My local dealer had a sync presentation today and I learned a couple new things. The guy doing the presentation showed us how to listen to music using a USB flash drive. I know this is nothing new but I didn't realize how much more convenient it is to use the flash drive. Once he showed us I had to go out and buy an 8 GB flash drive and load some music into it.

I think the reason why it’s so convenient is because you can just plug it in and leave it there. This alleviates the worry of somebody stealing your iPod touch out of the car or running the battery down on your phone using bluetooth. Also there are no wires to plug in like your phone for instance to keep it charged. The message center also displays the song and artist that's playing.

Ford has come a long way with technology. During the presentation they made it a point that Ford is 7 years ahead on technology vs. Chevy or Dodge; that’s pretty remarkable!

I figured I would post this to put a bug in people’s ear. If you have sync, dig into the manual and learn all the features it has.

 

I'm not really a fan of the sync system. When I plug my ipod in it works the first time but when I turn the truck off and then turn it on again the phone plus the sync doesn't work until I unplug the ipod turn the truck off for a few minutes, then it works again minus the ipod

 

Another reason to use a flash drive I have no problems with mine. Maybe you need to update the software or something.

 

I've had that happen too w/ ipod, my droid and also my zune...but you probably don't need to turn off the truck. All I need to do is start driving and try again in a few minutes and it is apparently working again.

 

there have been ongoing issues with the 2011's and the sync systems locking up

 

I have a 2011 sync and never had it lock. I use the USB all the time.

 

I love using my 16gb flash drive with sync. I have some issues where it doesnt work once in a while and i gotta pull the drive out and back in but i dont mind a few glitches once in a while on a system as convenient as sync

 

well be on the lookout then

2011 usb

 

X2,i have a 2010 F-150 XLT and also use the sync to play music.It also beats having to carry cd's around.

Later Mark.

 

I like the sync I just dont like how it locks up when I use an ipod. I've only had the truck for 2 weeks now. I'm sure it could be user error also though sometimes.

 

I have an '09 and I don't think I can play my itunes music on a USB Drive through Sync, only through my ipod. Is this not the case? Is there a work around?

 

I was told music downloaded from itunes can lock it up. My ipod awhile back locked up my bluetooth

 

If anyone wants to store more than 16 GB worth of music, what you can do is hook up an external hard drive to either the front USB port, or buy a Mini USB to USB cable(a VERY short one!) and a female-female USB adapter. Plug this combo into the Mini-USB2 port on the back of the head unit. Then, plug in an external hard drive like a Maxtor or mybook with another short Mini-USB to USB cable to the female-female adapter.

I'm riding around right now with 80GB worth of the music I like on shuffle, and SYNC's 'play track trackname' lets me find songs when I want them. Plus having everything behind the dash looks much cleaner. Make sure you format the hard drive for the FAT filesystem. You can also use a USB drive behind the dash with the Female-Female USB adapter. For the most convenience, run the cable into your glovebox.

I too have had my SYNC system lock up probably about 4 times now, the first 3 times I was only able to play the radio, I had absolutely no voice commands or Bluetooth/USB audio. The last time, I was playing music off my hard drive, and the music paused. Nothing I did between shutting off the truck and unplugging the hard drive fixed anything, it just said Paused on the screen. Until it randomly started blasting while I was driving. No problems with my girlfriends iPod so far. Looks like SYNC just has its quirks.

 

I forgot about that mod. There is a write up with pics on how to hook up a hard drive and route it behind the console to the glove box. I will have to look into it some more.