Tonight i just heard of another person hooking a hard drive with mp3s on it and hooking it to their cd player. I am wondering how this can be done? or can it be?. i have an Alpine CDA-9807. Has anyone heard of this also? any information would he helpful

 

I was curious bout that also.. i remember seeing autozone selling a car cd/mp3 stereo with a usb infront for those flashmemory/usb sticks. it reads mp3s off the memory card and plays it.. simple enough but i know it is possible to get a harddrive that connections to computers though only usb. now i wonder.

 

Although I am a no0b when it comes to computers, I do know a fair amount about car audio, and have found that, nothing is impossible, the impossible only takes longer and costs more money.

I do know Alpine has a HU CDA-9820 that is MM Driver (Hard Disc Drive) Ready.

I also know that your HU CDA- 9807 has an AUX input mode, a KCA-121B or KCA-410C is needed.

My limited knowledge about computers tells me you will need a way to control the hard drive, [a computer] to make it work 94

 

i think you need either a "carputer" or an ipod...

*edit*
http://forums.clubrsx.com/show...unt=1

check that out on crsx...

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by fcm &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"> My limited knowledge about computers tells me you will need a way to control the hard drive, [a computer] to make it work 94</TD></TR></TABLE>

The way a USB memory stick is read is different then how a USB hard drive is read. So I would say there is a 95% chance that it wont work.

5% maybe, depends on how Alpine designed it. Don't need a computer just something that know how to read a harddrive.

Apple Ipods are harddrives just smaller ones. They are usually CF harddrives.

 

just google them dogg, im sure ull find everything u need there... they run around 1000ish... i think

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by nsxxtreme &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

The way a USB memory stick is read is different then how a USB hard drive is read. So I would say there is a 95% chance that it wont work.

5% maybe, depends on how Alpine designed it. Don't need a computer just something that know how to read a harddrive.

Apple Ipods are harddrives just smaller ones. They are usually CF harddrives.</TD></TR></TABLE> OIC.... I now know twice as much about computers as I did 1/2 an hr ago, for instance, I did not know that the iPod used a hard drive, I also did not know that there was something that could read/control a hard drive except a computer, or that a USB memory stick is read differently then a USB hard drive, so does that mean I actually know three times as much about computers now?

BTW, I am not being sarcastic, my technical knowledge of computers is limited to how to turn them on, reboot one if it starts doing weird stuff, how to "surf the net", and if it wasn't stupid easy, do a Google search, and how to "safely" turn it off when I am done, [and that took some time, I would just hit the power switch before, till the day my sister damn **** her pants when I did that and lost a few hr. of her accounting work ] 94

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by fcm &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"> I would just hit the power switch before, till the day my sister damn **** her pants when I did that and lost a few hr. of her accounting work ] 94</TD></TR></TABLE>
If your using XP it isn't as big of a deal. XP will shut down properly when the power switch is hit. You still may loose things that have not been saved.

This was more of a problem with older OS. They would just shut off. XP takes control off this from the hardware.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by White Guy 2005 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">they run around 1000ish... i think</TD></TR></TABLE> Really is that all? since i use $100 bills as toilet paper, that shouldnt be a problem for me to spend that much.(j/k, not aiming it at u, just the price of the hard drive kits. i found some on google for $700:-( )

 

wipe your *** a few less times and you have your setup right there

 

Speaking of irrelevant topics...thank you for the input Bill Gates...i thought I was at pcworld.com...but good to know the sutulties of windows xp anyway....

 

I don't know how many songs anyone who does this usb thing would want, but you can get like 2 gigabytes of space on a USB Flashcard for 200 or less depending on if you know someone or you find a good liquidation sale. A good idea if your HU had a 1/8" input on it would be to get a cord with two 1/8" connectors and plug up your laptop with probably about 16 gigs+ of memory and go crazy with all the songs you could have. That is of course assuming that you have a laptop(not everyone is fortunate enough to have one sad to say). OH **** and not to mention if you did accomplish hooking up your laptop that way and you feel like it you could watch dvd's in your car with surround sound. That is also assuming that you have a system or just speakers that work. Anyway I just wanted to give some ideas if anyone cares then awsome, if not then whatever.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by fkguitar &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I don't know how many songs anyone who does this usb thing would want, but you can get like 2 gigabytes of space on a USB Flashcard for 200 or less depending on if you know someone or you find a good liquidation sale. A good idea if your HU had a 1/8" input on it would be to get a cord with two 1/8" connectors and plug up your laptop with probably about 16 gigs+ of memory and go crazy with all the songs you could have. That is of course assuming that you have a laptop(not everyone is fortunate enough to have one sad to say). OH **** and not to mention if you did accomplish hooking up your laptop that way and you feel like it you could watch dvd's in your car with surround sound. That is also assuming that you have a system or just speakers that work. Anyway I just wanted to give some ideas if anyone cares then awsome, if not then whatever.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Better yet would be a head unit that would be a head unit that allows the original idea of this thread - one that allows you to plug in an external HDD. For less than the cost of even an iPod Nano, you can buy a 200+GB internal hard drive and USB enclosure. Or go bigger if you want, as hard rives are quite cheap if you can pick one up on sale at, say, Fry's. The number of songs you could get on such a setup would put any iPod to shame........and cost ALOT less. But only if such a head unit was made.

Of course, you would need power for the hard drive. But that's certainly no big deal. If nothing else, you could buy a small inverter to plug it into.

 

I don't know a whole lot about car audio but I was looking around at different head units and found this cheapo Wal-Mart brand Roadmaster, I'm sure you all have heard of it. But anyway, I was looking around on the http://www.vr-3.com (Roadmaster) website and they say they have a HU that has a USB port on the front of it. From their website it says "USB Plug N’ Play™ Play MP3s From Your USB Drive" and I was wondering if that means you could buy a 2gb flash drive and use it as a MP3 player ($89 2gb flash drive http://www.portablecomponents....d=308).

If this was true then you could buy a large hard drive and an external case for it (they make USB external cases that use the power from USB so no power cable) and then maybe just put the hard drive somewhere and use it like that. I downloaded the user manual for the Road master website and it says that when you put a USB drive in the USB port on the HU it will automatically start palying the first song.

So do you think this would work and is there any other manufacturer that makes a HU with a USB port?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by alupso &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I don't know a whole lot about car audio but I was looking around at different head units and found this cheapo Wal-Mart brand Roadmaster, I'm sure you all have heard of it. But anyway, I was looking around on the http://www.vr-3.com (Roadmaster) website and they say they have a HU that has a USB port on the front of it. From their website it says "USB Plug N’ Play™ Play MP3s From Your USB Drive" and I was wondering if that means you could buy a 2gb flash drive and use it as a MP3 player ($89 2gb flash drive http://www.portablecomponents....d=308).

If this was true then you could buy a large hard drive and an external case for it (they make USB external cases that use the power from USB so no power cable) and then maybe just put the hard drive somewhere and use it like that. I downloaded the user manual for the Road master website and it says that when you put a USB drive in the USB port on the HU it will automatically start palying the first song.

So do you think this would work and is there any other manufacturer that makes a HU with a USB port?

</TD></TR></TABLE>

These decks ARE made to read mp3s from flash drives. So yes, you can buy a flash drive and just click and drag your files over. But keep in mind that there MAY be limitations as to how large a flash drive you could use. 2GB may not be supported. But you would really need to read the manual to find out for sure.

As for an external hard drive, the answer is probably no. USB hard drives are not read the same way as flash drives. And it is highly doubtful that the deck can read them. Also, only 2.5 inch HDD enclosures are USB powered. The more common 3.5 inch enclosures require external power.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by StorminMatt &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

These decks ARE made to read mp3s from flash drives. So yes, you can buy a flash drive and just click and drag your files over. But keep in mind that there MAY be limitations as to how large a flash drive you could use. 2GB may not be supported. But you would really need to read the manual to find out for sure.

As for an external hard drive, the answer is probably no. USB hard drives are not read the same way as flash drives. And it is highly doubtful that the deck can read them. Also, only 2.5 inch HDD enclosures are USB powered. The more common 3.5 inch enclosures require external power.</TD></TR></TABLE>

I looked in the manual for that deck and it doesn't say anything about the size limitation of the drive so you would probably have to call them and ask.

You are right about the 3.5 drives needing power but you can pick up a 40gb 2.5 laptop drive for about $60 new so that might be possible.

 

I wanted to get an ipod for my new setup, but then let that idea go 'cause of "don't want to spend too much". Anyway, ebay has ipods for around $200. Buy a 80gb laptop hd and swap it. This should not be more than $300 altogether.