Playing Music in Car via USB Issues

[Fiscalfizz]

Hi all, first time poster. First time DROID owner. Just got my DROID X this week. I switched from an iPhone 3Gs. I LOVE it so far. There is however, one major issue--

I drive a 2009 Chevy Cobalt SS/TC- It came stock with a USB port on the front of the radio. Since I bought the car, everything I have plugged in, including my iPhone, has played media without a flaw. I expected the DROID to be no different.

Whenever I plug it in, I get a message on my radio/head unit saying basically "Could not recognize device/no support"

Normally, I would start to think, hmmm...maybe the DROID X is just to new for my car that was manufactured back in late 2008???? But the kicker is... they day I got the phone, my girlfriend got my music to play via USB in my car. My steering wheel controls ( volume, track search) even worked fine! She swears she has no idea what she did ( she just got a Droid X as well).

I have not been able to get it working again. I try "Charge Only", "USB Mass Storage" and even tried PC Mode. I assume, the correct mode would be USB Mass Storage.

I have no idea who to turn to for help guys. I doubt the Chevy dealership has any clue what to do.

Any suggestions or similar stories to share?

FYI- I have the WinAmp app from the market...don't know if that matters... jsut got it yesterday, didn't have it on there the one time I got this to work for me ( err.. the girlfriend got it to work)


TL;DR- How do I get my DROID X to play music via USB to my USB port on my car's stock radio- 2009 cobalt ss

Thanks everyone

 

[Rocko]

Won't work. It is not designed to send music out the USB. That port on your car is for thumb/flash drives and ipod only.

 

[Fiscalfizz]

Rocko, the girlfriend got it working once. If it wasn't for that I would accept what you are saying...but I have seen it work with my own eyes. Thanks anyways though Rocko.

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[dtsig]

Real long shot ... Do you connect the phone to your computer with USB? Is it possible that it was left in mass storage mode from the computer then put into the car ... so it would already go to mass storage. I would find it hard to believe that it would work in the car if you hadn't seen it for yourself.

 

[Rocko]

It is possible the car stereo saw the files on the micro sd card and like the other poster said, thought it was a mass storage device. That is the only way it would work.

 

[Fiscalfizz]

Yes, the first day I got this phone I transfered all my pics and music via USB from my PC. This however was after the girlfriend mysteriously got it playing music in my car. Like, in the parking lot of verizon, 5 min after purchasing this phone. I am confused....is it my understanding that our phones cannot/should not play music in the car via usb?

If I wouldn't have seen it work once with my own eyes I would just assume that it won't work...but...I did see it function.

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[bilallucky]

I notice that my new Droid phone charges perfectly fine when I connect it to my computer via the USB cable, or if I connect it to a car cigarette lighter USB adapter. It also works fine when I connect it to a powered USB hub that is connected to my computer.

 

[dail]

It should at least say that your phone is connected via usb on your droid. If it doesn't, maybe try switching your car stereo to the usb input to see if the droid recognizes that it is plugged into a computer-like device. Hopefully, by this point you can switch your phone to mount the sd card for use by the car stereo. Also, it could be that her music is on her sd card and yours is not...

 

[BodyBagz]

I notice that my new Droid phone charges perfectly fine when I connect it to my computer via the USB cable, or if I connect it to a car cigarette lighter USB adapter. It also works fine when I connect it to a powered USB hub that is connected to my computer.

Yes...thats exactly what its supposed to do...the power cord it came with is nothing but a USB cable that plugs into a electric wall outlet...
But that is not what the OP was asking about...his issue is his car stereo at one time played his music on his phone through the USB cable plugged into the stereo...something that was generally thought not to work.

It should at least say that your phone is connected via usb on your droid. If it doesn't, maybe try switching your car stereo to the usb input to see if the droid recognizes that it is plugged into a computer-like device. Hopefully, by this point you can switch your phone to mount the sd card for use by the car stereo. Also, it could be that her music is on her sd card and yours is not...

This has already been somewhat explained by dtsig in an earlier post...it is likely that the Droid X was left/set in USB Mass Storage Mode from the start, and then when plugged into the car stereo, the stereo just recognized the 16gb SD card and played the music that was loaded on it.

OP or someone else with a USB capable car stereo needs to put his DX in USB Mass Storage Mode and plug it back in via USB to his car stereo and see if this is actually why it did it...

Personally, I hook my DX to my car through the Audio Cable plugged into the earphone jack to my Audio In port...

 

[lark214]

I play my phone in my Jetta by plugging in the cable for the earphone jack and stereo speakers. The stereo is set on auxillary and my droidx sounds just as good as my ipod. I hope this helps you.

 

[wink]

I plug my og droid into my car through the usb cord all the time I just have to enable mass storage before my cd player gives up. It should be be possible to get music to play through your cd player's usb port as long as you have music on your sd card.

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[stebanks123]

Does your stereo have blue tooth?

Sent via SLB Droid X

 

[KHeeney5]

I plug my og droid into my car through the usb cord all the time I just have to enable mass storage before my cd player gives up. It should be be possible to get music to play through your cd player's usb port as long as you have music on your sd card.

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Do this. When you plug it in drag down the status bar and select USB mass storage mode. Should work then!