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For 6fl - Save your $$$$ - don't buy Ipod there's a better way!!!
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08-28-2007, 11:48 AM | #45 |
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I took a quick look on the net and can't really seem to find any IEEE or other official USB power specs.
Perhaps someone smarter than me can find this info or better yet maybe beat it out of BMW what their ports capability is. It appears a few other portable HDD's have a power input 'just in case' but they are of the more traditional DC plug design that perhaps could be fitted to the 12v power plug in the armrest for a better universally compatible solution Or perhaps this http://www.sunshinesolar.co.uk/khxc/.../USBADAPT.html would work for the WD with their advanced cable. Last edited by 100mph; 08-28-2007 at 12:30 PM.. |
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08-28-2007, 01:34 PM | #46 |
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The USB standard specifies 500mA per port. (See here, or full spec here.) This is less than most 2.5" drives need for spinup. Many PCs actually will supply more than 500mA, but not all. Therefore some disks come with extra power cables or other solutions.
As for drive longevity and skip protection, I have an mp3 player with a 2.5" drive that I've been using for about four years now. The last year it has been in my arm rest, connected to my aux port (too old car for 6fl). It powers on whenever I start the car and turns off when the car is turned off, so it's pretty much the same situation as for 100mph. There has not ever been a single indication of problem with this disk. Another thing that is good to know is that laptop drives are only vulnerable in the very short moments they are reading/writing from disk. Even when spinning, if no read/write is happening the heads are safely parked in a shock-resistant zone. Many disks use aggressive read-ahead caching that further minimize the time spent "on the platter". Combine this with the fact that all MP3 players need to buffer data in memory to decode it, and you'll find that your disk is actually in shock-protection mode most of the time. (You only really have to buffer a fraction of a second, but most implementations load far more into memory, because the gain far outweighs the little extra memory use.) In short: You'll be fine! |
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08-28-2007, 09:56 PM | #48 | |
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i never thought of using a portable hdd as an alternative to an ipod, nice writeup!
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08-29-2007, 03:14 AM | #49 | |
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1) WD 2.5" disks of generation ML40 and newer have a feature called Reduced Power Spinup. Open up your Passport enclosure and ensure that the drive has RPS enabled. If not, you need a special jumper shunt to enable it. RPS greatly reduces the time the drive draws >500mA, which increases the chances of it being able to spin up on systems with "less generous" USB ports. 2) If all else fails, you may want to try some 4200 rpm disks. They generally (but not always) use less power on spinup. |
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08-29-2007, 10:27 AM | #50 |
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Did you try a different cable (sorry, I only skimmed the thread)?
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08-29-2007, 10:35 AM | #51 |
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They do. Hence why I said non-nano.
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08-29-2007, 10:39 AM | #52 | |
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08-29-2007, 10:40 AM | #53 |
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08-29-2007, 05:29 PM | #55 |
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still no good for me i have over 500 gigs of music!!!!! over 320 gigs of the Grateful Dead Alone!!!!! 160gigs is nothing but way more than an i pod...but can i use it like an ipod and carry it in my pocket and listen to it with headphones NOOOOOOOOOO can i put it on a dock stero and play it straight from the WD?NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!! can i watch movies on it like an ipod...noooooooo!!!! can i easily transport it to another car like an ipod NOOOOOOOOOO so sry not worth it for me...ipods are revolutionay i never heard of someone going nuts over an external hardrive and i should know i have a terabyte and friends who have bought one to grab my music stash!!!! still awesome that you can have more than an ipod can hold...but the other functions (which are a lot)just aren't there!!!!!!!!!!!
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08-30-2007, 02:01 PM | #56 |
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So I tried this last night. Picked up a 60gb WD Passport, reformatted just like 100mph said to do, and it worked like a charm!!! I'm so glad i foudn this solution. Easily saved myself a few hundred bucks.
btw...instead of creating 27 folder for A-Z, i created half as many by doing A-B, C-D, and so on. Much better imo. |
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08-30-2007, 02:54 PM | #57 | |
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-C e92 335i Barbera/Cream w/250GB of musicky goodness on a WD PAssport. |
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08-30-2007, 04:16 PM | #58 |
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BMW specifically says not to use hard drives with the USB port. I don't know why, and of course we can ignore them, but it does say it. Page 18 of the radio manual, "Do not connect USB hard disks".
I have used both an ipod and a thumb drive so far. Both worked very well. But the thumb drive stays powered on, even with the car locked. In fact, it appears to keep "playing" while I'm gone since I'll come back in the middle of a different song. On a different thread, someone mentioned that some thumb drives appear to power down properly while others stay powered on. |
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08-30-2007, 04:31 PM | #59 | |
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08-30-2007, 07:53 PM | #60 |
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It does seem to be device dependent. I even tried propping up the door to the center console so I could see the glow from my thumbdrive. It stayed on "forever".
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08-30-2007, 08:13 PM | #61 | |
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-C |
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08-30-2007, 09:37 PM | #62 |
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For those with power issues preventing their USB drives from spinning up, here are some inexpensive parts that might solve the issue:
USB car power adapter: http://www.xpcgear.com/usbcaradp.html Dual USB input cable: http://www.shopaddonics.com/itemdesc...2USBPC&eq=&Tp= I'll be ordering tomorrow and I'll report on my results. -C |
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08-30-2007, 10:10 PM | #63 | |
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Mine definitely does not keep playing when the car is off though. Usually when I start the car the next time it resumes at exactly the same point. Sometimes, though, it will start on a completely different song. I think that's a glitch. |
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08-30-2007, 10:13 PM | #64 | |
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Anyway, I'm jealous that some of you have gotten it to work. I wish I could have my entire library with me. I hate having to go through and hand pick which folders I want on my 16GB flash drive! |
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08-30-2007, 10:14 PM | #65 | |
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I bet it would solve the problem, but you'll end up with quite a few cables in the armrest. |
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