Problems with large usb-sticks and 6FL?
Thread Starter
Members
Joined: Jul 2009
Posts: 143
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From: Sweden
My Ride: 535d -08 lots of goodies
120dA -06
I have been running both 32GB and 64GB usb-sticks in my -08 535d with the 6FL option for a while now, a few days ago i decided to get myself a 128GB stick and run all music from that.
It turns out that the stick was not recognized by the car, all that came up on the Idrive was "unsupported device" much to my disappointment, so today i have been fiddling with the stick since i could not see an reason for this behavior.
Google did not help me much bust the general opinion was that above 32GB was impossible, which i knew for a fact was wrong.
First i check that the stick was formatted in FAT32, and it was, then i repartitioned the stick with different cluster sizes to see if that made any difference, it did not.
Then i made smaller partitions, above 64GB was a no go, same story, unsupported device.
I started to think that maybe the device was drawing to much power from the USB outlet in the car, but i came to the conclusion that this was to far fetched.
Then finally it came to me that the partition type could be of, and it was
By default that partition-type was 0Bh (FAT32), it needs to be 0Ch (FAT32 LBA)if the drive is larger then 64GB.
So i changed the type to 0Ch with Acronis Disk Director and all is well now
I am in the process of filling the stick as im typing, but i will report back to see if there are any practical limits to how many directory's the car will read.
I have attached a screenshoot of how the working partition looks in Acronis.
I hope that someone will find this info useful as the bigger sticks get more common.
It turns out that the stick was not recognized by the car, all that came up on the Idrive was "unsupported device" much to my disappointment, so today i have been fiddling with the stick since i could not see an reason for this behavior.
Google did not help me much bust the general opinion was that above 32GB was impossible, which i knew for a fact was wrong.
First i check that the stick was formatted in FAT32, and it was, then i repartitioned the stick with different cluster sizes to see if that made any difference, it did not.
Then i made smaller partitions, above 64GB was a no go, same story, unsupported device.
I started to think that maybe the device was drawing to much power from the USB outlet in the car, but i came to the conclusion that this was to far fetched.
Then finally it came to me that the partition type could be of, and it was
By default that partition-type was 0Bh (FAT32), it needs to be 0Ch (FAT32 LBA)if the drive is larger then 64GB.
So i changed the type to 0Ch with Acronis Disk Director and all is well now
I am in the process of filling the stick as im typing, but i will report back to see if there are any practical limits to how many directory's the car will read.
I have attached a screenshoot of how the working partition looks in Acronis.
I hope that someone will find this info useful as the bigger sticks get more common.
Members
Joined: Feb 2009
Posts: 120
Likes: 0
From: West
My Ride: 535
Model Year: 2008
Good information. I thought my 32GB was going to max out the system, good to hear that it's possible to use larger sticks.
I have been running both 32GB and 64GB usb-sticks in my -08 535d with the 6FL option for a while now, a few days ago i decided to get myself a 128GB stick and run all music from that.
It turns out that the stick was not recognized by the car, all that came up on the Idrive was "unsupported device" much to my disappointment, so today i have been fiddling with the stick since i could not see an reason for this behavior.
Google did not help me much bust the general opinion was that above 32GB was impossible, which i knew for a fact was wrong.
First i check that the stick was formatted in FAT32, and it was, then i repartitioned the stick with different cluster sizes to see if that made any difference, it did not.
Then i made smaller partitions, above 64GB was a no go, same story, unsupported device.
I started to think that maybe the device was drawing to much power from the USB outlet in the car, but i came to the conclusion that this was to far fetched.
Then finally it came to me that the partition type could be of, and it was
By default that partition-type was 0Bh (FAT32), it needs to be 0Ch (FAT32 LBA)if the drive is larger then 64GB.
So i changed the type to 0Ch with Acronis Disk Director and all is well now
I am in the process of filling the stick as im typing, but i will report back to see if there are any practical limits to how many directory's the car will read.
I have attached a screenshoot of how the working partition looks in Acronis.
I hope that someone will find this info useful as the bigger sticks get more common.
It turns out that the stick was not recognized by the car, all that came up on the Idrive was "unsupported device" much to my disappointment, so today i have been fiddling with the stick since i could not see an reason for this behavior.
Google did not help me much bust the general opinion was that above 32GB was impossible, which i knew for a fact was wrong.
First i check that the stick was formatted in FAT32, and it was, then i repartitioned the stick with different cluster sizes to see if that made any difference, it did not.
Then i made smaller partitions, above 64GB was a no go, same story, unsupported device.
I started to think that maybe the device was drawing to much power from the USB outlet in the car, but i came to the conclusion that this was to far fetched.
Then finally it came to me that the partition type could be of, and it was
By default that partition-type was 0Bh (FAT32), it needs to be 0Ch (FAT32 LBA)if the drive is larger then 64GB.
So i changed the type to 0Ch with Acronis Disk Director and all is well now
I am in the process of filling the stick as im typing, but i will report back to see if there are any practical limits to how many directory's the car will read.
I have attached a screenshoot of how the working partition looks in Acronis.
I hope that someone will find this info useful as the bigger sticks get more common.
Super Moderator
Joined: Mar 2004
Posts: 17,310
Likes: 2
From: Pittsburgh, PA USA
My Ride: G30 M550i
Model Year: 2018
There's also the USB hard drive option that I use:
https://5series.net/forums/topic/631...ipod-interface
https://5series.net/forums/topic/631...ipod-interface
Members
Joined: Dec 2010
Posts: 128
Likes: 0
From: SJ, CA
My Ride: 2008 550i (E60) - Titanium Silver | Black Dakota w/ Bamboo Anthracite | Sports Package | Premium Package | Steptronic | Navigation | Logic 7
Former:
1995 540i MSport (E34) - 6sp, B&M Short Shift | Dinan Intake | Dinan Exhaust | Dinan Chip
1987 325iC (E30) - sold
So hate to sound ignorant here but is using a usb drive provide the same functionality as using a usb stick? I have my 16gb ipod attached but would like to have more music available. From reading this I'm guessing that I can input a 32gb usb stick and all my menus, etc... will be recognized by idrive?
Members
Joined: Dec 2010
Posts: 18
Likes: 0
From: South texas
My Ride: 08 535i stock.
wifes car 07 x5 stock
Please forgive me for being a noob, but where are you plugging in a USB stick? Is this an option on some cars or should I have one too. Only thing I have in my car is an auxiliary port in the rear console.
Contributors
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 379
Likes: 0
From: UK - Romford, Essex
If you have it, its located in the central arm rest, in the section under the snap in phone adaptor. Not sure if it moved locations at any point.. you should have the option on the idrive too
Super Moderator
Joined: Mar 2004
Posts: 17,310
Likes: 2
From: Pittsburgh, PA USA
My Ride: G30 M550i
Model Year: 2018
The hard drive works exactly the same as a flash drive. I wouldn't worry about the moving parts issue -- my drive worked flawlessly for years and is still working flawlessly in my F10. I'm pretty sure the little drive I have is designed to be able to deal with the vibrations of a car. In addition, it always works -- even in single digit temperatures...