Where did I go wrong

ben_e71 · 03-18-2014, 09:28 AM

Background

I have business nag, no EBT so just have the aux and usb port in the armrest to get outside music into the car.

I have a mac with all my music in iTunes folder. I copied the majority of this to a 64GB USB stick that was unformatted is MS-DOS mode.

After allowing the six hours for this to transfer I skipped out to the car full of excitement. Plugged USB in and nothing happened for a while - then it started playing the first album.

After that I tried to search ahead to other albums and it cannot play them as it claims they are unsupported format. All the albums appear to be the same mp4a format.

Also in the first screen the artists, albums, genres etc is greyed out and all I can do is search the folder.

What have I done wrong?

Thanks

PrinceBarin · 03-18-2014, 09:52 AM

Although I am no expert I use a USB in exactly the same setup and found that it takes time for the car to index the contents before the search folders (album, artist, genre) become available. Try leaving the USB in for a while and eventually it should come good.

I also found that sporadic tracks were "not supported" so deleted them and re-added. After that they worked but it was only 1-2 tracks per 100.

Rich9600 · 03-18-2014, 10:08 AM

Beyond the indexing time there is a file format issue that could be affecting you.

The car won't do ALAC files. However, it will do AAC. Do you have a mixture of these files?
I don't think you can go over 320kbps either.

ben_e71 · 03-18-2014, 11:12 AM

okay done some more digging yes the indexing is now sorted so things are no longer greyed out.

The file format thing is interesting, in some folders there are two versions of each file for example

Athlete/vehiclesandanimals/._01ElSalvodore

and

Athlete/vehiclesandanimals/01ElSalvodore

The first refuses to play the second plays fine ... but when I look at the memory stick those files aren't there on the mac.

weird

chiark · 03-18-2014, 11:20 AM

The files starting with a "." are hidden on unix (and mac) and are the spotlight indices I think... They're created automatically by your mac and are tiny.

ben_e71 · 03-18-2014, 11:25 AM

interestingly I think you are right because there are also three unusable invisible folders trashes and spotlight are two of them.

....,,,,..,,.. · 03-18-2014, 02:24 PM

Simplest way is to copy the album folders from iTunes and just drop on the root of a USB stick.

Make sure they are MP3.

If in doubt copy 1 cd in to iTunes and just copy that album to USB stick.

When you have mp3's Sus'd and it's working then try other formats.

ben_e71 · 03-18-2014, 03:17 PM

Actually that won't work if the USB stick is formatted for MSdos as the mac will always add the ._ versions. Having read a load of web pages the answer is to format the USB stick as HFS+ and it should work. I'll let you know in the morning.

brommy · 03-18-2014, 03:29 PM

I was trying to avoid iTunes and use Windows Media Player instead. Perhaps I should bite the bullet and use iTunes.

Dave_3 · 03-18-2014, 03:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by brommy

I was trying to avoid iTunes and use Windows Media Player instead. Perhaps I should bite the bullet and use iTunes.

I avoided itunes too, no problems - see here : http://www.f30post.com/forums/showpo...3&postcount=14

D.

chiark · 03-18-2014, 03:42 PM

You can also exclude the USB stick from being indexed which prevents the ._ files from being created in the first place

ben_e71 · 03-18-2014, 03:46 PM

Actually that won't work if the USB stick is formatted for MSdos as the mac will always add the ._ versions. Having read a load of web pages the answer is to format the USB stick as HFS+ and it should work. I'll let you know in the morning.

JustChris · 03-18-2014, 04:04 PM

always test first with only a couple of albums to check the format? sounds like you have the answer now though, good luck....

chiark · 03-18-2014, 04:21 PM

Go to system preferences, spotlight then the privacy tab. from there add /Volumes/your USB disk volume name
That way spotlight wont dump stuff on it, whether it's fat,ntfs or whatever... not all things support hfs+.

Works for me.

brommy · 03-18-2014, 04:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dave_3

I avoided itunes too, no problems - see here : http://www.f30post.com/forums/showpo...3&postcount=14

D.

Thanks. I'm okay with the first part of your post but I think I need a bit more explanation on the last paragragh.

Dave_3 · 03-18-2014, 04:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by brommy

Thanks. I'm okay with the first part of your post but I think I need a bit more explanation on the last paragragh.

I use the mp3tag program to check and see if all my mp3 files have album artwork associated with them. If they don't show any album artwork in the mp3tag program, you select all the files in your listed folder and load the album image (if you have played your files in Windows mediaplayer it downloads the album artwork to the same folder but it is usually a hidden file - you can change your options in Windows Explorer to show hidden files, you can change back afterwards ). Then update/save this to the files.

I am not at my laptop at the moment, I could take a few screen grabs if you want? This basically outline how to do it:

Add cover art & album art to your music (Mp3tag) - YouTube

D.

brommy · 03-18-2014, 06:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dave_3

I use the mp3tag program to check and see if all my mp3 files have album artwork associated with them. If they don't show any album artwork in the mp3tag program, you select all the files in your listed folder and load the album image (if you have played your files in Windows mediaplayer it downloads the album artwork to the same folder but it is usually a hidden file - you can change your options in Windows Explorer to show hidden files, you can change back afterwards ). Then update/save this to the files.

I am not at my laptop at the moment, I could take a few screen grabs if you want? This basically outline how to do it:

Add cover art & album art to your music (Mp3tag) - YouTube

D.

Thanks for the information.

I will give this a go tomorrow and report back.

ben_e71 · 03-21-2014, 12:39 AM

Okay so formatting as HFS didn't work as car couldn't read stick. You can in spotlight set privacy on the disk which stops the extra folders but not the ._ files.

None of the terminal commands that are meant to parse them work either.

So I think I'm going to have to put the stick into the PC and delete the files.

chiark · 03-21-2014, 02:20 AM

Adding to privacy works on recent versions on osx. You will need to delete the files manually if they're there already... You won't see them within finder on a mac so use a PC or the command line to delete em.
For more info see here: http://www.thexlab.com/faqs/stopspotlightindex.html

03-18-2014, 09:28 AM	#1
ben_e71 Private First Class 15 Rep 177 Posts Drives: 3 Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: UK iTrader: (0)	Where did I go wrong Background I have business nag, no EBT so just have the aux and usb port in the armrest to get outside music into the car. I have a mac with all my music in iTunes folder. I copied the majority of this to a 64GB USB stick that was unformatted is MS-DOS mode. After allowing the six hours for this to transfer I skipped out to the car full of excitement. Plugged USB in and nothing happened for a while - then it started playing the first album. After that I tried to search ahead to other albums and it cannot play them as it claims they are unsupported format. All the albums appear to be the same mp4a format. Also in the first screen the artists, albums, genres etc is greyed out and all I can do is search the folder. What have I done wrong? Thanks
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03-18-2014, 09:52 AM	#2
PrinceBarin Major 83 Rep 1,322 Posts Drives: F82 CP (sold) Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: Birmingham, UKWest iTrader: (0)	Although I am no expert I use a USB in exactly the same setup and found that it takes time for the car to index the contents before the search folders (album, artist, genre) become available. Try leaving the USB in for a while and eventually it should come good. I also found that sporadic tracks were "not supported" so deleted them and re-added. After that they worked but it was only 1-2 tracks per 100.
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03-18-2014, 10:08 AM	#3
Rich9600 Colonel 741 Rep 2,511 Posts Drives: i4 M50 Join Date: Nov 2013 Location: UK iTrader: (0)	Beyond the indexing time there is a file format issue that could be affecting you. The car won't do ALAC files. However, it will do AAC. Do you have a mixture of these files? I don't think you can go over 320kbps either. __________________ Driving i4 M50 (G26) Previous 340i Touring MSport (F31)
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03-18-2014, 11:12 AM	#4
ben_e71 Private First Class 15 Rep 177 Posts Drives: 3 Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: UK iTrader: (0)	okay done some more digging yes the indexing is now sorted so things are no longer greyed out. The file format thing is interesting, in some folders there are two versions of each file for example Athlete/vehiclesandanimals/._01ElSalvodore and Athlete/vehiclesandanimals/01ElSalvodore The first refuses to play the second plays fine ... but when I look at the memory stick those files aren't there on the mac. weird
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03-18-2014, 11:20 AM	#5
chiark Lieutenant 14 Rep 459 Posts Drives: F31 330D 2014 Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Yorkshire iTrader: (1)	The files starting with a "." are hidden on unix (and mac) and are the spotlight indices I think... They're created automatically by your mac and are tiny. Last edited by chiark; 03-18-2014 at 11:25 AM..
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03-18-2014, 11:25 AM	#6
ben_e71 Private First Class 15 Rep 177 Posts Drives: 3 Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: UK iTrader: (0)	interestingly I think you are right because there are also three unusable invisible folders trashes and spotlight are two of them.
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03-18-2014, 02:24 PM	#7
....,,,,..,,.. General 6733 Rep 20,651 Posts Drives: xxxx Join Date: Dec 2013 Location: xxxx iTrader: (0)	Simplest way is to copy the album folders from iTunes and just drop on the root of a USB stick. Make sure they are MP3. If in doubt copy 1 cd in to iTunes and just copy that album to USB stick. When you have mp3's Sus'd and it's working then try other formats.
	Appreciate 0 Quote

03-18-2014, 03:17 PM	#8
ben_e71 Private First Class 15 Rep 177 Posts Drives: 3 Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: UK iTrader: (0)	Actually that won't work if the USB stick is formatted for MSdos as the mac will always add the ._ versions. Having read a load of web pages the answer is to format the USB stick as HFS+ and it should work. I'll let you know in the morning.
	Appreciate 0 Quote

03-18-2014, 03:29 PM	#9
brommy Captain 32 Rep 633 Posts Drives: F30 335d Join Date: Dec 2013 Location: UK, North Worcs iTrader: (0)	I was trying to avoid iTunes and use Windows Media Player instead. Perhaps I should bite the bullet and use iTunes. __________________ 335d collected from TRL on 4/3/14
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03-18-2014, 03:42 PM	#11
chiark Lieutenant 14 Rep 459 Posts Drives: F31 330D 2014 Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Yorkshire iTrader: (1)	You can also exclude the USB stick from being indexed which prevents the ._ files from being created in the first place
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03-18-2014, 03:46 PM	#12
ben_e71 Private First Class 15 Rep 177 Posts Drives: 3 Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: UK iTrader: (0)	Actually that won't work if the USB stick is formatted for MSdos as the mac will always add the ._ versions. Having read a load of web pages the answer is to format the USB stick as HFS+ and it should work. I'll let you know in the morning.
	Appreciate 0 Quote

03-18-2014, 04:04 PM	#13
JustChris General 17488 Rep 25,115 Posts Drives: Tesla MYRWD Join Date: Jul 2013 Location: UK iTrader: (0)	always test first with only a couple of albums to check the format? sounds like you have the answer now though, good luck.... __________________ My car made front page of Bimmerpost
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03-18-2014, 04:21 PM	#14
chiark Lieutenant 14 Rep 459 Posts Drives: F31 330D 2014 Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Yorkshire iTrader: (1)	Go to system preferences, spotlight then the privacy tab. from there add /Volumes/your USB disk volume name That way spotlight wont dump stuff on it, whether it's fat,ntfs or whatever... not all things support hfs+. Works for me.
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03-21-2014, 12:39 AM	#18
ben_e71 Private First Class 15 Rep 177 Posts Drives: 3 Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: UK iTrader: (0)	Okay so formatting as HFS didn't work as car couldn't read stick. You can in spotlight set privacy on the disk which stops the extra folders but not the ._ files. None of the terminal commands that are meant to parse them work either. So I think I'm going to have to put the stick into the PC and delete the files.
	Appreciate 0 Quote

03-21-2014, 02:20 AM	#19
chiark Lieutenant 14 Rep 459 Posts Drives: F31 330D 2014 Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Yorkshire iTrader: (1)	Adding to privacy works on recent versions on osx. You will need to delete the files manually if they're there already... You won't see them within finder on a mac so use a PC or the command line to delete em. For more info see here: http://www.thexlab.com/faqs/stopspotlightindex.html
	Appreciate 0 Quote