
Black plate (4,1)Chevrolet Malibu Owner Manual - 2012
7-4 Infotainment System
To activate SCV:
1. Set the radio volume to thedesired level.
2. Press MENU to display the radio setup menu.
3. Press the softkey under the AUTO VOLUM tab on the radio
display.
4. Press the softkey under the desired Speed Compensated
Volume setting (OFF, Low, Med,
or High) to select the level of
radio volume compensation.
The display times out after
approximately 10 seconds.
Each higher setting allows
for more radio volume
compensation at faster
vehicle speeds.Setting the Tone (Bass/Treble)
Radio with CD
To adjust the bass, or treble:
1. Press the
fknob until Bass or
Treble displays.
2. To adjust the setting, do one of the following:
.Turn thefknob.
.Press either¨SEEK,
or
©SEEK button.
.Press either\FWD,
or
sREV button.
EQ (Equalization): Press this
button to choose bass and treble
equalization settings designed for
different types of music. Selecting
MANUAL or changing bass or
treble, returns the EQ to the manual
bass and treble settings.
Unique EQ settings can be saved
for each source.
Setting the Tone (Bass/
Midrange/Treble) Radio with
CD (MP3) and USB Port,
Radio with CD (MP3)
BASS/MID/TREB (Bass, Midrange,
or Treble): To adjust the bass,
midrange, or treble:
1. Press the
fknob until the tone
control tabs display.
2. Highlight the desired tone control tab by doing one of the
following:
.Pressing thefknob..Press the softkey under the
desired tab.
3. Adjust the setting by doing one of the following:
.Turn thefknob clockwise
or counterclockwise.
.Press the¨SEEK,
or
©SEEK button.
.Press the\FWD,
or
sREV button.

Black plate (5,1)Chevrolet Malibu Owner Manual - 2012
Infotainment System 7-5
If a station's frequency is weak or if
there is static, decrease the treble.
To quickly adjust bass, midrange,
or treble to the middle position,
press the softkey positioned under
the BASS, MID, or TREB tab for
more than two seconds. A beep
sounds and the level adjusts to the
middle position.
To quickly adjust all tone and
speaker controls to the middle
position, press the
fknob for more
than two seconds until a beep
sounds.
EQ (Equalization): Press this
button to choose bass and treble
equalization settings designed for
different types of music. Selecting
MANUAL or changing bass or
treble, returns the EQ to the manual
bass and treble settings.
Unique EQ settings can be saved
for each source.
If the radio has a Bose
®audio
system, the EQ settings are either
MANUAL or TALK.
Adjusting the Speakers
(Balance/Fade) Radio with CD
To adjust the balance or fade:
1. Press the
`or press the
fknob until the speaker control
label displays.
2. To adjust the setting, do one of the following:
.Turn thefknob.
.Press either¨SEEK,
or
©SEEK button.
.Press either\FWD,
or
sREV button.
Adjusting the Speakers
(Balance/Fade) Radio with
CD (MP3) and USB Port,
Radio with CD (MP3)
BAL/FADE (Balance/Fade):
To adjust the balance or fade:
1. Press the
fknob until the
speaker control tabs display.
2. Highlight the desired speaker control tab by doing one of the
following:
.Pressing thefknob.
.Press the softkey under the
desired tab.
3. Adjust the setting by doing one of the following:
.Turn thefknob clockwise
or counterclockwise.
.Press the¨SEEK,
or
©SEEK button.
.Press the\FWD,
or
sREV button.

Black plate (7,1)Chevrolet Malibu Owner Manual - 2012
Infotainment System 7-7
If4is pressed and the song title or
artist information is longer than
what can be displayed, the extra
information will page every
three seconds when Auto Text is
activated.
Finding a Station
BAND: Press to choose
between FM1, FM2, AM, or XM™
(if equipped) on the Radio with CD
(Base). Press to choose between
FM, AM, XM (if equipped) on the
Radio with CD (MP3) and USB Port,
or the Radio with CD (MP3).
f(Tune): Turn to select radio
stations.
©SEEK: Press to seek or scan
stations with a strong signal in the
selected band.
.To seek stations, press and
release
©SEEK to go to the
previous station and stay there.
.To scan stations, press and hold©SEEK for a few seconds until
the radio beeps once. The radio
goes to a station, plays for a
few seconds, then goes to the
next station. Press
©SEEK
again to stop scanning.
.To scan preset stations in the
selected band, press and
hold
©SEEK for four seconds
until a double beep sounds.
The radio goes to a stored
preset, plays for a few seconds,
then goes to the next stored
preset. Press
©SEEK again to
stop scanning preset stations.
¨SEEK: Press to seek or scan
stations with a strong signal in the
selected band.
.To seek stations, press and
release
¨SEEK to go to the
next station and stay there.
.To scan stations, press and hold¨SEEK for a few seconds until
the radio beeps once. The radio
goes to a station, plays for a
few seconds, then goes to the
next station. Press
¨SEEK
again to stop scanning.
.To scan preset stations in the
selected band, press and
hold
¨SEEK for four seconds
until a double beep sounds.
The radio goes to a stored
preset, plays for a few seconds,
then goes to the next stored
preset. Press
¨SEEK again to
stop scanning preset stations.

Black plate (17,1)Chevrolet Malibu Owner Manual - 2012
Infotainment System 7-17
MP3 Supported Files
The Radio with CD (MP3), Radio
with USB and CD (MP3), have the
capability of playing an MP3 CD-R
or CD-RW disc.
The radio can also play discs that
contain both uncompressed CD
audio and MP3 files. When a disc
contains both types of audio, the CD
player reads all MP3 files first, then
the uncompressed CD audio files.
Supported File and Folder
Structure
The radio supports:
.Up to 50 folders.
.Up to eight folders in depth.
.Up to 50 playlists.
.Up to 255 files.
.Playlists with an .m3u or .wpl
extension.
.Files with an .mp3 or .cda file
extension.Root Directory
The root directory is treated as a
folder. Files are stored in the root
directory when the disc or storage
device does not contain folders.
Files accessed from the root
directory of a disc display as
F1 ROOT.
Empty Folder
Folders that do not contain files are
skipped, and the player advances to
the next folder that contains files.
File Naming
The song name that displays is the
song name that is contained in the
ID3 tag. If the song name is not
present in the ID3 tag, then the
radio displays the file name without
the file extension as the track name.
Track names longer than
32 characters or four pages are
shortened. The display does not
show parts of words on the last
page of text and the extension of
the filename is not displayed.
Playlists
Discs that have playlists that
were created using WinAmp™,
MusicMatch™, or Real Jukebox™
software can be accessed, however,
there is no playlist editing capability
using the radio. These playlists are
treated as special folders containing
compressed audio song files.

Black plate (20,1)Chevrolet Malibu Owner Manual - 2012
7-20 Infotainment System
CD Player Messages
CHECK DISC:If an error message
displays and/or the disc comes out,
it could be for one of the following
reasons:
.The CD player is very hot.
When the temperature returns to
normal, the disc should play.
.The road is very rough. When
the road becomes smoother,
the disc should play.
.The disc is dirty, scratched, wet,
or upside down.
.The air is very humid. If so, wait
about an hour and try again.
.A problem may have occurred
while burning the disc.
.The label could be caught in the
CD player.
If the disc is not playing correctly
for any other reason, try a known
good disc. If any error occurs repeatedly or if
an error cannot be corrected,
contact your dealer. If the radio
displays an error message, write it
down and provide it to your dealer
when reporting the problem.
Auxiliary Devices
This vehicle may have a 3.5 mm
(1/8 in) auxiliary input jack and a
USB port, located on the audio
faceplate. Some portable audio
devices such as iPods
®, MP3
players, and USB storage devices
can be connected to the vehicle
using a 3.5 mm (1/8 in) cable or a
USB cable.
Drivers are encouraged to set up
any auxiliary device while the
vehicle is in P (Park). See
Defensive Driving on page 9‑3
for more information on driver
distraction.
Using the 3.5 mm (1/8 in)
Auxiliary Input Jack
The radio system may have a
3.5 mm (1/8 in) auxiliary input jack
located on the lower right or left side
of the faceplate. This is not an audio
output; do not plug the headphone
set into the front auxiliary input jack.
An external audio device such as an
iPod
®, laptop computer, MP3 player,
CD changer, etc. can be connected
to the auxiliary input jack for use as
another audio source.
To use a portable audio player,
connect a 3.5 mm (1/8 in) cable to
the auxiliary input jack. When a
device is connected, press the
CD/AUX button to begin playing
audio from the device over the
vehicle speakers.
O(Power/Volume): Turn to adjust
the volume. Additional volume
adjustments may have to be made
from the portable device if the
volume is too quiet or not loud.

Black plate (21,1)Chevrolet Malibu Owner Manual - 2012
Infotainment System 7-21
BAND:Press to listen to the radio
while a portable audio device is
connected to the auxiliary input.
The portable audio device continues
playing until it is stopped or
turned off.
CD/AUX (CD/Auxiliary): Press to
play a CD while a portable audio
device is connected to the auxiliary
input. Press again and the system
begins playing audio from the
connected portable audio player.
If a portable audio player is not
connected, No Aux Input Device
may display.
Using the USB Port
The radio may have a USB port
located on the lower right side of the
faceplate. Radios that have a USB
port can play .mp3 and .wma files
that are stored on a USB storage
device as well as tracks that are
stored on an iPod
®. USB Supported File and Folder
Structure
The radio supports:
.Up to 700 folders.
.Up to eight folders in depth.
.Up to 65,535 files.
.Folder and file names up to
64 bytes.
.Files with an .mp3 or .wma file
extension.
.AAC files stored on an iPod.
.FAT16
.FAT32
Root Directory
The root directory is treated as a
folder. Files are stored in the root
directory when the disc or storage
device does not contain folders.
Files accessed from the root
directory of a USB device display as
F1 ROOT. Empty Folder
Folders that do not contain files are
skipped, and the player advances to
the next folder that contains files.
File Naming
The song name that displays is the
song name that is contained in the
ID3 tag. If the song name is not
present in the ID3 tag, then the
radio displays the file name without
the file extension as the track name.
Track names longer than
32 characters or four pages are
shortened. The display does not
show parts of words on the last
page of text and the extension of
the filename is not displayed.
Preprogrammed Playlists
Playlists that have an .m3u or .pls
file extension and are stored on a
USB device may be supported by
the radio with a USB port.

Black plate (22,1)Chevrolet Malibu Owner Manual - 2012
7-22 Infotainment System
Order of Play
Tracks are played in the following
order:
.Play begins from the first track in
the first playlist and continues
sequentially through all tracks in
each playlist. When the last
track of the last playlist has
played, play continues from the
first track of the first playlist.
.Play begins from the first track in
the first folder and continues
sequentially through all tracks in
each folder. When the last track
of the last folder has played,
play continues from the first
track of the first folder.
When play enters a new folder, the
display does not automatically show
the new folder name unless the
folder mode has been chosen as
the default display. The new track
name displays.
Connecting a USB Storage
Device or iPod
The radio buttons, knobs and
softkeys are used to control a USB
storage device or an iPod when it is
connected to the USB port.
To connect a USB storage device,
connect the device to the USB port
located on the front of the radio.
To connect an iPod, connect one
end of the USB cable that came
with the iPod to the iPod’s dock
connector and connect the other
end to the USB port located on the
front of the radio. If the vehicle is on
and the USB connection works,
“OK to disconnect” and a GM logo
may appear on the iPod and iPod
appears on the radio's display.
The iPod charges while it is
connected to the USB port if the
ingition is in the ACC/ACCESSORY
or ON/RUN position. When the
ignition is turned OFF, the iPod automatically powers off and will not
charge or draw power from the
vehicle's battery.
Older iPod's that are not supported
can still be used by connecting it to
the 3.5 mm (1/8 in) auxiliary input
jack using a 3.5 mm (1/8 in) cable.
Using a USB Storage Device
or iPod
The buttons and knobs on the
radio and the softkeys below the
radio display are used to control a
USB storage device or an iPod.
Buttons and Knobs
The buttons and knobs on the radio
control the following features.
f(Tune):
Turn to select files.
©SEEK:Press to go to the start of
the track, if more than ten seconds
have played. Press and hold
©SEEK or press it multiple times
to continue moving backward
through tracks.

Black plate (23,1)Chevrolet Malibu Owner Manual - 2012
Infotainment System 7-23
¨SEEK:Press to go to the next
track. Press and hold
¨SEEK or
press it multiple times to continue
moving forward through tracks.
sREV (Reverse): Press and hold
to reverse playback quickly. Sound
is heard at a reduced volume.
Release
sREV to resume playing.
\FWD (Fast Forward): Press
and hold to advance playback
quickly. Sound is heard at a reduced
volume. Release
\FWD to
resume playing.
4(Information): Press to display
additional information about the
selected track.
Softkeys
The five softkeys below the radio
display are used to control functions
that display as tabs.
To use the softkeys, press a softkey
below any tab that is displayed,
or if no tabs are displayed, press the
first or last softkey below the radio
display to display the tabs. The softkeys below the radio display
control the following features.
j(Pause):
Press the softkey
below
jto pause the track.
The tab appears raised when pause
is being used. Press the softkey
below
jagain to resume playback.
Back: Press the softkey below the
back tab to go back to the main
display screen on an iPod, or the
root directory on a USB storage
device.
c(Folder View): Press the
softkey below
cto view the
contents of the current folder on the
USB drive.
To browse and select files:
1. Press the softkey below
c.
2. Turn
fto scroll through the list
of folders. 3. Press
fto select the desired
folder. If there is more then one
folder, repeat Steps 1 and 2 until
the desired folder is reached.
4. Turn
fto scroll through the files
in the selected folder.
5. Press
fto select the desired file
to be played.
To skip through large lists, the five
softkeys can be used to navigate in
the following order:
.First softkey, first item in the list.
.Second softkey, 1% through the
list each time the softkey is
pressed.
.Third softkey, 5% through the list
each time the softkey is pressed.
.Fourth softkey, 10% through the
list each time the softkey is
pressed.
.Fifth softkey, end of the list.