help

9K views 38 replies 8 participants last post by  RScottyL 
#1 ·
So I recently (2 days ago) got a 2014 R/T AWD with the 8.4 system in it, ready to scroll happily through all my music,but when I plug in my Galaxy S4 into the USB port, it says "Cannot read USB device". I know I could load my music onto an SD card or USB stick, But I add music to my phone on the go rather quickly, and updating the other memory devices would be a hassle.

I took it to Dewey Dodge yesterday, and the tech guy was like " It only works with apple products".

Could there be a software update for Uconnect, or Something I could do to my android so the two would play nice?:beerchug:

Thank You
 

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#2 ·
Congrats on the new ride! I have the s3 and only thing I can think is after u plug your phone in. The phone will either say connected as camera device or media device. It has to be media or it wont work or atleast thats how my s3 is. Hope that helps:beerchug:
 
#3 ·
Exactly what I was going to say. Try both ways. Can't hurt.
There's also the bluetooth option. That works fine with my Note 3, although I rarely use it. I went the SD card path. So much simpler.

As far as working with Apple, tell him some members of this forum would disagree.

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#4 ·
Even when media mode (MTP) is selected, still the "cannot read USB device" continues to be displayed.
 

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#5 ·
And just for the hell of it, it doesn't like PTP mode either.
 

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#6 ·
I know this might sound dumb but have u tried a different cord for your phone. I have multiple ones that will charge my phone but some will not let u transfer data across. I hace a rechargeable flashlight that has the same charging port as our phones. I use that cord to charge (because it's longer) but if I use that cord and plug my phone to my computer or the radio. It wont recognize the phone it will only charge. So I have another that charges an is able to transfer data. Worth a shot. Hope that helps!
 
#7 · (Edited)
I think it must be the way Android's file system is, or that most car manufacturers build for the iPhones!

As far as I have known, USB ports in cars worked for either iPhones, iPods, or flash drives.

If you plugged in an Android phone, it would only charge the device and not allow you to play music from it!

As far as the Charger is concerned, if you have the 2011+, you have the SD Card slot. That way, you don't have to keep connecting
and disconnecting something to play your music, you can leave it in there all the time!
 
#8 ·
Well, I went to best buy and got myself a rocket fish. It said charge/ SYNC so I assumed that it is capable of data transfer. But yet again, like the samsung cable, all that happened before after selecting MTP mode, lead to the familiar "cannot read USB device" message.

Would there be anybody else I should contact regarding this issue? Dodge?
 

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#10 · (Edited)
This is perfect. Thanks to all who said anything.

Now to organizing my music files and rooting the device. Did it 2 yrs ago on my GS1.

But guess what. The build on my phone (NC5) and the version (4.4.2) are too up to date to be able to be rooted. Until they make a root for it, I'm SOL. But it's an until then, not a never.
 
#12 ·
Hey man,

I have a 13' and an updated GS4, the only way mine plays is via Bluetooth. That said, I just got a cheap USB stick and tossed my songs on there. Or as a14umbra just mentioned, SD card is an option too.
 
#13 ·
I've broken in. I transferred all my music from my phone to the SD card. If I really want that extra music, I'll Bluetooth it.

But this is temp until the guys over at XDA developers can root NC5.

Thanks guys
 
#14 ·
Best solution for these cars is an iPod Classic plugged into the USB jack.

You'll get better integration into the Uconnect system, and it sounds better than an SD card or USB stick.

Just get a USB adapter for charging your phone from the 12V jack in the center console, and don't bother beating your head against the wall trying to make it work with the Uconnect.
 
#16 ·
Sure, the files on the SD card will play, but the integration isn't as "flawless" on an SD Card/USB stick as would be on an old iPod.

There are a lot of other issues besides simply playing the music files, like album track ordering, playlist compatibility, transitions between tracks, etc.

Playing the same track on an SD card/USB drive and an old iPod Classic will result in different performance. The USB/SD data follows a different, inferior path than the iPod's USB Audio.
 
#17 ·
I have none of the problems you describe. Track order is fine, playlists are fine, and the transitions are fine. It wasn't that way with my 2011, but it's flawless with my 2014. Again, it has to be encoded properly. You can't just dump untagged files on a card. I've been an audiophile since 1976. The Beats may be flawed, but uconnect nailed it with this one.

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#19 ·
If you borrow one, you're not going to want to give it back!

The 160GB models hold a ton of music, so it's nice to plug in and forget.

The iPod screen displays a cool "Dodge" screen while it's plugged in, but since it stays in the console, I never really get to see it.

The sound quality is better, because the hardware dealing with the digital audio is better via an iPod interface.

SD cards and USB drives copy the files straight to the radio, where the Uconnect system does all of the converting to audio. From what I can tell, the Uconnect converts all digital files to 48KHz / 16-bit regardless of the source encoding.

When you use an iPod Classic (not an iPhone or iPod Touch) the files are digitally transferred down the USB cable via USB Audio instead of a USB file transfer, where it is decoded using dedicated hardware (NOT designed by Uconnect) before leaving the radio. This dedicated hardware does a better job of playing back music encoded at a higher quality.

In addition, you have some other controls on the iPod Classic, like volume leveling and a number of EQ options that can be taken advantage of.
 
#20 ·
Okay. I guess I'm a bit of an audio snob. I think the Beats system is so blah that bitrate isn't going to matter that much. I mean CD's don't even make it sound especially good. But I will try. It's funny, ipods are considered low end in the audiophile community because the digital to analog converter isn't very good compared to other devices (archos, zune). But I have a friend with a classic that I'm sure will lend it to me. I looked and found one on eBay for thirty bucks that the display is bad and headphones don't work (perfect). If I like it, I've got a cost effective solution.

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#21 ·
I'll also concede that the DAC/CODEC isn't that great in the iPod Classic, so I'd never vouch for it's actual audio quality via the headphone jack or line outputs, but it's the only way to really get the Uconnect system to perform at it's peak - at least as much as can be done.

At the very least, it will allow the higher sample rates and bit clocks to make it all of the way to the radio's final DAC, instead of just getting downsampled by the radio.

I work in the audio field, in a digital design center for a semiconductor company that makes CODECs and amplifiers. I've spent the last 12 years characterizing and analyzing audio performance, looking and listening for bugs and other ways to improve our products. I've developed a pretty sensitive ear over the years, but that just means that I'm never really happy with anything I listen to nowadays. The Beats system in my '13 was better than the one in my '14. The frequency response just isn't the same; they've done something different to the low and high ends.

I can identify most deficiencies pretty quickly, but I am most sensitive to high frequency issues. For me, the difference between SD/USB and iPod Classic is very clear, light night and day, though I'll admit that it might not be so obvious for most people.
 
#29 ·
I can identify most deficiencies pretty quickly, but I am most sensitive to high frequency issues. For me, the difference between SD/USB and iPod Classic is very clear, light night and day, though I'll admit that it might not be so obvious for most people.
This will sound funny, but maybe I don't know how to use an iPod. I just read what you said about highs. I hear no improvement in highs, so that means either the 2014 Beats just can't reproduce them well enough (that was my assumption), or there are some iPod controls I wasn't accessing. Is it possible to access the iPod EQ when it's plugged in?
I really would love this to work. I definitely want better highs.

BTW, it looks like the Gamestop near where I work has a used 30GB for $50.
 
#23 ·
I tried the iPod. My friend had a lot of music in common with mine so I was able to compare several songs.

Bass - significantly higher level of bass on the iPod. I had to drop the equalizer below 0db, where I typically have it halfway above 0db when using the SD card.
Midrange and highs - as I suspected, there was little difference, if any. The weak link here is the Beats system, so no matter the source, mids and highs are lacking.
Efficiency - here the SD card is the clear leader. Inserting a brand new SD card with 4000 songs takes about three minutes to build the database. The ipod with 3300 songs took seven minutes. Subsequent connections only took about fifteen seconds, where the SD card is virtually instantaneous. When using voice command, there was enough additional delay that I thought it command had failed, but it did play eventually. The time to process the command didn't change, there was just the additional time of a few seconds for the ipod to get to the track.
Cost - even if you get a used ipod, SD cards are tremendously cheaper. Plus, there's no hard drive or battery to wear out. So I suspect longevity makes SD cards even more cost effective.

Conclusion - On paper, the iPod wins, and in reality there is a difference in sound quality. Given the system it's playing through, it can mostly be compensated for by adjusting the equalizer. If I already owned an ipod, I'd probably use it. Given that I don't already own one, I struggle with justifying the additional expense.

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#26 ·
Umbra, If u can, give something a shot for me.
If you happen to know anyone with a Beats enabled phone and can borrow it for a bit, make sure Beats is on in the settings, connect the Aux to Aux, and see how well the Beats system works that way? I dont think Beats is the best thing invented ever, but when mixed in with external or internal Beats software, the sound is much better than only an equalizer... Which is basically what Beats is.
All in all, I think it requires both ends to sound best.

To OP, where are you plugging it in? Yes some cables will allow a faster transmission rate or charge. Usually the oem cables that come with the device.
Reason i ask where u r plugging it in is because I am driving a Cadillac rental right now, and i see that some models have 2 USB ports, one is exclusively for Apple products(herez a reason Ill no longer look into cadillacs lol) and will give the same warning you keep getting about an Apple device.
Just lean your head in there and check for me if there is another usb port elsewhere
 
#37 · (Edited)
Does anybody happen to know what the biggest SD card is that can be used with our Uconnect systems?
I was just trying to look for that in the manuals, but haven't seen anything yet.

I think it was either 64GB or 128GB!

I also think there is a thread on here to show what has been tested and what works:

SD card - brand, type and size

There is also this:

Ok I should be good to go. Here is the response

Thank you for contacting the Chrysler Customer Assistance Center.

I am happy to assist you with this concern. A "Class 4 SDHC 32 GB" SD
card is ideal for the 8.4 radios. For our uConnect radios, Class 2 -
Class 8 cards are well tested and proven to work without issue. Anything
higher than a "Class 8" has a transfer rate that is too fast for our
systems to recognize. The card that you purchased meets all of our
criteria to ensure that the system functions optimally.

General SD Card Information:

Classes Read/Write

Class 2 2mb/s
Class 4 4mb/s
Class 6 6mb/s
Class 8 8mb/s
Class 10 10mb/s

UHS Speed Class

UHS-I
SDHC 10MB/S Minimum - 50MB/s
SDXC 104MB/s

UHS-II
SDHC 156MB/s
SDXC 312MB/s

SD standard - Up to 2GB SD memory card using (FAT 12 and 16 file
systems)
SDHC standard - over 2GB-32GB SDHC memory card using (FAT32 file
system)
SDXC standard - over 32GB-2TB SDXC memory card using (exFAT file
system)

uConnect Specific:

- Recommended type of file type for SD cards is Fat32
- For copying music to the hard drive from the SD card, Windows 7 Media
Player is the best program for music to be transferred. The media
centers are based on windows.

Classes 2 ? 8 are the recommended classes for the system to read music,
any higher and the transfer rate will be too fast for the system to read
and you will get a card read error. Class 10 SDHC cards may work but
there are typically issues. In some cases the system may read the class
10 SDHC, but the size of the card has to be 8gb or less. The 16gb SDHC
class 10 fails sometimes depending on the year of the vehicle and the
software version of the radio.

I hope this addresses your concern.
 
#28 ·
It is and I wholeheartedly agree. Hell, i couldnt tell the difference between the beats headphones and the Ink'd skullcandy headphones i bought at big lots.
Nowadays those little ear bud noise canceling headphones are cheap to make and good sound quality.
But either way, going back to that, I have surmised the Beats systems, have software amplification, it is in itself, an equalizer if you will, which when paired with another amplifier/equalizer, will create a better effect.
Keep in mind, Beats was probably made to be pumped through audio amplifiers, decoders, recoders, etc, to make the audio sound like an equalizer has already improved the song's note for low quality speakers, and for higher quality speakers it has made the current improved audio subject to even more amplification for what the speakers can handle.
Maybe the Beats system is looking for that preBeats to amplify further? Maybe the speakers can handle more but they want you to buy something else with beats to get the most out of the system?
Either way, I have an HTC EVO LTE with beats, and it does its job on some external non powered speakers, however in my charger BA system, it will make it sound better, but i must first turn the volume down on the phone, then turn the volume up on my car. Gets better than stock range especially on the bass, i can tell you that. Better than upgrading to premium speakers? No, but a decent little oomph which sounds better than stock.
 
#31 ·
Great. Thanks for the quick response. I didn't adjust the EQ at all, so I have no idea where it was set. I think I'll take a chance and spend the fifty bucks. It's a Gen 5.5, which I've been reading has the best sound quality of the line.

I guess I need to either install iTunes or find a copy of WinAMP with the plugin.
 
#32 ·
The downside of the EQ is that it doesn't have adjustable knobs, only a collection of presets. There's probably one that you might like, though.

I've got a current version, and the sound quality isn't great with the headphones. I didn't get into the iPod scene until my car forced it on me, so I don't know much about the older ones.

Being in the "business" and knowing some of the folks who designed the CODECs in the iPod line, I can speculate that the newer generation hardware was selected based on battery life and compromises were made on audio quality. Unfortunately, balancing the line between power consumption and sound quality is always an issue...

I don't know if it would make a difference with the iPod USB Audio, though.
 
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