Zumo XT Music issues

[CromDubh]

I've got a Zumo XT and I used it on multiple bikes back in 2023 on various road trips. A few small issues here and there but generally it was a matter of plugging in a destination. Fire up the music player to play from the micro-sd card and it worked just fine playing music and spoken instructions to my Cardo Freecom 1 and later 1+

This year after recovering from an accident I got out my bikes again and while the instructions come through okay, the music gets choppy, cuts off and eventually freezes up and stops altogether. I've checked with multiple Freecom headsets, reset the GPS multiple times, reset the headsets and pairings , etc but the issue persists. If I use the GPS Simulator option when I'm testing at home, it has no issues but as soon as I'm out on the road, problems. I double checked the connection to power on the GPS mount, reseated the micro-sd card, tried playing music from the phone, multiple different micro-sd cards but nothiong resolved it. until.......

While laid up after the accident, I upgraded my phone from a Doogee S98 Pro (Rugged phone with a decent battery life and not so expensive I'd cry if it got broken on the road) to a Samsung S23 Ultra. When I switched back to my old Doogee and Ulephone handsets the issue seems to be gone but I'll admit I love the better camera, and screen on the Samsung when I'm not actually riding. I'm not sure if its an issue with the Drive app between phones or issues with the bluetooth connection from Android 12 on the Doogee to Android 14 on the Samsung. Anyone have any thoughts on how to narrow things down or any other experiences with android 14 phones. Any help gladly accepted. I've even used an Iphone and seemingly no issues. I don't have access to another Android 14 phone to test or that would be my next step.

[electro_handyman]

Tell us how you have your BT connections setup. It sounds like you are pairing your both your phone and XT to the headset... that causes problems, as you are experiencing.

Best connection sequence is to pair your headset only to the XT 1st, then pair the phone only to the XT 2nd. This make the XT the "traffic cop" for communications to your headset.

Sounds like the newer phone is more BT active than your older phone, and this activity could be interrupting the music being sent from the XT.

[CromDubh]

Hi electro_handyman. Yes I was pairing both to the headset. I like the triple tap on the cardo to initiate a call to my home number. Much easier to do on the road than try to do it through the Zumo XT interface. I'll try setting up the way you suggest and see if that improves things.

Would Android 14 really be causing so much more bluetooth activity? I did try changing some of the Bluetooth settings under developer options but it didn't improve things and never had these issues with previous phones I've used with the Zumo XT (Samsung Note 8, Ulefone Power Armor 13, Doogee S98Pro and Iphone Pro Max 13). I thought it might have been an issue with the Drive App as there have been some changes there, as when I set it up on my old phones I usually had to connect my phone to a vpn to get Drive to fully setup and that doesn't seem to be an issue any more.

I'll keep my fingers crossed the pairing setup you suggested works. My wife will be happy if it resolves the issue as she's noticed my checking out the XT2 as a upgrade.

Thanks

[CromDubh]

Well, I set up my pairings as advised and initially everything seemed to work, .....until we took a wrong turning and after a few "turn around" and "make a u-turn" verbal instructions the music started to glitch and stutter and within a few moments froze up completely. Music played just fine until the Zumo had to recalculate my trip and the instructions started coming through.

I did manage to get sound to work again by turning off bluetooth on the phone but I would like to be able to do calls and Drive data for traffic updates etc.

I switched back to my Doogee S98Pro on Android 13 and no issues at all, couldn't make it mess up no matter how many route recalculations I made it do.

Going to reflash my Samsung back to Android 13 and see what sort of results that gives me.

[twowheelstom]

I was watching some video on how to pair my Zumo 396 to the Cardo Spirit HD headset and the video said to pair the phone to the headset 1st on bluetooth channel 1 then put the headset in pairing mode again and also the Zumo and set the Zumo bluetooth to channel 2 on the headset, I won't be using my phone on the headset so I just have Zumo and headset paired, ya you could be having a bluetooth pairing conflict between your phone and Zumo, maybe.

[CromDubh]

Well, I finally bit the bullet and bought a new phone. Pixel 9 Pro XL.....and everything works perfectly.

Tested the Pixel on Android 14 and again after upgrading to Android 15 and both times, everything worked as it should.

So now it appears that the problem is specific to my S23 Ultra as all the apps installed (other than a few specific to manufacturer apps) are the same.

Not sure what is causing the issue, though I lean towards a bluetooth problem when its connected to the phone and a headset (and it worked perfectly when only connected to the phone and using the Zumo XT speaker for sound.)

If anyone is using an S23 Ultra and a Zumo XT and its working fine for you, I'd love to hear about it but for now, I'm just happy I have everything up and working again. (Android Auto is all well and good but I've become too dependant on my Zumo and all its abilities.)

[baz-R]

i dont know if it helps bt i have a Samsung A34 5G and also been having BT connection issues and MP3 off sd issues and the samsung has been called into question but im also questioning the garmin apps

[jfheath]

BT to headset from phone has presented problems every time I have tried it. But only on the road. It is perfect when first tested at home.

I am of the opinion that all of the passing BT devices in cars are seeking each other out and offering themselves up to pair, and that overloads it. I noticed that the longer that I put up with the chopped up music when riding, the worse it gets. But it never does it when I try to investigate at home.

I gave up trying. I put music in the MP3 folder on the sd card. You can have playlists or random or albums or sequential. And once it is playing you can usually control using headset buttons or voice commands to play, stop, next, previous.

But mostly, I find music too distracting. There's plenty of other things going on that need my attention.

[NJ_Brian]

Hello all,
I'm having somewhat similar issues.
I have a Zumo XT with MP3 files on an SD card and I use a cheap bluetooth dongle with S Plug earbuds.
The turn-by-turn navigation works fine (mostly) but after 30 minutes or so the music slows down and then stops altogether.
Sometimes turning the unit off and on again helps, sometimes not.
I don't see how the bluetooth dongle could be the problem, but I can't figure this out.
I've also reduced the number of songs from ~100 to ~50 and then ~30, same problem.
Any advice would be appreciated.

[jfheath]

Welcome to the forums @NJ_Brian

I use a cheap BT headset for testing purposes. No problem, but it doesn't have the issue of seeking out a BT mate from passing cars when just sitting at my desk. The only time I had that issue on the road was when the music was on my phone.

Do you have a phone connected and if so, I assume that it is paired to the XT and is not trying to pair with the headset ?

So Phone <--> XT <--> Headset

Originally I had everything wired to an Autocom wired system. Except that became a problem with the XT which used BT. So I got a BT unit that relayed the input/output from the Autocom to the XT - and that worked perfectly for a few years.

What version BT is on your XT ? I don't know of a particular issue, but it might throw up some info from someone else on the forum.
Do you have the same problem just sitting at a desk at home ?