[SOLVED] How to fix an USB stick that is not recognized by the car radio?

[alex7782]

I have a 64 GB USB stick that did work fine with the car radio. I plugged it in and the car radio recognized this USB stick. Now, the exact same stick is no longer recognized by the car radio. Other sticks work fine with the car radio. And yes, I tried several times to unplug and replug, reformatted the USB stick (FAT32), turned the car on and off etc. It does not work. Other USB sticks work fine.

With a computer the problematic USB stick also just works fine. How can I fix this, so the USB stick is recognized in the car radio again?

 

[Ralston18]

Try a known working USB extension cable between the 64 GB USB stick and the car radio.

A physical change the the plug/port connectivity may make a difference. Tighter, squarer fit...

 

[alex7782]

Yes that works. So it seems it is a physical contact problem of the USB stick itself. Do you agree?
But why did it work before? Why does the same USB stick works fine with a computer device?

 

[fzabkar]

Sometimes one or more of the USB 3.0 signal pins go open circuit, in which case a USB 2.0 extension cable would force the interface to drop back to 2.0. Could that be what happened?

 

[Ralston18]

In agreement with @fzabkar.

The general quality (or lack thereof) in many products often leads to strange problems that are not straight forward to diagnose.

Especially problems that are intermittent in some manner.

A wire made thinner to cut costs may simply break in whole or in part. Connects and disconnects at random, A USB pin, as suggested, could do much the same.

Poor documentation, user errors (by omission or commission) plus increasing complexity all combine in varying mixes to simply cause problems.

And we must not forget the Gremlims....