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Audio System controls locked up

Discussion in 'Prime Audio, Electronics, and Infotainment' started by Old Bear, May 28, 2018.

  1. Old Bear

    Old Bear Senior Member

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    This has happened on three separate occasions: the touch screen will not allow changing the audio source and the audio cannot be turned off from the button to the right of the screen. (The volume can be turned down to zero using either the buttons to the right of the screen or the control on the steering wheel.)

    I experienced this while listening to music on a USB thumb drive (MP3s) and wanting to check the radio news on the hour. No response in the touch screen source selecting buttons.

    The "easy" fix was to pull over, turn off the Prime and restart (reboot) -- which returned the system to its normal operation with everything be responsive.

    The problem cannot be reproduced just by playing MP3s and trying to change source. After restarting the Prime, I could switch sources at will with no problem.

    This is more an annoyance than a major issue -- but it does imply some sort of system bug, which is never a good thing.

    Has anyone else experienced this problem?
     
  2. PCPrime

    PCPrime Member

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    I would try another thumb drive to be sure the problem is not caused by the current USB thumb drive.
     
  3. Old Bear

    Old Bear Senior Member

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    Removing the thumb drive did not fix the problem.... just silence. I had another thumb drive and plugged that in, but could not get the Prime to read the changed thumb drive and create an index... so I put the first thumb drive back in and the system resumed play right where it had left off.

    (I forgot to mention that when the problem occurred, I also could not "browse" the thumb drive or change the MP3 that was playing but it would advance by itself to the next MP3 track normally.)

    Because the problem disappears when the Prime is restarted, it's hard to figure out what's going on.

    Also worth noting is that this occurred only once (that I know of) during a 1000-mile trip during which I mostly was listening to music on or the other of the two thumb drives which I had with me.
     
  4. Elektroingenieur

    Elektroingenieur Senior Member

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    Have you tried asking a dealer to update the software on the head unit, as described in my January posting? “Unable to switch between audio modes” is one of several problems that the update supposedly fixes.
     
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  5. PCPrime

    PCPrime Member

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    My theory about possible damaged thumb drive is when the head unit is trying to read the thumb drive and is having problem, it will try again and again to read data from the thumb drive thus causing the head unit in a very busy state, that's why the head unit is not responsive.
    I would suggest to power off your Prime, unplug your current thumb drive, insert another thumb drive of smaller size then start up your Prime and see if you have the same problem with the other thumb drive.
     
    #5 PCPrime, May 29, 2018
    Last edited: May 29, 2018
  6. Old Bear

    Old Bear Senior Member

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    That makes sense except that, when the problem occurred, the music kept playing normally well beyond any reasonable "buffer" time -- which suggests that the Prime was continuing to read the drive happily. (I was cruising along the interstate when the problem happened, so I just drove on for about 15 miles or so to the next exit and pulled off so that I safely could stop and re-start the Prime.)

    After powering off the Prime, when it restarted there was no problem with either drive. i.e., could not reproduce the problem at will.
     
  7. Old Bear

    Old Bear Senior Member

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    Thanks. I'm pretty sure that the update has not been installed because the Prime was delivered last August and has only been in for normal periodic service once.

    I will ask the dealer to install the update as you so thoroughly described in your January post. Thanks!
     
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  8. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    does the system run on msdos?:cool:
     
  9. SteveMucc

    SteveMucc Active Member

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    remember, you can hold the audio button down for 5 seconds to reboot the multimedia system without needing to power cycle the whole car. you can do this when driving.
     
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  10. Mark57

    Mark57 2021 Tesla Model 3 LR AWD

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    No they updated it to Microsoft Bob.
     
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  11. Old Bear

    Old Bear Senior Member

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    Another discovery! Many thanks. I must have missed this in the user manual. Really good to know. (y)

    (When my problem happened, pressing the audio button would not turn off the system, but I probably did not hold it down for more than a second.)
     
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  12. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    is this problem acceptable to owners?
     
  13. Old Bear

    Old Bear Senior Member

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    No. But it's nice to see there is a simple and safe workaround.

    I just saw a video review of the Tesla Model 3. Virtually all of its controls are handled in software by the touch-screen display which assigns different functions to two thumb-controls on the steering wheel.



    One would hope that voice recognition commands are well implemented so that the driver does not have to keep toggling through screens to get to the desired functions. Not to mention the possibility of having to re-boot the system while in motion.
     
  14. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    there's a whole thread on that. is toyota working on the problem?
     
  15. Old Bear

    Old Bear Senior Member

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    I just had the Prime in for its periodic maintenance and state inspection sticker. I asked the dealer to install the patch which you described.

    It's too soon to know if it has fixed the problem but the dealer seemed to have no problem with the request and appreciated your detailed reference to the TSB. Thanks.
     
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