Using the USB port

Sanzomat · Jun 15th, 2009, 14:04

A few questions about playing music from the USB port. I've ordered a 2.0d R-design SE V70 (due in September) Can anyone confirm how this works - the test drive car I borrowed had the autochanger so no USB to try out. I'm hoping it will be possible to simply copy a load of music onto a USB flash stick and plug it in. If this works, how does the head unit see the tracks? I'm hoping it will see a list of folders named by artist that if you select will show the album titles and then the tracks under that. I'm also hoping there will be a "shuffle all" feature like on an MP3 player. I was dissapointed when I had a 3 day test of an Insignia that although it recognised the music on the flash stick it did not see the "artist" folders but instead just showed a big pile of album titles. It also didn't seem to be able to remember what you were playing last and everytime you started up it went back to the first track of the first album in the list. It would n't even let you change trackes until it had read the whole stick and list all the albums so by the time you got to a point where you could select something else you had heard about a minute of the first track - you would soon get sick of hearing that same 60 secs of music everytime! My A6 reads mp3/wma files saved on the CD and (usually) starts playing from where you left off. Can anyone please confirm how the Volvo works in this respect - hopefully more like the audi and not the insignia!

adsk · Jun 15th, 2009, 17:24

I've used 2 different USB sticks so far. A Corsair Flash Voyager 4Gb and a 8Gb OCZ Cruzer Diesel.

The manual recommends using the included usb cable to connect the flash drive to save wear and tear on the socket - it also makes connecting less fiddly.

In both cases the drive was recognised without problem.

To access the contents of the drive you press the MODE button on the audio control panel. You can then scroll through the contents by turning the tuning knob or using the up/down keys on the audio control. You can also use the forward/back buttons on the steering wheel.

When scrolling you scroll through the top level of the drive i.e. the folders you would see when viewing on a PC. To view the contents of the folder (either album tracks or other folders you have created) you can press ENTER or the tuning knob.

To answer a few of your questions

- it does remember what you last played
- it plays MP3s (not sure about WMAs - would need to read the manual)
- it sees any folders that would be seen by an operating system but does not handle music as a PC based media player such as ITunes would BUT I do understand (but have never tried) that if you plug in an IPOD with playlists set up it will be able to read them.
- the audio unit only reads the full list of tracks when a new stick is inserted. with 7Gb of files it takes about 15 seconds in my experience. Music playback of an existing stick takes about 4-5 seconds after starting the car.

The most annoying (and counter intuitive) 'feature' is when you've been listening to an album that starts with, say, 'W', when you try to scroll through the albums to choose something else it doesn't start at the current playing item, rather it goes back to the beginning of the list.

NewVolvo · Jun 15th, 2009, 18:26

Quote:

Originally Posted by adsk

The most annoying (and counter intuitive) 'feature' is when you've been listening to an album that starts with, say, 'W', when you try to scroll through the albums to choose something else it doesn't start at the current playing item, rather it goes back to the beginning of the list.

I can confirm this - highly annoying. Hence the reason why mine is set to play random. Works great and you get everything.

S80_V8 · Mar 12th, 2010, 19:11

Quote:

Originally Posted by adsk

...To access the contents of the drive you press the MODE button on the audio control panel. You can then scroll through the contents by turning the tuning knob or using the up/down keys on the audio control....

Yay! Solved it! whilst trying to work this out I accidently pressed the Enter button and lo, it came up with the "Music" folder I'd created. Another stab on Enter and it brought up the list of folders in there, could scroll up and down and then Enter to access the folder and finally I could play some Lady GaGa (admittedly with no-one else in the car!!)

tremly · Apr 22nd, 2010, 12:05

Not sure if this is common knowledge or just me being slow ..

I was about to export all my songs to MP3 and put on memory stick when I realised that an ipod is in effect a large memory stick.

Anyway decided to try it out and just plugged in iPod into the USB port and it all just worked. Was able to play Apple AAC formats and got a nice display in the stereo window asking me whether I wanted to view playlists, albums etc..

Song name appears and am able to navigate using the steering wheel controls.

A nice little bonus.

pixelworks · May 15th, 2010, 18:52

Quote:

Originally Posted by tremly

Not sure if this is common knowledge or just me being slow ..

I was about to export all my songs to MP3 and put on memory stick when I realised that an ipod is in effect a large memory stick.

Anyway decided to try it out and just plugged in iPod into the USB port and it all just worked. Was able to play Apple AAC formats and got a nice display in the stereo window asking me whether I wanted to view playlists, albums etc..

Song name appears and am able to navigate using the steering wheel controls.

A nice little bonus.

Yeah the new USB slots have the iPod/iPhone functionality directly built in .. very cool

david.matthewson · May 16th, 2010, 08:03

Hi Tremly - interesting to hear it worked for your I-pod.

I'm having problems with a 'fat' i-pod with lots of tracks on it. How big in GB &/or how many tracks/folders does yours have on it?

Thanks

David

tedmaul · May 21st, 2010, 14:08

Quote:

Originally Posted by tremly

Not sure if this is common knowledge or just me being slow ..

I was about to export all my songs to MP3 and put on memory stick when I realised that an ipod is in effect a large memory stick.

Anyway decided to try it out and just plugged in iPod into the USB port and it all just worked. Was able to play Apple AAC formats and got a nice display in the stereo window asking me whether I wanted to view playlists, albums etc..

Song name appears and am able to navigate using the steering wheel controls.

A nice little bonus.

So can you search via playlists/artist/album etc I tried my nano in the dealer and it just acted like an aux port, playing what was on the ipod at the time - didn't have my 160gb classic with me at the time?

tremly · May 25th, 2010, 23:46

Hi there,

Its not a search function as such but I can choose playlists and navigate the ipod directory structure using the enter / exit buttons on the stereo.

I can also navigate songs using the wheel controls and the display shows song / album name which is not possible using AUX inputs.

It's clear not all are supported though as I tried my iPhone last night and it refused to synchronise.

Gattous · Oct 10th, 2014, 13:39

I would also advise to use one or both of these parts. This will reduce the tension and wear on the usb plug.

Jun 15th, 2009, 14:04	#1
Sanzomat Member Last Online: Mar 16th, 2017 22:26 Join Date: May 2009 Location: Bristol	Using the USB port A few questions about playing music from the USB port. I've ordered a 2.0d R-design SE V70 (due in September) Can anyone confirm how this works - the test drive car I borrowed had the autochanger so no USB to try out. I'm hoping it will be possible to simply copy a load of music onto a USB flash stick and plug it in. If this works, how does the head unit see the tracks? I'm hoping it will see a list of folders named by artist that if you select will show the album titles and then the tracks under that. I'm also hoping there will be a "shuffle all" feature like on an MP3 player. I was dissapointed when I had a 3 day test of an Insignia that although it recognised the music on the flash stick it did not see the "artist" folders but instead just showed a big pile of album titles. It also didn't seem to be able to remember what you were playing last and everytime you started up it went back to the first track of the first album in the list. It would n't even let you change trackes until it had read the whole stick and list all the albums so by the time you got to a point where you could select something else you had heard about a minute of the first track - you would soon get sick of hearing that same 60 secs of music everytime! My A6 reads mp3/wma files saved on the CD and (usually) starts playing from where you left off. Can anyone please confirm how the Volvo works in this respect - hopefully more like the audi and not the insignia!

May 16th, 2010, 08:03	#7
david.matthewson New Member Last Online: Dec 9th, 2011 17:54 Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: London	I=pod & number of tracks - folders Hi Tremly - interesting to hear it worked for your I-pod. I'm having problems with a 'fat' i-pod with lots of tracks on it. How big in GB &/or how many tracks/folders does yours have on it? Thanks David

Jun 15th, 2009, 17:24	#2
adsk Junior Member Last Online: May 6th, 2024 13:45 Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Berwick Upon Tweed	I've used 2 different USB sticks so far. A Corsair Flash Voyager 4Gb and a 8Gb OCZ Cruzer Diesel. The manual recommends using the included usb cable to connect the flash drive to save wear and tear on the socket - it also makes connecting less fiddly. In both cases the drive was recognised without problem. To access the contents of the drive you press the MODE button on the audio control panel. You can then scroll through the contents by turning the tuning knob or using the up/down keys on the audio control. You can also use the forward/back buttons on the steering wheel. When scrolling you scroll through the top level of the drive i.e. the folders you would see when viewing on a PC. To view the contents of the folder (either album tracks or other folders you have created) you can press ENTER or the tuning knob. To answer a few of your questions - it does remember what you last played - it plays MP3s (not sure about WMAs - would need to read the manual) - it sees any folders that would be seen by an operating system but does not handle music as a PC based media player such as ITunes would BUT I do understand (but have never tried) that if you plug in an IPOD with playlists set up it will be able to read them. - the audio unit only reads the full list of tracks when a new stick is inserted. with 7Gb of files it takes about 15 seconds in my experience. Music playback of an existing stick takes about 4-5 seconds after starting the car. The most annoying (and counter intuitive) 'feature' is when you've been listening to an album that starts with, say, 'W', when you try to scroll through the albums to choose something else it doesn't start at the current playing item, rather it goes back to the beginning of the list.

Apr 22nd, 2010, 12:05	#5
tremly Junior Member Last Online: Feb 5th, 2020 20:43 Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Mids	Not sure if this is common knowledge or just me being slow .. I was about to export all my songs to MP3 and put on memory stick when I realised that an ipod is in effect a large memory stick. Anyway decided to try it out and just plugged in iPod into the USB port and it all just worked. Was able to play Apple AAC formats and got a nice display in the stereo window asking me whether I wanted to view playlists, albums etc.. Song name appears and am able to navigate using the steering wheel controls. A nice little bonus.

May 25th, 2010, 23:46	#9
tremly Junior Member Last Online: Feb 5th, 2020 20:43 Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Mids	Hi there, Its not a search function as such but I can choose playlists and navigate the ipod directory structure using the enter / exit buttons on the stereo. I can also navigate songs using the wheel controls and the display shows song / album name which is not possible using AUX inputs. It's clear not all are supported though as I tried my iPhone last night and it refused to synchronise.

Oct 10th, 2014, 13:39	#10
Gattous New Member Last Online: Mar 28th, 2024 16:22 Join Date: Jul 2013 Location: The Hague	I would also advise to use one or both of these parts. This will reduce the tension and wear on the usb plug.

Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)