USB head unit ?

[3.4 slow to go]

OK, I've been loking at a few units w/USB connectivity, and so far they all require FAT32 file sys. Does anyone know of a unit that uses NTFS? Just wondering as I just finished uploading my 250gb portable hd and am looking to exploit it. 1gb flash is backup.

I'm still not sold on ipods, fwiw.

[96firebird311]

Re: USB head unit ?

I wasn't going to speak up because I didn't know any off hand.... but it's been a little bit and nobody else has offered any help at all.

After a quick breeze around, you can knock all Pioneer headunits off your list. They require FAT16 or 32. I know Sony and JVC both make headunits with USB for very cheap.

If any of that helps at all..... better than nothing....

EDIT: You know.... you could just back up the data to your desktop, reformat the hard drive to FAT32, and move the data back over. Right? Think I'd do my best to do this before I sacrificed my choices in headunit.

[youngsc]

Re: USB head unit ?

Not sure about what file system mine has but it's a pioneer and I've used my iPod and a flash drive on it which doesn't neccesairly mean anything. Having a portable HD with that much music would be kick *** though, I hadn't thought about that. If you leave it in your car find a place to keep it cool because I've had my iPod do it's own version of vapor lock a few times. I have to take it out let the battery die because it locks up from the ehat sitting in the car.

[96firebird311]

Re: USB head unit ?

The USB connections have no problems playing any platter based MP3 player. Of course I dont know the difference in draw between them and his HD, but couldn't be THAT much more....lol

[Firebirdkid96]

Re: USB head unit ?

I don't believe there's a head unit out there just yet that supports ntfs...

[3.4 slow to go]

Re: USB head unit ?

thanks for the replies. The hdd I got all my files from is toast, or at least on it's way and my desktop's mo board is KIA. The protable hdd is bigger than the laptop drive. hooray for teh teknowledgie, but only requires usb 2.0

interesting fact on the file speeds.

[mrhobbz]

Re: USB head unit ?

the great thing about flash memory is that it has low power consumption. your 250gig portable hd is probably a platter style and therefore has a higher power draw. make sure that the usb port on whatever head unit you choose can power that hard drive. otherwise, flash memory may be your only choice.

and fat32 has faster access times than ntfs...that may be why it's required on so many head units.

True with small disks in computers but I don't know how much that actually applies to this specific situation. The headunit wouldnt be checking for user permissions on the disk, NTFS also requires less disk reads to find all of the file fragments.

[96firebird311]

Re: USB head unit ?

my flash drives range 0.15-0.20 amps and my portable hdds range 0.50-0.65 amps.

If a flash drive uses .2 amps, surely a HDD based iPod is more than that. I would figure all over the .4-.5 mark. I bet it powers up just fine. Doesn't hurt to try. :)

[cantrip]

Re: USB head unit ?

Ive looked into using my external hd on a headunit/screen for some time now and I didnt find much. Basically, my only hope now is to use a in car computer, a laptop hooked up to a screen, or an xbox with xbmc.

[3.4 slow to go]

Re: USB head unit ?

interesting find on this subject:

http://forums.cnet.com/5208-7811_102...hreadID=173279

looks like large size usb sticks are the way to go

[96firebird311]

Re: USB head unit ?

Looks like they DO get a certain 80G HDD to work.... but load times are MINIMUM 30 seconds and were often over 1 minute. To me, that's unacceptable.

[3.4 slow to go]

Re: USB head unit ?

I also found this: http://www.amazon.com/Rockford-Fosga.../dp/B000931HZA

the reviews are interesting, and I wish there were more systems liek this out there for sale.