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Observations.....album art with USB music

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So I recently had to have my MFD replaced in my 2013 S.

With my old MFD, I would get consistent "loading error" messages when playing music (.m4a files) off of various USB sticks. I had to rip all of these files to .mp3 files and then load them on my USB stick before my S would play the songs on the stick without "loading error" problems. With the old MFD, I got very occasional album art.

With this new MFD, I put all the original .m4a files back on the USB stick (and only the .m4a files, no folders or anything) hoping these types of files would work better, and with this new MFD hardware it now plays .m4a files without "loading error" messages. And for the observation........now I am getting album art for almost all of my music? I thought that was pretty weird, but I'm glad it (mostly) works now.
 
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Here is a list of supported file types on a USB I tested on my June, 2020 build Model S:

Media Supported on USB in Current Tesla


Audio


AC3 NO

AU NO

FLAC YES

M4A YES

MP2 NO

MP3 YES

OGG YES

OPUS NO

WAV YES

WMA NO


VIDEO


NO SUPPORTED FILE TYPES
 
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The album art may be downloaded at the time of playing the file, or already be part of the file that is playing. Some player apps read the art from the file if it is there, or try to download it from the Internet if it is not. In any event, most recording apps download and save the album art when you record the album/song if this setting is turned on. A few albums won't have art available online. If you don't have the Premium Connectivity Package or a bad connection, the art may not download if it is missing from the file. I assume Teslas work this way, but I have not tested this. Perhaps Tesla only shows art that is already part of the file being played, or it just may be a bug in the software that the art does not always show, even if it is part of the file.

You can also add the art to existing recordings by selecting the song/album using VLC player, Windows Media Player, or many other players. Since VLC supports both Apple and PC computer types, You can add art by going to Tools, Media Information. If you click on the album art area, you can either add album art from a file or download it. Here is some more information and description:

How to Add Album Art to Mp3 in Windows 10, Mac and Android
 
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You can also add the art to existing recordings by selecting the song/album using VLC player, Windows Media Player, or many other players. Since VLC supports both Apple and PC computer types, You can add art by going to Tools, Media Information. If you click on the album art area, you can either add album art from a file or download it. Here is some more information and description:

How to Add Album Art to Mp3 in Windows 10, Mac and Android

Great info. Thanks Derby.
 
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