Make sure the thumb drive is formatted to FAT32 and "Master Boot Record". If formatting using Windows it will be limited to 32GB. You could also look for a 3rd party formatting tool if having trouble getting Windows to do this (it's been 2 years so I have forgotten details). I looked at my music files and they are all .mp3 or .m4a

 

format it on a windows computer, FAT32 or EX-FAT32... then copy your files to it with the mac.

there's nothing wrong with the USB socket in the '24... never seen anything to that effect anywhere...

I have one, no problem, using a 64 GB thumb drive.

Greg

 

That brings up another question
What is the max drive size you can use on a 2024-2025 rav?

 

The best compressed music format is FLAC, and the RAV4's USB drive supports it.
The music playback is incredible. You can find small freeware programs to convert from MP3 to FLAC for free.

 

Uh, once the data has been lost using an mp3 format, a converter isn’t going to put the missing magic back.

Flac and wav files are great but need to be one of those to begin with.

I have had good luck using the 32g Sandisc Ultra Fit usb drives that don’t stick out very far. Reformat on a pc first, takes nearly an hour if you’re doing it the right way.

 

I use wma mp4 and a couple more of loss less formats.

 

And use a good branded flash drive
There can be junk programs included on low cost drives that could brick your mobile audio or computer

And do a full format not just a basic

There are a few programs that can write zeros to the drive those work well for the first format drive wipe clean

 

full format, not "QUICK" in PC language...

 

I've been using several different brands of thumb drives in my 24 XLE without issue. Recently bought these no name drives and they work just as well.

Amazon.com: EASTBULL 4GB Small Flash Drives 5 Pack USB2.0 Mini USB Drive with a USB-C Adapter, FAT32 Mini Thumb Drive 4 GB 5 Pack for Data Storage (Black, 1 Adapter, Lanyards) : Electronics

Buy EASTBULL 4GB Small Flash Drives 5 Pack USB2.0 Mini USB Drive with a USB-C Adapter, FAT32 Mini Thumb Drive 4 GB 5 Pack for Data Storage (Black, 1 Adapter, Lanyards): USB Flash Drives - Amazon.com ✓ FREE DELIVERY possible on eligible purchases

www.amazon.com

 

it's really not the drives, it's the base format... and many people have bad data because they always do the quick format from windows.

 

Yes, the full format is the much better method. The quick format just resets the File Allocation Table and leaves the actual data on the drive. Full format resets the FAT and removes all the data.

 

This is one of the drive wipe programs for 2025

I have a few from the good old days
That are day zero wipe software

I have a separate computer just for formatting drives and usb drives

 

why? a separate computer for what can be done on any computer?

 

Work load
And data corruption
I keep the external drives separate from my good computers
The external drives could have almost anything bad on them

Think worm etc.

 

Try to find an older USB2 flash drive. In my case, USB3 (with blue socket) works, but doesn't play files automatically on vehicle start-up. Use of USB2 drive helped me in my case, and yes, it should be FAT32 formatted.

 

I don't want to use my phone to play audio tracks because that is being used by apple car play to utilize google maps. I wish there was a way to play audio files on my car's system without using a USB thumb drive.

If the tunes are on the phone, both will run. Music volume drops for directions then returns.

 

If I put my own audio files on my Iphone, can I get those to play on Apple Car Play in my Rav4? What I want to play is not on a commercial source like Apple or Amazon.

 

I put simple mp3 files on a thumb drive. They play on my iMac computer. They play on a $23 player that takes USB inputs. But they will not play on my Rav4 which cannot even recognize them. I used the most common MS-DOS format on the thumb drive, erased it and then formatted it.
I did manage to get just one thumb drive to work, but I don't know why that one works. All the others won't work in the car.

One program that can be used to check the integrity of a USB I have used since early 2000's is H2testw.exe. Believe v1.4 is latest, hasn't changed for a long time. It is available on several file sharing sources, as well as Github. It is very thorough doing a full Write + Verify, and can take several hours on newer large GB drives. It will give report of any errors and the read/write speeds. I use to verify that what I bought is what it is, i.e. counterfeit detection & to make sure very old drives have not corrupted over time before I use.

 

The car companies, ALL OF THEM, have the crappiest electronics on the planet. Scary, when you consider that all cars today are essentially computers on wheels.
You can pretty much plug anything into any $100 used computer, and it will work. Plug the same accessory into a $60,000 car. Maybe it will work, maybe it won't. Who knows why. The companies don't.
As an example, I have a 2018 Polaris Slingshot. It came with a thumb drive FROM POLARIS. I put some mp3's on it. As soon as I pug the drive in, all sound from the radio goes away. Copy the files from the Polaris supplied drive to any one of 5 or 6 other thumb drives, and they play. I contacted Polaris. They haven't a clue.