SD Card and MMI

teddyoh · 07-11-2011, 02:25 PM

Just got a new 2012 A6. Have posted some problems I have had with MMI and audio on a couple prior posts. Still haven't gotten any responses. I have come to the conclusion that playlists are just not supported by the Jukebox. As a result, I have been trying to use an SD card to be able to play my playlists. I have a lot of well planned playlists, and that is how I listen to music. I also update and create new ones all the time.

My card structure is as follows:

32gb SD card.
About 3600 song files in .mp3 format.
About 12 playlists in .m3u format created in Windows iTunes.
Playlist files are in the top (root) directory of the card.
Created a folder on the card for each playlist.
Used iTunes to copy each playlist to corresponding folder on the SD card.
None of the folders have more than 1000 songs.

So my problems are strange, and one of 3 different things keep happening.

1) Most often, when I insert the SD card, MMI plays nothing gives the following message:

"The medium or device is being loaded.
Please wait..."

I have waited, while driving, up to 45 minutes and the message never goes away, and music never plays from the SD card.

2) Sometimes, if I get impatient and eject then reinsert the SD card, it will immediately play the first file in the first folder from the first playlist - NOT the first song in the playlist. If I then load the corresponding playlist, it works fine.

However, if I try to play ANY OTHER playlist, or any song directly from any other folder, the song grays out and it gives me some read error. Again, this will not improve if I wait a long time for the SD card to supposedly recognize the playlists.

3) I have even tried to eject/reinsert multiple times. On occasion, I can get the 2nd playlist to play as the first one above, but have NEVER gotten anything else.

In examples 2) and 3) above, I see an icon on the MMI screen that I cannot find documentation to see what it means. I attached a photo of this and circled it in red. The icon is identical to the playlist icon. I suspect this means that the playlists are being recognized or loaded. However, today, I drove an hour home from work and played playlist #2 (as in example 3 above), and that icon never went away. When I got home and tried to play any other playlist after the first 2, nothing would work, nor would direct access from the folders for any song after the first 2 folders.

HELP!!! This is driving me nuts!!! I have a lot of well planned playlists, and that is how I listen to music. I also update and create new ones all the time. Without it, I am pretty sad in this fancy new car! I don't want to have to hook up and iPod, because it converts to analog, and doesn't have album art. SD is so much slicker, and Jukebox doesn't support playlists.

teddyoh · 07-12-2011, 08:44 AM

Sorry. didn't attach...

teddyoh · 07-13-2011, 11:19 AM

Last interesting tidbit. During another long commute today, I noticed something interesting. I am a techie with a strong computer background, so i have been tinkering and testing to try and get to the root of the problem.

As I described before, sometimes when I insert the SD card, it just loads indefinitely. Reinserting it will then allow the first song in the first folder to play.

So today, I tried every song in that first folder. They all played fine. Then, I played every song in the next folder, and they worked fine. I repeated this process for every other folder, checking the first couple songs, and they all play fine. Next, I went to the playlist .m3u file for the 4th playlist and tried to play a song that way. THE SONG WOULDN'T PLAY! So I went back to that folder and tried to play the same song that wouldn't play using the playlist file - IT NOW WOULD NOT PLAY!

So clearly, there is a problem with MMI recognizing playlist files. I am able to play any song on the SD card if I select it directly, but if I try to play them through a playlist, it screws it up and they won't play anymore.

Does it matter WHERE the playlist files are stored? Would it work better if they were IN EACH FOLDER where the .mp3 files are? Would it work better if I eliminate folders and just throw all the files together on the SD card? (Seems like that violates the 1000 file folder limit).

You might think I should give up on playlists and just play the files form the folders. That still is a big pain in the ***! The songs are sorted alphabetically, and I would have to number each file in order to get it to play in the order I want! Don't have any plans to rename 4000 files by hand!!!

Also, I still have the problem of initially reading the SD card. If I have it in and working, the next time I start the car and select the SD card as a source it always hangs up loading.

HELP!

teddyoh · 07-14-2011, 06:03 AM

Well thanks for all the great help out there! Good to see a thread that the original poster is the only one to respond!

I have solved this little problem. Reviewing some other threads under specific car models, I saw some conflicting information about the location of songs in .m3u playlist files. Some posters propose editing them to allow the MMI to be correctly pointed to the song location. In fact, this did it for me. Playlist files have the song location built into them. when you export an .m3u playlist from iTunes, the file IS supported by MMI. However, iTunes keeps the file location the same. As a result, MMI was searching for a drive and folder that did not exist on the SD card.

Here's what future MMI users need to do to get playlists to work:

1) Realize that user playlists DO NOT WORK on the Jukebox.

2) Copy the source .mp3 files to the SD drive using the SAME FILE STRUCTURE as on your computer. As an example, I let iTunes organize my library. So a song will have the following path...

C:\Music\U2\Joshua Tree\With or Without You.mp3

When you copy this to your SD card, realize it will be organized by MMI for searching by file structure. I copied the artist folders over in one big batch onto a 32gb SD card. I did not copy the whole Music folder to avoid a subfolder issue and allow for easier artist browsing on the SD card (also I have more music than a 32gb card would hold, so I selected the artists that were on playlists that I use). The file will now have this path assuming your SD card is drive S:

S:\U2\Joshua Tree\with or Without You.mp3

3) Using iTunes (or whatever music program you use), export the playlists as .m3u files to the root directory of your SD card.

4) Open Windows Notepad. Open a playlist file. They are text files, so any text editor should do. Each song on the playlist will be listed in order. Each will also have the full, original path from iTunes. Use the Replace tool in Notepad to eliminate the original location. In the example I gave above:

Replace: C:\Music\
With: \

This will point the playlist file to the correct folder on the SD card. If you use Replace All, you can change the locations of the entire playlist with one click. Great for larger playlists!

5) Save the modified playlist file.

That's it! Insert the SD card into the Audi MMI, and your playlists will play INSTANTLY (after the standard MMI initialization when you start the car) without any playlist loading delays.

I am the smartest man alive!

Regina_TTS/Q5 · 07-14-2011, 06:54 PM

Awesome post, teddyoh! I'll definitely be making use of it as soon as my A6 is here.

das2.7t · 07-15-2011, 05:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by teddyoh

Well thanks for all the great help out there! Good to see a thread that the original poster is the only one to respond!

I have solved this little problem. Reviewing some other threads under specific car models, I saw some conflicting information about the location of songs in .m3u playlist files. Some posters propose editing them to allow the MMI to be correctly pointed to the song location. In fact, this did it for me. Playlist files have the song location built into them. when you export an .m3u playlist from iTunes, the file IS supported by MMI. However, iTunes keeps the file location the same. As a result, MMI was searching for a drive and folder that did not exist on the SD card.

Here's what future MMI users need to do to get playlists to work:

1) Realize that user playlists DO NOT WORK on the Jukebox.

2) Copy the source .mp3 files to the SD drive using the SAME FILE STRUCTURE as on your computer. As an example, I let iTunes organize my library. So a song will have the following path...

C:\Music\U2\Joshua Tree\With or Without You.mp3

When you copy this to your SD card, realize it will be organized by MMI for searching by file structure. I copied the artist folders over in one big batch onto a 32gb SD card. I did not copy the whole Music folder to avoid a subfolder issue and allow for easier artist browsing on the SD card (also I have more music than a 32gb card would hold, so I selected the artists that were on playlists that I use). The file will now have this path assuming your SD card is drive S:

S:\U2\Joshua Tree\with or Without You.mp3

3) Using iTunes (or whatever music program you use), export the playlists as .m3u files to the root directory of your SD card.

4) Open Windows Notepad. Open a playlist file. They are text files, so any text editor should do. Each song on the playlist will be listed in order. Each will also have the full, original path from iTunes. Use the Replace tool in Notepad to eliminate the original location. In the example I gave above:

Replace: C:\Music\
With: \

This will point the playlist file to the correct folder on the SD card. If you use Replace All, you can change the locations of the entire playlist with one click. Great for larger playlists!

5) Save the modified playlist file.

That's it! Insert the SD card into the Audi MMI, and your playlists will play INSTANTLY (after the standard MMI initialization when you start the car) without any playlist loading delays.

I am the smartest man alive!

Excellent. I love this forum.

jjchenS4 · 07-24-2011, 06:31 AM

thank you so much, teddyoh,

this is great information, I just pick up the 2012 S4 for my wife,

I know she will be asking me to setup the songs....

save me a potential headache~~~LOL~~

ineedcoffee · 08-14-2011, 10:57 AM

Can you tell me which 32Gb SD card (brand & spec) you're using please?
I can get an 8gb micro sd to work fine but my 8GB SDHC is 'unreadable' by the MMI. It's a 2011 A4.

Regina_TTS/Q5 · 08-14-2011, 11:12 AM

Here's what I'm successfully using...

fdot · 08-14-2011, 03:13 PM

so what video format is everyone using, i had one error with one file but i want to know the absolute ideal format for mmi

07-14-2011, 06:54 PM	#5
Regina_TTS/Q5 AudiWorld Senior Member Garage is empty, add now Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Regina, Canada Posts: 1,161	Awesome post, teddyoh! I'll definitely be making use of it as soon as my A6 is here. __________________ Tony Regina, Canada 2013 S4 3.0 TFSI Estoril Blue - STaSIS Exhaust Previous... 2012 A6 3.0 TFSI Phantom Black - S6 20" Ti Rotors - STaSIS Exhaust 2009 TTS Coupe Meteor Grey - APR Stage II \| 2009 Q5 3.2 FSI S Line Meteor Grey

08-14-2011, 11:12 AM	#9
Regina_TTS/Q5 AudiWorld Senior Member Garage is empty, add now Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Regina, Canada Posts: 1,161	Here's what I'm successfully using... __________________ Tony Regina, Canada 2013 S4 3.0 TFSI Estoril Blue - STaSIS Exhaust Previous... 2012 A6 3.0 TFSI Phantom Black - S6 20" Ti Rotors - STaSIS Exhaust 2009 TTS Coupe Meteor Grey - APR Stage II \| 2009 Q5 3.2 FSI S Line Meteor Grey

08-14-2011, 03:13 PM	#10
fdot AudiWorld Member 2012 Audi A6 Join Date: Sep 2008 Posts: 279	VIEDO so what video format is everyone using, i had one error with one file but i want to know the absolute ideal format for mmi __________________ NEW: 2012 A6 Ibis White Premium Plus 19' inch Sports Package Side Assist OLD: 2009 S5 Ibis White Tech Package Side Assit NYC more photos @ my flickr page flickr.com/photos/fdotguido

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07-13-2011, 11:19 AM	#3
teddyoh Audiworld Junior Member 2012 Audi A6 Join Date: Jul 2003 Posts: 97	Last interesting tidbit. During another long commute today, I noticed something interesting. I am a techie with a strong computer background, so i have been tinkering and testing to try and get to the root of the problem. As I described before, sometimes when I insert the SD card, it just loads indefinitely. Reinserting it will then allow the first song in the first folder to play. So today, I tried every song in that first folder. They all played fine. Then, I played every song in the next folder, and they worked fine. I repeated this process for every other folder, checking the first couple songs, and they all play fine. Next, I went to the playlist .m3u file for the 4th playlist and tried to play a song that way. THE SONG WOULDN'T PLAY! So I went back to that folder and tried to play the same song that wouldn't play using the playlist file - IT NOW WOULD NOT PLAY! So clearly, there is a problem with MMI recognizing playlist files. I am able to play any song on the SD card if I select it directly, but if I try to play them through a playlist, it screws it up and they won't play anymore. Does it matter WHERE the playlist files are stored? Would it work better if they were IN EACH FOLDER where the .mp3 files are? Would it work better if I eliminate folders and just throw all the files together on the SD card? (Seems like that violates the 1000 file folder limit). You might think I should give up on playlists and just play the files form the folders. That still is a big pain in the ***! The songs are sorted alphabetically, and I would have to number each file in order to get it to play in the order I want! Don't have any plans to rename 4000 files by hand!!! Also, I still have the problem of initially reading the SD card. If I have it in and working, the next time I start the car and select the SD card as a source it always hangs up loading. HELP!

07-14-2011, 06:03 AM	#4
teddyoh Audiworld Junior Member 2012 Audi A6 Join Date: Jul 2003 Posts: 97	Well thanks for all the great help out there! Good to see a thread that the original poster is the only one to respond! I have solved this little problem. Reviewing some other threads under specific car models, I saw some conflicting information about the location of songs in .m3u playlist files. Some posters propose editing them to allow the MMI to be correctly pointed to the song location. In fact, this did it for me. Playlist files have the song location built into them. when you export an .m3u playlist from iTunes, the file IS supported by MMI. However, iTunes keeps the file location the same. As a result, MMI was searching for a drive and folder that did not exist on the SD card. Here's what future MMI users need to do to get playlists to work: 1) Realize that user playlists DO NOT WORK on the Jukebox. 2) Copy the source .mp3 files to the SD drive using the SAME FILE STRUCTURE as on your computer. As an example, I let iTunes organize my library. So a song will have the following path... C:\Music\U2\Joshua Tree\With or Without You.mp3 When you copy this to your SD card, realize it will be organized by MMI for searching by file structure. I copied the artist folders over in one big batch onto a 32gb SD card. I did not copy the whole Music folder to avoid a subfolder issue and allow for easier artist browsing on the SD card (also I have more music than a 32gb card would hold, so I selected the artists that were on playlists that I use). The file will now have this path assuming your SD card is drive S: S:\U2\Joshua Tree\with or Without You.mp3 3) Using iTunes (or whatever music program you use), export the playlists as .m3u files to the root directory of your SD card. 4) Open Windows Notepad. Open a playlist file. They are text files, so any text editor should do. Each song on the playlist will be listed in order. Each will also have the full, original path from iTunes. Use the Replace tool in Notepad to eliminate the original location. In the example I gave above: Replace: C:\Music\ With: \ This will point the playlist file to the correct folder on the SD card. If you use Replace All, you can change the locations of the entire playlist with one click. Great for larger playlists! 5) Save the modified playlist file. That's it! Insert the SD card into the Audi MMI, and your playlists will play INSTANTLY (after the standard MMI initialization when you start the car) without any playlist loading delays. I am the smartest man alive!

07-24-2011, 06:31 AM	#7
jjchenS4 Audiworld Junior Member Garage is empty, add now Join Date: Jun 2011 Posts: 10	thank you so much, teddyoh, this is great information, I just pick up the 2012 S4 for my wife, I know she will be asking me to setup the songs.... save me a potential headache~~~LOL~~

08-14-2011, 10:57 AM	#8
ineedcoffee AudiWorld Newcomer Garage is empty, add now Join Date: Aug 2011 Posts: 2	Can you tell me which 32Gb SD card (brand & spec) you're using please? I can get an 8gb micro sd to work fine but my 8GB SDHC is 'unreadable' by the MMI. It's a 2011 A4.