Flash drive incompatibility

[hpenk]

Just wanted to know if anyone else has had problems with some flash drives not working with the entertainment system. I have 3 different flash drives, loaded with a few songs. Only one of these will consistently work. The drive indexes and starts to work after a few minutes (faster if I listen to the radio first instead of the MP3's). The interesting thing is that the same flash drive that works appears to be a high-speed drive vs. the other ones. I have not found anything in the manual that mentions some kind of limitation on speed/quality. The songs are the same songs on all three, they are formatted the same (FAT32/4kb), and I've tried both wma and mp3 formats. Any idea of what's going on here, or is this just something that should be in the manual (i.e. to use only high speed media)??

[Darth_Emma]

I think I'm must going to get an iPod nano and leave it in the console. From what I've read, it seem that iPods work better than flash drives because the iPod does most of the processing work.

I don't have my Camaro yet to try to help you out on this one. I do know that some drives draw more power than others. Are the ones your using all fairly new? Are they all the same size? Sometimes there is a limit to how big the flash drive can be for some devices. Sorry I can't be more helpful on this.

[Frank in MD]

Your dealer failed to disclose that not all flash drives/mp3 players are compatible w/ your vehicle.

[BackinBlackSS/RS]

Originally Posted by Rockmont

Your dealer failed to disclose that not all flash drives/mp3 players are compatible w/ your vehicle.

Most dealers don't even know it has a USB port let alone some incompatibility problem. Now the car has been out for awhile, but I'll tell you for the the first few months they were clueless.

[CamaroFemme]

If it's just a *flash drive* not working, go out and spend $8 on a new flash drive. Mine works fine.

And hey, even if you meant Ipod or mp3 player, just go out and get a cheap flash drive, put your files on it, and use it.

[fixxer56]

Try a cheap mp3 player like a sansa disk for about $40.00 at best buy and you can even expand it with Micro sd cards.... and most newer usb drives should work...

[zen]

I have used 3 different drives and they all work . You have to give it time to index if there are a lot of songs on the drive. My best is 4GBHD that is less than 1 inch. It doesn't get in the way of anything. Available at Target for $10.

"4GB microSDHC card plus adapter" by Dane-Elec. www.dane-elec.com

sku= 0427272981

[Steve Dallas]

I bought a nice 32GB Corsair drive, works just fine. Probably more memory than I needed as I bought it before I knew there was the 2500 song limit.

[mikel441]

Are you using a U3 or another drive that requires multiple drive letters? If so. Format all the U3 crap off and set it up for storage only. This worked for me.

[Don O]

Originally Posted by Steve Dallas

I bought a nice 32GB Corsair drive, works just fine. Probably more memory than I needed as I bought it before I knew there was the 2500 song limit.

Ditto. Used a 16 GB with about 5000 songs and it would get "lost" and hang. Switched to 2 GB with 500 songs and no problems.

Don O

[MightyT]

Hmmm ... Slightly off topic ... But, anyone know if an external USB Hard Drive would also work??

[jelly2m8]

Originally Posted by hpenk

they are formatted the same (FAT32/4kb), and I've tried both wma and mp3 formats.

I would format them in NTFS, that is the standardised format system since ~2000 for any win based systems.

[Matrix]

Make SURE you ONLY have mp3 files on it. NOTHING ELSE like wma mp4 etc.
Once I removed that it was always good.

[hpenk]

Thanks for all the replies, fellas. Apparently, there are many *opinions* but not too many facts. Well, I'm pretty versed in computer systems and applications (10+ years of IT work) and apparently not too many of you really understand my frustration. The issue is this: I have 3 different USB drives. They all contain the same data. They all contain the same formatting. Only one works. The other two are being seen as being blank by the stereo. The only thing I can think of is the possibility that the one that works may be a higher speed memory stick, while the other two are not. I am not talking one syllable about IPODs, MP3 Players, or anything else (nope, not external drives either). Just plain old USB memory sticks. I appreciate everyone's input, but if you look at most of the posts above, ... well they're a bit off topic. I have two sticks that are 8Gb, and one that is 4Gb. The working stick is of the 8Gb variety. So size is not a determining factor. I have not found ANYTHING or ANYONE else reporting on this issue, and I was just wondering if I possibly have a bum stereo that needs to be checked out by the dealer, or if I have some kind of cheap memory sticks (which, incidentally work EVERYWHERE else, except my camaro). I've gone through all the various types of formats with no avail, I've gone through the time-consuming step of converting a couple of hundred songs to a compatible mp3 format (i.e. the 8 GB stick that is working), and I've tagged all the files with the relevant song/artist/album information. Why on earth is this only working on one stick, but not the others? Is there some technical information which is out there that I haven't seen yet? Again, thanks for your input everyone - I do appreciate it. But please, let's not start drift into IPOD world here -- that discussion is a few threads down from this one, I'm sure.