[jtmccabe]

Originally Posted by mrvuml

How do you format a USB Flash drive for it to be recognized and work properly in the iPod Adapter's USB port?

I don't know how my flash drives are formatted, but I've never had a problem using one in the car. If you're having trouble, just try formatting FAT32.

[jtmccabe]

Originally Posted by sumster

Dr. Dirt mentions his Buffalo hard drive in this thread....

http://www.e90post.com/forums/showth...=80270&page=11

I believe he has put on nearly 300gb of MP3's with >54,000 songs and it works.

I don't think he explicitly said that he's not using supplemental power, so I asked him in the other thread.

[dinkoh]

Originally Posted by jtmccabe

Iomega 80 GB 4200 RPM (model 33222)
Works for 1 of 1 members.

Works for me as well, but it does have some hiccups once in awhile.

[mrvuml]

Originally Posted by jtmccabe

I don't know how my flash drives are formatted, but I've never had a problem using one in the car. If you're having trouble, just try formatting FAT32.

Oops, what I meant was how do you organizethe music on the flash/jump/usb drive so it will be recognized. Do you have to mimic the way it is done on an iPod?

[jtmccabe]

Originally Posted by mrvuml

Oops, what I meant was how do you organizethe music on the flash/jump/usb drive so it will be recognized. Do you have to mimic the way it is done on an iPod?

No, in my experience it doesn't matter. You can play files either in the root directory or in folders. If you have a lot of songs on the drive then you'll probably want to create a folder structure (like Artist folders) to make the songs easier to find.

[ku5165]

here is a excellent tip that will save all of u guys lots of money etc...
buy laptop hdd (2.5") and an enclosure for it (just make sure its powered by usb)
that should do the trick... i plan on trying it myself once i get my car....(january)

[jtmccabe]

Originally Posted by ku5165

here is a excellent tip that will save all of u guys lots of money etc...
buy laptop hdd (2.5") and an enclosure for it (just make sure its powered by usb)
that should do the trick... i plan on trying it myself once i get my car....(january)

That has worked for at least one guy here, but not just any drive/enclosure combo will work. The problem is that the car's USB port only provides a certain amount of power. Some drives require less power than the car provides and some require a bit more. The latter are a PITA to deal with if they can be made to work at all. So I'm compiling this list in an attempt to make it easy to buy a drive that has a high likelihood of working.

If anyone has experience with a particular drive/enclosure combo, please post!

[Iceberg]

As a reminder...

The car will only re-index the drive if you change the volume name.
Probably already common knowledge among most of us here, but I'm writing this for those that don't know.

BTW, the Western Digital 60 GB 5400 RPM (model WD600U017-001) is still going strong with no errors and no problems after being left in the car during the ice storm.

[dknightx]

Originally Posted by Iceberg

As a reminder...

The car will only re-index the drive if you change the volume name.
Probably already common knowledge among most of us here, but I'm writing this for those that don't know.

Does that also need to be done if you just add say a few new albums to the drive? Seems like a bit of a pain to reindex the entire drive for small changes if that is the case.

I'm picking up my E93 335i w/ 6fl in Munich next week and am thrilled about this hard drive option. I need > 80 GB to hold my entire collection which is a bit limiting if you want to stick with 4200 rpm drives. I like the look of the Buffalo 300 GB that has been mentioned above, and I found another one that looks like it could fit the bill:

Fujitsu RE25U300J

It is 300GB, 4200 rpm (checked the Fujitsu spec sheet), USB powered, has a built-in wrap-around USB cord, and can be found for less than $200! I'd love to see if somebody has tried this drive yet.

One last question: Can somebody measure the inside width of the console lid mounted pouch that comes with the 6FL option? Do most of these 2.5" hard drives fit in there or is it necessary to remove the pouch and come up with some other mounting mechanism?

Thanks!

-Dave

[Iceberg]

Originally Posted by dknightx

Does that also need to be done if you just add say a few new albums to the drive? Seems like a bit of a pain to reindex the entire drive for small changes if that is the case.

No. Once its indexed, if you add more music, then the car recognizes the new music very quickly (in seconds, not minutes or more).

Originally Posted by dknightx

One last question: Can somebody measure the inside width of the console lid mounted pouch that comes with the 6FL option? Do most of these 2.5" hard drives fit in there or is it necessary to remove the pouch and come up with some other mounting mechanism?

The WD I mentioned earlier almost fit but the bottom seams of the pouch are sewn tightly, so it didn't go. However, my HD rests very nicely in the console, so I didn't even bother removing or moving the pouch. I may need it someday...

[cipher5]

anyone tried Iomega's black series? Its 5400 RPM, but wondered if its any different than the Silver series.

[sumster]

Just as a warning regarding the Buffalo drives... only the 300 gb model is 4200 rpm, the rest are all 5400 rpm. However, in the spec sheets, it says it only consumes 2.5 watts of power max for all drives so they may all work. The 250 gb model is significantly cheaper on Amazon.

http://www.buffalo-technology.com/fi...boUSB_DS_1.pdf

[K335iK]

WD Passport 250GB: Did not work with bus, but did work with supplemental power. Did not need to reformat. Used a Y cable from WD -- they sent it to me for free after I pestered them for it.

[rugbyguy]

Definitely not the largest drive out there, but if you can get away with 40GB, Staples has an IOmagic drive (model #IUSB40HD25TG) for $29.99 on sale right now with free shipping.
It seems to cover 2 of the more important criteria which most have been successful with, bus powered & 4200 rpms.
Just thought I would throw it out there.
I'm giving it a shot and will report back.

[cpippolo]

Originally Posted by rugbyguy

Definitely not the largest drive out there, but if you can get away with 40GB, Staples has an IOmagic drive (model #IUSB40HD25TG) for $29.99 on sale right now with free shipping.
It seems to cover 2 of the more important criteria which most have been successful with, bus powered & 4200 rpms.
Just thought I would throw it out there.
I'm giving it a shot and will report back.

Wow. That's dirt cheap. If I hadn't already bought one, I would buy that. 40gb is plenty for me, only using about 30gb or so right now

[fucema]

Drives I just tried that did *NOT* work with a single connection:

Seagate - FreeAgent Go 160GB External Hard Drive Model: ST901603FGA1E1-RK (comes with Y-cable)
Seagate - FreeAgent Go 80GB External Hard Drive Model: ST900803FGA1E1-RK (comes with Y-cable)
Maxtor - OneTouch 4 Mini 160GB External Hard Drive Model: STM901603OTA3E1-RK (comes with Y-cable)
Western Digital - Passport 160GB External Hard Drive - Black Model: WDXMS1600TN
Western Digital - Passport 320GB External Hard Drive - Black Model: WDXMS3200

I did not use the second USB plug for extra power when testing the drives that came packaged with a Y-cable. In addition, on my desktop PC the second USB plug was not necessary and the drives worked fine.

I tested all drives by first formatting them with fat32format.exe. In addition, one on drive I tested using an "Active" primary partition. And on another drive I tried setting up a logical extended partition. One other drive I created an extended partition using only 50MB of space. All these attempts failed.

Time to make another return trip to Best Buy.



On a positive note, a generic 60Mb USB Stick works absolutely fantasic.

[hov333]

has anyone tried to see if a Zune works?

[mid-corner fun]

Can someone recommend a 2.5 enclosure that fits the pouch in the armrest? I have plenty of old 4200/5400 laptop drives I can try.

thx

[fucema]

As you guys know, I've been buying and trying as many drives out from a local retailer and returning them when they do not work.

Tonight, I hit paydirt with an Hitachi:

Hitachi - 200GB External Hard Drive Model: H2200U

Here are the steps I took:
1) Connect drive to PC using a Belkin USB cable (I had lying around)
2) Format drive using fat32format.exe
3) Disable Windows Recycle Bin on the drive
4) Disable System Restore on the drive
5) Right Click drive -> Properties -> Label (made some silly name)
6) Created a new folder, named "L-M" on the drive
7) Copied some MP3s to the folder "L-M" on the drive
8) Disconnect drive from PC; Connect drive to bimmer USB port using same Belkin cable from Step 1
9) The drive powered up without clicking, and proceeded to index my mp3s


Notes:
A) The iDrive will only display the first 8 characters of your drive's volume label
B) My test MP3s would cut out during playback - the iDrive would switch to the FM Radio and MP3 playback would stop abruptly, randomly. I suspect it might be due to my MP3s being Variable Bit Rate encoded. I am going to test with CBR encoded MP3s next.
C) This Hitachi drive is a bit wide and will not fit securely in the iPod pouch in the armrest.

I'm glad this one worked though... I still have a 120gb SimpleTech drive to test also. If the Hitachi proves unstable even with CBR encoded MP3s, I'll open the SimpleTech and test it out.

[fucema]

Well I listened to a bunch more songs - some VBR some CBR. I didn't experience any issues with the Hitachi drive, as a followup to my earlier thread(s).

Here is a link to the exact model and place where I bought this Hitachi drive: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage....=1177112455216

[poppyljg]

So I purchased an iomega 120gb drive. It beeps when connected by usb and works when connected using the y-cable. Buy.com advertised it as 4200rpm, but the iomega site says it's 5400rpm.

Next I purchased the iomega 100gb 4200rpm drive , which one member confirmed to work without the y-cable. It didn't work for me unless I used the y-cable. The drive clicks when only using the usb. I have a new 2008 328I, and not sure if that has something to do w/ it. I also did not format it since it was fat32 out of the box.

Wonder why my 100gb iomega did not work unless I used the y-cable and another members did.

[fucema]

Originally Posted by poppyljg

So I purchased an iomega 120gb drive. It beeps when connected by usb and works when connected using the y-cable. Buy.com advertised it as 4200rpm, but the iomega site says it's 5400rpm.

Next I purchased the iomega 100gb 4200rpm drive , which one member confirmed to work without the y-cable. It didn't work for me unless I used the y-cable. The drive clicks when only using the usb. I have a new 2008 328I, and not sure if that has something to do w/ it. I also did not format it since it was fat32 out of the box.

Wonder why my 100gb iomega did not work unless I used the y-cable and another members did.

Are you using the Y-cable along with supplemental power in your bimmer? If not using supplemental power, perhaps the other cable you are using is sub-par or inferior quality?

I am using a Belkin cable with my Hitachi drive and it works fine. I've also got some random no-name cable that is 4 inches long, and it works fine also. I haven't tried the y-cable that came with the Hitachi.

One thing to note -- I had a good feeling about the Hitachi before I tried it because after doing research I discovered that the laptop drives manufactured by Fujitsu, Hitachi, and usually Samsung had lower power requirements than Seagate, Western Digital and others.

This was based off research into 4200RPM 2.5" laptop drives. The Fujitsu, Hitachi and Samsung drives listed 4.5w power requirements for start-up (which is where most of us are having problems and clicking noises).

Also, there were perpendicular-technology(?) drives by Seagate (Samsung also has this) that also seemed to have lower power ratings.

But this could all be a wash since I went through 6(?) drives before finding one that worked for me. Keeping in mind that I didnt do strictly controlled testing, if I had to give anyone advice - I would say stick to Hitachi, Fujitsu and Samsung for your drive choices. Play it safe with 4200 RPM, but don't be afraid of the 5400 RPMs also (my Hitachi is 5400RPM and it works).