Official Off Topic Discussion Thread #1

[skjl47]

Hello; This is for the computer literate to ponder. A year or so ago I put some of the music from my computer in a “thumbdrive”. I did this because some of the new cars no longer have a CD player. The thumb drive plugs into a USB port in a car. I began taking it with me when I look at a new car. It has worked in some cars just fine; A ford, a Mazda and a BMW for sure. Today I test drove a new 2017 Honda Civic.

The Civic will not play the music at all, nor would it read the titles. We tried two Civics with no results. Also tried a new 2018 Accord. The Accord would read the titles but did not play the first four songs. It did read the title and play song # 5. But not the 6 thru 12 songs.

Of course the salesman suggested that my thumbdrive was somehow the problem. He hooked up his “smartphone” to the USB port and it played his music. This lent evidence to the notion that my thumbdrive is at fault, but not proof.

I suggested we try the thumbdrive on a different make car. Stuck it in a 2016 BMW and it played all the songs (at least the 8 or 10 I tried) just fine and also read the titles and stuff. So the thumbdrive seems to still be fine. I have walked away from the car for the time being.

Here is my question. Can anyone chime in with any insight about this.

Can it be that somehow the way my computer put the files onto the thumbdrive is not recognized by the Hondas?


Can it be the way I put the files in the thumbdrive? I went to file explorer and simply dragged the songs to the thumbdrive.


I am easily stumped by computer issues and with this I have not a clue.

 

[pops]

strikes me as a soft ware/driver for the car. all your music is not the same format/updated for the format that the car uses. Other cars will support older format/soft ware and some will not.

either way the dealership should be able to upgrade or install older drivers for your music in the system.

 

[skjl47]

strikes me as a soft ware/driver for the car. all your music is not the same format/updated for the format that the car uses. Other cars will support older format/soft ware and some will not.

either way the dealership should be able to upgrade or install older drivers for your music in the system.

Hello; "upgrade". That gives me an idea. The computer I used to put tunes on the thumbdrive died a few months ago. I got a new computer to replace it and restored my CD alblums on it's hard drive. I should make a new music thumbdrive and try that to see if the new computer somehow does things more acceptable???

Pops (or anyone else), is there another way to put music into a thumbdrive other than what I did?

 

[krichardson]

Hello; "upgrade". That gives me an idea. The computer I used to put tunes on the thumbdrive died a few months ago. I got a new computer to replace it and restored my CD alblums on it's hard drive. I should make a new music thumbdrive and try that to see if the new computer somehow does things more acceptable???

Pops (or anyone else), is there another way to put music into a thumbdrive other than what I did?

Hello;I can't offer you any advice for your problem but I was wondering which car you might be leaning towards purchasing?

 

[skjl47]

Hello;I can't offer you any advice for your problem but I was wondering which car you might be leaning towards purchasing?

Hello; I was looking at a Honda Civic LX with a manual transmission. A tactic I have used is to wait until the new year models come out, 2018 now. I then look for leftover 2017's with features I like.
I have been looking at two categories of car. One is to replace my 2001 Nissan Sentra SE bought new back in 2002. It is still a decent car, but every 15 years or so I get the urge for something new. A lack of patience on my part I guess.
I also want a spare tire which is getting harder to come by. I want a naturally aspirated engine with the manual trans. I want disc brakes on all four corners and no moon roof. These things really narrow the field down pretty much to a Honda Civic or a Mazda 3.

For a few decades I have kept a small car and a full sized pickup. The car for fuel economy and the truck for pulling a boat and getting stuff.
Not ready to trade the truck as it Is only a 2004 Silverado with 52,000 miles. Maybe trade in four or five years.

The other type car is a sports car or a muscle car. Been trying to get a Ford dealer to give me a discount on a 2017 mustang GT with a six speed manual. Ben working him for about three months. I will probably call him tomorrow to see if any new incentives are on it. Incentives change around the first of the month.
If I get a mustang GT I will keep the 2001 Sentra a while longer as it only has 119,000 miles on it

 

[Deadliestviper7]

Hello; I was looking at a Honda Civic LX with a manual transmission. A tactic I have used is to wait until the new year models come out, 2018 now. I then look for leftover 2017's with features I like.
I have been looking at two categories of car. One is to replace my 2001 Nissan Sentra SE bought new back in 2002. It is still a decent car, but every 15 years or so I get the urge for something new. A lack of patience on my part I guess.
I also want a spare tire which is getting harder to come by. I want a naturally aspirated engine with the manual trans. I want disc brakes on all four corners and no moon roof. These things really narrow the field down pretty much to a Honda Civic or a Mazda 3.

For a few decades I have kept a small car and a full sized pickup. The car for fuel economy and the truck for pulling a boat and getting stuff.
Not ready to trade the truck as it Is only a 2004 Silverado with 52,000 miles. Maybe trade in four or five years.

The other type car is a sports car or a muscle car. Been trying to get a Ford dealer to give me a discount on a 2017 mustang GT with a six speed manual. Ben working him for about three months. I will probably call him tomorrow to see if any new incentives are on it. Incentives change around the first of the month.
If I get a mustang GT I will keep the 2001 Sentra a while longer as it only has 119,000 miles on it

Hondas have the worst computers, I've had them make me almost crash,slow down the car randomly,randomly opens back windows when I lock it etc.

 

[Deadliestviper7]

Hello; I was looking at a Honda Civic LX with a manual transmission. A tactic I have used is to wait until the new year models come out, 2018 now. I then look for leftover 2017's with features I like.
I have been looking at two categories of car. One is to replace my 2001 Nissan Sentra SE bought new back in 2002. It is still a decent car, but every 15 years or so I get the urge for something new. A lack of patience on my part I guess.
I also want a spare tire which is getting harder to come by. I want a naturally aspirated engine with the manual trans. I want disc brakes on all four corners and no moon roof. These things really narrow the field down pretty much to a Honda Civic or a Mazda 3.

For a few decades I have kept a small car and a full sized pickup. The car for fuel economy and the truck for pulling a boat and getting stuff.
Not ready to trade the truck as it Is only a 2004 Silverado with 52,000 miles. Maybe trade in four or five years.

The other type car is a sports car or a muscle car. Been trying to get a Ford dealer to give me a discount on a 2017 mustang GT with a six speed manual. Ben working him for about three months. I will probably call him tomorrow to see if any new incentives are on it. Incentives change around the first of the month.
If I get a mustang GT I will keep the 2001 Sentra a while longer as it only has 119,000 miles on it

U should try and get a car at an auction,as this can save u tens of thousands on a car,and u cut out the middleman ( mark up at car lots are often over 10,20 or even more than 30 grand)

 

[DN328]

Hello; "upgrade". That gives me an idea. The computer I used to put tunes on the thumbdrive died a few months ago. I got a new computer to replace it and restored my CD alblums on it's hard drive. I should make a new music thumbdrive and try that to see if the new computer somehow does things more acceptable???

Pops (or anyone else), is there another way to put music into a thumbdrive other than what I did?

What are the music file formats on your thumdrive? For example are they .mp3 or a lossless format?

 

[krichardson]

U should try and get a car at an auction,as this can save u tens of thousands on a car,and u cut out the middleman ( mark up at car lots are often over 10,20 or even more than 30 grand)

This might be my move for my next car.There are quite a few regular auctions in my area.

 

[skjl47]

What are the music file formats on your thumdrive? For example are they .mp3 or a lossless format?

hello; I don't know for sure on the thumb drive (stick) but when I rip the CD I have the setting as windows lossless.
When I moved the songs to the stick I used file explorer to drag a song to the stick.

The Honda salesman has been texting some suggestions. He says to format the stick as FAT 32 and to use either MP3, WMA or AAC.
I will try to check again but think maybe I use WMA.