Has anyone tried to connect a portable hard drive to the USB slot to listen to music on a Bolero system please? 

 

I need a new SD card as my others are full but 500Gb hard drives seem to be about the same price as a 64GB card.  Am I being naïve, silly or just wrong in thinking that it may work? 

 

I know there'd be a trailing lead if I put the drive in that drawer by the gear lever but to have most of my music in one place it might be worth a go and I'm guessing that the drawer would almost shut anyway.

 

I'd be grateful of your thought or experiences.

 

Thanks

 

The only factor that it comes down to is whether or not the head unit will supply the drive with the necessary voltage through the USB port. Portable hard drives draw a lot more power as compared to USB sticks.

And from past experience, car USB ports can be somewhat picky regarding which devices they will power (haven't yet tested Octavia's myself). But there's no other reason it couldn't work.

They did used to work with the old MDI on the mkII iirc....

From manual:

USB devices

USB stick, USB MP3 player, HDD (without special software)

 

Personally, the 64GB sd-card will look nicer and should be enough capacity for driving music.

But more than likely that the hard drive will work fine.

They do work and have done so on VAG cars for quite some time now. It's probably more convenient to use a large capacity SD card if you have a card reader at home.

if you have a card reader at home.

Card readers come bundled with a lot of SD cards and cost around 1 pound/euro if bought separately, so that's no excuse.

Unless it is an SSD i'd go for the SD card. The movement on the road will increase the degredation on a standard hard disk a lot quicker due to the needle having to cope with the disruption. Flash media doesn't suffer the abuse in the same way.

Unless it is an SSD i'd go for the SD card. The movement on the road will increase the degredation on a standard hard disk a lot quicker due to the needle having to cope with the disruption. Flash media doesn't suffer the abuse in the same way.

Having an external SSD in a car isn't really worth the investment. It costs so much more and you won't get (and don't need) the increase in performance.

HDD's moving parts + driving movement is a non-issue: portable players with HDDs work for 10+ years nicely even if you take them jogging/running/etc.

johh, don't get me wrong I wasn't suggesting that anyone should fork out for an ssd but i've found more issues with disk errors and interruptions for hdd skipping than would ever occur with an SD card and there is a massive cost benefit to having flash media over a conventional hdd..

Edited 15 January, 201412 yr by jeffvader

Well, to be honest, I've intentionally tried to make a portable HDD crash. I will not say here how I tried, but I've abused it for a long time and in various unpleasant ways. It still runs happily without any issues to this day. I hate that HDD... 

Well, to be honest, I've intentionally tried to make a portable HDD crash. I will not say here how I tried, but I've abused it for a long time and in various unpleasant ways. It still runs happily without any issues to this day. I hate that HDD... 

 

Send it to me and I'll give it some love and affection

I have a 32gb SD card with somes tunes on and aonther 64gb with a few more on and final an usb power 1 tb hdd with movies, tv shows for little one to watch. The hdd only gets connected when stationary. Not had any issues yet.

I have a 32gb SD card with somes tunes on and aonther 64gb with a few more on and final an usb power 1 tb hdd with movies, tv shows for little one to watch. The hdd only gets connected when stationary. Not had any issues yet.

 

What manufacturer is that Spitzie please? Is it fast enough to recognise and load? Thanks

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=a9_sc_1?rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Asd+card&keywords=sd+card&ie=UTF8&qid=1390248211

 

plenty on here to choose from and reasonable prices. Also have a look in currys pc world as they sometimes have bundle offers where you get two or three cards for the price on one.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=a9_sc_1?rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Asd+card&keywords=sd+card&ie=UTF8&qid=1390248211

 

plenty on here to choose from and reasonable prices. Also have a look in currys pc world as they sometimes have bundle offers where you get two or three cards for the price on one.

 

Thanks Kenfold. I was asking because I know the car only has a low power USB and different manufacturers have different power requirement. If someone has managed to get a specific HD to work, i'd get that rather than risking an unknown.

I have a WD Hard drive so i will go and try it now and let you know if it works.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Elements-500GB-Portable-Hard-Drive/dp/B005A97A86/ref=sr_1_16?ie=UTF8&qid=1390251120&sr=8-16&keywords=wd+hard+drive+500gb

 

This is the one i have and i have just tried it, works perfectly.

 

Currys have the same one for £34.91 but you would need to check that this is the one that is powered by USB as they do the exact same but powered by AC.

 

hope this helps,

 

Keith.

the ones that are powered by ac usually have a 12v feed to the hard drive, from a transformer plug.  running it from a ciggie lighter socket ought to work I'd think.  I've  both an old hdd in a caddy that needs power, and I have the correct 12 volt power lead to plug into a ciggie lighter knocking around the house...if i had the car already I'd go and try  :think:

most external HDD work from usb power now. The WD one that i use is powered via USB and works fine so it saves having 2 cables.

Does the VRS have USB and an Aux in socket as well as the SD card slot on the dash ?

Does the VRS have USB and an Aux in socket as well as the SD card slot on the dash ?

 

As standard yes.

Well, to be honest, I've intentionally tried to make a portable HDD crash. I will not say here how I tried, but I've abused it for a long time and in various unpleasant ways. It still runs happily without any issues to this day. I hate that HDD... 

 

...I guess either you were really lucky or me dead unlucky, because when my daughter accidentally crashed the hdd which was playing her cartoons from only 50cm height, it went.

 

I tried to smash it again onto the floor by carefully following data recovery procedures (ANSI-ISO-99999-1) but - to my surprise - it didn't work...!

 

I guess a SSD would have survived way better, but I'm not trying to crash my SSD

 

Ciao,

 

Stefano

Does the VRS have USB and an Aux in socket as well as the SD card slot on the dash ?

If don't specify the Mitsumi connection then yes you get USB, 3.5mm Aux socket & SD Card slot

If don't specify the Mitsumi connection then yes you get USB, 3.5mm Aux socket & SD Card slot

 

But even with Mitsumi you still get the SD card slot.

Does the VRS have USB and an Aux in socket as well as the SD card slot on the dash ?

 

USB and aux are towards the base of the centre console and the SD card is in the glovebox.