Playing music from mobile phone through the Multi-Media system

[Anthony]

Hi all. Looking for answers re playing music via blue tooth from phone / usb / portable hard drives etc.

Basically my mobile phone is at capacity (samsung s7 with a 128gb micro sd card) & I can't add more songs to it & don't want to delete the songs already there.

Can I store songs onto a usb / portable hard drive etc, & play via blue tooth or cable plug in through the Tuner's multi media system. (I've a 2015 GX model).

Sorry to ask, but I know we've people on the Forum a lot smarter than yours truely.... I couldn't even pass finger painting in Kindy!!

As always any advice or thoughts are appreciated.

[White One]

I wouldnt bother using the phone . you can store quite a few albums on a USB stick and use the USB port , no problem , if you keep a few sticks in the console you can increase your capacity that way. The factory system probably wont recognise an entire hard drive hence its best using sticks.

[Anthony]

Thanks White One. I'll have a play over the next few days using both usb sticks & a hard drive, & report back on the results.

[tek199]

I prefer to stream through bluetooth as I can continue where I left off on work PC or through headphones. Once paired the factory system is quite intuitive and allows playback easily. If a call is placed or received the music stops and resumes where you left off after you hand up.

2cents.

[Anthony]

Hey tek199; I stream the music albums stored on my phone via blue-tooth to the car's media unit. I need more album storage space. I've reached capacity storage on the mobile's micro sd card, so was looking at available storage options. Hence the external hard drive option or several usb sticks as suggested by white one.

[Anthony]

Just reporting my findings...

I* put songs onto an old USB stick & it worked in the car. I then put songs onto an old external hard drive & it also worked in the car. So, me being me, I bought a 2TB Seagate brand external hard drive, loaded songs onto it, but it won't work in the car. The USB icon on the car's media system is faded / greyed out, meaning I can't touch it to activate the USB setting.

Looks like the Seagate HD needs more juice to power it up than the Tuner's multi media system can provide.

[mrh460]

You must have a lot of songs, Anthony. Am I right in thinking that a 2TB drive would hold more than 300,000 songs? 😬

[White One]

its possible that the hard drive needs more current to work , or maybe the formatting cannot be recognised

[Benicio]

I'm pretty sure the head unit in the car can only read a certain number of files & or folders through the usb port. (the exact numbers are in the manual).
I loaded up a 128gb usb drive & had to delete files/folders & then it worked fine.
I think I've about got about 7500 songs on it.
👍

[Anthony]

Thanks all. Apparently the 2TB Seagate drive holds a couple hundred thousand hrs of songs. I've flicked through the Multi-media manual a couple of times & can't see anything to indicate the number of files / folders the system will read.

Anyway, since the songs worked using the older 400 mg external hard drive, I moved everything off that onto the 2TB unit, then loaded the songs onto the 400 mg drive. So far so good.

[Benicio]

It's on page 103 of the Audio manual.

[Anthony]

Benicoo;; Are you %^#^%*([email protected]& kidding me! Should've got my 7 yr old grandson to read the manual. He'd of found it for me.

I was reading pages 72-76. But now I look at page 103, I think I see the problem. Under the heading Compatible USB Devices, it indicates USB 2.0. The Seagate external drive I bought is a USB 3.0. Being 3.0, I'm guessing that's why it doesn't work. That older external h/drive I used that worked, was a USB 2.0. Likewise with the USB stick I tried, also being a USB 2.0, worked.

[PenangSRZ]

Actually, USB 3.0 is backwards compatible with USB 2.0, so that should't be the limitation. Same as using USB 2.0 devices in USB 3.0 ports - all backwards compatible. USB 3.0 drives will work on any computer with legacy USB 2.0 ports, so should be the same with your head unit. I'm running a USB 3.0 memory stick with no issues in mine.

Is your 2TB hard drive 2.5 or 3.5"? if it is an external 3.5", then the USB port probably won't have the power to run it. Even a 2.5" drive will draw a bit of current. If you want a big drive with lower current draw, then an external 2.5 SSD would be the way to go, but they are more expensive - much more. Also, they are much safer than a spinning drive on rough roads/tracks, as no chance of heads contacting platters, etc, a real risk with spinning drives.

[Anthony]

Hi. Not sure with the size, but if its the width of the device you're referring to, its 80mm x 115mm in size, so I'm guessing its a 3.5"?? (Seagate 2TB)

I'm not good with technology but I thought the USB 3.0 would've worked in the car, as it does in my computer. In any event the older USB drive works with the music so its all good. thx

[PenangSRZ]

Hi Anthony,

The dimensions you quoted above are correct for an external 2.5 inch drive. I'm looking an external Samsung M101 sitting on my desk here and it is the same dimensions as yours. The 2.5 is referring to the diameter of the spinning platter inside the drive itself, not the external case size. An external 3.5 is much larger. Where it can get confusing is with SSD's, as they have no spinning platters, but their case size is the same so they can be installed into the same cases as spinning disks. If you were to open the case of your external hard drive, you would see something similar to the attached pic. It shows a 2.5" Hard drive mounted on a circuit board, ready to go into an external case. You can see the USB-A connector and power jack on the circuit board. That USB connector could be USB 1, 2 or 3 - they all have the same form factor, but USB 3 is the most recent flavour. USB 1 is very old, over 20 years. USB 2 still around but also old. Don't get these mixed up with USB-C, which has a totally different connector.

At least you have got something worked out, but it is still strange that the USB 3 drive didn't work. If you plug a USB 3 drive into an older computer with USB 2 ports, the drive will work, only the data transfers are slower.