OK, 2017 playlist from USB memory stick

[Greg Elmassian]

Can't seem to do it, the car is new to me, so maybe I am missing something.

I found a document where it says that playlists only work with an iPod

All songs and folders work, 20 gigabytes worth.

Also cannot delete the single playlist that shows and cannot add to it, but I was sure there was a way to add songs to it.

Thanks, and please no smart a** iPod people posts...

Greg

[forby]

as far as I know the 2015 would only play from an i device, but the 2017 has the updated infotainment, so I'm very surprised.

[rkw]

I found a document where it says that playlists only work with an iPod

Which document is it, and could you post what it says exactly here?

as far as I know the 2015 would only play from an i device

I haven't tried playlists, but my 2015 plays music files from Android and memory sticks. My 2015 Blue & Me manual says:

Digital audio playback - You can play all your digital
audio files (.mp3, .wma, .wav, .aac) or play a customized
playlist (.m3u or .wpl format).

[Greg Elmassian]

Well, the 2017 is not blue and me, so don't know how it helps you.... I forgot the site, I downloaded the pdf, but it is Uconnect, not B&M...

Also, realize that Uconnect systems are not all the same, this is the 5.5 inch Uconnect (that's how they classify them, the display size)

"Playlist, Podcast and audiobook commands are only available when an iPod® mobile device is connected and playing."

Greg

[siwelk]

I just put 2 random mp3s on a 64GB flash drive (contains other files) and popped it into my USB port. Within seconds it scanned and recognized two songs for playback. It allowed me to play them, displayed album art, I could browse folder contents by various criteria, as well as displayed song title below the speedo. I'm not sure what playlist commands are but it would appear to be working well for me. I also have an iPod classic hooked up via 3.5 mm aux and I cannot utilize any uconnect functionality. I would surmise a newer, Bluetooth capable iPod/iPhone would take full advantage of all uconnect features.

[Greg Elmassian]

you did not specify what car you have...

yes, as I stated usb only is my concern

everything works except ability to create a playlist or read one from the usb

yes, according to the website, my car will control iPod/iPhone, which I'm not asking about.

Greg

[rkw]

I'm not sure what playlist commands are but it would appear to be working well for me.

By "playlists", we are referring to customized song lists. Suppose you have 50 songs on the flash drive and there are 4 favorite songs that you play most often. You can create a playlist that includes only the 4 songs. When you play the playlist, only the 4 songs will play, in the order you chose. A playlist is an index file (such as .m3u and .wpl) you can create with a text editor or music app.

[forby]

How do you make a playlist from a USB? It's not like an Ipod after all.

And siwelk must have a newer model because he mentions Album Art. The older model only as a red LCD after all.

[rkw]

How do you make a playlist from a USB?

Lots of tutorials available: https://www.google.com/search?q=crea...list+usb+drive

A music player app on Mac or PC like iTunes or Windows Media Player can create playlist files. Or, it is just a text file and you can create it yourself if you know the format. This has a description and examples of m3u playlist files: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M3U

[forby]

Ok Now I understand your original post.

I'm not too aware of any devices that support the M3U from a Car point of view, I have 4 and none of them currently support reading M3U, all read MP3 however.
I did a little research and Pioneer , Sony and Kenwood don't support this ability.

I suspect that the M3U needs a little more processing power than is available, hence why they want an Android or IOS device to handle it.

[siwelk]

you did not specify what car you have...

I have a 2017 Fiat 500 Abarth as specified in My Garage.

By "playlists", we are referring to customized song lists. Suppose you have 50 songs on the flash drive and there are 4 favorite songs that you play most often. You can create a playlist that includes only the 4 songs. When you play the playlist, only the 4 songs will play, in the order you chose. A playlist is an index file (such as .m3u and .wpl) you can create with a text editor or music app.

I am using folders to manage 'playlists' as it relates to specific sets of songs on my flash drive. For example, I have two folders on the root of my drive, Playlist One and Playlist Two.
Each folder contains different groups of songs. I can use the uconnect interface to browse the contents of each folder. I'm not sure how this is much different than a playlist generated by iTunes.
I understand what a playlist file extension is (.m3u), however, I'm not certain how you get your particular USB drive and uconnect to understand what that file type means.

My uconnect media browser shows 'Playlist' as an option (like artist, folder, song, genre) but it doesn't seem as useful when using a flash drive. Perhaps that functionality is reserved for iPods/iPhones?
In any case, here is a short video demonstrating how I created folders (playlists) on a flash drive using iTunes to manage my music library. It's a little hard to decipher. Basically there are 5 steps.

1. Plug in USB drive, open root directory
2. Create folders
3. Use iTunes to filter or find music
4. Right-click on song, choose 'Show in Windows Explorer'
5. Copy song to the particular folder


I have also burnt an existing Playlist within iTunes to CDRW, ripped the contents to a folder on my desktop and copied that folder over to the flash drive. Erase CDRW. Repeat as necessary.

[Greg Elmassian]

You don't uderstand playlists. please look up playlists under mp3 players.

they are basically a text file that has a list of songs, not copying all the songs you want to a directory.

this has been around a long time... a playlist is a single file.

what if I want 10 different playlists but all of them have the same song? does not make a lot of sense to have 10 copies of the same song in 10 different folders.

this is why playlists came into existance quite a few years ago... do you know what winamp is? did you read the manual where it specifies the file extensions that the system recognizes as playlists?

Greg

[siwelk]

As an IT professional and wedding DJ I can assure you I know what a playlist is.
I believe what it is you're actually looking for is called an iPod or mp3 player.
Otherwise you're making things much harder than they need to be.

How are you generating these playlist files? Do you have 10,000 mp3s on a USB drive?
What you're looking to do needs accomplished via music management applications (iTunes).
Winamp? I used to use that like twenty years ago. Same with ICQ and floppy disks.

[siwelk]

https://nnels.ca/help/create-m3u-playlist-file

https://www.sevenforums.com/media-center/202758-how-do-i-create-playlist-group-files-folder.html

I tried dumping some songs into WMP and generated a .wpl file. I put the corresponding songs and the .wpl file on my USB drive.
I popped it in the car and went to 'Playlists' where after about 45 seconds it showed my playlist, test.wpl. I opened it and it was empty.
The playlist songs were saved to the USB drive root, directly next to the playlist file. Didn't work. I'll try the iTunes method on Monday maybe.

[Greg Elmassian]

forby, I guess you have not read your manual where it gives the 2 formats of playlists supported.

So now you are aware of a device that supports m3u, your Fiat... the situation seems to be that it's only in ipod type devices, not the USB... and no one mentioned android.. the support I am looking for is for the CAR to recognize the playlist on a media device, specifically a USB stick...

I know I am writing this clearly.

Anyway, anyone else get playlists working on USB?

Greg