I took a quick look at a pdf manual for a Premium, which only shows one USB port.

https://cdn.subarunet.com/stis/doc/ownerManual/MSA5M1504ASTISvD.pdf

You didn't give trim so I shot for near the middle. There are some limitations given but music from a USB drive should be possible.
I'd suggest downloading the PDF for your trim and search it for "USB".

Sorry didn't see the garage entry.

 

sorry it's the premium

 

Some USB flash drives are not compatible with the USB ports in the Subaru, but most likely, your USB flash drive "may" be formatted incorrectly for the USB ports. I believe that NTSF is the proper format for your car. If your flash drive is formatted for FAT32 or XFAT, it may not work. If that is the case, try reformatting the flash drive and then reload the music files onto the flash drive.

 

I would confirm the USB drive works in another computer/laptop and then confirm it's formatted to FAT32. (Don't forget to save your files)

I believe the USB option is only selectable if one is inserted. Let me confirm on my Gen 5.

Edit:

Yup. It's greyed out until the USB stick is removed and shows up after a 3-5 second delay.

 

I would confirm the USB drive works in another computer/laptop and then confirm it's formatted to FAT32. (Don't forget to save your files)

I believe the USB option is only selectable if one is inserted. Let me confirm on my Gen 5.

Edit:

Yup. It's greyed out until the USB stick is removed and shows up after a 3-5 second delay.

Brucey, thanks for correcting my post - - I thought it was NTSF formatting which was required. It's the other way around. . .

 

Still nogo with format NTSF or FAT32. The size of the thumb drive shouldn't matter, correct? I'm using a 14 gb thumb drive. I also tried burning MP3 music files onto a CD-R disk the car disk player showed "reading disk" then said no music files found.

 

Hmm. Mine is a 32gb file.

They are MP3 correct? The fact that it isn't wanting to read MP3 cds when that should also be supported makes me think it's something to do with the file type.

If you want, PM me your email and I'll email you a file that I know works on my USB stick. I'll even go out to the car and pull it from the USB drive in the car.

 

Here are some pages from the owner’s manual… might help.

Info on encoding for MP3 files

 

The fact you are referring to it as a thumb drive leads me to believe you might be an older person, if you don't understand "codecs" or file formats, your best bet is to put the usb into your computer and check (right click on the icon for usb drive) and check how it is formatted. Make sure that the format is compatible (an old Windows computer probably formatted it as FAT32), ALSO CHECK THAT there are NO VIDEO files on the drive, that could cause it to not play.
Finally, it is probably considered an "AUX" device, so click around on your screen and see if you can tell whether the audio system is recognizing it at all.

It could also just be a bad device. Get a new one, format it properly, and copy only MP3 or whatever the proper file type is songs onto it.

 

The fact you are referring to it as a thumb drive leads me to believe you might be an older person, if you don't understand "codecs" or file formats, your best bet is to put the usb into your computer and check (right click on the icon for usb drive) and check how it is formatted. Make sure that the format is compatible (an old Windows computer probably formatted it as FAT32), ALSO CHECK THAT there are NO VIDEO files on the drive, that could cause it to not play.
Finally, it is probably considered an "AUX" device, so click around on your screen and see if you can tell whether the audio system is recognizing it at all.

It could also just be a bad device. Get a new one, format it properly, and copy only MP3 or whatever the proper file type is songs onto it.

It is an 8gb thumb drive that is formatted to FAT32, it only has MP3 music on it and it does work in my PC. The It does work in the car. What I was trying before was a 14gb thumb drive that was formatted to FAT32 and only MP# music on it It works in my PC but does not work in my car. It turned out to be no big deal because I can have hundreds of songs on that 8 GB thumb drive. Just because I'm older, does not mean I don't understand stand formatting. A thumb drive and a flash drive are the same thing, don't assume that I'm older just because I call it a thumb drive. I know you were trying to help but I took offence to how you treated me.

 

You can take offense, but I was correct in my assessment.
I only care about helping you, why do you care that me pointing out your words are indicative of someone older? It wasn't meant as an insult, it was meant to offer you some self awareness as the words we use matter and sophisticated scammers are keen on recognizing and targeting older people. Relax. I'm no spring chicken (see what I mean?)

Did you fix your problem? I am curious if it recognizes FAT32

Your response was not clear if you figured out the problem.

 

You can take offense, but I was correct in my assessment.
I only care about helping you, why do you care that me pointing out your words are indicative of someone older? It wasn't meant as an insult, it was meant to offer you some self awareness as the words we use matter and sophisticated scammers are keen on recognizing and targeting older people. Relax. I'm no spring chicken (see what I mean?)

Did you fix your problem? I am curious if it recognizes FAT32

Your response was not clear if you figured out the problem.

If a thumb drive and a flash drive are the same thing then why is it proper to use the term flash drive and not thumb drive, or maybe I'm to old and don't know that it can also be called a memory stick.
To answer your curiosity, which I did answer in this thread but I will repeat. The 8gb FLASH drive formatted to FAT32 with only MP3 music files did work. What I tried originally was a 14gb flash drive formatted to FAT32 with only MP3 music did not work. Since you are hung up on terminology, What exactly are they calling it, thumb drive, flash drive or memory stick, since all 3 are the same thing?

 

Well speaking as an old guy, the video codecs are problematic at best, especially because a lot of people get them from "unofficial" sources.
I drive a 2010 4Runner, I joined here because I was the one who negotiated the deal on my wife's 2025 Outback. I have never owned a new vehicle and this is her first one.
We are not wealthy so this is her first new vehicle ever and an upgrade from a 2010 Ford.

What I do know is old school to present computer stuff, starting with Commodore and Apple IIC and I know how fussy interoperability is between codecs and systems and devices.

Do the new Subarus generally play most video codecs?

What is the best system format if you are going to hook up a hard drive or USB drive to play audio and video?

 

I'm not sure if there is any difference between 2015 & 2016 OB USB ports and their function. In my 2016 OB I play my music using Bluetooth directly from my phone and I just plug my phone into either USB port to keep the phone charged.