[misters3]

Does anyone with a Sat Nav car use a USB stick for playing music from?

My Sony MP3 Walkman can't be 'seen' by the car. My phone can be, but i have to switch it to Mass Storage device and it's functionality as a phone ceases (there could be a way round this - i'll have a play tonight).

I'm thinking of buying something from ebuyer for £20 as most of my cd's are all boxed up in the garage, having been ripped to FLAC/MP3 (lossless). But instead of just taking potluck - i'd be much obliged if anyone can let me know if they've got a USB stick working and which brand/model is it.

TIA

 

[ChuckUK]

32gb USB Stick, Fat32 here

 

[misters3]

32gb USB Stick, Fat32 here

Thanks Chuck - what brand are you using?

 

[ChuckUK]

Corsair, but I'd imagine any would do.

 

[misters3]

Corsair, but I'd imagine any would do.

Thanks just verified with a borrowed USB stick

Did you notice the "MFD" folder that's created with "Time" and "TLOG" in it. They are empty.

Off for another drive to rack up the miles but will check out the manual later.

 

[ChuckUK]

Yeah I noticed them, I'm guessing thats for the downloading logs etc from the MFD.

 

[misters3]

Yeah I noticed them, I'm guessing thats for the downloading logs etc from the MFD.

Kinda interesting to see that the system is set up to log.
I wonder how you turn it on.
Maybe when we get our instruction manuals all will become clear. Usually i'd spend a few hours trying everything out (and breaking something) - but i've been too busy driving the car!!

 

[supraman]

I wonder how you turn it on.

I worked it out on the way home tonight. If you record some lap times on screen F on the MFD, and then click in the area of the screen that shows the lap times, you are presented with several options. Two of these options relate to saving the recorded times to your USB stick. One option saves a single session record, the other saves all session records.

I tried the latter option and it created a folder called 091006 (based on today's date) containing two files 18260200.csv and 18300800.csv (based on the time of my tests). These CSV (comma separated) files can be opened in notepad, or better still Excel.

For some reason, the second file was empty, but 18260200.csv showed that I was steadily shaving 1 second off my time each lap. This was particularly impressive given that the laps were all imaginary during my slow drive home!

I've attached a screenshot from Excel, just in case anybody is interested.

We still need to work out what the TLOG folder is for.

 

[misters3]

Nice work!

I had intended to sit in the car and have a play tonight, but ended up doing broadband, wireless and pc-fax installation for the parents. I can see plenty of helpdesk calls coming having just left my dad after trying to explain "context sensitive menu on right click" lol.
Although i did reward myself with 30min drive too

I just realised i haven't even configured the C&D screens yet!

Oh I did try using a USB hub (does that count as trying stuff out in the car?) but when i plug my phone in, the USB mem stick loses connectivity.

 

[Nicks_Pop]

Oh I did try using a USB hub (does that count as trying stuff out in the car?) but when i plug my phone in, the USB mem stick loses connectivity.

That's because the car's USB port is only allowed to supply 500ma per spec. Your USB hub is of course not powered, so the attached devices fight for the juice -- the heavy bagger [phone] kills the little guy [stick]. The port software may also not recognize more than one USB client.

 

[misters3]

That's because the car's USB port is only allowed to supply 500ma per spec. Your USB hub is of course not powered, so the attached devices fight for the juice -- the heavy bagger [phone] kills the little guy [stick]. The port software may also not recognize more than one USB client.

Cheers Nicks! Will try a powered usb hub plugged into 12v power source

Not that i see it as particularly useful - maybe to connect 2 USB sticks if the software recognises it.

 

[RightKerfuffle]

USB

Finally picked up my car yesterday, so can explore the usb & music.

I see from many people they are buying ipod etc for the music & art etc. The system works brilliantly from a usb stick ! (Corsair for me as well)

Sort out your cover art on the music, and the MFD displays all of the info including the cover art on the screen. It's also very quick reading - the M3 I came from was very slow !

 

[RightKerfuffle]

More USB . . .

To help others ...

Using USB sticks works brilliantly, however the in-car system reads the stick in the order it was written to the stick, not in alphabetical order (BMW Does do this)

To sort it out so your britney comes before zztop you'll have to use a program on your pc. I used the following :

Anerty's Lair - DriveSort

It's freeware, and works brilliantly.

The final piece, has anybody got the satnav to play any avi files ?