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General discussion

Car Stereo with USB; more portable hard drive questions

Jan 1, 2009 10:49PM PST

I have a Kenwood KDC-BT8141U USB system in my Golf, and use to own an 80Gig ipod which has worked perfectly on the system having been able to access the ipod through the system, ie Artists/ albums/ tracks/ ...

Sadly, the ipod got stolen a few weeks ago so I am now having to consider using an external hard drive as I have quite a few that are not being used, I shall simply get a caddy for one.

I am wondering weather it is possible to make the HD work exactly like an ipod have access to the artists/ albums/ track info. I am assuming that maybe there is some kind of data that gives the system the information it needs to access such info. If anyone knows please share.

Many thanks you and Happy New Year!!

Discussion is locked

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In short, No.
Jan 5, 2009 9:47AM PST

iPod controlling receivers often take advantage of a proprietary index file that is created by iTunes and the iPod software to offer that searchable taxonomy that you're speaking of (ie. artist/genre/album index).

Portable hard drives don't have software and do not sync with iTunes, so what you're left with is a bunch of directories that you fill with music. Some systems, such as Ford/Microsoft Sync will scan these directories and create their own searchable indexes, but the bulk of them (your Kenwood HU included) will not.

If you absolutely must have that searchable taxonomy, then perhaps you should look to buy a nice used iPod. I personally use a older iPod with a broken screen and a worn out battery that never comes out of my glove box except to sync in conjunction with my iPod controlling receiver.

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Emulator
Jan 5, 2009 8:48PM PST

Wonder if there is anything such as an ipod emulator out there for HD's..? I am searching. If there isnt someone should certainly come up with one!!