USB input - does it work with an external HDD?

[Gamz]

Hi all,

I just ordered my Genesis, and I'm wondering if the sound system will register an external HDD via the USB slot.

Something like this.

Since the external HDD requires a power source via USB, does anyone know if the Genesis USB port is powered?

Any help would be appreciated!

Thanks

 

[Gamz]

To answer my own question, and for anyone else looking for the answer, yes it works but the HDD must be FAT32. NTFS formatting will not work.

Ciao!

 

[dataguy]

Just make sure you back up your music elsewhere. Non-rugged hard drive + non-journaled file system + unpredictable power shutdown = possible data loss.

 

[Gamz]

Just make sure you back up your music elsewhere. Non-rugged hard drive + non-journaled file system + unpredictable power shutdown = possible data loss.

I agree it's not as stable as a USB key, for example, but I'm going to try it and see how it works. It could be that the volume of music just takes too long to load, in which case, it's not really worth the hassle (I'm talking >300GB's worth of mp3s).

It's a mirror of my media server. I can actually schedule auto-syncs via wi-fi to my HDD in my garage.

Pretty cool

 

[QCTLG]

Gamz,

I tried the HDD and found it to be extremely flaky with the Genesis.

I have tried 2 different HDD's and the problem is...it keeps resetting to the beginning. I had about 70 gigs of music and if I would choose folder "S" eventually it will go back to "A". Very frustrating!

So I bought numerous 4 gig USB's and it has NEVER reset yet.

good luck

 

[Gamz]

Gamz,

I tried the HDD and found it to be extremely flaky with the Genesis.

I have tried 2 different HDD's and the problem is...it keeps resetting to the beginning. I had about 70 gigs of music and if I would choose folder "S" eventually it will go back to "A". Very frustrating!

So I bought numerous 4 gig USB's and it has NEVER reset yet.

good luck

That's very strange... I wonder if the resetting is being caused by a loading time-out due to the size of the library....

Interesting. I'll have to try it when I get the car, and play around with it. Worst case, I'll get a large USB key.

 

[dataguy]

Since you have a Coupe, the USB performance may be different than on the Sedan (which itself has different factory systems).

On the Sedan tech package, I've found that the USB performance with a 32GB key is pretty dismal. My MP3 collection was sorted by artist folders, and it's highly painful to navigate with lots of folders. The Lexicon system also doesn't support ID3 tags, instead keying off of the folder name for the artist and file name for the title.

I'm going to try to break up the artists in alpha folders in order to try to speed up the folder navigation.

Hopefully, the Coupe system is better in dealing with USB.

 

[Gamz]

On the Sedan tech package, I've found that the USB performance with a 32GB key is pretty dismal. My MP3 collection was sorted by artist folders, and it's highly painful to navigate with lots of folders. The Lexicon system also doesn't support ID3 tags, instead keying off of the folder name for the artist and file name for the title.

It doesn't use the ID3 tags!? That's incredible to me - other than low-end "Innovatek" type head units, I've never seen a unit that doesn't use the ID3 tags. Wow.

I organize my music like you, each folder is an album organized by artist [ie: Led Zeppelin - IV (1971) ]. Hopefully not having nested folders (ie; Led Zeppelin folder, which contains multiple album folders) may make it a little better.

Do you happen to know if the Genesis' (sedan, in your case) USB port is 2.0?

Thanks for your assistance!

 

[GripperDon]

I believe it is 2.0

 

[dataguy]

It doesn't use the ID3 tags!? That's incredible to me - other than low-end "Innovatek" type head units, I've never seen a unit that doesn't use the ID3 tags. Wow.

Yep, one of the most technically advanced factory sound systems available and it doesn't read MP3 tags. Or play multichannel WMA. Or have a song progress display bar. Or support gapless MP3. Or have speed-sensitive volume control. Or scroll long titles. Or support video input from video iPods. And so on. It does sound amazing though!

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[GripperDon]

True it does sound Amazing and I am sure we both would rather have great sound than any one of the missing features.

 

[fiscue]

What flash drive sticks work best in the genesis system? My wife bought some 4 g sticks and loaded some music on one, It said that it did not initionalize? Any info on what to use?

 

[dataguy]

What flash drive sticks work best in the genesis system? My wife bought some 4 g sticks and loaded some music on one, It said that it did not initionalize? Any info on what to use?

One thing to check is whether they are formatted as FAT32, not NTFS or any other file system. Nearly all USB sticks are formatted that way, but it's possible they aren't.

 

[dataguy]

True it does sound Amazing and I am sure we both would rather have great sound than any one of the missing features.

True, but for good or bad, the technology is somewhat dated, and it will only get worse over time.

When cars were just cars--no GPS, no satellite radio, no MP3 players, no Internet connectivity, no wifi, no gas price checking, no weather forecasts--they didn't really become obsolete.

Now, I think the tide is turning where the gadgets are going to drive the sales as much as any other factor aside from styling or price.

 

[Gamz]

Yep, one of the most technically advanced factory sound systems available and it doesn't read MP3 tags. Or play multichannel WMA. Or have a song progress display bar. Or support gapless MP3. Or have speed-sensitive volume control. Or scroll long titles. Or support video input from video iPods. And so on. It does sound amazing though!

True it does sound Amazing and I am sure we both would rather have great sound than any one of the missing features.

As an audiophile, I agree that sound is paramount - but having been used to all the aforementioned "features" (in my mind, these should be standards), one does miss them when they're gone.