Anyone try a USB Powered Hard Drive with CMD6

[jschnip]

Just got our new '10 24ve and I was going to buy some thumb drives to use with the cmd6 port and its amazing tower of power system. I was wondering if anyone had tried a usb powered hard drive on that port? I'm curious about 1) ability to deliver enough power, and 2) ability to sort/organize thru that much music? Since I don't have an Ipod (which would be valuable for managing playlists), I was thinking that I could get a 500gb drive, have 2 main folders discs and sessions. Under sessions I could create "playlist" folders, that were just copies of the files. So I might end up with 3 or 4 copies of some songs (example-one on the main disc folder, one in Sessions->John, and maybe another in Sessions->Michelle) - but who cares with 500 GB to spare. A 500 GB usb powered hard drive is around $80, which is much cheaper than an Ipod that would hold a fraction.

I might just buy and try - just wondering if anyone else had any relevant tips.

[zad0030]

I dont think it would supply enough power to support a hard drive. But it might work if you find an enclosure that plug in to an outlet, and then plug that into a 12v socket in the boat.

[ImaPigDog]

From the CMD6 manual:

About USB memory
• USB is an acronym for Universal Serial Bus, and refers to an external bus standard supporting data transfer rates of 12 Mbps.
• This unit is compatible with USB 1.1/2.0 with maximum data transfer rates of 12 Mbps.
• USB memory devices that can be played by connecting to the unit’s USB cable are limited to those recognized as “USB mass storage class devices”; operation is not guaranteed with all USB memory devices.
∗ Devices compatible with “USB Mass Storage Class” can be used merely by connecting to the host device, without need for special drivers or application software.
• Consult the manufacturer of your USB memory device for information regarding whether it is supported by “USB Mass Storage Class” standards.
• Audio files playable on this unit are limited to MP3/WMA/AAC files. For details, see the section “MP3/WMA/AAC” (page 20). Copy-protected WMA/AAC files cannot be played on this unit.
• The Podcast files of iTunes Store that stored in the USB memory device can not be played. Besides, the data that edit through some softs such as the Tag edit soft may not be played.
• To prevent the accidental loss of data, always back up important data on your computer.
• This unit does not support connections to a computer. In addition, connections made through a USB hub device are also not supported.
• When a USB memory device is composed of two or more drives, only one of the drives will be detected.
• USB memory devices with security functions cannot be played.
• The order in which tracks are recorded may differ depending on the USB memory device connected (the actual playback order may not be the same as that indicated on your computer’s display).
• If you continuously operate folder up/down, the play time keeps as “00:00”, and the sound is not emitted.

Besides the question on power, it may not display your tracks in order as you create your playlist folders. I've been wondering the same and will have to try it once I get my boat back.

[Domsz06]

would be pretty cool if it worked....

[philwsailz]

I have asked my Sony guys. We will see if it works....

[jschnip]

Tried it out this weekend - the usb port didn't supply enough power, so I used a 12v usb adapter to supplement it. The CMD6 recognized it was plugged in, started reading files, and then stopped with an error 2 code. We had about 16 GB worth of music on it - guess I'll try some thumb drives next.

[ImaPigDog]

Tried it out this weekend - the usb port didn't supply enough power, so I used a 12v usb adapter to supplement it. The CMD6 recognized it was plugged in, started reading files, and then stopped with an error 2 code. We had about 16 GB worth of music on it - guess I'll try some thumb drives next.

That is interesting. I thought it would have enough power because it powers by iPod with a 60GB hard drive in it. Of course the iPod is designed differently than standard USB hard drives.

[zad0030]

Does the manual tell you what error #2 is?

[jschnip]

Does the manual tell you what error #2 is?

Yes, the error says the files are not the proper format. I double checked the encoding and they are within the specifications in the manual. Its possible that some of the files were done at different times, so they have different bit rates, but all of them should be within the CMD6 specifications.

"MP3: Sampling rate 8 kHz-48kHz, Bit rate 8 kbps-320 kbps / VBR"

[jschnip]

I ran down to the lake quick tonight to try out a thumb drive using the same files - the CMD6 played them. Of course, after all that, I finally got to see how the CMD6 handles folders on a thumb drive, and I would say navigating thru them is poor at best. Random mode does not allow for you to select "folder" as an option, so you can't use a folder as a group/playlist as I had previously hoped. It does support scrolling thru files, but it just displays the first 3 or 4 characters, which is pretty much useless when trying to find a song.

I guess I'll need to either use the headphone jack with my Droid and play music from there, or find a used IPOD to make playlists with (since I have no need for an IPOD).

Also, after doing some reading, I believe that the USB hard drive did not work because it does not use the USB Mass Storage Class. Its odd, but even windows appears to handle a USB hard drive a bit different than a USB flash drive.