Hello,

Sorry if this has been posted already. I tried looking for it but was unable to find anything. I just bought a U310BT a few days ago. I'm still waiting to install it because my dash kit hasn't come in the mail yet. I know that people are having a lot of problems with the unit, but I was thinking that it's likely because of these issues, it's not selling well or is being returned often, and that's why you can find it for such a low price (I got my for $370 total, brand new). My theory is that when the firmware is finally updated and these issues are resolved, there will be less returns and the overall price will go back up closer to the MSRP. If I can hold out that long and live with the software shortcomings in its current version until the firmware update comes, in theory I'll have saved a decent amount of money in the end.

Anyway, sorry for the rant...my question is has anyone tried the U310BT with a portable platter-based hard drive as opposed to a flash drive? I was thinking specifically of the Western Digital My Passport Essential series. I believe both the 250 GB and 320 GB hard drives use only a single USB cable for power, instead of the dual cables that are often found on portable hard drives. In theory, the U310BT should be able to provide enough power through its USB port for these hard drives. I have a fairly extensive music collection that I've entirely converted to mp3 format. I would like to keep my files with relatively high bitrates instead of having to compress them further, and a 250 GB Passport Essential sells for around the same price as a 32 GB flash drive. Assuming that I can figure a way to build a case to reduce vibrations, I would like to use one of these platter-based drives.

Does anyone have any thoughts/experiences with this? Any pros or cons that I'm not thinking about?

Also, on a side note, so I don't flood the forum with new threads, does anyone have any recommendations for the location of the BT microphone and the GPS puck? I've already purchased the Garmin mic b/c I read of the issues people were having with the one included by Pioneer. I was thinking of putting it on the steering column, in between the dash board and the actual steering wheel. As for the GPS receiver, there's a small empty space in my dashboard itself in the center column above the air vents. It would still be covered by the dash, but only one layer. I know on other GPS units, people have had success placing it there on my particular car, but I don't know how the GPS receiver on this particular unit is and whether I'll be able to get a strong signal there.

Thank you.

I read somewhere it works fine with HDDs, but there is limit on folder nesting. It supplies 500mA of power to the devices(Same as USB 2.0 standard), so I am thinking it should not be a problem. If power is a problem then you can use split cable with supplying power 5v from power socket.

Many people installed the Microphone on the driver side A pillar at head level. I think this would provide the best position for driver.

Check out my install here viewtopic.php?f=52&t=27070

In my case I have installed under the rear view mirror first, but observed some boomy echo from windshield, so I moved it to top of rear view mirror. That helped the boomy echo problem, but I think keeping close to upholstery avoids echo problem.

For GPS antenna, I installed it under a plastic dome over the dash. Manual says that GPS antenna should be on metal part or should be installed on that sticky shiny metal pad supplied. Where ever you install make sure metal roof is not covering the GPS signal.

Anyways, best of luck with your install and let us know how it went.

There doesn't seem like any obvious reason that a 2.5" hard drive shouldn't work. Most 2.5" drives are generally already somewhat shock resistant, and as chinna_n noted, you can always get extra power in case the Pioneer doesn't supply enough. Now, personally I would stick with flash memory because I would be worried about vibrations and/or heat shortening the hard drive's lifespan, but that's just me -- many people install hard drives in cars for various reasons, so you should be alright.

I put my microphone on the steering column and I can be heard fairly well. Good call on ordering the Garmin; it works much better than stock -- thanks again to chinna_n for that tip. I eventually plan to move it the visor or rearview mirror, but mostly for aesthetics. I have my GPS antenna under the dash plastic, and the signal is great. Of course optimal antenna location varies by vehicle, but chances are good that you should be able to find an under-dash spot that works. Many newer cars even come with a prime location for a GPS antenna (if there is a "navigation" model), so you could google for a service/factory installation manual if you have something built in the last 3-5 years. And, of course, this should be obvious, but be sure to test everything (speakers, microphone, GPS, USB, AUX, bypass, etc.) before closing up the dash.

Thanks to chinna_n and AVIC-U310BT for replying to my question.

So I finally got my dash kit in the mail a few days ago, and installed the U310BT earlier today. The install went fairly well. I had absolutely no experience whatsoever installing car audio or soldering wires before, and I'm glad to say that everything seems to be working great (well, almost everything). I wasn't able to install the steering wheel control adapter (Pac SWI-PS) today. After spending a good portion of last night soldering the wire harnesses together and today completely taking apart my dash and running wires while trying to keep them hidden, I realized that I was running out of daylight to complete the install (I live in an apartment complex, so no garage lights for me). I was unsure of how to install the steering wheel control adapter, and then after calling the company and the tech support guy saying that I basically had to solder the wires of the adapter with my car's steering wheel control wire and a couple of resistors, all while in my car...I decided that I was going to pass on that part for today and see if I can get a local shop to install that for a (hopefully) small fee. I made enough of a mess soldering in my apartment...definitely didn't want to try doing it in the limited space of my car.

Granted, I only used it for a few hours so far, but everything else seems to work great. The audio from all sources seems to sound a lot better than my stock stereo did. The GPS signal is strong. It's slightly behind, but not bad overall. I hardly use GPS anyway, so chances are the firmware fix for this will be out before I need it next. The BT quality was a lot better than I expected. Using the Garmin mic, placed on my steering column, my cars were crystal clear on both ends. To be honest, on my end it was slightly better than using the phone regularly. I have an iPhone 3G and pretty bad hearing (my hearing is bad now and I'm only 25...don't even want to think of what it's going to be like later down the road). The volume on the iPhone can't get loud enough for me to hear it comfortably, especially when it has to contend with road noise. Now with the U310BT I can play it loud enough over my speakers so I can actually hear it...and no one has complained about any sort of echo so far.

I haven't tried using a regular portable hard drive yet. I still need to get my hands on of the WD Passport Essentials, so I might until I can either find a friend that has one or someone actually happens to post their experience with it. On NewEgg, one of the reviewers stated that they were unable to get it to work with a portable hard drive, but unfortunately they didn't post many details about it. Also, does anyone know if it's possible for a POI pack to be released online and import them all at once using AVIC Feeds. Or do POIs have to be imported one at a time? I assume that no such pack exists yet, otherwise I'm sure it would be posted here in the forums already...I was just wondering if I should hold out for one, or just suck it up and get the POI pack from Pioneer.

Thanks

Good to know you install is good, and you liked the sound quality.

Make sure you format the harddrive using FAT32, not NTFS.

ABout the POI, yes, Pioneer sells POI pack SD card for $100 ( which I think ridiculous as you can buy Portable GPS for that price).

And AVIC feeds, that is really retarded( I think that is what Pioneer wants), you can not load more than 100 items for each listings, so if you try to load Shell Gas, you can only add Max 100 out of 5k plus which is hardly useful.

Anyways, hopefully someone finds way to work around that issue.

For paltter based hard drives over 500ma (wich is most) i'm working on a booster cable for them. check out my thread at viewtopic.php?f=5&t=29578

So, it's been a few months now with the unit. Overall, I'm still relatively happy with it. The navigation could use some work, but I don't really have any freezing problems or anything like that (I did update it with the latest firmware). However, one thing that's been driving me nuts is using it with a drive. I ended up getting a 32 GB flash drive on black Friday. I have it formatted in FAT32. And it reads MP3s quickly and displays their ID3 tags correctly...but it only reads a portion of my files (and it's always the exact same portion that it reads). It seems that there are random folders that are just missing from the list. As far as I can tell, there's no discernible difference between folders/files that the unit recognizes and those that it does not. Anyone have any ideas?

Thanks.

edit: Actually, I just thought of something. Does anyone know what the limit is for folders and/or folder nesting? The deepest any folders are nested are to a second level ("Album Title Folder" within "Specific Artist/Band Folder"). I have many files organized in this folder structure that are read fine by the unit; however, I wonder if perhaps there's a limit to the total number of folders that the unit can recognize and maybe I simply went over that limit.

So, it's been a few months now with the unit. Overall, I'm still relatively happy with it. The navigation could use some work, but I don't really have any freezing problems or anything like that (I did update it with the latest firmware). However, one thing that's been driving me nuts is using it with a drive. I ended up getting a 32 GB flash drive on black Friday. I have it formatted in FAT32. And it reads MP3s quickly and displays their ID3 tags correctly...but it only reads a portion of my files (and it's always the exact same portion that it reads). It seems that there are random folders that are just missing from the list. As far as I can tell, there's no discernible difference between folders/files that the unit recognizes and those that it does not. Anyone have any ideas? Thanks.

Copyright protected music files? Too many sub-folders?

Issues like this are steering me away from this unit...

So out of 32GB of music, what percentage of it can the U310BT read?

It's hard to say what the percentage is exactly. If I had to guess though, I would say only about 30% of my files show up. I think it may actually have to do with the folder structure. When I placed all my files on the thumb drive, I didn't even think about there being a limit to the number of folders that it can read. I don't know what the limit is (or if there is actually one), but I have my files split up into 227 Artist folders and when you count Album sub-folders, it's up to 705. I'm guessing if there is a limit, then that means I'm probably over it I'm currently trying to reorganize my flash drive so I'll let everyone know what happens.

As for the actual files themselves, they are all DRM-free, so no leads there.

I remember reading somewhere on the internet about a limit on the number of files, folders, etc. on an USB drive.

I'd be interested in seeing whether or not the Avic is able to read all your files if they are placed directly on the Drive: without any folders.

Anyways, hopefully someone finds way to work around that issue.

The only way to work around the AVIC FEEDS issue is to edit the POI file with a document editor down to multiple files of 100 locations. Its a PITA but it is the only solution. What sucks is that the first version of AVIC FEEDS allowed up to 300 locations per file. And I thought that was a serious limitation.

I remember reading somewhere on the internet about a limit on the number of files, folders, etc. on an USB drive.

 

I'd be interested in seeing whether or not the Avic is able to read all your files if they are placed directly on the Drive: without any folders.

I believe I read the limit to the folder count was 500( that is total count, includung subs)