USB thumb drive problem

A few more attempts last night, I'm now convinced something is dead and not coming back. I disconnected the battery for 30 minutes then did a hard reset on the head unit, no joy. Then I opened a brand new USB 32gb thumb drive, formatted to FAT32, loaded 1 song on it and named the drive TEST. Same result, drive name comes up but you can't select it. I then took the 64gb drive I was using originally and reformatted it again, put a single different song on it and named it PLEASE WORK. Nope, same results. I guess I'm either upgrading the whole truck to a Tundra or Gen 4 Tacoma, or getting a replacement head unit.

 

It could be that the usb port may have gone bad . But I guess a radio problem gives you a good reason to upgrade the truck .

 

I would also start with the plug

 

Probably a long shot, but have you tried charging something with the USB port? Connect a USB cable to it and see if it will charge your phone. I do this with my phone once in a while. The USB port symbol is grayed-out on the screen, but the phone wakes up and it charges.

It's a pretty weak and slow method to charge the phone, but it works in a pinch when you forget to bring the charger with you.

 

maybe dumb question, but your music files are Mp3?

 

Yes when I tested playing music off my phone it does charge it.

 

Yep, MP3's. I'm using the same app to convert my iTunes library that I used originally.

 

How can I find the part or part number? Any idea if it's pretty easy to change out? I've had the deck out but that was when I first bought the truck in 2021. Thanks

 

Does it have the small round aux port with the usb port?

 

No, just the USB port

 

Do you have a small plastic pry tool ? That’s all it’ll take to pop it out to get a model#. Or go to a Toyota parts website and type in your vin and what you’re looking for. I think they’re called media port or something like that .

 

Good: that confirms the physical usb port on the dash is good/connected to whatever it is connected to. When I plug a thumb drive into the port to play music on mine, it immediately shows on the audio screen as a source. (not grayed out)

I'm officially stumped. Best guess is head unit firmware/hardware issue or bug that recovered and cleared for a while and then finally failed/quit for good.
Only test left is the old: "Bang on the top of the dash with your fist a few times" option... (Not recommended)

 

good testing. stumped.
only lame suggestions i might add are making sure files have the right .mp3 extension on the stick and play with case sensitivity of extension.
can you find another tacoma and give it a try in a different head unit?
also, maybe put the test file in a folder and see what happens.
all easy (see dealer for another tacoma?) but not feeling very promising.
sorry for your trouble.
a usb connection just has 4 contacts and two are for power/ground. if you are getting gray filenames, the other two involved in serial data communication are working. i don't believe the physical port is at fault.
please keep us updated...if you are lucky there will be a head slapping moment. good luck.

 

Have you tried cleaning the USB port? I didn't see anyone suggest it (but I only skimmed the thread). Some q-tips and a cautious application of rubbing alcohol (and maybe a toothpick to get into tight spots) (while the truck is off, of course) can really help. Those things get dirty. It might be causing the thumb drives to sit differently in the port than the data cable for your phone.

 

When a problem like this occurs you have to do a root cause analysis.
When you manually skipped a track the HU stopped function. You said a second occurrence happened days later. Except for the USB port playing from a thumb drive the HU functions normally. You've verify the thumb drives (multiple) in other HU's and the formatted USB were working in the Taco HU until the initial trigger. So you can rule out the file type/bad thumb drive issue. It sounds to me like a firmware issue in the HU. When you manually skipped a track it must have corrupted the firmware (not your fault) due to a design issue. Since firmware typically is non-volatile removing power or performing a hard restart will not correct the issue. I read through the thread and I'm not sure if you actually reset or downloaded the firmware or not. There are threads in this forum that can direct you to the OE Toyota site where you can get the firmware for your HU model.
Try here:
edit: website url

 

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/updated-3rd-gen-multimedia-updates.696603/
years ago i updated my entune firmware but found some confusion as to which version i should have in my truck. i might just have a unicorn so i stopped playing with it, but i did update once or twice and all was fine. if you are thinking of reloading your firmware, this is another good place to start or at least understand.
edit: there are references to JBL in that thread. i don't understand. you will need to before using.

 

I think you are correct, I'll take a closer look at this and give it a shot when I get home tonight. Just so I'm clear, this would be different than when it reloaded the software over the air correct?

Also, I did try my drives in a coworker's 2019 Tacoma during lunch and they all worked flawlessly.

 

"this would be different than when it reloaded the software over the air correct?"
i believe this is true but someone that knows for sure should confirm. install involves running vehicle and procedures. instructions in both links above are good.

"Also, I did try my drives in a coworker's 2019 Tacoma during lunch and they all worked flawlessly"
BINGO.

 

I’m not sure what ‘loading the software’ does but remember. Software usually means an operating system (think iOS). Firmware is a static set of routine instructions that helps the software with repetitive tasks. The firmware update @Toyota website requires downloading on to a thumb drive (yep) from a laptop or desktop. You then use the thumb drive to update your HU. All you need at the website is your VIN or year/model off HU.

 

Thanks for all the help. I was able to successfully update the firmware, took about 15 minutes in the truck once I downloaded it and put it on a USB drive. I really thought this was going to fix it but it didn't unfortunately. An interesting side effect of the firmware update, I now see RDS information on a FM station that never displayed it before in my truck. So I got that going for me