BMW X3 Forum
BMW X3 Forum
Welcome to the ultimate BMW X3 community.
BMW Garage BMW Meets Register Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read
Post Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
      04-25-2011, 02:38 PM   #1
Radioactive
Captain
United_States
42
Rep
764
Posts

Drives: '11 X3 28i '10 535i '04 325i
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: San Diego

iTrader: (1)

Playing Vinyl on the X3...no iPhone/iPod

On long road trips in the X3 I wanted to have the ability to bring large amounts of music on external storage rather CD's. I had a new Western Digital EIDE 160 GB laptop HD that I wasn't using, so I purchased a cheap external case that uses USB as a power source. Since Windows 7 will not format a HD that big in FAT32 I downloaded a formatting program which did the trick. I spent hours going through my computer music to clean it up, making sure the tags and art work were good. Everything was compressed in wma or mp3 files. As a test I used vinyl LP recordings that I had done, since more manual work is involved to get everything right. I just dragged the files from "My Music" on the desktop to a "Music" Directory on the external HD. At the dealer today I plugged the external HD in the center console USB port. Went to the iDrive and choose external devices. The directories and files were recognized right away. When I played a song the art work appeared immediately. I should have, but I didn't check which sound system was installed or if navigation was on the car. I don't think it will matter either way. It was really easy to prep the HD and play.
Appreciate 0
      04-25-2011, 03:11 PM   #2
Bustofa
Lieutenant
United Kingdom
7
Rep
470
Posts

Drives: F25 X3 XDrive20D SE
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Washington, UK

iTrader: (0)

Really? That's awesome! Well done.
Appreciate 0
      04-25-2011, 04:18 PM   #3
sfax
Brigadier General
sfax's Avatar
United Kingdom
91
Rep
3,855
Posts

Drives: BMW X3 2011 F25
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Berkshire, UK

iTrader: (0)

Quote:
Originally Posted by Radioactive View Post
On long road trips in the X3 I wanted to have the ability to bring large amounts of music on external storage rather CD's. I had a new Western Digital EIDE 160 GB laptop HD that I wasn't using, so I purchased a cheap external case that uses USB as a power source. Since Windows 7 will not format a HD that big in FAT32 I downloaded a formatting program which did the trick. I spent hours going through my computer music to clean it up, making sure the tags and art work were good. Everything was compressed in wma or mp3 files. As a test I used vinyl LP recordings that I had done, since more manual work is involved to get everything right. I just dragged the files from "My Music" on the desktop to a "Music" Directory on the external HD. At the dealer today I plugged the external HD in the center console USB port. Went to the iDrive and choose external devices. The directories and files were recognized right away. When I played a song the art work appeared immediately. I should have, but I didn't check which sound system was installed or if navigation was on the car. I don't think it will matter either way. It was really easy to prep the HD and play.
Yep, this certainly works for pro nav (or any car with 6FL I think) but If you import these files to the car's internal HDD, you lose the artwork and introduce a nonsensical playback sort order
__________________

F25 xDrive20d SE __ professional multimedia package | dynamic package | climate package | 309s | xline | xenons | electric seats | folding mirrors | business speakers
Appreciate 0
      04-26-2011, 06:20 AM   #4
LEDZEP
Lieutenant General
LEDZEP's Avatar
417
Rep
12,276
Posts

Drives: 2009 E70 & 2011 F25
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Area 51

iTrader: (0)

Garage List
Damn, by the title I thought you had installed a turntable. I wanted to see pictures of that!
__________________


I think it is bad luck to be superstitious
Appreciate 0
      04-26-2011, 07:02 AM   #5
Bustofa
Lieutenant
United Kingdom
7
Rep
470
Posts

Drives: F25 X3 XDrive20D SE
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Washington, UK

iTrader: (0)

Quote:
Originally Posted by sfax View Post
...but If you import these files to the car's internal HDD, you lose the artwork and introduce a nonsensical playback sort order
Doesn't seem to make any sense at all. I had thought that iDrive might be relying on the iPod to display artwork etc, but if it can display straight from an external HDD, then what's the problem with doing the same from its own internal disk?
Barking!
Appreciate 0
      04-26-2011, 08:38 AM   #6
Radioactive
Captain
United_States
42
Rep
764
Posts

Drives: '11 X3 28i '10 535i '04 325i
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: San Diego

iTrader: (1)

Quote:
Originally Posted by LEDZEP View Post
Damn, by the title I thought you had installed a turntable. I wanted to see pictures of that!
The "chestnut interior is not as red as the photo shows"! J/K
Attached Images
 
Appreciate 0
      04-26-2011, 08:41 AM   #7
ksoze
Major
ksoze's Avatar
United_States
376
Rep
1,223
Posts

Drives: 2018 M550iX
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Maryland

iTrader: (0)

Quote:
Originally Posted by sfax View Post
Yep, this certainly works for pro nav (or any car with 6FL I think) but If you import these files to the car's internal HDD, you lose the artwork and introduce a nonsensical playback sort order
...as well as limit the bit rate of the songs being imported.
__________________
2018 M550iX-Dinan Stage 1 | 2011 E93 M3 Convertible | 2002 E46 M3 Convertible | 2002 E53 X5 3.0 | 2000 E39 540i | 1998 E36 M3 | 1988 E28 M5 | 1987 E28 528i
Appreciate 0
      04-26-2011, 08:50 AM   #8
Radioactive
Captain
United_States
42
Rep
764
Posts

Drives: '11 X3 28i '10 535i '04 325i
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: San Diego

iTrader: (1)

I'm wondering if the song file name must begin with a number for the internal storage to play in order. Can't play around with it until I get a car. Looks like the first part of May.
Appreciate 0
      04-26-2011, 11:09 AM   #9
Bustofa
Lieutenant
United Kingdom
7
Rep
470
Posts

Drives: F25 X3 XDrive20D SE
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Washington, UK

iTrader: (0)

Quote:
Originally Posted by Radioactive View Post
I'm wondering if the song file name must begin with a number for the internal storage to play in order. Can't play around with it until I get a car. Looks like the first part of May.
Well that would work if it plays in alphabetical order but any right-minded player would look at the ID3 tags to decide on the order - if playing an album. If playing from any old folder, then who's to say what the correct order should be?
Appreciate 0
      04-26-2011, 01:05 PM   #10
sfax
Brigadier General
sfax's Avatar
United Kingdom
91
Rep
3,855
Posts

Drives: BMW X3 2011 F25
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Berkshire, UK

iTrader: (0)

Quote:
Originally Posted by Radioactive View Post
I'm wondering if the song file name must begin with a number for the internal storage to play in order. Can't play around with it until I get a car. Looks like the first part of May.
This does work, yes, because alphanumeric order will play 01 song 1, 02 song 2 etc. I wrote something to rename a library of songs so that they work on the HDD in the correct but this doesn't overcome its other limitations and it also means all titles have three characters wasted on "0x "
__________________

F25 xDrive20d SE __ professional multimedia package | dynamic package | climate package | 309s | xline | xenons | electric seats | folding mirrors | business speakers
Appreciate 0
      04-26-2011, 01:44 PM   #11
X3Mississauga
New Member
3
Rep
8
Posts

Drives: BMW 2011 X3
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: Ontario

iTrader: (0)

If you want use external drive in you car, you'd better be careful, since most laptop drive is not designed for working under unstable environment (driving on bumpy road), it may crash shortly.
Appreciate 0
      04-26-2011, 02:07 PM   #12
Radioactive
Captain
United_States
42
Rep
764
Posts

Drives: '11 X3 28i '10 535i '04 325i
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: San Diego

iTrader: (1)

Quote:
Originally Posted by Bustofa View Post
Well that would work if it plays in alphabetical order but any right-minded player would look at the ID3 tags to decide on the order - if playing an album. If playing from any old folder, then who's to say what the correct order should be?
Since a tag is enbeded with each individual music file the "computer" must first choose what order to read the files. I guess it could take it one step further and read the total directory and play back in the tags track order. What's interesting is that WMP 12 doesn't read the tag title on playback, but shows a parsed file name without the number.

I agree that the car can be a hostile environment for a HD, so I do plan on mounting it to buffer mild shocks.
Appreciate 0
      04-28-2011, 11:49 AM   #13
dtl2009
New Member
United_States
3
Rep
5
Posts

Drives: 2011 x3 28i
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: Ohio

iTrader: (0)

Since reading your initial post I have been cleaning up my digital music collection to get ready for my X3, needless to say the ability to play from USB drive is great.

Anyone tried different file formats to see what is compatible (OGG or FLAC)? Doubt it has the ability to play video too, but has anyone tried?

-Dave
Appreciate 0
      04-28-2011, 03:48 PM   #14
Radioactive
Captain
United_States
42
Rep
764
Posts

Drives: '11 X3 28i '10 535i '04 325i
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: San Diego

iTrader: (1)

From X3 Manual

Video formats
▷ DVD: DVD-ROM, DVD-R, DVD+R, DVDRW,
DVD+RW, DVD-R DL, DVD+R DL, DVD
audio (video part only), DVD video*.
▷ CD: CD-ROM, CD-R, CD-RW, CD-DA,
VCD*, SVCD*.
▷ Compressed audio files: MP3, WMA, AAC*,
M4A*.

Audio files
Standard audio files can be played back:
▷ MP3.
▷ WMA.
▷ WAV (PCM).
▷ AAC*, M4A*.
▷ Playback lists: M3U, WPL*, PLS*.

Note: No AVI
Appreciate 0
Post Reply

Bookmarks

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off



All times are GMT -5. The time now is 01:14 PM.




xbimmers
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.
1Addicts.com, BIMMERPOST.com, E90Post.com, F30Post.com, M3Post.com, ZPost.com, 5Post.com, 6Post.com, 7Post.com, XBimmers.com logo and trademark are properties of BIMMERPOST