I used to have a Honda that you could put a Compact Flash card in for your music, I had no problems with load time, I used to use a Sandisk Extreme III.

Does anyone use the SD Card reader on their BOLERO? what card have you used? And have you experienced any load delays? I only need an 8GB.

But do I go for a cheap one or a more expensive one to stop load delays if you get any. I have not tryed any yet as i have not got the car, but need to get ready for Wednesday next week.

Compact Flash

Retro.

I have the columbus and I have seen a Bolero use an SD card, it's instant on my columbus, no gaps or waiting between tracks - just like a decent MP3 player. I use a standard sandisk 4GB card as I chop and change my music about on a daily basis!

I use a decent 8GB SD in my Columbus

SWMBO uses the same card on her Bolero and it's fine on both counts.

I never knew CF was used in cars

Yes it was really good, The card went into a Compact flash holder and you opened the Sat Nav screen, then slid the card into a slot, Also the CD's and DVD's went behind the screen. Closed the screen and you just had a 8 inch touch screen to operate everything. I think the head unit was made by Alpine, Standard in all top of the range Accords. The car was on a 08 plate

Mine's an SDHC 8gb and loads no problem. If there's any delay I just switch to radio and straight back and it loads immediately.

In use a San Disk 16G SDHC class 4 and I read that Bolero can read up to 32G. I organized the main folder according to the music genre and in sub-folders I uploaded the albums. I believe all in all is more than a continuously month of music, not mentioning the FM radio station available and AUX connection that might give you additional options plugging a MP4 player. Way too much!!!

I got some cheap 4GB cards and there is no delay that I have noticed when playing music from the card, it does takes some time to copy to the HDD though.

Using SanDisk, Experiencing 3 to 5 sec delay when starting up.

Using SanDisk, Experiencing 3 to 5 sec delay when starting up.

Me too, but it I think is not due the SD card type or reading speed. It is just the time needed to launch the player software and read the play list. I even tried once with San Disk 8G SDHC Extreme III , 20 Mb/sec from my Dslr camera. Same result so I think is normal.

Radio starts instantly.

What about CD's, I never tried one. :no:

I'm having real problems with two virtually new SanDisk 2Gb cards on Columbus. The system sometimes recognises some of the folder, discs and tracks. Sometimes it locks on one mp3 file but will not play it, or shift back up the directory hierarchy. Sometimes it will play a 'disc' all the way through, but then refuse to play anything else.

I've even tried loading the stuff as individual 'discs', rather than in an 'artist' folder, which seems to make no difference.

The only thing that I can think of, is that although the SD cards are FAT16 format, I'm loading them from a Mac. Shouldn't make any difference, but who knows.

Perhaps someone here does.

8Gb SDHC SanDisk card from 7dayshop.com for £5.99 delivered.

It's no quicker or slower than any of the Class 10 (or better) cards I've tried.

Delay to start the HU is down to the HU not the SD card. Reading a full 8Gb of music (card inserted after HU has fully started) takes about 4-5 secs regardless if the card size, speed or class that I use.

In my Bolero I'm using an 8GB Sandisk card. About £6 delivered off fleabay, works great - no delays.

Biggest pain was formatting music from iTunes into MP3 so I could copy onto the card. A bit of a faff but cheaper than getting the MDI kit installed.

Biggest pain was formatting music from iTunes into MP3 so I could copy onto the card. A bit of a faff but cheaper than getting the MDI kit installed.

I know it's not a audiophiles solution, but do you import music to iTunes as MP3?

Saves having to convert.

One thing to watch out for with a Mac is the 'extra' file that seem to crop up for every MP3. These aren't seen on a Mac but are present on Windows and Bolero/Columbus.

I'm having real problems with two virtually new SanDisk 2Gb cards on Columbus. The system sometimes recognises some of the folder, discs and tracks. Sometimes it locks on one mp3 file but will not play it, or shift back up the directory hierarchy. Sometimes it will play a 'disc' all the way through, but then refuse to play anything else.

I've even tried loading the stuff as individual 'discs', rather than in an 'artist' folder, which seems to make no difference.

The only thing that I can think of, is that although the SD cards are FAT16 format, I'm loading them from a Mac. Shouldn't make any difference, but who knows.

Perhaps someone here does.

Where did you get your cards from, My Bro bought a Sandisk from e-bay as an original, tried it in his PSP but couldn't save to it, yet his PC would, Took his PSP back to the shop he got it from who told him he'd got a fake card and to prove it they opened a new card which worked straight away, for that reason I buy my cards from Amazon and Ebuyer and no one else.

Edited 28 August, 201213 yr by bryanp

The only thing that I can think of, is that although the SD cards are FAT16 format, I'm loading them from a Mac.

Try formatting them as FAT32 to start with. Macs copy an additional file for each MP3 that is not visible on the Mac system. These are seen by the Bolero/Columbus (& in PC's) where they can be deleted.

It might be these that your system is trying to play or getting confused over.

One thing to watch out for with a Mac is the 'extra' file that seem to crop up for every MP3. These aren't seen on a Mac but are present on Windows and Bolero/Columbus.

Try formatting them as FAT32 to start with. Macs copy an additional file for each MP3 that is not visible on the Mac system. These are seen by the Bolero/Columbus (& in PC's) where they can be deleted.

It might be these that your system is trying to play or getting confused over.

Great tips! I looked at the SD card on a Widows machine and it is exactly these hidden Mac files that Columbus is stalling on.

I've loaded the Mac mp3s on a Windows machine, reformatted the SD card, deleted the extra files on the PC and reinstalled on the SD card. This process lets also Windows remove any invisible Mac stuff from the individual mp3s.

Will try it out when The Mayoress brings the car back from Llanelli, and report the results here.

That's pretty similar to what I do now unless I need to convert to MP3 first, in which case I just use the PC.

Burned a new SD card in Windows. Works a treat. 30+ albums, all nicely grouped by iTunes before burning. Will not bother with a MDI back-fit.