whoopidoo2 Posted October 2, 2008 Report Share Posted October 2, 2008 I've done the forum search thing, and I know it's not officially supported. I don't really care if Pioneer supports it, I'd just like to figure out a way to get it to work. So the question for the masses: Does anyone have a working USB Hard Drive attached to this unit? If so, could you please use this thread to provide model/manufacturer and any technical details you had to follow to get this to work? Thanks everyone! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
BorisM Posted October 2, 2008 Report Share Posted October 2, 2008 There were multiple posts about that. 320GB Buffalo portable hard drive works OK, except for AVIC's tendency to (leisurly) scan the drive after startup, make sure that there actually is music on it, and 5-10 minutes later switch to it regardless of what audio source was actually turned on at the time. NOTE: you need to supply power to the secondary power input on the drive. Head Unit does not provide enough current on the USB connector to keep the drive operational. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
rufisa Posted October 3, 2008 Report Share Posted October 3, 2008 I've got 1.8" microdisk with 20 Gb HD connected to the USB and without extra power suply, (the power came by the USB ) and if I want I can also connect a 40, 80 120 or 160 Gb HD from this manufacturer but the price between the 20 Gb and the 40 Gb is so big here in portugal, that i've decided for the 20 Gb and i've already put a lot of mp3 and videos. its a trekstor data station microdisk and you can visit the site in www.trekstor.de I hope it would help you Quote Link to post Share on other sites
BorisM Posted October 3, 2008 Report Share Posted October 3, 2008 1.8 is probably small enough that it can spin with the power F-series puts out. Mine is a 2.5 (notebook drive, basically) so it want more juice. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
rufisa Posted October 4, 2008 Report Share Posted October 4, 2008 1.8 is probably small enough that it can spin with the power F-series puts out. Mine is a 2.5 (notebook drive, basically) so it want more juice. I've also tried mine 2.5 disc at first time and didn't work because this tipe of disk needs extra power, but this trekstore 1.8 works real fine, and is very fast, you can't realize if it is a hd, or a card is instant access to all folders and musics Quote Link to post Share on other sites
whoopidoo2 Posted October 5, 2008 Author Report Share Posted October 5, 2008 I borrowed a friends WD Passport 2.5" drive, that came with a separate power supply. I ran that off an inverter, and hooked it up. The drive was 250GB, formatted FAT32, with about 100GB of music. Results? It worked. But it was WAAAY slow. The results from BorisM (5-10 minutes to load) were accurate. It took forever, and the responsiveness of the unit was such that it was almost unusable. If it had worked I would have bought one the next day...as it is, I'll pass. But these Trekstor drives look very interesting. It looks like they don't experience the same problems with the slow bootup times. Amazon has the 120GB for around $180, the 20GB is only $80. http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=trekstor+microdisk Rufisa, I presume you have all 20GB packed full of MP3's? I presume it doesn't take you the 5-10 minutes that BorisM and I saw with the laptop drives? Thanks! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
rufisa Posted October 5, 2008 Report Share Posted October 5, 2008 Rufisa, I presume you have all 20GB packed full of MP3's? I presume it doesn't take you the 5-10 minutes that BorisM and I saw with the laptop drives? Thanks! Well I´ve got my 20 Gb not full of mp3 because I have also music Video Clips, but 20 Gb is enoug and I can put a lot of music. About the time, when the system boots the HD takes the same time as the SD +/- 20 seconds when the system is already operational playing for example FM, and at this time connect the HD in the USB it takes 10 seconds to play which is in the HD. If I know how to put a video direct to this forum I will make one, and show to all of you the perfomance of this HD. with time probably I will do it, and put then on youtube Quote Link to post Share on other sites
BorisM Posted October 5, 2008 Report Share Posted October 5, 2008 I didn't fill it anywhere near to all 300+GB... Need to start ripping my CD's. Don't know if it is going to get any slower with more data... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
talontsiawd Posted October 6, 2008 Report Share Posted October 6, 2008 Good info. I could do with 40 gigs or less, no real need for video, probably 20 gigs would be fine. Nothing to add, i was just waiting to hear if this worked. Thanks for trying this everyone. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
whoopidoo2 Posted October 19, 2008 Author Report Share Posted October 19, 2008 I was still considering getting a hard drive, until someone at my office put a 160GB 6th gen IPOD Classic up for sale for $200. Refurbished ones at Apple are still $250, new ones a lot more. I had ZERO desire for an IPOD until I got this headunit, just didn't see the point for my needs. Anyway, he let me borrow it for a couple of days before I bought it, and I must say if you are considering buying a hard drive instead of an IPOD you are IMHO making the wrong choice (as I was). The IPOD controls are SWEET, voice recognition works fine for me....it's VERY cool. I currently have 130GB of data, about 18,000 songs. Original sync took about 10-12 minutes on the Pioneer, but after turning off the VR Catalog it only takes and extra 10 seconds or so to boot if IPOD is the source, no difference if I am on FM/XM/etc. Pretty much all my music is on here now, so I have just run the wires into the glovebox and plugged it in never to be removed (unless I add more music later, etc). Highly recommended if you can find one. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
HiFiSi Posted October 19, 2008 Report Share Posted October 19, 2008 Yes, an ipod on an F-series is like 50 million times as user friendly as hooking up a hard drive to it. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
wonderdiva Posted October 19, 2008 Report Share Posted October 19, 2008 Yes, an ipod on an F-series is like 50 million times as user friendly as hooking up a hard drive to it. x2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Captain Dodo Posted November 29, 2008 Report Share Posted November 29, 2008 I was still considering getting a hard drive, until someone at my office put a 160GB 6th gen IPOD Classic up for sale for $200. Refurbished ones at Apple are still $250, new ones a lot more. I had ZERO desire for an IPOD until I got this headunit, just didn't see the point for my needs. Anyway, he let me borrow it for a couple of days before I bought it, and I must say if you are considering buying a hard drive instead of an IPOD you are IMHO making the wrong choice (as I was). The IPOD controls are SWEET, voice recognition works fine for me....it's VERY cool. I currently have 130GB of data, about 18,000 songs. Original sync took about 10-12 minutes on the Pioneer, but after turning off the VR Catalog it only takes and extra 10 seconds or so to boot if IPOD is the source, no difference if I am on FM/XM/etc. Pretty much all my music is on here now, so I have just run the wires into the glovebox and plugged it in never to be removed (unless I add more music later, etc). Highly recommended if you can find one. Did you have connected your iPod when you powered your AVIC? Or you should reconnect it to for playing music? Is your AVIC continue play music from iPod like from CD when you power it while AVIC is loading. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
CoastGuardZ Posted January 2, 2009 Report Share Posted January 2, 2009 First time poster... but Avic411 is an amazing source for info. I haven't purchased my F90 yet but plan to in the next couple days... a big part of my decision to go with the AVIC is the USB port. My intentions are to keep something in the vehicle with all 60plus GB of my MP3's on it. Has anyone gotten any further in their trial and errors from this thread? I like the idea of the 1.8" drive... a little pricey but not as much as an iPod classic. Does the AVIC have to scan the drive each time the vehicle is turned on? Can that be disabled? and if so will it recognise the drive each time the vehicle is powered on? iPods... not a fan. I do not walk around with earbuds in all the time. No need. I don't own a standalone MP3 player either. I despise iTunes. I tried it... WMP10 is way easier to me, much more user intuitive. My music is all 320k or VBR MP3. I maintain a network attached storage on my home network to deliver music to 2 laptops, 1 workstation in the garage and a PS3 optically connected to the Home Theater. I really don't want to change much. Can I load an iPod with MP3's without using iTunes? If so, Can I play these MP3's from an iPod with the AVIC? Thanks in advance! Nate Quote Link to post Share on other sites
lsdlls07 Posted January 2, 2009 Report Share Posted January 2, 2009 You will love the functionality of the IPOD with the F series. I have seen a USB connection with a Hard Drive on a friend's and noticed how hard it was to navigate. With an IPOD, you can go directly to the specific artist using VR or touchscreen, either way much easier than opening up various folders and after the song is over, trying to go to the next desired artist. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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