I hope someone has similar experiences and can provide a solution.

I thought I had a broken USB cable when I noticed, from time to time, that my iPhone's music playlist would not load onto the PCM. Even if there were playlists, the songs would not play.

That was when I had my iPhone 5 updated to IOS 8. Ok, after changing the USB cable and now having the iPhone 6, the issue continued. I could fix it by rebooting the iPhone. But it kind of gets annoying when this happens. I am already starting to drive and the last thing I want is to pull over and reboot the phone.

Anyone has a similar experience? Thanks.

 

I left an old 3G in as a permanent iPod, but someone broke in and swiped it the other week

I tried putting my 4s in its place after getting a 6, but it was doing all kinds of funky things (track title and artist wouldn't match each other or the song playing, advance/reverse didn't work, etc..).

Until i figure something else out i'm using my 6 over BT, but that has been annoying the way it always reverts back to the radio.

 

Great temporary solution. Have to dust off my iPod from storage.

Thanks Gnat

 

Instead of fiddling around with all the different iPhones/iPods like I did in the past, now I put all my songs on an USB stick and leave it plugged in, never have an issue since. And I discovered an advantage when using an USB stick which is the ability of displaying folders and playlists on the round LCD screen.

 

Thats a good idea. Some USB sticks are tiny now!

 

Regarding USB sticks, that's a good idea. For me, the only issue is that I need to keep it updated whenever I purchase songs from iTunes. Also, I like using the iTunes radio feature of the music app.

 

Depends on the iPod. My old tried and true 2nd gen Mini is too old and the PCM refuses to recognize it.

I think i like that USB idea too. Especially if it does more in the MFD. I have some spares running around so i might have to try that.

Damn it! That was going to be my excuse to replace the while damn thing. Damn you helpful people!

 

Using an USB stick should, in theory, give you a better sound. Songs purchased from iTunes are in AAC format, but when playing back from an iPhone/iPod, the PCM shows the songs in MP3 format, therefore there is a lossy to lossy conversion. But when transferring songs from iTunes onto an USB stick and playback through the PCM, it does show AAC format on the PCM.

 

I finally got around to making a USB stick today. Yay for music available at start up again!

I like that you can navigate across playlists in the MFD, but it sucks that the tracks are not ordered the same as the current play order (e.g. in random mode). It was nice with the iPod how that list would change when it reshuffled.

 

The new version of iOS is supposed to fix a bunch of Bluetooth issues so maybe it will fix this too. It's version 8.1 and out on Monday.

 

BT has worked fine with my 6. What bugs me about the music side is that it always reverts to the tuner and takes a minute before it sees the phone. Then when it does I have to switch the source.

I just want to get in and drive. Not sit there and wait for it or fiddle with it when I should be looking at the road. The USB/iPod interface just works in that regard.

 

In one of the Apple forums, someone suggested resetting the network settings. So far, it seems to work. My playlists seem to connect right away now (except for a couple of iTunes radio stations). I hope that IOS 8.2 permanently fixes the USB connectivity issues (well, and allowing me to use the Iphone to buy a new Porsche, lol).