Need help... 2007 Yaris with Aux plugin

[molinee]

I tried to do my DD on this and checked out nearly all the topics with no luck. I have a 2007 Yaris hatchback. It has an AUX plugin between the seats. I can plug in my MP3 player and the stereo will play the music. I am now trying to put music on a flash drive and play the flash drive thru the Aux plugin. I am using a special connector that has a USB plug on one end of the cable and what appears to be a 3.5 plugin on the other. I connect the USB flash drive to the one end of the cable and plug the other end of the cable into the AUX and then push AUX on the radio. What shows up on the radio is the word AUX but nothing else and obviously there is no music. All of my files are MP3 so I am assuming that they should play. Anyone have any ideas as to what is going on? This special connector that I bought made it sound like it would work but either this is wrong or I am missing something...

Any help appreciated my Yaris friends...

[CTScott]

I assume that you have charged the battery on the device and have powered it on?

[molinee]

USB flash drives/sticks have no power and no on/off....so we got that covered.

[sheekeebut]

Troubleshooting:
Does any other 3.5mm capable device (your smartphone, tablet, laptop, Walkman, etc) play back?

[Kar98]

You might as well place a vinyl record in your glove box then and expect that play. The USB drive is unpowered, the aux in jack is unpowered. There's nothing there that could play the music.

[sheekeebut]

Wait, hold on a second, what's a USB doing converting to a 3.5mm?

[CTScott]

Originally Posted by molinee

USB flash drives/sticks have no power and no on/off....so we got that covered.

Like the others said above, If the device has a usb interface on one end and a 3.5mm jack on the other, then you have an issue. Can you post a link to what you actually purchased?

[molinee]

Well it appears that I am going to get schooled on this thread

I can play my MP3 player through the AUX port and all works fine. I wasn't sure about playing mp3 music from a flash drive so I took a chance and bought this connector.... I did notice that the plug in cable 'end' was different than the MP3 player cable... 3 rings on one cable tip and 2 rings on the other cable tip .... Maybe I should be signing up for basic electronics 101.

Here is some of the verbage on the cable:
Features:

● 100% Brand New and high quality.

● High Fidelity/Anti-interference/Good Signal；

● Stereo Extended/Music Tone Pure and Clean；

● The 3.5 plug of the line connect to the AUX interface of the car , the USB interface connect to the U disk, Implement auto plays songs of USB flash disk;

● Connector: D3.5mm-USB

● Length: around 17cm from end to end

● Color: White

[CTScott]

You are definitely going to get schooled on this one (LOL). That device is only for certain types of headunits where the AUX jack does dual duty of being a headphone jack input as well as a USB input. The 4th band on the plug is one of the key indicators that it is something different. A normal AUX jack (like the one on your Yaris) just has three.

[sheekeebut]

Isn't that thing for the iPhone?

[Kar98]

I think it's for something like this:

[molinee]

Which leads me to my follow up and final question... Is there any logical way to play my USB drive through that AUX port? Or is a new radio with USB in order??

I do thank everyone that has tried to bring me up to speed on this.

[Kar98]

Not in any way that's less expensive, Rube Goldberg-esque and unsatisfactory than saying screw it and just put in a more modern head unit.

[sheekeebut]

If your usb stick doesn't have a 3.5 mm jack for music, then it's not meant for music. I just ended up getting a new head unit.

Even the cheapest ones these days will have all the connections you want: USB, aux-in, Bluetooth(!).

If you want to avoid that for risk of theft (a valid reason), then grab a decent smartphone with a few GB capacity. It'll double as a pretty good mp3 player, and can even stream online stuff if you've got a data plan. And it'll always have an aux-out.

[vaironl]

Not sure if I have correctly understood your needs, but if you have a smartphone with decent memory (as mentioned above) you can get a cheap Bluetooth interface which is always plugged into the car. This can then be connected via aux cable. I bought a cheap one for about $10 online.

[sheekeebut]

Originally Posted by vaironl

Not sure if I have correctly understood your needs, but if you have a smartphone with decent memory (as mentioned above) you can get a cheap Bluetooth interface which is always plugged into the car. This can then be connected via aux cable. I bought a cheap one for about $10 online.

Hell, why not just use a short 3.5mm-3.5mm patch cable to hook up said smartphone to OEM stereo's aux jack? Simplest way, no?

[molinee]

Hey Guys... My final thank you for all of your help. I will be checking out a new radio with all the new gizmos on it this coming week.... And I learned a little somethin' somethin' along the way.

-Much Appreciated!!!!!!

[vaironl]

Originally Posted by sheekeebut

Hell, why not just use a short 3.5mm-3.5mm patch cable to hook up said smartphone to OEM stereo's aux jack? Simplest way, no?

Totally agree! Not only the simplest but the cheapest. Since OP is asking simply for music an aux cable should suffice. I was just thinking music + navigation, my bad. But to explain myself so that others can use this for future reference, if you want your phone on the dashboard for GPS assistance or even music I think a cheap Bluetooth stick should be perfect. I had an aux cable hooked to my phone, but over time it started to fail on me since I had to connect and disconnect daily.