Sansa Fuze and 2010 Prius USB interface

I just attempted to connect the Fuze to the USB interface in my 2010 Prius. I am not able to read any files in the Fuze on the car screen after engaging the Aux input and selecting USB. Anyone have any similar issue? When the Fuze is connected to the Prius USB input it apparently just powers the Fuze. The Prius reports " no files are available".

Message Edited by lblau1978 on 10-08-2009 03:26 AM

MSC or MTP?

Its likely the Device is in “Autodetect” USB mode.  On the PC the files are transferred in MTP mode.

WHen its connected to the Prius,  it only supports MSC mode,  hence no files.

THe solution is to erase all the files.  You can do that by Formatting.

then set the USB mode to “MSC”  and transfer the content in that mode.

Then when you connect to the Prius all the files will be there.

I hate to resurrect an old thread, but figured better to tag onto this one then start another. I’ve been trying to get our Fuzes (we have two of them) to connect to our Gen III Toyota Prius with nav. The Fuze is not recognized at all on the USB interface. The USB tab on the car’s LCD screen remains greyed out no matter what I try to do. Both of our Fuzes have been in MSC mode from Day One because we use Linux at home and I learned (from this forum!) that I had to change the setting. It would be great to get the Fuze working on the USB port. I’d love to hear from someone who’s been able to do it. When I plug my Sansa into a PC it seems to change into a data transmission mode instead of being ‘just a music player’. The screen says, “Connected”, then it says “Writing”, then it goes back to “Connected” and that’s where it stays. The four-colored Sansa icon goes thru its animation and the battery charging icon comes up. I poked around in the settings but didn’t see anything to change. Maybe there’s a different Sansa cable that can be used? I also tried to get the Fuze to work on the “aux” port, but that didn’t work either. I took the car to the dealership. We ended up trying 3 different devices (Fuze and two Apples), 3 USB cables, and 3 different audio cables. The Service Mgr’s Apple worked on the USB interface, but the other Apple didn’t. Our Fuze worked once - with the Service Mgr’s audio cable, but not the other two. I could see no difference between our audio cable and his. He said the Prii are very touchy about the audio cables. He suggested getting a generic Apple-compatible audio cable, because that’s what his is.

Service manager is an ■■■■■. The Apple cable is NOT compatible with the Fuze. The power and data go through different pins and you can very easily FRY the Fuze with an Apple cable. You need a Sansa cable (Fuze and E200 both use the same cable). The Charging behavior is exactly what it’s supposed to do when plugged into a USB if it’s making a data connection. When it does, the computer reads the files on the Fuze and plays them back on the computer, not through the headphone jack. How about just running a plug-to-plug cable from the headphone out into AUX in. That might be the easiest solution.

Hi, Black - Thanks for replying. I’d really like to get this figured out. I didn’t explain myself well enough. I’m sure the Sansa and Apple USB data cables are different, and there’s no way I woulda tried to jam the Apple USB data cable into my Fuze. I was referring to the headphone port. It’s a standard stereo mini-jack. I brought a micrometer with me, and was unable to measure any difference between my mini-jack cable and his. But his cable worked in our Prius on the Aux port, and mine didn’t. Plug-to-plug, as you say. Getting it to work on the Aux port with a mini-jack cable would be great, but it would be really neat to get the USB connection working as you describe. Using just the USB data cable, not the USB cable and the mini-jack cable to the Aux port.

You need to find out whether the Prius stereo is MTP or MSC. It must be documented somewhere by the car company. Miniplug to miniplug cables are as standard as it gets. An “Apple-compatible” headphone plug is the same as any other headphone plug, only more expensive.

“Only more expensive” :wink: Ya got that right. We don’t own any Apple products. Mr. Jobs has not put his spell on me. So MTP or MSC is a common protocol? The first time I recall hearing of either term was on this forum after we’d bought our first Fuze. I just assumed it was something that it was a Sansa thing. I’ve been poking around on the PriusChat Forum - maybe someone knows over there. I’ll be back if I figure anything out.

OK, wikipedia has an article on MTP, MSC, etc. Do you think Apple uses MTP??? According to Wikipedia, MTP is “part of the ‘Windows Media’ framework”… I would think they’d avoid using a Windows based protocol…

Here I am, talking to myself - The simplest thing to do might be wipe one of the Fuzes of data, switch to MTP, toss a few songs on there, and see what happens when I plug it into the Prius.

@telkwa wrote:
OK, wikipedia has an article on MTP, MSC, etc. Do you think Apple uses MTP??? According to Wikipedia, MTP is “part of the ‘Windows Media’ framework”… I would think they’d avoid using a Windows based protocol…

Apple uses MSC for USB transfers, although it writes additional information over MSC that a lot of things don’t understand (the iTunes database file).

The files are transferred in MTP mode.When its connected to the Prius,  it only supports MSC mode. :) 

Since a lot of people have doPi players, it would make more sense for Prius to use MSC.

I really agree with you black,service manager is annoying.Apple cable is not compatible with the Fuze.

“The files are transferred in MTP mode.When its connected to the Prius, it only supports MSC mode.” I’m sorry, whatever it is that the poster is saying is lost on me. What files are transferred in MTP? And are you saying the Prius only supports MSC, or your player? BTW, I emailed Toyota Customer Support and asked them for the specifics. I’ll let you know if I get anything useful from them.

Here’s the answer from Toyota: “Thank you for contacting Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. Inc. We appreciate the opportunity to address your inquiry. We apologize; the USB port for your 2010 Prius only recognizes USB flash drives formatted with file systems FAT 16 or FAT 32, and some iPod models. The Prius’ audio system was not designed to enable control of the Sansa Fuze when it is connected via the vehicle’s USB port. The best way to use your device with the audio system in your Prius would be to purchase a male-to-male 1/8” (3.5mm) cable, connecting the headphone jack of the MP3 player to the AUX port on your vehicle. Alternatively, you may wish to load a FAT-formatted flash drive with your music for in-vehicle listening. If we can be of further assistance, please feel free to contact us." I specifically asked whether the Prius uses MSC or MTP. I also asked why some mini-jack audio cables work but most don’t. The reply was helpful to some extent, but didn’t answer the questions.

@telkwa wrote:
 We appreciate the opportunity to address your inquiry. We apologize; the USB port for your 2010 Prius only recognizes USB flash drives formatted with file systems FAT 16 or FAT 32, and some iPod models.

FAT16/32 == MSC mode.

As Saratoga said, MSC is a USB drive formatted to FAT. Toyota obviously sent you a cut-and-paste and filled in the name Fuze–they probably don’t know what a Fuze is. It may be that the Prius can’t handle subfolders. Typically the Fuze stuffs all the mp3s into Music. Try taking a few albums out and putting them in the root directory (whatever the driveletter is). And if that doesn’t work, take some mp3s out of album folders and try that. It’s worth the experiment.

More results - Although the dealership’s Service Mgr. was skeptical about replacing the audio/USB port inside our center console, they went ahead and did it. Our Fuze now works on the 3.5 mm TRS jack. That’s really weird, because 3.5 mm TRS is a very generic port. Maybe a Toyota supplier delivered a few thousand flaky TRS jacks? When I plug the Fuze into the USB port, the Fuze goes into what I call its “data transfer” mode - the screen says “Writing”, then “Connected”. The Prius sees nothing. That doesn’t really surprise me - I can’t get to any Fuze screen when it’s in this mode and ask it to start playing. Long story short, I can’t figure out how to make the Fuze play across the USB connection, but it does work when plugged into the Prius AUX connection. Which is a standard 3.5 mm TRS port.

We just bought a 2011 Kia Sedona Ex and have not been able to use our our Sansa Fuze (2) in the USB port but have been able to make it work in the Aux port…but it is not the same.  Brought it back to the dealer who said “Sorry, we tested the USB and it is working and we can’t help you”!!  What is the point in having the USB if it really does not work with anything except the Apple iPod and only if you purchase the special $50.00 adapter with the USB and Aux. port plug?  Has anyone else figured out how to make the USB read the Sansa Fuze in these vehicles that have the Nav. system built into it???  I am not satisfied with the fact that it “can’t” work in this vehicle when it worked fine in my 2009 Kia Sedona and 2010 Kia Forte…Any ideas??