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Strange MP3 playback problem

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  • Strange MP3 playback problem

    Hi, I installed the speaker bins and tweeters in my Smart this weekend. At the same time I installed a Blaupunkt head unit and run a USB port into the back of the tray underneath so that I can tuck my hard drive away when I plug it in. I had this setup in my other car with no problems but for some reason the MP3s are skipping VERY slightly when I scroll though the list of MP3s on the head unit. When the head unit loads the next part of the list to show on its screen there is a minuscule pause/skip....this never happened in my other car. I'm stumped as to why it is suddenly doing this.....any ideas?

  • #2
    Just for a bit more clarification. Is it the info on the screen that's stuttering, or the actual track that stopping and starting. If it's the track is it just the very beginning or does it keep going for the full 3 mins of a song?

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    • #3
      Thanks for the reply. It is the actual track that stutters very slightly and it only does it as i press the button on the the head unit that scrolls through the list of songs on the hard drive. It only shows 3 songs on screen and as I press down to load the next song to show on screen it skips/stutters for a split second. I hope my explanation is ok.

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      • #4
        This sounds like a caching problem, the track list isnt being cached into memory in the headunit so it is spinning the HDD up to read the data. The likelihood is that there is a setting you have missed on the stereo. You havent mentioned the model but even then it would be difficult without the manual to the stereo at hand but usually they dont have a setting and its down to the HDD to supply the data.

        Have you changed the HDD you were using? Is it possible you were using a different HDD before? Depending on the HDD you have it will be either a SSD (Solid State Drive) or a mechanical HDD. Mechanical drives have to spin up the drive to read the data on it whereas SSD drives do not as the data is found much faster. There is always a delay between the drive spinning up and reading the data. Because SSDs do not have that issue the data retrieval is almost instantaneous.

        However if you havent changed the drive and its now doing it there is the possibility that the drive hasnt cached the full track list yet, this could be for many reasons, it hasnt read everything on the drive yet and needs time to index it as you play the songs, theres a setting on the stereo to read ahead, or there is a problem with the HDD. The last of these is unlikely but not impossible. The issue is ambiguous and could be caused by any number of things, however hopefully the info above will give you something to try out first of all.

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        • #5
          I've been having a mess around with it today and it is definitely a caching problem. I've now noticed that when I am scrolling through a list of individual MP3s there is no skipping.....however as soon as the head unit has to display a folder (and cache the contents) it starts skipping. Sometimes the head unit completely gives up trying to read the folders and it chucks me back to another screen....other times it just completely ignores the folders and only displays and searches through individual MP3 files. I haven't changed the HDD...all I've done is literally remove it in full working order from my other car and put it straight into the Smart. There is a 'scan' setting on the head unit where I can choose the length of time it searches the HDD.....I have that set it the maximum setting of 30 seconds. I have also tried reformatting the HDD and scanned it for errors in Windows. The drive seems to be fine and reformatting didn't solve the problem. I'll try a different drive later and see if that helps....I'll also try changing the time it searches the drive. The model is a Blaupunkt Queens MP56 by the way.

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          • #6
            I have just tried a 1gb pen drive containing about 20 folders with each one having a couple of mp3 files in. It worked absolutely perfectly with no stuttering as I scroll through the folders. Obviously it leans towards a fault with the HDD but I find that really strange as it worked fine 2 days ago. There are also no signs of any problems with the drive when I plug it into my laptop.

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            • #7
              It does seem as if you have now tracked down the problem, windows generally wont show any errors as it is a high level check of the formatted section of the drive. What you need to do is find out what make of drive it is and depending on that download the low level inspection software for that brand and run it to discover any actual problems with the drive.

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              • #8
                Could it be vibration form the car is causing the HD to run below normal performance? If it is having to retry some/most/all reads, then it will be much slower. If so, then wrapping the drive in some bubble wrap or foam might be enough to fix it.

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