youcancallme29

Curiousity is getting me on this question. I am thinking about using a usb splitter to connect to the rear of my head unit, running one dedicated to the ipod cable, the other to run as strictly a usb port that I really want to run an external hard drive off of. Has anyone does this before? Or even just used an external hard drive I am curious to know if it works.

Capricio

There are limitations:

http://blog.komeil.com/2008/10/hdd-p...b-adapter.html

And beyond that, you're going to find it to be very hit and miss. The key is fast access times and not relying on the HU USB for power. Honestly, you're better off just buying a couple a 64G jump drives, much more portable, reliable, and fast.

ZexGX

iTrader: (28)

With my Pioneer AVIC-F700BT I found that USB/SDcard was a better option for me, since when I had iPod integration with a stock headunit, I just left the iPod in the car 99% of the time. Now I just leave an SD card in 100% of the time and can also plug my Android phone into the USB connector if there's an MP3 I want to listen to that isn't on the SD card.

mike171562

iTrader: (4)

I have the avic-f700 as well with the SD card and an old ipod touch. The ipod works much better especially if you play alot of videos. The boot time with the SD card selected took forever

youcancallme29

Thanks for the replys guys I really do appreciate the information. I never thought about the load time of a 1tb hard drive on a head unit lol

I just thought if you got one of the seagate portable hard drives the headunit would have enough to power it and still read the music off of it.

Capricio

It can't even handle a partition that large, and it will only see the first partition on your drive. When I repartitioned a 320G down to 200G, one Pioneer deck would almost never load the drive. The other cheaper one in my truck would be hit and miss, depending on whether USB source was selected after HU power up, weather the HD was already powered up... anyways, it was not consistent or predicable, and this HD had external 12V power.

*MAYBE* an SSD in a USB enclosure would do alright, but you'd probably have to put it together yourself as I don't think I've ever seen one sold as an external drive, and would probably be pretty expensive compared to a couple of jump drive sticks.

-------------------------------------

Stupid Limitations (aka “Compatibility” in Owner’s Manual Published by Pioneer)

Maximum amount of memory: 250 GB
Maximum files: 15,000
Maximum folders: 500
File system: FAT12, FAT16, and FAT32
Partitioning: Not supported

Capricio

One reason I like the new JVC HUs, they have USB ports that support a full 1A load. No telling whether it will run that HD I was talking about any better than the Pioneer, but I'm going to try it. Even with plenty of USB power, the access/load times might be too high for your HU.

Disciple

iTrader: (1)

Check out the Kingston SSD drives. The 90GB SSD comes in at $90, while the 240GB SSD comes in just under $180. Both include a USB enclosure for use as an external drive. My recommendation would be to stay away from hard drives. Between the vibration and the heat I suspect the life expectancy would be really short.

VIP1

There is a 90GB OCZ Vertex3 SSD at Microcenter for $60. No enclosure, but you can get an enclosure from there for $5 - $10.

WhiteBird00

iTrader: (4)

The OCZ drives are very highly rated for performance and longevity but in my experience they are slow to boot up. We have installed them in numerous laptops and we always have to add a boot delay in the BIOS (about 5 seconds) to make sure they are consistently recognized. Once they start up, they're very fast but they're slow to initialize when first powered on which could be a problem for a head unit.

Capricio

64G jump drives are like $1/G now. I can fit my entire MP3 collection on one, as of now. Unless you're carrying a huge collection of uncompressed FLAC/Ogg Vorbis tracks, which many HUs can't even play... an HDD is not worth the trouble compared to just carrying 1 or even 2 USB jump drives.

128G USB sticks are just starting to get cheap, too.

VIP1

Actually, large capacity thumb drives are close to 50 cents / 1 GB now.

You can get a 64GB thumb drive from Microcenter for $33.