I'm aware of the issues with the Blue&Me system not supporting bluetooth audio streaming and the many varied solutions. As a result of my daughter purchased a USB Bluetooth adaptor for £5 and I assumed that this would be useless but to my surprise it seems to work, but there's a but....

When streaming the audio, it breaks up and is very choppy is the best way to describe it. I'm assuming that it maybe due to the Blue&Me system firmware needing updating or a faulty USB port. This is where I start....

So I decided the easy solution is to apply the latest firmware, I created the USB image and attempted to apply the update. Display shows 'Updating' followed by a 'USB error 30'. I have tried many different USB drives and the same issue. Unable to find details relating to error 30.

So is the bluetooth audio issue and the firmware update error linked to a faulty USB connector?

Based on this I decided to install MP3 files onto USB, these play OK, so would imply that the USB connector is OK.

Does anyone have any other suggestions as to what maybe the issue?

a18041967 said:

I'm aware of the issues with the Blue&Me system not supporting bluetooth audio streaming and the many varied solutions. As a result of my daughter purchased a USB Bluetooth adaptor for £5 and I assumed that this would be useless but to my surprise it seems to work, but there's a but....



When streaming the audio, it breaks up and is very choppy is the best way to describe it. I'm assuming that it maybe due to the Blue&Me system firmware needing updating or a faulty USB port. This is where I start....



So I decided the easy solution is to apply the latest firmware, I created the USB image and attempted to apply the update. Display shows 'Updating' followed by a 'USB error 30'. I have tried many different USB drives and the same issue. Unable to find details relating to error 30.



So is the bluetooth audio issue and the firmware update error linked to a faulty USB connector?



Based on this I decided to install MP3 files onto USB, these play OK, so would imply that the USB connector is OK.



Does anyone have any other suggestions as to what maybe the issue?

Click to expand...

Did you format the usb stick to fat 32 first? And make sure nothing else on it before you start

a18041967 said:

So I decided the easy solution is to apply the latest firmware

Click to expand...

How old is the car?

Older cars can't run the latest firmware.

jrkitching said:

How old is the car?

Older cars can't run the latest firmware.

Click to expand...

The car is the older model 59 registered or 2009, and I'm assuming the older system as it only has a single USB port and not the USB & Line-In socket.

I'm using the update from here:

YOU-KNOW_WHAT GOES_HERE.blueandme.net/blueandme/index.aspx/index.aspx?brand=fga&lang=en#/support/download

And if I understand how this works, I create a USB image that the car runs and creates a config file. The config file is then uploaded to the above website and the correct update files are then downloaded. It's the first part that's failing.

Yes all USB drives formatted FAT32 and I'm assuming is OK as the update does start. No where does it state what a USB error 30 relates to?

a18041967 said:

The car is the older model 59 registered or 2009, and I'm assuming the older system as it only has a single USB port and not the USB & Line-In socket.

Click to expand...

You can't run the latest software on this car. And before denigrating Fiat for this, let's do a reality check; how many devices from 2009 could be upgraded to run current software?

Folks have been having problems with Blue&Me updates since the 500 was launched.

Some have bricked their unit after attempting an incompatible upgrade; I believe it was for this reason that Fiat introduced the two step updating process. So what you are experiencing may be Fiat's way of stopping you doing something that will destroy your Blue&Me hardware; it's possible the very early hardware can't even work with Fiat's current version management software.

Another possibility is that you have an old version of ecorive installed; I have a memory that you have to update ecorive before you can update Blue&Me.

That said, it's quite likely that the version you currently have installed is the latest version that will run on your car. These early versions are very limited in what they can do (and the later ones aren't much better); if you want to listen to music in the car, I'd suggest you put that music onto a memory stick in .mp3 format and play it from there; that's how the system in your car was designed to be used.

Alternatively, fit an aftermarket head unit which has the functionality you want.

Lack of A2DP means any attempt to stream audio isn't likely to work well, if at all. Fiat's failure to encompass this technology seriously limits Blue&Me functionality.

I'd caution against trying too hard to force this upgrade as there is a real risk of bricking the hardware. This can leave the Blue&Me module permanently on and then you'll be joining the "my battery discharges whenever I leave the vehicle parked" thread.

What I’m hearing through My YouTube channel from people following the B&M update video, is that you may have to update to an intermediate version before you can get to the newest version.

In essence the config file you create tells the website what car and hardware you have but if it’s very out of date then trying to update to the newest software just doesn't work.

I do agree with the comments above if you play about with it too much there is a possibility of bricking the whole thing.

Thank you for such a detailed reply and having done further testing I tend to agree with your suggestions. The only reason for trying to upgrade the firmware was thinking it may solve the BT streaming issues, but its not required. I decided to try the same BT USB receiver in a new Skoda and experienced exactly the same issue as the Fiat, therefore a firmware upgrade is not required and I’ll leave as-is. It also indicates the USB socket is OK, so I’m trying to fix a problem that does not exist.

Ultimately the Blue&Me system is best described as poor and I either have to accept this or upgrade the head unit.

Thanks for your help.