USB external hard drive ?

Hey all just wanted to know if anyone here has installed a external hard drive for their media on their dvd deck? I just bought a Sony XAV 601 Bluetooth and the guy at Future Shop a external hard drive will not work through the USB on this . But a jump drive would? I can understandwhy it wouldnt? The external hard drive is a WD "my Passport" anybody know anything about this ?

 

Great choice on the head unit. I have that same one! However, I don't have a hard drive to try this out with. I don't know if it would work or not. There's an input for USB Music so it's possible it would work. The only reason I can think of for it not working is maybe the Sony doesn't put out enough power via USB to power the hard drive. You should plug it in and see if it works.

 

It should power just fine, I think the issue would be the format. Most modern HDD's come formatted in NTFS and most USB flash sticks come formatted in FAT32. So if the Head Unit is meantto use FAT32 that would be why an NTFS drive wont work. However, you can format the drive to FAT32 and then try it.
Id like to know if it works for you as I ordered a Pioneer X5500BHS which has a USB input for flash sticks, wondering if I can attach a FAT32 formatted HDD.

 

Yeah if power is an issue you may need a self powered (not thru usb) hard drive. Also fat32 should work or maybe the deck would format its own version of fat32. Ive seen that before with other hardware. Another thing to consider is if you are using fat32 you have the size limit on file sizes so no hd movies.

 

I'd think about an SD drive. Not cheap and pretty limited on space, but a lot more rugged.

 

I think rich (correct me if I'm wrong) meant to say ssd, or solid state disk drive. And I agree, they are good for large capacity, performance, and probably most important in this case, low power consumption and no moving parts. Format is an easy solution, just go fat 32. I'd say if you really want to use a standard hard drive, it should work, since both flash drives and hard drives use the same driver (mass storage driver). Power is important, format is important, and disk size constraints could possibly be an issue. You have answers to the others, and disk size can be manipulated via partition sizes. I'd only expect your receiver to read the first partition. Also, I'd consider a 2.5" notebook drive over the desktop 3.5" size, since they are more durable (and smaller, and require less power. Still, usb drives are as big as 256 GB, so I'd recommend that as a first choice.

 

On second look, rich is in fact describing an SD card. They have similar qualities and sizes as a usb drive. You'll need a usb card reader to use this with your usb port, but they can be had for $10. Sorry for the mis-correction rich.

 

No, I was thinking solid state HD.

But be careful. I needed a couple of 128gb units for a piece of traffic signal hardware. Best Buy doesn't stock them in the store, one of the salesdrones offered me a 1tb Seagate for only $20 more.
I was floored at the capacity and price... but then looked at the box again, and it is a hybrid drive. Conventional HDD with an SSD for bootup.

 

Tigerdirect.com has a 128 GB usb drive for $50, and a 64 GB usb drive for $20.

 

First why do you think you need a hard drive, a standard thumb drive can store months of MP3 music. Second I don't believe you'll have the current available at your usb port to power a hard drive even solid state one.

 

This is here was what you should consider. Also most head units will not read the hard drive as fast as a thumb drive. So if you have you head unit on shuffle to listen to music there may be delays in the music. Also sorry if i missed it but is this the factory unit or aftermarket? A single din and factory would be real complicated to search for what you are looking for if you had a lot of information on it.

edit: seen it was a sony head unit.
http://www.docs.sony.com/release/XAV601BT_EN_FR_ES.pdf#page=31&zoom=110.00000000000001,0,595
Click this and scroll to page 31

MSC (Mass Storage Class) can be used.• Compatible codecs are MP3 (.mp3), WMA
(.wma), AAC/HE-AAC (.m4a), JPEG (.jpg),
Xvid (.avi/.xvid), and MPEG-4 (.mp4).
• Backup of data in a USB device is
recommended.
Notes
•
During USB Video playback, if the playback is
intermittent:
–Press
(HOME)
or launch the System settings.
– During the USB Photo, (Navigation), etc.
•
Connect the USB device after starting the engine.
Depending on the USB device, malfunction or
damage may occur if it is connected before starting
the engine.
•
A large-sized file or many files may take time to start
playing.
•
This unit does not recognize multiple MSC devices.
To disconnect the USB device
Stop playback, then disconnect.
Do not disconnect during playback, as data in the
USB device may be damaged.
Notes on use
•
Do not use USB devices so large or heavy that they
may fall down due to vibration, or cause a loose
connection.
•
Do not leave a USB device in a parked car, as
malfunction may result.
•
This unit cannot recognize USB devices via a USB
hub.
•
Be sure to use the USB cable supplied with the
device if a cable is needed when making a USB
connection.
Notes on playback
•
Select “USB Music,” “USB Video,” or “USB Photo”
depending on the file type of USB device.
•
Displayed indications will differ, depending on the
USB device, recorded format and settings. For
details, visit the support site on the back cover.
•
The maximum number of displayable music files is
as follows:
– files (tracks): 10,000
•
It may take time for playback to begin, depending on
the amount of recorded data.
•
DRM (Digital Rights Management) files may not be
played.
•
During playback or reverse/fast-forward of a VBR
(Variable Bit Rate) MP3/WMA/AAC file, elapsed
playing time may not display accurately.
•
Playback of a lossless compression file is not
supported

 

Solve all you problems has it's own hard drive. http://store.mp3car.com/Morex_Bundle_Mobile_Car_Computer_System_p/ccc-204.htm

 

Except how to get the Sony head unit to read a computer's hard drive.

 

Power is the problem. Most disk drives have a steady state amp requirement and a spin-up amp requirement. A USB port is limited in the amount of amps if will deliver (how much depends on what type of USB port you have). Also keep in mind that the length of the USB cable matters in determining the amount of available amps.

I attempted to run a USB hard drive years ago and ran into the spin-up power requirements. I did finally make it work with a small disk drive and a short usb cable, but by that time I was tired of messing with it and just bought a large memory stick.

 

Years ago I used to have a 2.5" HDD in an external enclosure, and used a 12v accessory plug to a 6v output adapter, then to the power port on the external HDD case. This provided close to the right voltage and more than enough amps to power it all. I tried a 4.5v adapter first but it didn't spin up the drive, 6v did and didn't cause drive failure despite it really wanting 5v. It died when a friend accidentally plugged a 12v wall adapter into it. Now I just use a 16gb thumb drive but I may go to a 32gb SD card and a card reader next time so I can have more music and swap around based on my mood.

 

For the majority of 2.5" drives, power is a non-issue. Simply search "dual usb cable" on Newegg and of the 200+ results, grab a usb cable with two type-a connectors on it (one for power assist, the other for data) for < $10. Usb 2.0 bus power is 5 volts, appx 1 amp standard, so for external portable (2.5") drives, you would just need a cigarette lighter usb plug, again, we're talking $10. For 3.5" drives, you will need an inverter for ac power. I have to say again at this point,128 GB usb flash drives are relatively cheap, and that is what, over 25,000 songs @ 5 MB per track? Overestimating at 25 songs per album, we are still talking 1000 albums here. I'm becoming curious about the driver for this project (?).

 

I also see the op has not responded since the original message. I'm going to drop off until I see what direction he intends to go. And PS, don't know where the random smiley icon came from in the last post.

 

Wow totally forgot that I posted this . Thanks folks for all the replys. Future shop would not let me purchase the external hard drive because they said if it was used and anything was put on it they could not do a refund. So I caved and bought a 64 gig flash drive. Not what I wanted but it will do. Feed the factory rear usb cable into the glove box. I cannot say enough about the Sony really good usablity. Started usin the mirrorlink feature on my experia z phone and liked that I have a gps on the screen also. A USB flash has more than enough memory for my needs just wanted to go too big and wanted the space to put absolutly anything I wanted on it . Thanks again for anyone who went through the trouble of doing some research for me. Great forum here.

 

Can't believe no one mentioned this.... A conventional drive would be horrible to put in a vehicle. They are pretty much a really fancy record player with a needle. Not designed to run in vehicles. While I'm sure there are a couple HDD that can handle this, I would bet they're pricey. The jarring would damage the disk with the needle bouncing against the drive.

For instance the Panasonic tough books I used in Afghanistan had some of the earliest SSD drives simply for that reason. They were junk otherwise but thats besides the point.

So yeah....anything you put in a vehicle really should be solid state. Technically laptops are designed to be portable....not mobile.