Bluetooth audio and USB audio

[RickyCheung]

I'm not sure if any of you have noticed, but on the 4.3 Uconnect system, I can't connect to a bluetooth music source when there's something plugged in to the USB (usb thumb drive). I want to do this because I put my music onto the thumb drive, and my sister wants to listen to her iPod's music when she's driving. I know that her iPod can simply connect by unplugging the thumb drive, but is there a way so you don't have to unplug and replug it in every time? Thanks!

[bramfrank]

Unfortunately my SE doesn't have the BT option (in spite of promises made at the time of purchase), so I don't know if the feature supports A2DP (Stereo) connectivity at all. I will say that a BT connection will not allow you to use the radio's controls to deal with the iPod nor will it display song titles and such under a wireless connection.

But I have been waiting to hear from someone who has a 4.3 and uses a thumb drive for his music so I could compare operation to mine.

So if you don't mind, I have a couple of questions for you Ricky . . . . .

What size is your thumb drive?

How much music do you have on your thumb drive? How many songs? How much data?

How is it organised? (all in the root directory? Alphabetically folders? Some fixed number of songs per folder?)

Does the radio recognise more than 255 songs from your drive?

Are your radio and air conditioning controls sluggish when you are playing USB music?

Edited January 6, 2012 by bramfrank

[generaltso]

on the 4.3 Uconnect system, I can't connect to a bluetooth music source when there's something plugged in to the USB (usb thumb drive).

I noticed this when I test drove a 2011 DJ with 8.4" screen, which disappointed me. But I tried it when I got my 2012 with 8.4, and it doesn't have this problem. I'm not sure if it was a TSB update that fixed the issue or if it's a change in functionality from the 2011 to 2012. I'm also not sure if the same applies to the 4.3 screen.

[redtomatoman]

I noticed this when I test drove a 2011 DJ with 8.4" screen, which disappointed me. But I tried it when I got my 2012 with 8.4, and it doesn't have this problem. I'm not sure if it was a TSB update that fixed the issue or if it's a change in functionality from the 2011 to 2012. I'm also not sure if the same applies to the 4.3 screen.

My 2011 8.4 does this fine. The source soft key will allow me to toggle between sources. If I switch between BT and iPod it will even automatically pause my BT device. Of course, the iPod simply resumes at the beginning of the previous song played (as it always does). I am not sure if any differences in functionality exist between the 4.3 and 8.4. I would assume that a basic one such as source toggle would not differ. Maybe an update at the dealer will fix this for you?

Peace.

[RickyCheung]

Unfortunately my SE doesn't have the BT option (in spite of promises made at the time of purchase), so I don't know if the feature supports A2DP (Stereo) connectivity at all. I will say that a BT connection will not allow you to use the radio's controls to deal with the iPod nor will it display song titles and such under a wireless connection.

But I have been waiting to hear from someone who has a 4.3 and uses a thumb drive for his music so I could compare operation to mine.

So if you don't mind, I have a couple of questions for you Ricky . . . . .

What size is your thumb drive?

How much music do you have on your thumb drive? How many songs? How much data?

How is it organised? (all in the root directory? Alphabetically folders? Some fixed number of songs per folder?)

Does the radio recognise more than 255 songs from your drive?

Are your radio and air conditioning controls sluggish when you are playing USB music?

Hey bramfrank, in my DJ, I can use the radio controls' (touchscreen and steering wheel buttons) to control my iPod when it's connected thru bluetooth.

To answer your question, my thumb drive is 4gb with roughly 170 songs. Since I only have that many songs, I don't run into the problem of not recognizing 256+ songs, where I've seen many people post about. Are the controls sluggish? Not at all, not even bluetooth. For A/C, the system responds to my input (touchscreen/hard buttons) within milliseconds. Same goes for music controls; except bluetooth music, it takes about half a second when I try to change song and stuff, which isn't a big problem for me.

I noticed this when I test drove a 2011 DJ with 8.4" screen, which disappointed me. But I tried it when I got my 2012 with 8.4, and it doesn't have this problem. I'm not sure if it was a TSB update that fixed the issue or if it's a change in functionality from the 2011 to 2012. I'm also not sure if the same applies to the 4.3 screen.

I guess the 2011 4.3's have this problem. I do hope its just a software issue, maybe when I bring it in to service next time, they'll update the firmware or something. Thanks and glad to hear that it works for you.

My 2011 8.4 does this fine. The source soft key will allow me to toggle between sources. If I switch between BT and iPod it will even automatically pause my BT device. Of course, the iPod simply resumes at the beginning of the previous song played (as it always does). I am not sure if any differences in functionality exist between the 4.3 and 8.4. I would assume that a basic one such as source toggle would not differ. Maybe an update at the dealer will fix this for you?

Peace.

So you're saying that your 2011 8.4" can connect to a bluetooth music source while having something plugged into your USB? If so, then it sounds like that my DJ has a software issue and can be easily fixed thru an update or something. thanks!

[Macoperator]

Hey Ricky, I've got the same combination (2011 model and 4.3 radio) and the same symptoms. The radio even gives me an error message stating "No Bluetooth Audio available when USB port in use." Did you get your problem resolved?

[DodgeCACares]

Hi all,

Went out this morning and tried to duplicate this concern on a 2012 DJ with the 4.3 we had in the yard.

On this vehicle I was able to switch between my BT connection playing music as well as keeping my iPod connected via the USB port in the centre console.

I would suggest bringing your DJ into the dealer to have them check and make sure your software is up-to-date.

Does it make any difference if you say 1st unplug the flash drive, connect the BT, then plug back in the flash drive? Let us know.

[Macoperator]

As a quick follow-up on my Bluetooth-USB issue I want to say that after having it for almost two years the issue suddenly went away and I can now use Bluetooth Audio and USB simultaneously!

My setup in the past was an iPod Video permanently connected via USB and an iPhone 4 that I wanted to play music from occasionally via Bluetooth. This is what it looked like on the display.

The issue persisted with an iPhone 5 so that I finally gave up on using the iPod and connected the iPhone via USB instead. It was then some day that I realized that the U-Connect would sometimes play music from the iPhone via USB and sometimes via Bluetooth. So I connected my iPod again and there you go – no more error messages! I can now switch from USB (iPod) to Bluetooth (iPhone), back and forth, and the error is gone!

I do not know why or what exactly did the trick, but maybe someone else will find this helpful anyway.

[bamboo510]

I have this problem as well with a 4.3. If my car starts with the radio on and I hit the player button once, I'll be able to stream audio through bluetooth. If I hit the player button again to switch to my iPod classic connected via USB, I won't be able to switch back to bluetooth. I get the same screen Macoperator gets (in English though).