how-to fix “usb read error” on toyota mp3 player

I have a 2012 Toyota Yaris, that can play mp3 / aac audio files from an USB key.

So, I bought a 128G usb key, load it with my audio files on it, and it works fine for months.

Then, I decided to update the usb key with new songs. Before copying my files to it, I format it using Windows format utility. Then, I copy all my new mp3 files on it.

And now, what? I can’t read them! My car player always displays the “USB READ ERROR” message. I thought I put too much files on the USB key, so I tried with only 1 album, with the same result.

After lot of research, I found that, using the windows format tool, I changed the original “FAT32” partition, to a exFAT partition type. And, most car player can’t read that partition type.

So, I tried to format it using the command prompt: “format f: /fs:FAT32”. It took almost 1 hour, before completing with the error: “The volume is too big for FAT32”. I tried the “/q” method before, with the same result. That’s why I retry without the /q, but don’t lost your time, it doesn’t work.

I searched again… then I found that, only third party apps can format a large USB key with the real FAT32 format. There were lot of tools that can do that, but I choosed the one that looks the more simple, as I don’t always trust apps from unknown sources…

The app I used is this one: FAT32 guiFormat from Ridgecrop Consultants.

It was just simple, nothing to setup, and does the job perfectly.

I was able to copy all my mp3-aac, and now my can read read them!

Now, I strongly suggest you to make them a donation on their web site if you like this tool.

How to revert “low blue light” mode on Benq monitor

I just got 2 new Benq monitors. One 24 inch GW2470 set as landscape, and a GW2765 set as portrait mode. They are wonderful on my desktop! And that portrait mode will help me develop web apps with the “developer mode” visible in the bottom of the screen.

I really like the low blue light feature, specially in low light environment like a small room, when there’s no other lights over or behind me.

There a “quick action” button that allow to choose between 4 type of “low blue light” preset.

The level of blue light is not the same on both, so I set the first one at 30%, but I did not set it on the second one, as the white level is not as strong as it is on the first screen.

But now, how can I reset that blue light mode ?!?!? As you see in the previous picture, we can choose between 4 modes, but there’s 1 missing: “DISABLE”! Once you set it, it looks like you have to keep it forever!
I searched the web and found some people having the same issue, and their solution was to “reset all settings” in the menu.

But, there’s a better method, for those who can read the manual!

Go in the menu, then select “Picture Advanced”, and “Picture Mode”. There, you will see that “blue light” is one settings between others. You can then move to “standard”, “movie”, … So, the 4 blue light settings are sub-items of the “blue light” picture mode!

That’s it! enjoy your new Benq monitors.

Stingray Windows Desktop App

You like stingray music. But when you work on your PC, you want to listen to it from a real Windows Desktop App, independent from your browser, instead of using your phone.

Actually, that product doesn’t exists.  But, they offer a Web Player, available at
https://webplayer.stingray.com

If you’re using Google Chrome, you can use “pin tab”, to make it locked on the left side of your tabs, in a mini-size tab.  But, if you close chrome, the music stops playing.

Fortunately, there’s a workaround that will almost do what you want.

You can use a quite unknown feature from chrome, to convert any web site to a look-alike windows application, that run outside of the regular browser context.

These are the steps to achieve that.

First, open your regular chrome browser, and open the Stingray web player URL.

Then, click Options (3 dots) / More Tools / Add To Desktop.

Next, you can type any name you want for the app, then click Add.

You can now see that new icon in your desktop, that looks like a standard application.  Double-click on it to launch it.

As you can see, the web site is opening inside a non-browser-like window.  You only see the title of the page, and there’s no browser address bar, or navigation buttons.  Only the web app is visible.

Also, on your Windows Taskbar, you can see the Stingray app besides the Chrome app.  Even if it’s the chrome.exe engine that run that app, it’s independent from the browser.
So, you can open only stingray, or only the browser, or both.  And you can now close or restart your browser without losing your currently playing music!

One final step, right click the stingray icon on the taskbar, and choose “Pin to taskbar”, to make it easier to start or navigate to directly.

That’s all! Have a nice listening to Stingray Music with your new Desktop App.

How to fix account link between Playstation and Spotify

Today, I bought a Playstation 4, with that incredible Black Friday deal, at $250.  It’s about time I move from ps3 to ps4!

Now, I just want to listen to music on my ps4 system using Spotify, like I did on my ps3.  But, every time I try to connect, I get an error message about an “already linked” account.

What you need to do, is to “unlink” your playstation network and spotify account, and retry to link them after in your ps3.

First, unlink from playstation network using that link:
https://link.playstationmusic.com/spotify/details

Then, do that again, but this time, in your spotify account.
https://www.spotify.com/us/account/apps/

Now, retry to open the spotify app in your ps4, follow the link instructions, and it will work as expected!