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SYNC System Thread

331K views 525 replies 200 participants last post by  double b 
#1 ·
#165 ·
Yeah, but I still haven't found out WHY it has to do system maintenance. Smells a lot like a Windows registry thing and maybe at the heart of why there are so many problems.

So, can someone address WHY there needs to be system maintenance???


Brian
 
#166 ·
So, can someone address WHY there needs to be system maintenance???


Brian
That is the million-dollar question! I've never seen a good explanation myself that wasn't just speculation and anything I could think of would be just speculation as well.

The whole "scheduled system maintenance" phrasing on the screen is funny though, like if they throw the word "scheduled" in there people might think it was supposed to do that at that time because it was part of the schedule instead of what it really is, system froze/crashed and has to recover.
 
#170 ·
It happened to me yesterday. When it came back on it remembered my radio station and continued with the navigation. Interesting that I commented about it a few days ago than WHAM! it happens.

I dont see it as a bad thing. If there was a "control alt delete" type command I would reset it once a week or so.
 
#178 ·
End of the third week of having my new Focus (brand new, not pre-owned). Just hit 2k miles.

My 4GB iPod nano (old gen) is now causing the constant Indexing. I restored the iPod. Still no go. I had toggled the "Use as Disk" option, so I changed that back and I'll see if that fixes anything.

I use a Macbook Pro, so I can't use the "Sync My iTunes" software, unless someone has a link for a Mac version.

I've also noticed SYNC not picking up my iPhone4 as a Bluetooth device, even though I still see the battery and signal readout on the console screen.

WTH? I have 3.1.1 (I believe). Where can we check to see what the latest version of the software is? Or does Micro$oft keep that a secret?

I'm loving SYNC when it works, but when it doesn't, it is more annoying that messing with a cellphone in the car.

I also noticed I can't seem to save a FM station. It just resets back to the original list.

Helpz?
 
#179 ·
Hi kinetek,

I just got back from the dealer (South Bay Ford, in Hawthorne CA) and here's what they told me:

If you have an iPhone, iPod, or iPod touch with the latest iOS, and connect via the USB connector, the Sync system will eventually lock up. The system will have to be reset before anything else can be done. For us, that means pulling the fuse or disconnecting the negative battery terminal and waiting a few minutes. Ford, Apple and Microsoft are doing the finger-pointing do-si-do on this issue, so this square dance is going to last a while.

Once you've reset the system, older iPods with click wheels should work--the technician connected his iPod Classic and it worked like a charm. Streaming via Bluetooth should also work. (I haven't tried that yet; I'll let you know what happens.) I don't know about the Nano; I would assume it operates the same as the iPhone or iPod Touch.

Also, if you have a Flash drive formatted with FAT32, it should work after reset. I connected one and the system came right up.

I'll check out the Bluetooth tip at lunchtime today and I'll let you know what I find.

Hope this helps,

-terry-
 
#181 ·
Orcaman,

I take it you mean "reset" via fuse or disconnecting battery only? I tried a Master Reset on the unit, and there was no change with iPod via USB, although the iPhone4 seems to be playing nice again via Bluetooth.

Being a techie, I am determined to get this figured out before an official patch is released.

My next hypothesis is whether or not syncing AAC tracks make a difference. The first time I used my iPod, it was strictly MP3's that I synced over via iTunes.

The next sync, I had pulled some tracks off iCloud, which creates a local AAC copy of the original MP3 file that was uploaded to iCloud (I moved all the mp3's to an external drive and removed them all from iTunes to save space on the MBP).

So my guess is that the AAC files freak out the FordSYNC. I'll do some troubleshooting and post my findings.

Side note - I plugged a blank 512MB USB thumbdrive, with no media, and it indexed it in seconds.
 
#182 ·
You are correct, sir! Pulling the fuse or disconnecting the battery should wipe out the cache and allow you to reinstall your iPod. Of course, if you disconnect the battery, that wipes out the system clock and trip meters. (I'm sure that's what the tech did this morning, by the way.) I performed a Master Reset on mine and it didn't do diddly-squat except give me hope for a minute before dashing my foolish, foolish dreams.

I haven't tried the AAC gambit, but that sounds interesting.

I take it you mean "reset" via fuse or disconnecting battery only? I tried a Master Reset on the unit, and there was no change with iPod via USB, although the iPhone4 seems to be playing nice again via Bluetooth.
 
#185 · (Edited)
Crum! I just saw where this posting ended up. Sorry for posting in the wrong string. I'll try to find the right one! Please delete this posting.


(sigh)

I've had my 2011 Focus SES for a year and a half, and have been successfully using the Sync system with my iPhone 4 and iPod 16 GB Nano for that time. Been very happy with it, until the past couple of weeks.

Just as a little background info: both the iPhone and Nano are formatted and loaded using Mac iTunes.

Recently the USB port (the Nano) has started glitching. I can use voice commands to change playlists, or albums, or artist, ...etc, but the music just does not play. Nothing has changed on the Nano. No updates, no trips back to the Mac. The display shows the change of artist and song, but the time played stays at 0:00. Pressing Pause/Play shows "Pause" on the display then continues, but no change.

Phone still works fine, and plays audiobooks from the Audible.com application through Bluetooth Audio.

I've read through this entire forum string, and considered the various solutions offered here.

I have:

- Reset to factory defaults. No change.
- Reset using the Master Reset. Nope.
- Pulled the fuse for a few minutes and restored all settings. Nada.
- Downloaded and installed the latest software update. Poop. (Note: I never did get the second "Installation Complete" message that the instructions said I would after 4-5 minutes. I waited 10 minutes.)
- I brought my Nano in and hooked it up to my Mac and reset it, then reloaded. No help.

Unfortunately, we don't have a Ford dealer in Juneau. None I can drive to.

Anyone have any helpful suggestions? I am stumped.

Steve
 
#187 ·
Finally got my Sprint Samsung Galaxy S2 Epic 4G Touch to work with text messaging. Through the system settings, I turned MAP on, then shut the car off and shut bluetooth off on my phone. Then I turned bluetooth back on and started the car. A message popped up on my phone asking if I wanted to allow sync access, clicked yes and now it works no problem!
 
#192 ·
I can help you with this, blank102, I just need some additional info. Which iPod are you using? Are you connecting through USB or Bluetooth audio? Also, is your Focus equipped with MyFord Touch?

The first line of defense is to soft reset your device:

http://Support.Apple.com/kb/HT1320

I look forward to your reply, let me know if the reset helps. :)

Jaclyn
 
#194 ·
synch with MFT directions in message window above steering wheel?

This happened once and I've been trying to get it to work again. In the message window above the steering wheel that typically shows MPG, trip time, miles, miles to empty, mykey, etc. I once saw turn by turn directions on the right side of the message window. How did I get that to work? How do I make it work? I do have the directions on MFT in the information section, but the turn by turn in that window was helpful.
 
#198 ·
Well it looks like it is time for another fuse pull. I got the "index full some songs may not be available" message today. This is getting old (not the first time this has happened). It's a shame because the rest of my Focus is still going great.
 
#204 ·
I bought an iPod classic for myself the other day. Was trying to use it over USB, and when doing "Play artist ____" voice command, it plays through the tracks in alphabetical order. If I was on my iPod and pressed play on an artist, it would go through in album order. Is there a way to get sync to replicate this behavior?
 
#205 ·
Hey, DBrim -

By giving the voice command PLAY ALL, SYNC will play your music in alphabetical order. The system is set up to play all tracks by the artist in which you've given a command for. If you wish to listen to one specific album, you can give the command PLAY ALBUM XXX. [headbang]

Let me know if you have any additional questions.

Jaclyn
 
#206 ·
Well, that's not necessarily what I want, but okay. I have a bunch of artists with different greatest hits albums and such, so keeping the album names straight is a hassle. Any way to list all of the albums by a particular artist?
 
#210 ·
Got it to work. But for some reason I have to get the system to recognize the iPod every time I plug it in.
I changed the connectors and it now works.
To any others with the same problem: DO NOT plug anything into the audio out hole on your iPod or the car. If it ain't a rectangle hole or plug you are doing it wrong.[:)]
 
#211 ·
I didn't read through all of this, so I apologize ahead of time if my complaints are redundant and fixed already (I hope!).

I always leave mine on shuffle. However, when I start my car back up, it will continue shuffling, but in alphabetical order rather than a completely random shuffle. I have to push shuffle, all, and ok all over again. Another problem I have is my ipod not being recognized even though I left it plugged in. Weird little problems, but at least it basically works!
 
#212 ·
Switching between Line In and USB

First, i want to thank everyone on this board for providing so much information about the new Focuses. I've had my new 2012 Focus SE for a week, and what I've read on these message boards was very helpful in making my decision.

I'm having a problem with the SYNC system, I've searched the forums (and the internet in general) and have found no information on this. I'm not sure if the best thing to do would be to start a new post or to add on to this thread, so my apologies if I'm doing this "wrong".

I've got the "basic" SYNC package, not MyFordTouch.
I finally (after 3 tries) got a portable hard drive formatted correctly (that is, FAT32, not NTFS or exFAT) and it has all my music on it. Voice control works great. So far working very smoothly.

I can plug in my tiny MP3 player (which I use for library audiobooks that have DRM) into the line-in and listen to that. From there, I can switch over to the USB and have my full music library available. However, when I try to switch back to the Line In *after* I have played music of the USB hard drive, the car tells me: "Line in is unavailable when a device is connected to USB".
To switch back to line in I have to open the center console and unplug the hard drive. It automatically switches back to line in. I can immediately plug the hard drive back in and the line in continues playing.

So, as the line in seems to work with a USB device connected, it seems like this is some kind of software glitch. Is this really the way this is supposed to behave? Has anyone else run across this? Any chance that there's an update out there that will fix this?

Thanks for all your help,
Joe

PS: is it just me, or, even though "shuff" appears all the time when playing music over USB, (Down the bottom, as a "tab" induiction of what the four buttons on the radio head do) there is no actual indication of if Shuffle is ON of OFF? Am I missing something?
 
#213 ·
First, i want to thank everyone on this board for providing so much information about the new Focuses. I've had my new 2012 Focus SE for a week, and what I've read on these message boards was very helpful in making my decision.

I'm having a problem with the SYNC system, I've searched the forums (and the internet in general) and have found no information on this. I'm not sure if the best thing to do would be to start a new post or to add on to this thread, so my apologies if I'm doing this "wrong".

I've got the "basic" SYNC package, not MyFordTouch.
I finally (after 3 tries) got a portable hard drive formatted correctly (that is, FAT32, not NTFS or exFAT) and it has all my music on it. Voice control works great. So far working very smoothly.

I can plug in my tiny MP3 player (which I use for library audiobooks that have DRM) into the line-in and listen to that. From there, I can switch over to the USB and have my full music library available. However, when I try to switch back to the Line In *after* I have played music of the USB hard drive, the car tells me: "Line in is unavailable when a device is connected to USB".
To switch back to line in I have to open the center console and unplug the hard drive. It automatically switches back to line in. I can immediately plug the hard drive back in and the line in continues playing.

So, as the line in seems to work with a USB device connected, it seems like this is some kind of software glitch. Is this really the way this is supposed to behave? Has anyone else run across this? Any chance that there's an update out there that will fix this?

Thanks for all your help,
Joe

PS: is it just me, or, even though "shuff" appears all the time when playing music over USB, (Down the bottom, as a "tab" induiction of what the four buttons on the radio head do) there is no actual indication of if Shuffle is ON of OFF? Am I missing something?
Unfortunately, I can't speak with 100% certainty since I have MFT and not the basic SYNC package... but my guess would be for whatever reason it's designed so that when you plug in and play a USB device it disables the line in altogether. A stupid design, I agree, but if you're getting a message on screen saying just that, then I'm sure they did it on purpose.

What kind of MP3 player are you using? And do the basic SYNC equipped cars have just one or two USBs? I would say if you have an iPod or a Zune, connect it via USB with the sync/charge cable you got with it, because then you'll be charging and you'll also be able to control the content via the SYNC screen. (This should actually work with any MP3 player provided it uses a USB interface with your computer)

Of course this adds to the inconvenience if you only have one USB, so that suggestion is really only great if you have two USBs like the MFT cars do.

Otherwise, hopefully some more SYNC owners chime in with input and maybe a Ford IVT team member has some more light to shed on the issue.

And, you've posted correctly! Always better to post about problems/questions with an existing topic rather than create a new one every time, so thanks for that!
 
#217 · (Edited)
I have a 2013 Escape SE with Sync and I believe it has MFT. On the window sticker it says "Sync/MyFord" however it does not have the Sony setup nor the 201A package. Although I know it does have GPS built in as the salesman showed me how that worked. Is there a way to play the regular am/fm radiO through voice commands, and, if so what are the commands?
 
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