DigitalWidgets

FWIW, I tried to do the same with a 120Gig USB hard drive (i.e. format to FAT32 and load with music).....didn't work on my 2011. I do have a 32Gb USB stick (tiny little thing) that only cost $30....and it works great (thousands of songs).

subvett

Interesting. I used Maxtor Blast softare to reformat to FAT32. I think you need to ensure the FAT32 supports hard drives greater than 32GB (original FAT32 only supported up to 32GB). Let me know if you can get this to work.

Are you saying you are using a thumb drive in your 2011? If so, this is good news. Now I just need to know if I can retro my 2009. Do you have control thru your nav/steering?

From MaxBlast Manual[

A.2.2 FAT32
The FAT32 file system was introduced in Windows 95 OSR2. It is also supported by
Windows 98/Me/2000/XP. FAT32 is an evolved version of FAT16. Its main
differences from FAT16 are 28-bit cluster numbers and a more flexible root, whose
size is unlimited. The reasons FAT32 appeared are the support of large hard discs
(over 8GB in capacity) and the impossibility of implementing any more complex file
system into MS-DOS, which is still the basis for Windows 98/Me.
The maximum FAT32 disc size is 2 terabytes [/COLOR](1 terabyte, or TB, is equal to 1024
gigabytes, or GB).

DigitalWidgets

Yes I'm using a 32Gb thumb drive in my 2011 (stock NAV unit). I didn't format it when I bought it, so I'm assuming it came formatted with FAT32 (I'm a computer programmer, and I can check for you, but I just don't have the USB stick close to check). I didn't buy anything special....some off brand name at the local Micro Center ($30).

I have 20 folders on it. Some with only 20-30 songs, others with over 1000 songs. The track select on the head unit allows you to navigate into any of the folders (note: track select chokes trying to scroll through the actual song list in any folder with over like 50 songs). The steering wheel controls control previous and next songs just great (along with the up and down select rocker on the left side of the head unit). The Random playback works fine and is a work around for getting to like the 800th song in a folder with over 1000 (set playback to random, then next, next, next till you get close to the track number, then just use up and down on the steering wheel.....not ideal, but workable).

Not as much as a actual drive, but it's an awful lot of music at your fingertips.

Corvettinator

So if you have a 2011 with USB a PAL would just be redundant?

barry1me

back up.....anyone able to retrofit 06-10 C6s with the new USB hookup in the 2011s?

LucaBrasiAZ

and back down in
3
2
1

Turbo6TA

So, let me get this straight ... I have a 2011 GS without NAV.

1. That little round plug on the radio is just for a set of headphones .. right?

2. There is nothing I can do to actually plug in an alternate source of music on this car so as to listen it over the car's audio system and speakers?

3. The car does have "bluetooth", but I understand that is only for use with cellphones that are bluetooth capable (basically hands-free cellphones)?

4. So, as far as music is concerned, all that I can listen to is the radio or CDs + MP3 CDs?

5. I can't listen to music from an I-Pod since the I-Pod can't be plugged directly into the car's audio system?

Thank's

talon90

No, actually that little plug is an auxiliary "in" not out (like for head phones). You would plug a 3.5mm jack from the headphone jack of your phone or MP3 player and select the aux in on the radio and it will play what is on your MP3 player through the radio and out the cars speakers.

Turbo6TA

Thank's a bunch!

mikeCsix

Don't feel bad, it took me a while to find these ports too. There was no mention made in the owner's manual about where to find them, at least not that I found in the radio section. The funny thing about it is, once I found it, I also found the same pair of connections in my wife's 2011 Equinox. We hadn't found any references in her owner's manual either. I installed her favorite music in MP3 format on her Android so she could listen to her music without carrying around her CD's. Needless to say she was delighted - happy wife, happy life. My next project is to find some smallish usb sticks to install her music too so she can control it from the main radio.

Tarl

This was a BIG plus for me on buying my left over 2011 C6 Coupe 3LT versus the 2011 GS 1LT I was looking at.

I've owned a 2010 Camaro since 2009 and had my 16GB Flash drive plugged in listening to about 2000 songs. The 1LT GS did NOT have a USB port or anyway to plug in the flash drive. I did however have an FM transmitter so I plugged my smartphone into the transmitter and tuned into the suggested FM channel and had music. Worked the same with the 3.5mm AUX in cable.

I wanted the electronics, ie HUD, touchscreen and the USB port. Works like a charm...I'm experimenting thou. In the Camaro I had to make 4 directories, ie MusicA, B, C and D because after a certain number of files the PAL would not find the songs because of some limit in it's capabilities.

I have those same flash drive with those directories now in the Vette and I'm experimenting on if the system will recognize ALL songs from ALL directories or do I have to copy all the music into one directory. Is there a button to press for the PAL to recognize and play ALL files in ALL directories in a random order?

Seems I pressed afew buttons and now it randomly plays songs from one directory only, not all four of them.

hig4s

OK, next question.. I have read all this thread, and several others on USB ports, and I still do not have a clear picture..

I have a 2011 2LT no NAV, no USB, and has Bluetooth, but it won't play music, can I just add the USB?

simplegto

My 2011 2LT has the input hole and it works fine. You just need a double male MP3 cord and use a MP3 player or your phone. Plug it in and the radio sees it and you are good to go.

hig4s

I have that, but the level and quality is not very good, and I'd rather not have an ugly cord hanging out of the dash.

mikeCsix

Thanks for the tip regarding the format on the USB sticks. I'll try it on one that didn't work previously. Out of the 4 - 5 sticks I had laying around, only one worked. So far, can't be encrypted or need a password to gain access.

Also, I have a 2012 GS 3LT, went through the owners manual on the Infotainment system and they do not mention the type or brand of USB, they don't mention the USB and they mention the MP3 jack as being on the front of the radio, not in the console.

mikeCsix

Happy to report back, reformatting the USB I had worked! It was one of the older 16GB types that wasn't recognized the first time around. Thanks again for the tip.

DigitalWidgets

Yeah, now that I've had it for a while, there's only two ways for me: The iPhone (Pandora, Slacker, iHeart Radio, etc.) with the iPhone to USB cable, or my little 32Gb USB stick stuffed to the gills with music and podcasts:



Although, that thing is about the size of a penny....do you think it's throwing the weight distribution of the car off?

mikeCsix

Yep, you're gonna need wider tires....

Leifmb

I am working on a 05-10 USB retrofit. So far I can do everything EXCEPT source the USB cable itself from the rear of the radio to the center console harness plug. Does anyone know the PART NUMBER or able to source the cable? It's simply the Forward (I/P portion) USB cable. There are two pieces of it, one for the console that joins to the forward cable that plugs into the radio. ANYONE?

Tarl

I have a question, still USB related. Initially I had four (4) directories on my flash stick (16GB). They were labelled MusicA, B, C and D. Each had about 1.5GB of music per directory (or folder). The radio would only cycle thru and play the songs from one folder at a time. ie, I would pic Music A and it would cycle either in succession or randomly thru all the music in folder A, but it would NOT include folders B,C or D unless I manually changed into those directories. I could use the steering wheel controls (or the seek button) on the unit itself and move up or down songs with both track select (in alphabetical order) or random with NO issues.

I wanted to try and be able to use the random command and cycle thru ALL the songs in all the folders so I hooked the flash drive up to my computer, moved all the songs (1000+) into the root directory and deleted the empty folders (ie, A,B,C and D).

Plugged it back into the car and NOW, I can hear all the music either randomly or in order, HOWEVER, I can no longer use the seek command or the steering wheel controls to go back a song. I can only go forward a song. If I hit the back button now it only restarts the current song, it does NOT move to the previous played song.

I didn't like that so I took out the drive again re-made the four folders and placed about 300 songs in each one, so I'm back to NOT being able to play randomly thru all the folders, but now I still cannot back button to any previous played songs. Hitting the back button only restarts the current song. I can move forward to the next song (both in random and track select) but I'm not able to go backwards.

Hopefully what I'm describing makes sense. Anybody else experience this? I may have to just copy ALL the songs onto my computer, re-format the drive (it is already FAT32) and then re-copy all the songs back onto it again to see if it fixed the problem.