typocl

Anyone using a USB stick with MP3's and setting it to random play? I do that and I swear, it's not properly doing a random selection all the time. Sometimes, it cycles thru the same set of random songs. I use the left steering wheel button to skip to the next random file as a test and sometimes it repeats a little too often for what a proper random set should be. And in the folder I'm currently testing, I have about 80 files. It seems the initial set of random music when you start the car has a higher likelihood of getting replayed early, before it becomes more random.

Gizmo607

Hi typocl,

Do you turn off ur audio every time u shut off your car? If you do the. The media tends to reset the playlist. For example, u have 50 songs and u set it at random, it plays song number 10 and then it plays randomly. But I think the computer has all the songs pick out already. Now when u shut off the car and u turn off ur audio. The next morning u start up ur car and turn on ur audio it might play song number 10 again, and it plays that programmed playlist again. Try not to turn off ur media, and see if you hear the same songs again. It happens on my Audi.

typocl

nope, don't turn off the audio

Sometimes it's more random than others, but if in 15 random songs out of 80, it plays one of them 3 times out of that 15, it doesn't seem that random.

Sometimes it's more random than others. Maybe if I'm bored, I'll sit in the car with a spreadsheet and just keep hitting the button to skip and see if it's not that random...or that I'm just crazy and it is.

NXFan

This drove me nuts for weeks! I would touch the random button, sometimes it would play randomly, sometimes it would only play random songs in the album. I reorganized my USB drive, same thing. Then i decided to actually read the manual. If you hit the random button once, it will random play the selected folder/album. If you touch it again, it will random play all folders. Hit it once more, it will turn off random play. now it will random play the entire USB drive. Hope this helps you!

typocl

nope...

I have about 7 folders with different types of music in each. I select the folder, then have it do a random play of just that folder. It never tries to grab a song from another folder (I don't want that), but it's not always random for the selected folder from what I'm seeing.

typocl

I put a small pad of paper in the car and wrote down the file number being played and then pressed the UP button on the steering wheel to go to the next "random" song on the USB drive (I also used a different thumb drive, but with the same folder with the 80 MP3 files).

Attached is a spreadsheet of two logs so far.

I sorted each column and highlighted any dupes in red. The folder has 80 files and I ran each test 50 times. Each test, there were several dupes, and one file in each test was duped 5 times.

What is even more interesting is when I resorted by the order in which the songs played - each test showed a dupe in almost the same slot!

It seems to be more random if I go to the USB screen and toggle the RND button. But if it's set to RND when I turn off the car and then start it up later (even if just acc mode), that's when it does the dupes again.

Statistically, this is just crazy.

I'm going to document this more, then post in the Customer Service forum and bring this up with my dealer.

typocl

ok, I did another run and attached the results

I had made a mistake in not highlighting one set of dupes for the first run. The dupe locations are identical.

The other glaring thing - if you look at the file played from one test to the other, the differences in locations are the same for each test.

If the first file in each test is file X, then the second (x2) random file played is x - 6. The third is x2-48.

I need to come up with an excel macro to show this, but it's crazy. Going to test with my wife's IS250 later.

typocl

yup, it's just goofy how they implemented "random"

If I start my car after the USB is already configured for random shuffling within a single folder, it always follows the same random increment. Same if I try it on a 2015 IS250.

If I use a different set of 80 files, same pattern again after setting the folder for random and restarting the car.

If I use a set of 78 files, it seems to be a different pattern, but if I do two tests, it's the same increment pattern. And it still has way more duplicates than a proper random routine should have.

red indicates a file that is duplicated at least once out of the 50 times I hit the up arrow.

15RC350F

So apparently the car doesn't have a true random number generator; it simulates random play with a simple arithmetic algorithm.

BTW, it must just be a personal personality trait of mine: I vastly prefer songs - for instance, on a CD - to always play in the same order. That way I can easily skip right to one I want to hear if it's not "next". The random thing would make me nuts.

But I do fully appreciate your desire to be "surprised" by what's next. And your commitment to this exploration is commendable!

typocl

yeah, if I was playing a CD, I probably wouldn't do random, but these are all songs I chose to put on the USB, so in theory, I should like all of them.

If I get a hold of the programmer of the random function, I'm gonna club them over the head. This is just embarrassing.

Since I know my set of 80 files has one song repeating 3 times withing 15 plays, I just took that folder and copied a second set of the same files to hopefully make it less obvious that a dupe is playing. Most of my driving would just have me go thru 10 songs at a time tops, which is why I noticed it.

My other option is to reformat the USB, then randomly copy the files over to it and have the car play sequentially - which is the default anyway when changing folders. I think I read in another forum that it plays according to the order files were copied to the USB, not by alphabetical order.

They may fix the random issue, but I doubt they'll make the random setting stick when switching folders as they'll probably say that's a design feature.

600rr

This is the biggest complaint i have with the audio system. I have about 250 songs in my folder but i feel it only cycles about 30 of them. If I add new songs to the folder, those new songs are rarely ever played.
You're dead on about multiple repeats within 10-15 skips. The other day I had a song play 3 times in a row! and that's with 250 songs in the list. I joke with my wife saying this car picks its favorite songs and play them over and over again...

I don't know how Lexus can screw this up.

typocl

sure is annoying when you notice it, huh? You can minimize the issue by adjusting the amount of songs in a folder (copy a few of them), but you have to experiment to find a count that's not so bad.

My service dept was able to verify this and contacted Lexus. They haven't gotten back. When I go in for the 10K service, I'm going to tell them they need to get back to me with some sort of plan (someone just needs to fix the code - it's not like replacing a part) or I want the next few services thrown in for free.

Plus, I think this goes across models, our 2015 IS250 does the same pattern.

computerwi

Impressive investigation work.

I imagine the same code for randomization is used in all Remote Touch systems that Lexus has ever deployed. I believe the head unit is made by Fujitsu and the minor code adjustment would likely have to come from them. That said, it's probably unlikely we'll get a fix for this..

tommytqt

wow. I thought i was crazy. This is not acceptable for Lexus. Happened to me as well.

600rr

Yeah this happens to everyone since all IS models uses the same head unit.
Most people just don't notice it or don't care. But it's really annoying for me on long trips of 8+ hours and the same old songs are on repeat.
I highly doubt Lexus will fix something like this though.