Ford Sync is kind of a jerk
08-18-2013, 09:13 PM
#1
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Thread Starter
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: b
Posts: 66
Ford Sync is kind of a jerk
I've had my 2014 for about a month and a half now and I've come to the realization that, while I love the car, Sync is a jerk. Some examples of its annoying, and seemingly spiteful behavior:
1. When using USB, about a third of the time it will tell me that there is no USB device connected. But then if I disconnect the USB device, it will show "USB Removed" so it obviously was connected. I've replaced my iPhone cable thinking that maybe I had a bad cable, but no change in behavior.
2. Sometimes Sync will remember that I was using USB when I was in the car before. Other times it won't. Sometimes it seems to forget just about everything and plays the AM radio.
3. Sometimes the Sync lady just doesn't listen. I'll hit the button on the steering wheel, and no chime. Or I'll say "USB" and she'll admonish me, telling me that I can say USB or a bunch of other options I've never used. I'm not a mumbler, and I'll repeat it exactly as before and she'll hear me fine.
4. Today, in the middle of a song, Sync decided to just stop playing. It wouldn't react to any voice commands or button presses. Just dead silence. About a minute later, the song picked up where it left off, scaring the crap out of me. The Sync lady might as well have yelled "Surprise, MFer!" at full volume.
5. About a quarter of the time, Sync will decide that my iPhone needs to be reindexed, so it won't respond to any commands. This is with no changes to the songs on the iPhone. Other times it will just decide to rebuild the voice commands for some mysterious reason.
6. Every once in a while, Sync will decide that when I say "USB" what I mean is that I want it to go to some Play Menu and sit there doing nothing.
1. When using USB, about a third of the time it will tell me that there is no USB device connected. But then if I disconnect the USB device, it will show "USB Removed" so it obviously was connected. I've replaced my iPhone cable thinking that maybe I had a bad cable, but no change in behavior.
2. Sometimes Sync will remember that I was using USB when I was in the car before. Other times it won't. Sometimes it seems to forget just about everything and plays the AM radio.
3. Sometimes the Sync lady just doesn't listen. I'll hit the button on the steering wheel, and no chime. Or I'll say "USB" and she'll admonish me, telling me that I can say USB or a bunch of other options I've never used. I'm not a mumbler, and I'll repeat it exactly as before and she'll hear me fine.
4. Today, in the middle of a song, Sync decided to just stop playing. It wouldn't react to any voice commands or button presses. Just dead silence. About a minute later, the song picked up where it left off, scaring the crap out of me. The Sync lady might as well have yelled "Surprise, MFer!" at full volume.
5. About a quarter of the time, Sync will decide that my iPhone needs to be reindexed, so it won't respond to any commands. This is with no changes to the songs on the iPhone. Other times it will just decide to rebuild the voice commands for some mysterious reason.
6. Every once in a while, Sync will decide that when I say "USB" what I mean is that I want it to go to some Play Menu and sit there doing nothing.
08-19-2013, 12:42 PM
#2
I've had my 2014 for about a month and a half now and I've come to the realization that, while I love the car, Sync is a jerk. Some examples of its annoying, and seemingly spiteful behavior:
1. When using USB, about a third of the time it will tell me that there is no USB device connected. But then if I disconnect the USB device, it will show "USB Removed" so it obviously was connected. I've replaced my iPhone cable thinking that maybe I had a bad cable, but no change in behavior.
2. Sometimes Sync will remember that I was using USB when I was in the car before. Other times it won't. Sometimes it seems to forget just about everything and plays the AM radio.
3. Sometimes the Sync lady just doesn't listen. I'll hit the button on the steering wheel, and no chime. Or I'll say "USB" and she'll admonish me, telling me that I can say USB or a bunch of other options I've never used. I'm not a mumbler, and I'll repeat it exactly as before and she'll hear me fine.
4. Today, in the middle of a song, Sync decided to just stop playing. It wouldn't react to any voice commands or button presses. Just dead silence. About a minute later, the song picked up where it left off, scaring the crap out of me. The Sync lady might as well have yelled "Surprise, MFer!" at full volume.
5. About a quarter of the time, Sync will decide that my iPhone needs to be reindexed, so it won't respond to any commands. This is with no changes to the songs on the iPhone. Other times it will just decide to rebuild the voice commands for some mysterious reason.
6. Every once in a while, Sync will decide that when I say "USB" what I mean is that I want it to go to some Play Menu and sit there doing nothing.
1. When using USB, about a third of the time it will tell me that there is no USB device connected. But then if I disconnect the USB device, it will show "USB Removed" so it obviously was connected. I've replaced my iPhone cable thinking that maybe I had a bad cable, but no change in behavior.
2. Sometimes Sync will remember that I was using USB when I was in the car before. Other times it won't. Sometimes it seems to forget just about everything and plays the AM radio.
3. Sometimes the Sync lady just doesn't listen. I'll hit the button on the steering wheel, and no chime. Or I'll say "USB" and she'll admonish me, telling me that I can say USB or a bunch of other options I've never used. I'm not a mumbler, and I'll repeat it exactly as before and she'll hear me fine.
4. Today, in the middle of a song, Sync decided to just stop playing. It wouldn't react to any voice commands or button presses. Just dead silence. About a minute later, the song picked up where it left off, scaring the crap out of me. The Sync lady might as well have yelled "Surprise, MFer!" at full volume.
5. About a quarter of the time, Sync will decide that my iPhone needs to be reindexed, so it won't respond to any commands. This is with no changes to the songs on the iPhone. Other times it will just decide to rebuild the voice commands for some mysterious reason.
6. Every once in a while, Sync will decide that when I say "USB" what I mean is that I want it to go to some Play Menu and sit there doing nothing.
Since there are multiple issues taking place, I recommend doing a master reset to your SYNC system. This will set everything back to the factory defaults so we can start fresh: http://support.ford.com/sync-technol...ter-reset-sync
Another thing that can improve your music streaming is a soft reset to the phone. On an iPhone, this is done by pressing the HOME button and the POWER button simultaneously until the Apple logo appears. I suggest resetting the phone periodically to maintain a stronger connection.
Once both of these resets are completed, pair the phone back to your SYNC system: http://support.ford.com/sync-technol...our-phone-sync Let me know if you have any questions. This should improve your experience.
Kim
08-19-2013, 02:42 PM
#3
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: Florida
Posts: 41
Hi rvastang,
Since there are multiple issues taking place, I recommend doing a master reset to your SYNC system. This will set everything back to the factory defaults so we can start fresh: http://support.ford.com/sync-technol...ter-reset-sync
Another thing that can improve your music streaming is a soft reset to the phone. On an iPhone, this is done by pressing the HOME button and the POWER button simultaneously until the Apple logo appears. I suggest resetting the phone periodically to maintain a stronger connection.
Once both of these resets are completed, pair the phone back to your SYNC system: http://support.ford.com/sync-technol...our-phone-sync Let me know if you have any questions. This should improve your experience.
Kim
Since there are multiple issues taking place, I recommend doing a master reset to your SYNC system. This will set everything back to the factory defaults so we can start fresh: http://support.ford.com/sync-technol...ter-reset-sync
Another thing that can improve your music streaming is a soft reset to the phone. On an iPhone, this is done by pressing the HOME button and the POWER button simultaneously until the Apple logo appears. I suggest resetting the phone periodically to maintain a stronger connection.
Once both of these resets are completed, pair the phone back to your SYNC system: http://support.ford.com/sync-technol...our-phone-sync Let me know if you have any questions. This should improve your experience.
Kim
08-19-2013, 07:28 PM
#4
1st Gear Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: b
Posts: 66
Thanks for the reply. Yeah, I tried the master reset and the phone reset, and the first time I plugged it back in I got the "USB not found" silliness.
I sort of wonder if there is something physically wrong with the USB port on my car. It does feel significantly more loose than the USB port on my MacBook.
And I have to add, if the voice control worked over Bluetooth like it does on USB, and displayed the song/artist info, I wouldn't bother with USB at all. The system in the Camaro can do it, so I know it's possible.
I sort of wonder if there is something physically wrong with the USB port on my car. It does feel significantly more loose than the USB port on my MacBook.
And I have to add, if the voice control worked over Bluetooth like it does on USB, and displayed the song/artist info, I wouldn't bother with USB at all. The system in the Camaro can do it, so I know it's possible.
Last edited by rvastang; 08-19-2013 at 07:31 PM.
08-19-2013, 08:20 PM
#5
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Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: Illinois
Posts: 118
I may be getting to be an old curmudgeon, but I cannot stand most voice command crap just for this reason.
Compatibility with different systems always seems to be an issue even without voice commands be it printers, bluetooth, USB or whatever.
I seriously hope that there will be the option to opt out of most of the in-car tech and give me my buttons back when I'm ready to purchase my next new vehicle.
Compatibility with different systems always seems to be an issue even without voice commands be it printers, bluetooth, USB or whatever.
I seriously hope that there will be the option to opt out of most of the in-car tech and give me my buttons back when I'm ready to purchase my next new vehicle.
08-19-2013, 08:50 PM
#6
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Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: b
Posts: 66
Yeah, that's kind of curmudgeonly. Do you ever get upset at the darn kids for being on your lawn? 
Seriously though, there are still the buttons on the dash. Half of the issues I've been seeing (1, 2, and 4) still apply when using the buttons though.
Seriously though, there are still the buttons on the dash. Half of the issues I've been seeing (1, 2, and 4) still apply when using the buttons though.
08-19-2013, 09:31 PM
#7
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Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: Canada - Alberta
Posts: 188
My FORD SYNC is being a complete douchebag...
Once and awhile when I start my vehicle it doesn't remember that I was listening to the USB which is fine I just hit the AUX button problem solved. This I can live with since it's easily accomodated.
The bigger issue is once and awhile I will start up my vehicle and it remembers i was listening to USB but then SYNC voice comes up saying found new device and starts playing 1 song but that will be the only song on my USB stick, When I load the USB stick into the
computer all my songs but the 1 that it decides wasn't worthy of deleting have been erased..
This has happened so far 10-12 times and its totally random sometimes I have gone weeks without it doing it and one time I had it do it back to back mornings. It is always a different song it decides to not delete aswell.
Is this a common issue with FORD SYNC?
Once and awhile when I start my vehicle it doesn't remember that I was listening to the USB which is fine I just hit the AUX button problem solved. This I can live with since it's easily accomodated.
The bigger issue is once and awhile I will start up my vehicle and it remembers i was listening to USB but then SYNC voice comes up saying found new device and starts playing 1 song but that will be the only song on my USB stick, When I load the USB stick into the
computer all my songs but the 1 that it decides wasn't worthy of deleting have been erased..
This has happened so far 10-12 times and its totally random sometimes I have gone weeks without it doing it and one time I had it do it back to back mornings. It is always a different song it decides to not delete aswell.
Is this a common issue with FORD SYNC?
08-19-2013, 10:15 PM
#8
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Thread Starter
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: b
Posts: 66
Wow, yeah, that sounds worse than mine.
I'm not sure if you're a technical type, but if you are I'd be curious to see what happens if you set your song files to read only. Not that you should have to do that, since Sync has no business deleting anything in the first place, but it might be an interesting test or a temporary workaround. Or try a different USB stick. Maybe the stick itself has some sort of issue. Seems unlikely, but if you have a spare lying around it might be worth a shot.
I'm not sure if you're a technical type, but if you are I'd be curious to see what happens if you set your song files to read only. Not that you should have to do that, since Sync has no business deleting anything in the first place, but it might be an interesting test or a temporary workaround. Or try a different USB stick. Maybe the stick itself has some sort of issue. Seems unlikely, but if you have a spare lying around it might be worth a shot.
08-19-2013, 10:40 PM
#9
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Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: Canada - Alberta
Posts: 188
I have tried 3 different USB sticks all the same result.
I have also tried setting each song to read-only and yesterday morning it deleted all but 1 song yet again.
The weird part is when you plug the USBs into a computer and look at the them.. the 1 song will be there the rest are gone but if you look at the devices space capacity it shows it's still being used by
the songs. For instance I put about 2gb of songs on my USB stick and after SYNC deletes everything but 1 song when you load the USB in windows explorer it will still say 2GB are being used but will only show 1 song.
I have also tried setting each song to read-only and yesterday morning it deleted all but 1 song yet again.
The weird part is when you plug the USBs into a computer and look at the them.. the 1 song will be there the rest are gone but if you look at the devices space capacity it shows it's still being used by
the songs. For instance I put about 2gb of songs on my USB stick and after SYNC deletes everything but 1 song when you load the USB in windows explorer it will still say 2GB are being used but will only show 1 song.
Last edited by BairdGT; 08-19-2013 at 10:45 PM.
08-20-2013, 07:26 AM
#10
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Join Date: Jul 2013
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Posts: 66
Wow, that's really bizarre. Maybe a silly question, but do you have Show Hidden/System Files enabled in explorer? Perhaps Sync is hiding rather than deleting, which would account for the space still being used. Or it's jacking up the file allocation table in some way. I assume you're formatting the stick as FAT32? What size sticks have you tried?