Question for you guys:

If I set this up, i have a question about accessing the different folders.

If you have a folder on the hard drive called "Alice in Chains", and it has three album folders in that folder, what will i see when I scroll through the folders with the knob?

Just the top level folder, or the folders for the albums, too?

If I hit "play" on the Alice in Chains folder, will it play among all three folders, or sequentially across them?

Sorry if that doesn't make sense!

Just a quick question. Can this only be done in T4R's with the nav screen or can this be done in the SR5?

Hey Mike, How is the USB compared to using IPOD? Are the screen functions similar and fairly easy to scroll thru files like using an IPOD? I have 12K songs on my IPOD from ALOT of different artists and being able to scroll thru ARTIST>ALBUMS>SONG is very helpful when I dont feel like using the RANDOM function.

You don't see sub folders, it will just play sequentially but that sequence may not be the same on your drive as it appears on your computer, and if you press random it will play among those three. Pressing and holding random makes it pick from the whole drive.

Do you have a stock USB port?

It sucks. It's the slowest responding interface I've used since MusicMatch got bought by Yahoo! I've never tried using an iPod in it, sorry.

HAHA!!! Thanks, your reply of 'it sucks' paints a good enough picture. And your response to the Uberposter mod detailerextrodinaire answered my question.

Thanks Seattle Mike!

haha. Music match was so big and bulky. i still use winamp to play mp3s

I had a similar setup with another car, but used a SSD (solid state drive) hard drive instead of a traditional spinning media drive. SSD's are quite a bit more expensive, but they have a number of benefits:

• Reliability - SSDs have no moving parts and can handle much higher temps and bad environments. Perfect for a bumpy ride.
• Speed - they are much faster than hard drives, which helps when searching for songs, and spinning up initially when the car comes on.
• Longevity - SSDs are rated to last much longer than a standard hard drive, which is good for the car. Don't want to have to replace it anytime soon.
• Noise - this was more of a concern for me in the other car because of the location - might not be as big of an issue in the T4R because of it's location in the glove box. Hard drives whine a bit when running, while SSDs are slient.

You can get a 60GB SSD for around $100, and a case for about $20.

I use a USB stick and I see only subfolders. Top level folders doesn't appear in my screen at all. By the way to sort files alphabetically I use free program called Drivesort (Anerty's Lair - DriveSort). Otherwise subfolders and songs sorted by the order they were written on USB drive.

I just my 2010 4R-SR5 (no JBL or navi) last week. Mine doesn't have a USB port wired to the glove box. Does the factory radio have a USB input on the back?

No usb on back.

I know this is not what this thread is about - but thought I'd share I just purchased a used Ipod with a dead battery for $10. I just leave it permanently plugged in - makes for the easy folder sorting as I use Itunes for all the Meta data.

I hope I am not jacking this thread but this seems relevant.
I have all my music files stored/formatted in ALAC, apple's lossless format. Will that format work with the oem player in a '13? The reason I ask is I have a 64 gig drive I use for music and only some of the files will play. It doesn't seem to "like" certain files. When selected the player will search indefinitely trying to find the file. The only way to "reset" this behavior is to remove the micro drive. (Conversely, if it’s a file it "likes" it plays immediately.) All the files on the drive indicate they are in the same format. However it is possible some were converted from mp3. (Frankly can't remember, most all my music came off cd's.) Any help would be greatly appreciated.

According to the manual:

■USB memory
●Compatible device
USB memories that can be used for MP3 and WMA playback.
Depending on the type of USB device, playback may not be possible.
●Compatible device formats
The following device formats can be used:
• USB communication formats: USB2.0 FS (12 mbps)
• File formats: FAT16/32 (Windows)
• Correspondence class: Mass storage class
MP3 and WMA files written in any format other than those listed above
may not play correctly, and their file names and folder names may not
be displayed correctly.
Items related to standards and limitations are as follows:
• Maximum directory hierarchy: 8 levels
• Maximum number of folder in device: 999 (including the root)
• Maximum number of files in device: 65025
• Maximum number of files per folder: 255
●MP3 and WMA files
MP3 (MPEG Audio LAYER 3) is a standard audio compression format.
Files can be compressed to approximately 1/10 of their original size using
MP3 compression.
WMA (Windows Media Audio) is a Microsoft audio compression format.
This format compresses audio data to a size smaller than that of the MP3
format.
There is a limit to the MP3 and WMA file standards that can be used and to
the media/formats on which the files are recorded.

●MP3 file compatibility
• Compatible standards
MP3 (MPEG1 AUDIO LAYERII, III, MPEG2 AUDIO LAYERII, III,
MPEG2.5)
• Compatible sampling frequencies
MPEG1 AUDIO LAYERII, III: 32, 44.1, 48 (kHz)
MPEG2 AUDIO LAYERII, III: 16, 22.05, 24 (kHz)
MPEG2.5: 8, 11.025, 12 (kHz)
• Compatible bit rates (compatible with VBR)
MPEG1 AUDIO LAYERII, III: 32-320 (kbps)
MPEG2 AUDIO LAYERII, III: 32-160 (kbps)
MPEG2.5: 32-160 (kbps)
• Compatible channel modes: stereo, joint stereo, dual channel and
monaural
●WMA file compatibility
• Compatible standards
WMA Ver. 9
• Compatible sampling frequencies
HIGH PROFILE 32, 44.1, 48 (kHz)
• Compatible bit rates
HIGH PROFILE 32-320 (kbps, VBR)
●File names
The only files that can be recognized as MP3/WMA and played are those
with the extension .mp3 or .wma.
●ID3 and WMA tags
ID3 tags can be added to MP3 files, making it possible to record the track
title, artist name, etc.
The system is compatible with ID3 Ver. 1.0, 1.1, and Ver. 2.2, 2.3, 2.4 ID3
tags. (The number of characters is based on ID3 Ver. 1.0 and 1.1.)
WMA tags can be added to WMA files, making it possible to record the
track title and artist name in the same way as with ID3 tags.
●MP3 and WMA playback
When a device containing MP3 or WMA files is plugged, all files in the
USB memory device are first checked. Once the file check is finished, the
first MP3 or WMA file is played. To make the file check finish more quickly,
we recommend you do not write in any files other than MP3 or WMA files
or create any unnecessary folders.
●Extensions
If the file extensions .mp3 and .wma are used for files other than MP3 and
WMA files, they will be mistakenly recognized and played as MP3 and
WMA files. This may result in large amounts of interference and damage
to the speakers.
●Playback
• To play MP3 file with steady sound quality, we recommend a fixed bit
rate of at least 128 kbps and a sampling frequency of 44.1 kHz.
• There is a wide variety of freeware and other encoding software for
MP3 and WMA files on the market, and depending on the status of the
encoding and the file format, poor sound quality or noise at the start of
playback may result. In some cases, playback may not be possible at
all.

Thanks, I have reviewed all the information that Toyota provided as well as a great deal of online information. As far as I can determine from a number of forums is that it has nothing to do with the ALAC format rather the mpeg-4 or MP4 folder management format that apple uses as default in itunes. I am still trying to determine what the issue is and a solution. Hope to get back with an answer soon