USB hard drive hook-up

[noosaj]

Hello Everyone,

This is my first post so bear with me. I have a question regarding hooking up USB hard drives to your head unit. Is it feasible? iPods and Zunes are basically hard drives. I have a Pioneer DEH-P6000UB that will accept USB drives (classified as Mass Storage Class) and iPods, unfortunately, I have a Zune and it won't read from it. I was considering getting a small hard drive, such as that of 100 or 160gb. Would there be any issues hooking up a small USB hard drive directly to the head unit?

Thanks in advance for any advice you can give.

Jason

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[muskyhunter567 10+ year member]

i have a pioneer 6900usb with that usb connect and i use small gig sticks all the time im sure you could use a portable hard drive as long as you dont need an external power supply

 

[TurdFergueson2 5,000+ posts]

I think it has to be formatted to FAT32, but don't quote me.

 

[dman4486 5,000+ posts]

I think it has to be formatted to FAT32, but don't quote me.

^^^My understanding as well

 

[noosaj]

Yeah, that would be correct. It would have to be formatted to either FAT16 or FAT32; however, I don't want to have multiple thumb drives. It seems and is cheaper to purchase a mini hard drive with like 100-150gb of space and use that, rather than get several thumb drives. My only concern is *will* it work? iPods and Zunes are basically hard drives themselves, but they don't require much power consumption.

If I'm going to get a hard drive, it will definitely be a low-consumption USB-powered drive, so I don't have to plug it in. Then again, will it work? That's my question...

Jason

 

[nineball 10+ year member]

i ran an 80gig usb bus-powered drive on a pioneer cd-ub100 without any problems. not exactly the same thing but close. the drive was made by LaCie, but i know my particular model is no longer available from them.

 

[noosaj]

Nineball - what did you mean by not exactly the same thing?

Thanks.

 

[HyPnAwTiKpImP 10+ year member]

i have and HD hooked up to my pioneer 690ub right now .my HD is 250 GB i have close to 600++ albums on it . just format it to FAT 32 and ur done ..now i'm not sure if portable HD that big would run on the deck but work fine on mines since i have it hooked up to a power converter ..only problem is if u have alot of tracks or in my case albums it takes around 2 minutes for the deck to read the HD

 

[nineball 10+ year member]

Nineball - what did you mean by not exactly the same thing?
Thanks.

exactly what i said. i was using a 5700 dvd hu and a cd-ub100. you are using a 6000UB.

 

[swx1042 10+ year member]

i have and HD hooked up to my pioneer 690ub right now .my HD is 250 GB i have close to 600++ albums on it . just format it to FAT 32 and ur done ..now i'm not sure if portable HD that big would run on the deck but work fine on mines since i have it hooked up to a power converter ..only problem is if u have alot of tracks or in my case albums it takes around 2 minutes for the deck to read the HD

Question!

When you say it takes about 2 minutes for the head unit to read the hard drive, is that every time you turn it on? or is that some sort of initial read?

 

[macq32 10+ year member]

i have a pioneer 6900usb with that usb connect and i use small gig sticks all the time im sure you could use a portable hard drive as long as you dont need an external power supply

in most every case that is false, it does have to be a fat32, but just because it has a USB connect doesnt mean the Head unit will recognize it. My external did not work (100gb) with my kenwood, theres a difference between a flash drive and an external hard drive, your receiver is more than likely only going to accept a flash drive or media players (zune/ipod)

 

[Symon_say 10+ year member]

I use a small 60gb disk with my kenwood without any problem, just hook it up, via USB.

 

[Side Show 10+ year member]

think there's a limit of about 250gig that it'll read befor it chucks a spastic

 

[bigaudiofanatic 10+ year member]

Get an ipod be happy wanna be even happier get a alpine head unit. Usb hard drives can crash because they need power all the time and you will need a dc to ac converter as well to power them.

 

[HyPnAwTiKpImP 10+ year member]

Question!
When you say it takes about 2 minutes for the head unit to read the hard drive, is that every time you turn it on? or is that some sort of initial read?

thats every time i turn it on because of all the music i have.. i try a flash drive read right away it was only 8gb my set up is

Deckioneer 690UB W/ 250GB Maxtor HD format to FAT 32 W/600++ Albums and a 400Watt DC Converter

Front :infinity Kappa 4X6

Rear: NONE

Sub: 18 inch Atomic APXX CF Dust Cap DThx To Mike Woofercooker)

Box:6.0CF Tune to 35hz (Made By Fastime)