Share what alternative storage mediums you have successfully got to work with your NEX units. Capacity, Type, and Format. This would be useful!

I have a cheap ebay microSD 32GB and it work great.

120Gb SSD, OCZ Vertex II in a USB-3 external case.  Formatting in both NTFS and FAT work, but I run FAT because I can sort FAT directory trees (for FILE ordering) but not NTFS ones and the head is too dumb to do it on its own.

32GB SD cards (several) work fine (FAT32 formatted.)  NONE of my exFAT cards (64GB+) work as exFAT is not supported.

120Gb SSD, OCZ Vertex II in a USB-3 external case.  Formatting in both NTFS and FAT work, but I run FAT because I can sort FAT directory trees (for FILE ordering) but not NTFS ones and the head is too dumb to do it on its own.

 

32GB SD cards (several) work fine (FAT32 formatted.)  NONE of my exFAT cards (64GB+) work as exFAT is not supported.

where are you hooking 120Gb SSD, OCZ Vertex II in a USB-3 external case ? On USB 1? what do you have on drive? Music or video or both?

Anyone using a large USB flash drive?  Curious if they work smoothly?

I am using Samsung 840 EVO SSD in generic usb 2.0 enclosure with 200+ ripped dvd movies, currently in usb2, USB1 is free waiting for CarPlay, or i will use it for pandora, 32gb of music in sd slot. I started out with 80gb intel x-25m ssd, and 160 gb intel x-25m, that i had lying around. I needed more gb for movies so i got the 250 and am happy with it. I am using the 160 gb ssd, for my music library, but the 32 gb has my favorites so i rarely use the ssd.  All have worked flawlessly on my 4000nex. 

Anyone using a large USB flash drive?  Curious if they work smoothly?

I can't imagine them not working smoothy, I saw Best Buy had128 gb usb flash drive on sale Sandisk for 59.99. 

I went to a dealer and was successful with a 64GB flash drive formatted to FAT32 on the 4000.  A 500GB FAT32 external hard drive (non-SSD) was recognized, but when it began to scan the drive, it gave an error, on both the 4000 & 5000.  I'm going to try it with NTFS soon.  If that fails, I'll have to pony up for a similarly sized SSD + external enclosure.  Pushing up against the 15,000 file / 1,500 folder limit with FLAC files means 373GB of used storage with the music I chose.  My goal is to get as much of the 1.1TB of music on the computer as possible into the car, so hopefully I'll be able to get most of it (700-800GB) on the two USB ports.  I also hope the file/folder limitations increase in the future; it would be great to have a pair of 2TB drives attached!

This is giving me ideas, i want to get a miniSD largest i can use with the correct format and a 64gb flash USB

I can't imagine them not working smoothy, I saw Best Buy had128 gb usb flash drive on sale Sandisk for 59.99. 

It's a 2.0 which would take a while to populate but it'll get most of my content on there. Plus i can shrink vid content since 420 is the max screen res

where are you hooking 120Gb SSD, OCZ Vertex II in a USB-3 external case ? On USB 1? what do you have on drive? Music or video or both?

Works on both USB1 and 2.  I am currently on 2 with "1" wired into my center console for other purposes.

Note that a rotating media drive will likely NOT work reliably and may not work at all due to power consumption problems (it draws more than the head unit can reliably deliver.)  Most SSDs (watch the specs!) require much less power and will function fine; if you want to use spinning rust you need to supply external power to the enclosure beyond the USB port itself.

Both music and video are on the drive.  Flawless.

This is giving me ideas, i want to get a miniSD largest i can use with the correct format and a 64gb flash USB

Some have said they work, some have said not. 32GB is the max "supported" capacity as only SDHC is and SDXC isn't.

Some have said they work, some have said not. 32GB is the max "supported" capacity as only SDHC is and SDXC isn't.

I emailed Pioneer about this and they said 32GB is the max for the SD slot.  I'm already happy about getting an extra 32GB, but if it can actually go larger, that's even better.

for the thumb drive though... the 128 might be good.. what i hate is taht on FAT32 it will only allow each file to be but so large but i guess it's not a big deal because it can only support a max of 420p resolution... but i just don't want to compress all the vid content i have. Oh well. At least when i do that i can fit way more vids on there. 

Has anyone tried a USB hub?

What would be the purpose?

What would be the purpose?

My goal is to maximize the total amount of storage - and as affordably as possible - so if a hub allowed for adding 4 USB flash drives, it would be an easy and cheap way to add more storage.

The operation manual states a "Connection via a USB hub is not possible."

The operation manual states a "Connection via a USB hub is not possible."

Thanks, jhren.  I did read that, but since there have been users who've successfully used larger than 32GB SD cards despite Pioneer saying it won't work, I was just curious if anyone had actually tried it. 

In the meantime, I've ordered a USB cable with dual USB-A connectors (one is data + power, the other is power only) to test if an external HDD will power up properly by utilizing both USB ports.  If it works, this would be a cheap ($13) stop-gap for me to use my existing 500GB WD My Passport Ultra as a source until I can save up for a 480GB SSD + external enclosure, and free up the 2nd USB port.

I'm so glad I found this site.  Lots of useful info.

Thanks, jhren.  I did read that, but since there have been users who've successfully used larger than 32GB SD cards despite Pioneer saying it won't work, I was just curious if anyone had actually tried it. 

 

In the meantime, I've ordered a USB cable with dual USB-A connectors (one is data + power, the other is power only) to test if an external HDD will power up properly by utilizing both USB ports.  If it works, this would be a cheap ($13) stop-gap for me to use my existing 500GB WD My Passport Ultra as a source until I can save up for a 480GB SSD + external enclosure, and free up the 2nd USB port.

 

I'm so glad I found this site.  Lots of useful info.

Get a hard-wired USB charger for the power-only USB plug.  It's cheap and will free up your second HU USB port.

FWIW, I'm currently looking at upgrading my iPod with an mSATA SSD in the 500GB capacity range, along with an mSATA to ZIF adapter.  I ordered the adapter, but I went with the cheapest route... and that unfortunately means it got shipped via China mail.  Tentative arrival is anywhere from late July to late August  ...but I'm not in any rush on that as I have other higher priority projects in progress.

And the reason I've decided to go this route is because USB/SD drive functionality do not support playlists.  I did send a request to Pioneer to include playlist support in a future firmware update.  I received an email back that said the request would be sent to the development team, but that's all I know for now.

Get a hard-wired USB charger for the power-only USB plug.  It's cheap and will free up your second HU USB port.

Thanks, that's a great idea, one that I will look into for the future.  I don't yet have the 4000, so I will be testing the cable on both USB ports it at a helpful local dealer.  Trying to get all my ducks in a row so I know what is achievable before I plunk down for a new head unit.  A big issue is to get the required cabling all mapped out in advanced so I don't have to pull the unit from the dash once it's installed.

Thanks, jhren.  I did read that, but since there have been users who've successfully used larger than 32GB SD cards despite Pioneer saying it won't work, I was just curious if anyone had actually tried it. 

 

In the meantime, I've ordered a USB cable with dual USB-A connectors (one is data + power, the other is power only) to test if an external HDD will power up properly by utilizing both USB ports.  If it works, this would be a cheap ($13) stop-gap for me to use my existing 500GB WD My Passport Ultra as a source until I can save up for a 480GB SSD + external enclosure, and free up the 2nd USB port.

 

I'm so glad I found this site.  Lots of useful info.

That should work but costs you the other USB port.

I have a USB-3 enclosure with said "dual" cable, but I don't need it since I have a SSD in the enclosure, and I don't want to rip the unit out of the dash again to get to the back or I'd test it for you (I do have a decent assortment of old laptop drives laying around.)

That should work but costs you the other USB port.

 

I have a USB-3 enclosure with said "dual" cable, but I don't need it since I have a SSD in the enclosure, and I don't want to rip the unit out of the dash again to get to the back or I'd test it for you (I do have a decent assortment of old laptop drives laying around.)

tickerguy, you are a complete jerk for not ripping your car apart for me!  Hehe, my local dealer will let me test it on their easily accessible board, so no worries.  I just have to wait about a week for the cable to arrive.

I agree, eating up both ports for this is not the ideal usage, but if it works, it would be an very inexpensive stop-gap that would provide a nice chunk of storage until I can afford the extra drives.  The trick, I think, will be to arrange the cables in such a way that it will be an easy swap-out once I gather the required hardware.  Current prices would mean adding about $400-500 worth of SSDs/enclosures to reach my ultimate goal.  Already the $550+ for the 4000 (along with $70 for a SiriusXM tuner + $100 fee to transfer my lifetime subscription from my aging Eclipse Sirius setup) will be stretching my budget.  After ripping hundreds of CDs to FLAC, I'm determined to do away with disks, although if need be I'd be OK with filling a DVD-R or two with MP3 files.

SSDs are only getting cheaper..... 

BTW ignore the naysayers on laptop drives not working ok in a car.  I have had a 100gb pile of spinning rust in my Phatbox that sits in the rear of my VW Jetta Wagon (in the CD changer location) now for a hell of a long time (coming up on 10 years!) and it's still working just fine.