The USB User Guide says that the USB tab should light up whenever a USB device is plugged in. Now, I realize that only iPods can take advantage of the full menu features, but non-iPods should be able to be controlled using the USB interface's Play, Pause, and Stop buttons ... shouldn't they?
Also, does anyone know if there is a list of USB Memory players that are supported by the 2010 Prius USB port? Thanks!
If you are referring to the USB on a Nav Unit it should support any USB device including thumb drives. I have used those myself and also my Droid phone. The UI is kinda klunky and is disabled while the car is moving so has limited functionality.
Thanks. I was indeed referring to the USB on the NAV. I have had success with a 16Gb thumb drive, but no luck with my recently purchased Creative ZEN X-Fi 32Gb MP3 player.
First, all of the mp3's you want to play need to reside on the ZEN X-Fi's memory card. Then, do this (per your X-Fi manual): =========== Transferring Files to and from Your Memory Card The memory card in your player is considered a removable disk by your computer. This means that on your computer, you can use familiar Windows® operations to transfer files to and from your memory card. 1. In the main menu, select Memory Card. 2. Select Removable Disk. ============ This is what makes your memory card appear the same as a USB Stick. At this point, you should be able to connect to the USB port, and the NAV should be able to see the mp3 files on the memory card, and you can play them via the USB tab of the NAV......Theoretically. Hope this helps.
I've experimented with this lightly, and so far, I would say probably not. It does work sometimes with my iPod but it seems to do something strange to the iPod. Instead of trying to work natively with it, it seems to put the iPod into an undocked state (safe to remove) and then it seems to read the file system directly. It doesn't actually let the iPod handle the access to the files. At least, that's my hypothesis right now. My cell phone is designed to mimic an iPod, but the car won't even recognize it through USB at all. So it looks like there's some proprietary meddling going on. Likewise, the iPad isn't recognized through the USB interface either, so I bet future generations of iPods won't have the same successes as the earlier ones. I think it's safe to say that any mp3 player that has a proprietary encryption and/or filesystem (like the Zen) is likely to be a no-go on the compatibility front.
Ah, Bingo! I think you hit it right on the head with the proprietary theory. So, I have copied my most loved mp3s from my ZEN onto a 16Gb thumb drive and set the USB interface to random play and that's that! ... Actually, using the thumb stick is a cleaner way to go -- no playing with the mp3 player's interface while driving or anything unsafe like that. The thumb stick is a set it and forget it solution ---
Interesting - If you can transfer files from Windows to the zen memory card having it appear like a removable drive, then it isn't a proprietary file system or encryption. Wonder why it doesn't work on your Zen? This method works with my other mp3 players as well as my phone, when I "mount" the memory card as described above. Sorry it didn't work for you - but I agree, the USB stick approach is simpler - that's what I do as well.
