No USB Music?

[Az_Rael]

Maybe I have missed this, but it doesn't seem like there is USB music in the 3? Stuck my Model S USB music stick in the 3 USB port (disconnected a phone dock cord) and... nothing. No change to the music screen.

Does anyone know if it is planned for the future? Color me disappointed if I have no way of getting high quality audio to the sound system (either via USB or direct connection to my phone). Guess I will have to use bluetooth. Bah.

 

[CuriousG]

Maybe I have missed this, but it doesn't seem like there is USB music in the 3? Stuck my Model S USB music stick in the 3 USB port (disconnected a phone dock cord) and... nothing. No change to the music screen.

Does anyone know if it is planned for the future? Color me disappointed if I have no way of getting high quality audio to the sound system (either via USB or direct connection to my phone). Guess I will have to use bluetooth. Bah.

You need to have the latest firmware for USB playback. Mine came on delivery with 2017.46.15 but a firmware update was available already but I didn't apply it until I got home. I tried USB playback at the Tesla Store and no go. Until I applied the update, the front console USB just charged your phone. This update also gives you auto wipers 2017.48.15 8812942. There is no shuffle or repeat options for music playback at this point.

If you're still on the older firmware, I would call Tesla to ask if they can push the latest firmware to you.

 

[Az_Rael]

2017.48.15 8812942

Weird, that is the firmware I am on right now.

 

[aaron0k]

Weird, that is the firmware I am on right now.

USB option wasn't showing up for me either, until I restarted the console (hold down scroll wheels >10 sec).

 

[Az_Rael]

USB option wasn't showing up for me either, until I restarted the console (hold down scroll wheels >10 sec).

That fixed it! Thanks!

 

[TEG]

I put a USB flash drive into the drivers side USB port under the phone tray, and it never recognized any of the music.
Do we know the limits / requirements for the media?
I had 1GB flash formatted NTFS with a bunch of 320kbps MP3 files just flat with no sub-directories.

Does it support FAT? FAT32? NTFS?
mp3s of various bitrates?
Needs to be in a folder?

 

[TEG]

Hmm, I just noticed this:
USB Flash Drives for Music | TeslaTap
Saying FAT32 for S/X
So maybe my drive didn't work because it was NTFS formatted...

 

[MP3Mike]

I had 1GB flash formatted NTFS with a bunch of 320kbps MP3 files just flat with no sub-directories.

Does it support FAT? FAT32? NTFS?

I don't think that NTFS is supported. FAT32 should work. (Though Macs sometimes format with a partition that causes Teslas a problem.)

 

[Ulmo]

I put a USB flash drive into the drivers side USB port under the phone tray, and it never recognized any of the music.
Do we know the limits / requirements for the media?
I had 1GB flash formatted NTFS with a bunch of 320kbps MP3 files just flat with no sub-directories.

Does it support FAT? FAT32? NTFS?
mp3s of various bitrates?
Needs to be in a folder?

In my Model S back in July, Ext4 for the win. If memory serves, I used FLAC. I first would purchase a CD, then set the settings in iTunes to copy it to losses Apple format (I forget the options for that, but you have to set it up that way; it normally does lossy), then I used ffmpeg to convert those to FLAC on an EXT4 USB device. Unfortunately, it was still some CD sampling rate, so not that great. Sometimes I would have to use a more sophisticated recovery CD reader to read scratched CDs, but the good ones of those worked pretty well.

I wonder if any of that is similar in the Model 3.

 

[smartypnz]

That fixed it! Thanks!

ALWAYS reboot after an update.

 

[Reflected]

Hey, I'm bumping this thread as I have the same issue as the OP and restarting the console did not help me.

When I check the audio input sources on my Model 3, the USB Audio option does not appear there. I've got a pretty early edition of the car (VIN within the top 2000) that I received at the end of 2017. Currently, I'm on 2018.36.2 ac4a215.

I never realized that this functionality was available until I looked online, but for whatever reason, it is not appearing on my vehicle. It seems like the firmware that included this update never fully propagated through or something like that. Does anyone have any other ideas on what I might be able to do to make USB music appear as an input source?

 

[MP3Mike]

The option only appears when you have a USB thumb drive plugged in that it recognizes had music on it. What format of music files are you using?

 

[sduck]

The model 3 is a bit more picky about what kind of drives will work with it than the S or X. It needs to be Fat 32 formatted at the least, and with a fairly flat file structure. But it does work, to some extent at least. It's a very bare bones system currently, with many bugs. Hopefully it'll get updated sometime soon-ish.

 

[Incredulocious]

Hey, I'm bumping this thread as I have the same issue as the OP and restarting the console did not help me.

When I check the audio input sources on my Model 3, the USB Audio option does not appear there. I've got a pretty early edition of the car (VIN within the top 2000) that I received at the end of 2017. Currently, I'm on 2018.36.2 ac4a215.

I never realized that this functionality was available until I looked online, but for whatever reason, it is not appearing on my vehicle. It seems like the firmware that included this update never fully propagated through or something like that. Does anyone have any other ideas on what I might be able to do to make USB music appear as an input source?

Yes, I’m missing the USB audio option in the menu as well. I noticed it was missing only because I saw that my girlfriend’s Model 3 had the option, even without anything plugged in. (Both of us got our 3’s in early September 2018.) I suspect there’s a bad USB connection. I plan to bring it up when I bring my car in to service a couple of other items. (Trunk lid is rubbing against rear bumper and a couple of squeaks/rattles in console area and above doors.)

 

[Incredulocious]

The option only appears when you have a USB thumb drive plugged in that it recognizes had music on it.

That has not been my experience. It does show up in my girlfriend’s Model 3, even without anything plugged in. I don’t get the option at all and I assume it’s a bad USB connection that will need servicing.

 

[MP3Mike]

That has not been my experience. It does show up in my girlfriend’s Model 3, even without anything plugged in. I don’t get the option at all and I assume it’s a bad USB connection that will need servicing.

I would say that before you bother Tesla you should plug in a USB thumb drive with some MP3s on it and see if it works.

 

[Reflected]

Yeah, so I ended up formatting a USB stick to FAT32 and I stuck a couple of FLACs/MP3s on there. Sure enough, after plugging it in, the USB option appeared as an option in the input source menu.

I had the exact same experience as Incredulocious did. I've seen other Model 3s which have this option persistently available, so I was confused when the option didn't appear for me at all. I suppose I'll see how it goes for a bit before I bug the service center about it.

Thanks for the help.

 

[MP3Mike]

That has not been my experience. It does show up in my girlfriend’s Model 3, even without anything plugged in. I don’t get the option at all and I assume it’s a bad USB connection that will need servicing.

What happens when you select the USB option in your girlfriend's car?

 

[Incredulocious]

What happens when you select the USB option in your girlfriend's car?

Nothing. The option is there but you can’t select it since she doesn’t have a USB drive in place. In my car, I don’t even have the option. We’re both on the same software (36.2, was it?). The USB option also appears on another friend’s car too. Just not mine. I can’t mess around with mine right now as I don’t have access to it. (Currently being transformed/wrapped.) I plan to bring it in after I get it back as I suspect the new dashcam feature won’t work for me either, since the USB audio option is missing entirely. And yes, I do get power for charging my phone over either front USB port.

 

[Incredulocious]

Yeah, so I ended up formatting a USB stick to FAT32 and I stuck a couple of FLACs/MP3s on there. Sure enough, after plugging it in, the USB option appeared as an option in the input source menu.

I had the exact same experience as Incredulocious did. I've seen other Model 3s which have this option persistently available, so I was confused when the option didn't appear for me at all.

Interesting. Does the USB audio option remain after you remove the drive?