Music on SD cards

[RSB]

I have had my Superb for nearly 2 years and have tried on a number of occasions to use SD cards to provide the source for my music. I have managed with my iPod through the USB port but that does not provide some of the facilities that I should be able to access via the Columbus' 2 SDs.

 

I have read that the capacity of the SD may be limited but I cannot substantiate this and have tried 128GB and 32GB versions. I have also tried different formats on the SD to no avail.

Please can someone point me in the right direction. Ideally I would like to have my entire iTunes' collection of about 100GB but will settle for less.

[unclerichy]

I have a 64gb card formatted on a PC (so probably exfat) and all my files are MP3 format. No problems here.

 

I'll caveat that by saying recent folder renames after copying files has caused a couple of duplicate entries but that's the first time in almost 6 years.

[freelunch]

Download and read the Columbus manual for the SD formatting and acceptable file versions. The main thing to note otherwise, is that you can have a maximum of 9,999 files on a SD card. Any amount over that is ignored by the system. This happens surprisingly quickly if you're loading mp3s. It means a 128 Mb card is really as big as you need. The system will read a 256 Mb card, but you can't really use the capacity. I've tried...

[ItalianJob]

2 hours ago, freelunch said:

Download and read the Columbus manual for the SD formatting and acceptable file versions. The main thing to note otherwise, is that you can have a maximum of 9,999 files on a SD card. Any amount over that is ignored by the system. This happens surprisingly quickly if you're loading mp3s. It means a 128 Mb card is really as big as you need. The system will read a 256 Mb card, but you can't really use the capacity. I've tried...

Mb or GB?

[freelunch]

Oops. Gb.

[VRS_White_Hatch]

7 hours ago, freelunch said:

Oops. Gb.

Ah the good old days of a 128mb card. Now when I were a lad ...

 

I do have issues with the card contents - album art mostly works but not always. And the new MP3 something format doesn't work either. I can't see where on windows media player to change the option to rip and save tracks to simply mp3 or mp4 - they both work. 

[daveo138]

If you're storing them in individual folders, you need to make sure that the folder name in 'file properties' is the same as the folder it is in, or they all get jumbled up and difficult to locate.

 

Edit:  When I'm ripping CDs to my PC, I save them as 'WMA' files, rather than MP3.

Edited 31 December, 2021 by daveo138
Added info

[brettikivi]

I have a 256GB Sandisk Extreme in my S III and it works fine; important is to not leave more than 500 or so files in one folder or random can't find them. 

WMA is awful, MP3 isn't much better. FLAC works fine for the 2018 headunit in mine... 

 

What exactly are you trying to do? I just have the SD stuck in slot 2 and it just works. Nav data is in slot 1. 

[daveo138]

On 31/12/2021 at 11:32, brettikivi said:

I have a 256GB Sandisk Extreme in my S III and it works fine; important is to not leave more than 500 or so files in one folder or random can't find them. 

WMA is awful, MP3 isn't much better. FLAC works fine for the 2018 headunit in mine... 

 

What exactly are you trying to do? I just have the SD stuck in slot 2 and it just works. Nav data is in slot 1. 

 

I've just ripped a couple of albums to FLAC.  I'll roadtest them on Tuesday, as I have 5 hours of driving to do.

 

I didn't realise that Windows Media Player offered FLAC as an option, I thought I'd have to convert the files.

 

I also use Audacity a lot and I've just discovered that it also allows you to export as FLAC 👍

[RSB]

I have all my music in iTunes these days and they are on my iMac. I would like to tranfer most of my music and all of my playlists to a 128GB SanDisk.

 

I have tried a while ago and never managed to get the car to see the disk or read it.

 

 

[brettikivi]

the disk / SDCard needs to be ExFAT for it to be seen. If you format it in the Mac, it quite possibly won't be seen properly by the car. I would format in a camera for example if possible. 

 

 . Bret

Edited 24 January, 2022 by brettikivi

[RSB]

Thanks for your help.

It is ExFat format but this was done with the Mac. I have no other way to format.

[801802971]

Have you tried this?

 

https://www.laptopmag.com/uk/articles/format-drive-for-windows-and-mac

 

[RSB]

Thanks for your suggestion. I have used the Apple Disk Utility to format in ExFat and the car says it is unable to read the SD Card.

[freelunch]

I format my SD cards with Disk Utility on a Mac. They work fine. It's plug'n'play with the music files, but for installing map updates, I have to use CleanMyDrive 2.app before the Columbus unit will accept the data.

 

Maybe you could try a different card. Just stick a few files on it as a test. Maybe the unit doesn't like the SD card you're using?

[RSB]

Thanks. What format do you use and which partition option? Also how do you transfer the music?

[freelunch]

MS DOS (FAT). Drag'n'drop.

[RSB]

Reformated in DOSfat but still can't read it in the car. Tried to find the Columbus Manual in the Skoda site but can't see a separate mention from the normal car manual and that does not explain much!

[freelunch]

Try a different card. Or even a USB stick, just to test the formatting.

[ukgnome]

I have all my stuff on a SD card and works fine but the are all MP3, not AAC which I think is itunes default.

 

 

[ItalianJob]

On 25/01/2022 at 15:26, RSB said:

Thanks for your suggestion. I have used the Apple Disk Utility to format in ExFat and the car says it is unable to read the SD Card.

ExFAT is the correct format. You must have a duff SD card or it isn't actually formatting correctly. 

[RSB]

Still not able to use this card. I am wondering whether someone would be kind enough to format this SD card for me and copy some music so I can then find out if it is me, the card or the car?!!

[BillyParker]

14 hours ago, RSB said:

Still not able to use this card. I am wondering whether someone would be kind enough to format this SD card for me and copy some music so I can then find out if it is me, the card or the car?!!

Anybody with a windows PC should be able to format the card for you. Perhaps instead of using a 128GB card, use 2 x 64GB cards. You do not need to keep the navigation card in the slot, so you can use both slots, I am using a SanDisk Ultra formatted as exfat. I just transferred all tracks to the card and don't have any folders on it.

[RSB]

Thanks BillyParker. I have had an offer to format my SD and copy some music so I can determine if it is a duff card. Once that check is eliminated I will hopefully know where I stand. It seems most people use MP3 but my understanding is it is a relatively low fidelity format. If the file have to be MP3 so be it but would prefer a higher quality.

 

Cheers

 

[gumdrop]

I use usb 3, 32gb and 64gb memory sticks music recorded as mp3 short right angled cables to the car C-ports

Works well so far.