USB ports & two flash drives - do i have a problem

[RichMatt]

Regarding the media player in the car.
I use an old hard drive instead of a flash drive, but it seems to work just fine.
whichever port i plug into the car calls it "USB1".
when I plug in a second drive (a thumb drive), the car doesn't show me the second port.
the port still works fine charging my phone, but the car ignores it.
is this a problem with the car's system or is it something i should have the service people look into?

 

[wayner]

I think this is the expected behaviour - I remember reading that one of the USB ports is power only while the other gives both power and connectivity your car's entertainment system.

 

[LoL Rick]

You have shown that both ports have data access by using the hard drive. So if two ports do not show up at the same time, then it is likely a software problem. Or it could be a problem with the thumb drive. Have you tried plugging it in my itself to see if it shows up?

I am using two flash drives and they show up as usb1 and usb2. Those labels are defined by the order that you plug them in, not by the position of the port.

 

[BertL]

OP, my experience is similar to @LoL Rick, and i agree you need to try another flash drive as well as try plugging that in before your hard drive.

Media Player has it's challenges (discussed elsewhere), but one thing not often discussed here on TMC is at times my MS will loose a USB flash drive from the Media Player selection menu, and I've also had the sequence of USB devices sometimes reverse (generally when my MS decides to reboot the CID on it's one from time-to-time). When the latter happens, most of the time I can't access music any more or there will be other issues sooner than later. The problems are generally solved by rebooting the CID (press and hold down the brake; press both scroll wheels until Tesla T appears on the CID; let go on all three). Be sure you have done that when experiencing any Media Player anomalies before you go too far into any more problem determination.

Good luck.