[MooandLou]

I'm not a technical person and naively didn't check the media options.You can imagine my surprise when on delivery - NO CD PLAYER!!

I've brought myself a USB connector and an auxiliary connector for my phone in the bid to save me from Radio but neither provide any sound output despite the setting being on high.

Am I doing something wrong? The phone is HTC if that's any use.

Thanks one and all

 

[esterhazy]

If you are using the AUX audio out on your phone (3.5mm mini jacks on both ends) that should be plugged into the AUX jack just above the USB port. Then you have to select AUX as the source in the menu. You could also pair your phone via Bluetooth if you have that option. Check the owners manual about how to select audio sources.

 

[NickyNoogle]

Hi, One final point to remember is that when you have connected your HTC to the AUX connection and selected it as your music source you must then start the music player on your HTC to select what you want to listen to on the car system. The touchscreen will not show the album art when used in this way.

 

[esterhazy]

Good point Nicky. Selecting your music with any form of easy can only be done from your ipod or smartphone. The touch screen interface for music from an external device on the 208 is very clumsy. The only way I canabide it is to set it to shuffle and push start.

 

[NickyNoogle]

HI, that's why I have put all my music on a USB Flash Drive (16GB) and don't connect my smartphone at all (other than Bluetooth for the phone). I can't stand having cables trailing round the dashboard area. Just looks scruffy.

 

[esterhazy]

Whenever I have attached any USB drive, the audio system makes a loud crack and the touchscreen software crashes and restarts after 20-30 seconds or so. I'd rather have the control that the USB stick gives re choosing music on an album by album basis and by seeing the artwork. However I think I will fry my audio system and I just know the dealer will say that is not covered under warranty.

 

[exmgzr]

I use a USB drive and it works perfectly using .wmp format downloaded from Windows Media Player, No cracks, crashes or anything.
I select the album I want from the artwork on the touchscreen.

 

[NickyNoogle]

Hi, I make a point of only connecting (or disconnecting) the flash drive when the touchscreen is turned off. Then when I turn it back on it comes up with the 'loading......' screen which gradually populates with the album art. If the content of the flash drive has not been changed then the loading takes just a few seconds whereas with a different drive (or if changes to the content have been made) then it can take several minutes to populate the album art correctly.
I've never had the unit make any strange noises or glitch using this technique. I do this to emulate the 'safely remove' option that I would use on a PC or laptop when removing a USB stick.

 

[esterhazy]

Good Advice, Thanks! I never though of having to do the "Safe to remove hardware" routine with the USB stick as you can mount/unmount ipods/smartphones with abandon and never crash the system. Theoretically there should be no difference between a USB stick or iPod Shuffle (solid state memory), an iPod touch or iPhone/smartphone (solid state memory) or say an iPod Classic (mini hard drive) but obviously there isas the USB stick and Shuffle devices have always caused system crashes.

 

[Orbital]

What is teh specs for the USB-port? I tried, full of hope, just to connect my external harddisk via USB 3.0 (the harddrive got internal power as is that the power is connected through the USB. "Can´t read the drive in USB - power something failure". Then tried my small stupid 16 Gb MP3 with USB 2.0 and that worked. I got around 900 Gb of music in MP3 - format (hole cd collection) and want that in my new car. Any sugestions?

 

[esterhazy]

The USB bit wouldn't matter as USB 3 is backwardcompatibleto USB 2. The problem most likely lays with the cars' USB port in that it is probably not providing enough voltage to run your external hard drive. Remember it is a mechanical device and a large-ish one too compared to what is required to power solid state devices like a MP3 player or ipod touch/iPhone/smartphone,etc.You can power your drive via an adapter that plugs into the 12V (Belkin makes one that provides high enough power to run/charge iPads) but that is not going to solve your problem unless your 'external HD' has another usb out which is unlikely. An external solid state HD might work but advise you try before you buy as it will be an expensive experiment.

 

[Orbital]

Thanks - I suspected that. As you piont out it can be an very expensive exercise indeed. Is there any other that have any experience in connecting 500 Gb+ devices to the USB port? If any succesfull please describe the device (brand, making etc). Thx alot in advance ....

 

[NickyNoogle]

Hi, can I just check that you really mean a 500Gb (gigabit) device and not a 500GB (gigabyte) device. My touchscreen is devastatingly slow in correctly accessing a 16GB USB stick. I shudder to think how slow it would be with a 500GB device.

 

[esterhazy]

An interesting point. But what I can't understand is why the 'read' time is so slow with a passive solid state USB thumb drive compared to a solid state iPod Touch or iPhone/Smartphone or even an iPod classic which has a mini hard drive in it. I am going to guess that the pug head unit has a software interface that speeds thing up with ipods, etc and that because USB thumb drives are really only memory 'cards' , they don't have the same interface/handshake capabilities. IT is such Voodoo. I can say that because I work in IT.

 

[bradshaw]

Hi, I am aged 70, only had a laptop for a couple of years, my GTI is the first car I have owned that hasn't got a CD player. I want to put my CD collection on to a 8GB flashdrive so I can listen to my music in the car. Can anyone help me in simple terms, thanks.

 

[esterhazy]

Do you have digital music library or is your starting point a CD collection? Do you have a mp3 player of any type(ipod,etc)?

 

[NickyNoogle]

Hi, It's a two stage process :-
1. Rip (import) your CDs onto your laptop.

2. Copy the ripped CDs onto your USB flash drive.

The first stage is done using Windows Media Player (or whatever music playing software you use.)
The second stage is done using My Computer.

PS I have assumed your are running Windows on your laptop. if you want more detailed information please send me a Personal Message and I can help you further.

 

[bradshaw]

Hi, I have imported my CDs onto my laptop, I am running windows 7, thanks.

 

[bradshaw]

Today I have transfered all my CDs onto my flash drive, can play everything in my car now, amazing!

 

[NickyNoogle]

HI, a definite improvement on the old CD players then