hello, I just purchased a 2012 Prius Three. It has the touchscreen radio and whenever I use the USB port with either my iPod or USB drive the song would randomly freeze and would not play any other songs. When I switch source to Bluetooth it would just display loading. The FM and SAT would still work fine. If I listen to Bluetooth through phone it never locks up. To get it working again I would have to turn off the car for a few minutes then turn back on. What could possibly be the issue? How do I even hard reboot the stereo?
I had a similar problem using a USB stick drive in my entertainment center's streaming device. The shows would seize up and I wondered if it was the device or the USB drive. As it turned out, my USB drive had become fragmented. First, back up your USB drive somewhere on your computer. This trick only works on Windows 7, but right-click on the drive and in the pop-up menu choose Properties. In that little window, click Tools and you should see 2 options: 1) check for errors, which you can do and/or 2) defragment drive. Don't interrupt either process. It might solve your problem when playing it in the car radio. This happens to any USB drive that has been written onto repeatedly over time, especially if you delete files too.
I would also check the port down there in the bottom of the center console for debris. A bit of paper, or worse yet a staple, could certainly complicate the necessary connections.
I fixed it by updating my Entune system to the latest version 5.1. My system was at version 2.1. There are occasional skips here and there but doesn't lock up my system anymore.
I have found on my Prius C 3 that if I reinstall the latest entune firmware from a thumb drive, it behaves for awhile.
