Ford Sync / Jukebox / MP3 / USB / CD / DVD

[Race Coach]

I have spent a little time experimenting with different ways to manage music in my new SHO. So, I though I would pass on my learnings, to save people some effort.

I was a little excited to have a 10GB Jukebox to play with, and wanted to get some of my (120GB) MP3 music loaded.

I quickly discovered that the 10GB jukebox is virtually useless (to me), since all you can do is insert a standard CD (not MP3) and rip it onto the hard drive using the Sync "record" button. The inability to load MP3's from a DVD/CD/USB was very disappointing. I decided that if I couldn't get my music on this way, I would abandon the Jukebox and leave it empty.

Next solution:

1) USB Thumb Drive

The USB thumb drive worked very well and displayed all the basic MP3 tag information (song name, artist, album). It also supported "folder mode", allowing me to put different music into different folders, while showing me which folder the music was residing in. Ideally, I would like to put different playlists into unique folder. But, I was not able to find a way to tell the audio system to stay in one folder, or to quickly jump from one folder to another.

- If anyone has figured this part out, please let me know.

2) CD / DVD disks

I tried copying MP3 files to blank disks using the standard Windows 7 utility. The Sync system did not like these disk and rejected them as "incorrect format".

However, when I use iTunes (V 10.3.1) to "burn playlist to disk" I found success. BOTH CD-R and DVD-R disks worked. This means that if you use a DVD, you can get 4.38GB of music onto a single disk. MP3 tags are displayed, just like they were with the thumb drive.

But, since iTunes will only burn one playlist at a time, you are limited to burning separate disks for each playlist. Not the end of the world.

As an aside, I also used a free utility from DVDVideoSoft called "Free Audio Converter" to resize my MP3 files, allowing me to put more music onto a single disk. It is a great utility.

Hope this helps someone.

 

[Unknown_Driver]

i throw all my music onto a USB thumb drive and place each album in its own folder or copy a bunch of random mp3's into a folder, if it doesn't recognize all your music explore the usb stick and pick a song, scroll using the right **** to change folders it will pop up saying what folder only problem is the list plays alphabetically.


never had an issue creating data cd's or dvd's for music (treat it the same way as a usb) even worked using windows media player on windows 7, i don't really bother with it anyway, i'll just burn random music videos and movies to a dvd-r using VSO convertXtoDVD

the best way for large libraries is to just get an external hard drive that can be powered by the usb and load all your music onto that

 

[Race Coach]

@Unknown_Driver

Thanks for the idea of using a USB Hard Drive. I will look into that. I can pick one up for under $50 and put everything onto it.

I have a Centon 16GB USB DataStick and my SHO doesn't like it, while my smaller generic USB Flash Drive does work. Hopefully the USB HD will work.

I was not able to change folders on the thumb drive using any dial. Can you please elaborate? I was able to use the "explore disk" to isolate a folder. And that is good enough for me.

Off to TigerDirect.

 

[Unknown_Driver]

@Unknown_Driver

Thanks for the idea of using a USB Hard Drive. I will look into that. I can pick one up for under $50 and put everything onto it.

I have a Centon 16GB USB DataStick and my SHO doesn't like it, while my smaller generic USB Flash Drive does work. Hopefully the USB HD will work.

I was not able to change folders on the thumb drive using any dial. Can you please elaborate? I was able to use the "explore disk" to isolate a folder. And that is good enough for me.

Off to TigerDirect.

i'm using a Patriot Xporter XT

with the external hard drive just make sure its set for the right format

 

[zeus268]

i'm using a Patriot Xporter XT

with the external hard drive just make sure its set for the right format

I'm using a WD Passport 500gb because of my 100gb collection and having grown out of my 80gb ipod. Just make sure that the drive is formatted as a FAT32 format and the SYNC system should be able to read it just fine

 

[Race Coach]

UPDATE:

I picked up a 500 GB Western digital USB 2.0 had drive on the weekend, and used a free utility to format it to FAT32. Then I used iTunesExport (free utility) to export and copy all my music to the hard drive (from iTunes), making sure that the M3U files remained in "simple" format. The M3U files are on the root directory of the drive, while the music is organized into sub-directories (just like on my home drive). I also used a utility to strip out the drive letter from all the path names of the songs within the M3U files.

When first plugged into the USB port, the SYNC system indexes all the music. This takes quite some time. Once it is done, you are able to explore the drive and select playlists from the menu. All my playlists are there and can be selected. It brings up a list of the songs in the playlist, and I select one of these songs. SYNC then stays within this playlist whether in SHUFFLE mode or not. Basic MP3 tag information come up, too.

This is awesome. It's exactly what I wanted.

 

[Race Coach]

Indexing & no voice command warning driving me nuts

A couple of questions for anyone out there:

1) Is there any way to avoid INDEXING the drive every time I turn the car on? You'd think if there are no changes, then indexing should not be necessary.

2) Is there any way to get the women to stop telling me that, "due to the number of files on the media, voice commands are not available for the media"? She feels that it is necessary to tell me this about 2 minutes into every car ride.

Thanks.

 

[N8rfastback]

mine doesnt index every time, but im only using a thumb drive,

it probably has something to do with the drive having to turn on and spin up every time you start the car, then the car recognizes it, and tries to index it.... where as a thumb drive is instantly ready to go with power applied....

-Nate

 

[Unknown_Driver]

mine doesnt index every time, but im only using a thumb drive,

it probably has something to do with the drive having to turn on and spin up every time you start the car, then the car recognizes it, and tries to index it.... where as a thumb drive is instantly ready to go with power applied....

-Nate

werd


you could always try a not so cost effective solid state drive

 

[Race Coach]

Indexing, I can live with, as it still plays while indexing. However, "that woman" is driving me crazy!

 

[hawkeye18]

Sync can only deal with so many files. If you don't want her to ***** at you every time you turn the car on, take some music off. You can't possibly be listening to that much anyway.

I have a tiiiny little 8gb USB key that only sticks out about 4mm from the port. Works wonderfully. I'll try to find the link to the one I got.

 

[hawkeye18]

Sync can only deal with so many files. If you don't want her to ***** at you every time you turn the car on, take some music off. You can't possibly be listening to that much anyway.

I have a tiiiny little 8gb USB key that only sticks out about 4mm from the port. Works wonderfully. I'll try to find the link to the one I got.

Here it is: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0041O200O

 

[Race Coach]

Different people. Different music styles. Different playlists. Lack of repetition. Different moods. It all adds up to a lot of music. A lot more than 8GB. That's why Apple makes a 160GB iPod.

I don't need to be told that voice commands are not available every time I get into the car. I should be able to disable the warning somehow.

 

[Charlie Blanko]

I have a 2010 SHO. I can't access the cd, mp3, or bluetooth features because the media says "Reading Hard Disc Drive." The dealer says "the part is on back order," but I think he's bullsh*tting me. He also told me he would take care of it when I got the car tuned up, but he didn't... He said "it's expensive, so I have my boy looking for the part on the low, so it wont cost you a sh*t load of money."

Is there anything I can do myself? Should I go to another dealer? How much does this fix cost? I have a bumper to bumper warranty on the car, will it cover this? Am I not doing the bluetooth and the aux correctly? I can't access my phone and connect it at all.

 

[2011TAURUSSEL]

It should cover but you have to check. Can you pair the phone to SYNC as in Bluetooth for hands free voice calls and text?

I kept it fairy simple......hopefully. 2 USB ports on 2013 and up. SD slot for NAV and USB 1 for music and USB 2 for comedy. Haven't even tried CD slot yet and if radio usually Sirius XM and occasionally local HD radio but very limited.

The joke was for road trips was I had AM. FM. Satellite CD USB. Bluetooth MP3. The joke was if ALL of those failed on a road trip......then I would talk to my girlfriend.....key word all.

 

[Charlie Blanko]

It should cover but you have to check. Can you pair the phone to SYNC as in Bluetooth for hands free voice calls and text?

I kept it fairy simple......hopefully. 2 USB ports on 2013 and up. SD slot for NAV and USB 1 for music and USB 2 for comedy. Haven't even tried CD slot yet and if radio usually Sirius XM and occasionally local HD radio but very limited.

The joke was for road trips was I had AM. FM. Satellite CD USB. Bluetooth MP3. The joke was if ALL of those failed on a road trip......then I would talk to my girlfriend.....key word all.

I'm gonna check tomorrow, to see if the warranty covers it, thanks! And no, I have not been able to pair my phone or anything. I've only been able to use navigation and radio.

 

[SHOdded]

Might be time for a master reset. First try pulling the battery neg cable for 30 min or so, see if it resets it. If you are feeling daring, you can also try pulling just the associated fuses (be careful not to drop 'em) instead:
14 10A Navigation display, Memory seat, SYNC, Center information display, GPS, Driver seat

 

[Charlie Blanko]

Might be time for a master reset. First try pulling the battery neg cable for 30 min or so, see if it resets it. If you are feeling daring, you can also try pulling just the associated fuses (be careful not to drop 'em) instead:
14 10A Navigation display, Memory seat, SYNC, Center information display, GPS, Driver seat

Why is it "daring" to pull the fuse? For fear of dropping it?

 

[SHOdded]

A little humor ... but yes, the space underneath the dash is kinda tight & unwieldy to work with.

 

[2011TAURUSSEL]

Or try Master Reset in the SYNC settings menu first. Shodded is correct though the fuses are small and a tight fit. The cover should have a fuse puller but still be careful.


If pulling might I recommend a towel on the floor near the fuse panel preferably a light contrasting background so if it does fall fairly easy to see.