I'm just curious about different multimedia options. I would like to be able to integrate a portable hard drive into my audio system. (something like this: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage....=1210378658212) How would I go about this? Is there any way for an OEM head unit to read the files from this device? Aftermarket units, would they be able to retrieve media from a hard drive? I know there are endless options for ipods and such, but that doesn't help me. I have no interest in an ipod, because it would Only be used in my truck, I don't need a walkman. I have the G1 phone and have media loaded on it, but it can "only" fit up to 16gb. Besides, I don't know if a head unit would be able to get the data from the phone or not. (I would imagine so with the proper data cable) Anyway, just curious what kind of options are available to do something like this. I'm tired of burning and swapping out cd's. This would be so much easier if there is a way to make it work. Thanks for the input ya'll.

Josh

 

This is the whole reason i bought a kenwood keg way back in the way back.

I think you have a few options, depending on your budget and appearance tastes.

Many newer headunits will actually read a USB thumb drive, and you can get them in all kinds of capacities. I have a kenwood with a 32Gig thumbdrive right now. I wanted to use a 250 gig hard drive similar to the one you posted but the radio wouldnt recognize it without me having to partition the drive... etc. and i really dont have 250 gigs of music.
A thumb drive would be more suited than an actual external hard drive due to the viberations in the vehicle. And if storage is a problem its easier to swap out two or three flash drives than a whole collection of cds.
Some headunits also have intergrated bluetooth and give you the option to stream music from your phone to the headunit. Not sure how many do, i just know of the kenwood 8120 right off hand cause thats what i have.

Now if you want to stay OEM, i would probably do the AUX in tray and the audiophile radio thats compatible, and just buy a cheap MP3 player with lots of storage. quick and easy and cost effective solution.
The only drawback is that you wont have control of the music thru your radio, it will have to be controlled on the mp3 device.

 

Wow thanks man, you're the first response I've had to this on the FOUR forums I've posted it on. lol Thanks again, I'm still doing some research. I talked to Crutchfield and they say Pioneer and I think Clarion have a head unit that are capable of this. It was just an idea I had and I haven't given up on making it work just Yet.

 

yea there are a few radios that have a USB connection. I know for a fact kenwood and pioneer do, and i would assume some of the higher end jvc, clarion, alpine, and eclipse units would too.
When i upgraded to the dnx8120 i lost the ability to use my kenwood keg, which was basically a hard drive for mobile use. I loved the way it interfaced on my kenwood radios... it acted like a huge cd changer and was controlled like one.

I also did a lot of searching when i was looking for a way to bring my whole library with me in my truck.
so i did buy that 250 gig one and the problem is that the headunits dont know how to handle or read that much space or have difficulty doing so. Most hard drives use a NTFS file system that is not recognizable to radios. so I spoke to a techie friend of mine and he suggested to partition the hard drive into allowable FAT formats. The problem is there is a limit on a FAT file system, 32 gigs he said, so i would have to divide the 250 gig harddrive into allowable 32 gig FAT file partitions. thats what i was told by my buddie so im not 100% on that but hes pretty reliable. Flash drives use the FAT file system and are smaller which is why they are become more popular for car audio use.

There are a few guys who have configured the drives to run on USB headunits but some experience slow browsing capabilities.
Also some radios are configured to only read a certain amount of files per folder and so many folders per drive. You really want to check into that before you go and buy an expensive external harddrive.


I ended up finding a 32 gig thumb/flash/usb drive and thats what im running. (thats the largest size memory i found)
Its tucked away neatly in the glovebox and loads in two or three seconds after the radio powers up. It Reads fast, plenty of space for me, and i have my music divided into main folder catagories with sub folders as "playlists." Media loading is quick and easy, just unplug it, plug it into your comp and copy paste the new music file where ever you want it and plug it back in teh truck.
If you go with an aftermarket HU i would definantly recommend the usb flash drives.
Luckily i needed a hard drvie for my home comp so i ended up just using it to back up data at home.

 

let me tell you my experience, first of all BE CAREFUL with usb capable head units. just because they have a usb doesen't mean that it'll support a harddrive. i found out the hard way. i have an alpine cda 9886, w/usb connector. i wanted to use my western digital passport 160gb, so i formatted to FAT32, loaded only one song one folder and i got the ERROR display on my head unit. so i partitioned my HD to differenct sizes many times, to see if it would help. nothing well i just broke down and bought a 4gb thumb drive, works like a charm. i will be however on the look out for a 32gb thumb drive this holiday season, maybe one will go on sale:santa: so good luck with whatever you end up doing.

 

I just did the same thing in my truck a couple of months ago. I bought a Pioneer DEH-600UB and installed it, running the USB cable from the rear of the unit to the glove box. Then I got a 250G usb drive (This receiver only supports drives up to 250G) and reformatted to FAT32 with a free program on the internet called SwissKnife. Works great, haven't had any trouble once I found this program to reformat the drive. Here is a link to an article talking about how to reformat large drives with SwissKnife including a link to download the program:
http://www.online-tech-tips.com/comp...ive-to-fat-32/

 

Why? Are you actually in your vehicle long enough to validate ~ 41k songs(113 days of music)?

Also, I wouldnt consider a car the safest place to put a harddrive unless it was solid state. One pothole and that read head hits the platter...

 

Dunno if this helps, but this is a great website for anything and everything computer related. I have spent around $2k on this site, and never had any issues, btw.... www.newegg.com

Is this on your wish list? 64gb thumb drive. Good price, after rebate....
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820233072

Here's probably the best 32gb on the site:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820220261