GLE43_Sube

Has anyone else noticed this? There's a software glitch in the Harmon Kardon (probably the B & O too) audio system with regards to media selection. When playing the contents of a “Folder”, if you select “Random Track List”, it plays all tracks on the entire data medium (USB drive) in random order, instead of only the current track list. I’ve tested this dozens of times with various 320 kbps Mp3 files just to verify the issue.

Just sent an email to MB Customer Support. I'll post their reply.


Pages 149-150 of the Command Manual –


Selecting Play mode

To select Playback Mode: turn and press the
controller.

Select Normal Track Sequence.
The current track list is played in the order it
appears on the data medium.

Select Random Track List.
The current track list is played in random
order.

Select Random Medium.
All tracks on the data medium are played in
random order.

RA112623

don't get me started on Command.

davezaristo

same here. It's one of the worst system out there. my complain is that it never shows the track that is currently playing when you try to look thru the folder and choose another song since the system always shows the first song from the beginning, which is a PITA when you loaded over a thousand songs on the USB stick. Please let me know if there's a fix or tell me that I am just a noob and there's a setting in there that I didn't know about.

GLE43_Sube

Yes, it just shows the first song (alphabetically) at the top of the list.

I'm finding it does all kinds of weird things. I had some songs inadvertently labeled with with the wrong Genre in the metadata. I removed the USB drive, plugged it into my computer and corrected the tags. When I put it back into the car, the car refused to recognize the changes. It kept displaying the incorrect old metadata EVEN THOUGH IT HAD BEEN CHANGED. It even showed old folders that were no longer on the drive. I even removed the drive from the car for a few days, hoping the car's memory would clear itself. That didn't work either. It seems to have a mind of its own. Finally, I copied everything from the drive onto my laptop and reformatted the drive. I copied everything back onto the drive. Tomorrow I'll see if that worked. I've completely run out of patience for today.

I don't know if it has problems handling too many songs. I have almost 6,000 on a 64 GB thumbdrive. That shouldn't be the case. My old car had no problems dealing with the same amount, and that was seven year old technology. Come on MB. Get with the program!!!

RA112623

i'm pretty sure there is a 1,000 song limit on a playlist. i don't use them because they gave me grief. i think you'll be good on the re-upload; i had to do something like that to clear the Command memory.

you want to really get pissed; do a voice search for an artist and watch the "All" line show up in the album list and then vanish in a second. you need to do it by hand.

you got me started.

GLE43_Sube

Well, that didn't work. I discovered once you load a song into COMAND, it permanently associates that metadata with that file. You can edit the artist, Genre, title, etc. It doesn't matter. It still recognizes the "old" ID3 tag.

However, I did find a workaround for the problem. Edit the filename itself. Then use an audio conversion program like DVD VideoSoft Free Studio to convert the file into a new version (same Bitrate) of the same song. The file size will be slightly different and COMAND does not identify it as the same file. Once you convert it, you can now edit any metadata you like, but you must do this BEFORE the first time you insert the drive into the USB port in the car. Otherwise, you'll have the same problem all over again.

davezaristo

whoever wrote the firmware should be fired!

GLE43_Sube

Agreed!!! I had to individually edit almost 500 songs just to get it to recognize the correct Genre. The only good part is that now I'll know in the future what NOT to do.

GLE43_Sube

In reference to the issue of music in folders not playing in random order, this is the response from MB:

Thank you for your email to Mercedes-Benz USA.

Congratulations on the recent purchase of your 2017 GLE43C4 Mercedes Benz.

We are in receipt of your inquiry for the random track list playing music and have been advised there isn't a firmware update to change the operation of the system.

The product advice team did recommend clicking and dragging files onto the thumb drive (no specific folders) if that helps but did indicate there isn't a modification for any changes.

We have documented your feedback and appreciate the opportunity to respond.

Sincerely,

Debbie A.
Mercedes-Benz USA
(800) 367-6372



Apparently, MB doesn't see this as a problem. Therefore, no fix is in the works. Do these engineers ever actually listen to music?!!! If you have hundreds of songs in one folder, this means you'll never get to hear 90% of them during each trip. Every time you access that folder, you're forced to hear the same dozen or so songs in the same order.

If you'd like to play a music selection in random order, you have a few options. Have all of the files in the root folder of the drive or select music by Genre, Artist, Album or Tracks. If you create a Playlist by putting songs into a folder, you'll only be able to play them in sequential order.

RA112623

you can do random order, BUT you have to pick the folder, or artist or album whatever FIRST; then select playback mode option Random Track List. Then it defaults back when you change the selection criteria. don't even know if you can do all this with Voice. Command isn't responding to me because she doesn't like the tone of my voice and wonders if i kiss my kids "with that mouth"

GLE43_Sube

I did that. It switches to "Random" alright, but it's Random Media, which means all of the contents of the drive, not just the folder. Look more closely at the track number/total tracks. It's playing all tracks on the media.

RA112623

i have three options. Normal Track Sequence, Random Track List & Random Medium. Random Track shows "N/#of songs in selection". but like i said, it defaults to Normal on your next selection; you have to re-select Random.

GLE43_Sube

The "N/# songs in selection" is supposed to be the songs IN THAT FOLDER. Instead, it's actually playing all songs on the entire drive randomly. I have 6,400 songs on my entire drive. When I select a folder and choose Random Track List, it shows 47/6400, 398/6400, etc. This is evidence that it's actually playing everything on the drive randomly, instead of just the contents on that specific folder.

RA112623

yeah, doesn't work on the folder level. has to be a selection like all albums of an artist or album. i think it will work with playlists, but then you have to have a playlist for each folder (and then less than 1,000 entries).

the entire user interface is not user friendly. i've got my phone running thru a Jabra Freeway.

GLE43_Sube

Precisely. This and the fact that there is no bar for the volume level are my only real complaints with the audio. Actually, I find the system pretty intuitive. I can access any song I like in a matter of seconds. My last car didn't even have alphabetical search. If you were looking for a specific artist or song, you had to scroll through dozens of each.

GLE43_Sube

I finally found a workaround for COMAND not playing the contents of folders in "Random". If you create an M3U "Playlist" of the folder's contents, COMAND will play that playlist in "Random". You can use most any media player to do this. I used MediaMonkey. All of the playlists will show in COMAND. You can arrange the playlist songs in a specific order, or just ignore the order and play it in "Random". Works like a charm!


http://www.mediamonkey.com/download/