05-05-2013, 06:46 AM | #1 |
Drives: 2011 Camaro RS Join Date: May 2013
Location: Saint Paris, Ohio
Posts: 7
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Informational: 2011 Camaro RS USB flash drive tests and summary
I wanted to use the USB port on my 2011 RS for playing MP3's, so I put some MP3's on an old 16GB flash drive and plugged it in and it worked, so I bought a 64GB flash drive and it would not work. I checked the owner's manual and GM web site for specifics on what drive formats and sizes will work, but found nothing useful for this vehicle. All I found was, "not all flash drives are compatible" and "only the 1st 10,000 songs will be recognized." I find this quite frustrating as you know someone at GM knows the exact specs, so why won't they publish them? I also found numerous posts from other users with questions, suggestions, and statements like, "mine just worked" which were not helpful at all. Being a computer geek, I performed a series of tests and the results follow. I hope this will be useful for someone else.
64GB, formatted with factory FAT32, does not work 64GB, formatted with NTFS, does not work 64GB, formatted with ExFAT, does not work [ thinking the limit was less than 64GB, I tried incrementing ] 30GB partition on the 64GB drive, formatted FAT32, 32KB/cluster, works 32GB partition on the 64GB drive, formatted FAT32, 32KB/cluster, works 40GB partition on the 64GB drive, formatted FAT32, 32KB/cluster, works 48GB partition on the 64GB drive, formatted FAT32, 32KB/cluster, works 50GB partition on the 64GB drive, formatted FAT32, 32KB/cluster, works 55GB partition on the 64GB drive, formatted FAT32, 32KB/cluster, works 64GB partition (full drive), formatted FAT32, 32KB cluster size, works! So it appears that the factory FAT32 format, with a cluster size that I did not make note of before reformatting, is incompatible, but reformatting with 32Kbytes per cluster works just fine. Notes on Windows 7: Windows 7 will only allow you to format drives larger than 32GB with NTFS, so you need a 3rd party app to format them FAT32. I used fat32format, available here: http://www.ridgecrop.demon.co.uk/ind...at32format.htm Also, if you go into the disk manager on windows 7, you will see that the option to delete the partition is greyed out. To delete it, you need to use DISKPART from the command line that comes with Windows 7, but I am not going to post instructions on how to do so, because this is a tool for advanced users and you can easily wipe out your hard drive if you don't know what you are doing. Advanced users can seek info on diskpart and figure it out pretty quickly. If you want to use the full drive you do not need this. You can take a drive with an NTFS format, run the fat32format program above, and reformat it to FAT32 without deleting the partition or volume. Notes on brands: Several people post things like "brand X works" or "brand Y does not work." Brand has NOTHING to do with it. As long as the device is USB 2.0 compliant, the radio has no idea what brand you are using. It just sees a USB flash drive. Let me know if you find this posting useful. Mike |
05-05-2013, 06:59 AM | #2 |
knows 2 facts about ducks
Drives: ...and they're both wrong Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: The HMS Invincible
Posts: 25,072
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Out of curiosity, how many songs were you able to fit on the 64G drive?
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05-05-2013, 07:23 AM | #3 |
Drives: 2011 Camaro RS Join Date: May 2013
Location: Saint Paris, Ohio
Posts: 7
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number of songs
I have not filled mine yet, but I just did some calculations for you. The exact number will vary as the size of the files vary with quality, but my MP3's are averaging about 6 Megabytes per song. Doing the math, that would allow me to store 10,922 songs on this drive, just over the max the radio will recognize.
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05-05-2013, 07:51 AM | #4 |
Jan
Drives: 2010 Camaro 1LT Red Jewel tintcoat Join Date: May 2010
Location: Springfield, TN
Posts: 16,226
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Okay as one of the old fart generation (those who do not work in a tech related job), you are still speaking greek. Just tell me what flash drive I can buy that will work. That is about as much as I can handle. But thanks for posting this info for the tech savy younguns' as this is a very frustrating issue.
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05-05-2013, 08:12 AM | #5 | |
knows 2 facts about ducks
Drives: ...and they're both wrong Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: The HMS Invincible
Posts: 25,072
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Quote:
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05-05-2013, 08:13 AM | #6 |
What's this button do?
Drives: 2019 Black 2SS Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: Wylie, Texas
Posts: 1,364
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I don't own 10,922 songs!
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05-05-2013, 08:25 AM | #7 | ||
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Here is one of my earlier posts about trying to get the indexing done right. It may be a little unrelated, but still has some good information about the system. Quote:
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05-05-2013, 08:37 AM | #8 |
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So , I another words , we better keep the IPHONE for now , till you come up with the APP for the Droid .
Fair enough ! |
05-05-2013, 08:38 AM | #9 | |
Drives: 2011 Camaro RS Join Date: May 2013
Location: Saint Paris, Ohio
Posts: 7
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what drives will work
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05-05-2013, 03:54 PM | #10 | |
Drives: Black ZL1 Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: City of Champions, Alabama
Posts: 3,698
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Quote:
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Check out Alabama Camaros, for Camaro enthusiasts all around Alabama https://www.facebook.com/groups/1739...group_activity
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05-05-2013, 04:08 PM | #11 | |
Drives: CGM 2SS/RS, 1987 & 2014 Silverado Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Spencerport, NY
Posts: 1,012
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Quote:
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05-05-2013, 08:33 PM | #12 | |
Jan
Drives: 2010 Camaro 1LT Red Jewel tintcoat Join Date: May 2010
Location: Springfield, TN
Posts: 16,226
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Quote:
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05-06-2013, 08:19 AM | #13 |
Founder - Michigan FBody
Drives: 1994 Camaro LT1, 2012 Camaro 2SS/RS Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: New Haven, MI
Posts: 2,599
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Been awhile since I've formatted a USB drive, but I wonder if you can make the same change to the block size while formatting for NTFS as you did for FAT32? I would imagine that it has to be able to read NTFS flash drives...
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2012 Camaro 2SS/RS L99 - "Zooma"
1994 Camaro LT1 A4 - "Red Alert" - v6-to-LT1 Swapped Cruiser; Cammed, Stalled, Enjoyed "Gone But Not Forgotten" 2016 Camaro 1LT A8 - "Elmo" 2014 Camaro 1LT M6 - "Cherry Bomb" 2012 Camaro 1LS M6 - "Clifford" Michigan FBody Association http://www.mifbody.com/ |
05-06-2013, 09:14 AM | #14 |
2015 SS 6M
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This is great work and a valuable contribution. Thanks to you.
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Tags |
compatibility, flash, usb |
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