Brax 3 audio defective

BraX3 iodéOS
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Hi. After having spent close to 26 hours on this problem I am drawing the conclusion that the Brax USB audio output is defective. I am trying to connect the Brax 3 to my Ford sync3 car system. I have no interest in Bluetooth or Android Auto (tried both) and simply want to connect the USB cable, select the phone as source and off we go: whatever plays on the phone now plays on the car stereo. On an iPhone it works like a dream. Plug it in and it plays. Choose a new song on the phone and it plays, choose it on the car display and it plays. It fails on the Brax. I found some awkward ways to control the music via the car screen but that’s worthless as the car locks you out at speeds over 5mph and you can no longer choose a song.

I got many responses from people who just guessed. So my concise questions are:

  1. what protocol exactly does the iPhone use to connect to sync 3
  2. is there a way to fix the Brax to suply the same output protocol?
  3. if not, is there an adapter I can buy (USB to USB which sync3 recognizes)
  4. I am grateful with all the replies I got but I need to know how I can connect with the people who actually design and program the phone. I don’t mind paying.

I made many, many concessions with this phone for privacy, but not having audio in my car is just not one of them and honestly, I would have rather spent these 26 hours with my children or in a creative way. With many issues with the Brax 3 or the Brax services I was left out in the cold. This one I cannot give up on. Thank you

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Hi - Your previous thread pretty much says the same - it would be better to keep the converstaion there. Incidentally is this also your thread at iodé? If not it might have something of use (although result seems to have been failure for that person if it’s not you).

The problem may partly be Ford’s Sync3 if that’s a proprietary system/protocol - it will rely on phones having certain capabilities and USB functions. So to eliminate that - if you haven’t done this already - do you know someone with a stock Android Phone (i.e. a Samsung or Pixel or similar, that’s off the shelf and not degoogled) you can plug into your vehicle and test - does it work fine? Because if it doesn’t then you know no Android is ever going to work the way you want. If it does work then you know it’s just settings or a OS software issue (no support for something).

I would strongly suggest, if you haven’t already, you do the above - because otherwise you don’t even know for sure what you want to do would ever actually work on your vehicle with a modern Android handset?

As an aside, It’s also possible for Ford Sync3 to connect to a phone over USB even at a basic level (no Car Play or Android Auto) for the functionality it claims, it’s relying on certain privacy invasive apps (or settings or functions) on the phone - and they just won’t be present on iodéOS because the whole point is to remove those.

Automobile systems are one of the worst sources of privacy breaches and have zero security so I can’t imagine there would be anything in a degoogled OS that would willing support connection without going through Car Play or Android Auto…

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P.S. I am getting a stock android mself to test AA in my 2018 Mazda, so I will see if what you want to do also works in their entertainment system (as it has similar functionality to the Ford Sync3). If it does I will try my BraX3 - if either don’t work it’ll suggest its probably not doable regardless of vehicle brand…

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It could be your USB Cable. I had a car stereo that would not work my phone with any USB cable I tried until I did more research and found it required a 3.1 USB cable. I purchased a Belkin 3.1 USB off Amazon and then my car stereo and phone started communicating with one another and I could do everything needed from either device with no hickups. Some USB cables are for charging and other do data transfer and charging. The 3.1 has a data speed of 10 Gbps and fast charging rate. I hope that helps.

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Yes thats another common cause of a lot of issues, also not just the USB version support (e.g. 3.1) but also that many cables (the vast majority of cheap one’s in particular) are built only as charging cables - so useless for data connectivity. And even if they are intended for data the build quality can be poor meaning they are unreliable or can’t meet the USB connectivity spec they claim.

Always worth the money to buy a good quality cable from a reputable brand for data use that has good specs (or buy an Apple one).

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So as promised I tested this on my 2018 Mazda just to see if it worked via USB using the built in Mazda infotainment System and my BraX3 phone - it did first time and easily.

I just connected the USB to my non-Android Auto USB Port (if you connect to the Android Auto enabled USB Port the Car Infotainment Media Player cannot talk to the phone’s storage because Android Auto overrides it - see note below at very bottom). I then selected this device and data transfer in the USB connection settings and viola, the Car Unit started scanning the storage for music and after 1-2 minutes it was all visible and playing directly on the car head unit via USB without any AA active.

So while a Ford with it’s Sync3 system may be different I highly suspect it’s largely the same. I also disabled Bluetooth in the car system (but not on the phone) while I tested this to eliminate any conflicts or confusion at the phone end from multiple connections.

Key Points (from successful connection to a Mazda):

  1. Do not connect via a USB port that has Android Auto enabled for the car’s system.
  2. Ensure once connected you have set the USB connection on your phone to “This Device” (i.e. the phone) and “Data Transfer”.
  3. Give your car time to read the phone storage (it likely will want to do this every time it’s connected).

If you have an Android Auto capable system in your vehicle with more than 1 USB port I would expect 1 port is specifically identified as the “Android Auto” connection port with a label/icon/symbol. If you have multiple ports and none are marked (so all identical) or you only have 1 port total, then I expect all are Android Auto enabled and it may never work. BUT I would make sure you try it with every available port (if you haven’t already) in case one of them is just a basic USB port for sticking a USB-stick or an older phone into…

Note 1: It’s likely the car media player reads the entire storage of the phone that’s not locked, so might be a minor security or privacy risk (e.g. I have contacts blocked on phone so the car can’t copy them via USB or Bluetooth, but leave phone and media accessible so I can use the basic in car system instead of AA in an emergency).

Note 2: My Mazda, as noted is 2018 model, on road in mid-2019, and this model series came with Car Play/Android Auto capability by default, but only the top end sport & exec models had it actually preinstalled. My model is a standard model that didn’t have it by default; when I purchased the vehicle when it was physically a year old, I then had Car Play/Android Auto installed by the dealer shortly after, ~January 2021. So my car had 3 standard USB Ports by default (2 in centre console storage between seats, and one in the dashboard) and then one of the two centre ones was converted to the CP/AA Input when that unit was installed for me. So I don’t know if the upmarket models with it preinstalled at factory only had 1 port, or if all 3 of their ports would have been CP/AA enabled?

Also posted at iodé community here:

EDIT: P.S. Regarding point 2 above - I wonder if uninstalling Android Auto on the phone (or not enabling it in a fresh default iodéOS build) might get around this…? There is no way to tell if it is the CP/AA unit in the vehicle controlling the USB ports is arbitrarily the cause, or the fact it detects AA on the phone handset connected to the port, that triggers it to take control (or try to)?

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USB audio not working
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Ok. So I need some help with USB audio. No Audio
I have two USB DACs, neither of which require a driver on Android nor any specific software to play…On My Other phones. I cannot find any apropriate USB settings .
I’m getting audio Via headphone socket at lowish volumes and thats ok as the Dacs have in built heqadphone amps.
Im getting Audio via bluetooth ok. No Settings for type of bluetooth Audio protocols though…Thats ok i didnt buy this for hifi..but id still like to be able to play via DAC

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You need to check (in USB Settings) after the USB device is connected - and check the setting - probably needs to be file transfer perhaps for that (or try the other settings).

(Default is always no data transfer, just charging.)

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So under USB the first section “usb controlled by” is set on ‘connected device’, I think this is correct as the DAC needs to tell the phone what it is. However if i try to switch to “This Device” it cannot do it. This section comes awake when the USB dac is connected

In the second section “Use USB for” it is set on the last choice “no data transfer” which i think is the problem, but this whole section is greyed out andf cant be changed

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And I assume that cable has worked fine previously with other phones?

If so, might be a non-starter then. But someone who knows USB better might be able to offer suggestions.