JBL Stereo/NAV USB

[fraggy]

I can use the USB key on my limited; however, the order in which the songs in a folder are played differs from other devices. It appears that they are played in the order in which you load them on the key, rather than the order in which they are display on a computer when viewing the files. Anyone else experience this. Are there USB key manufacturers that work better than others? I am using SanDisk 2GB.

 

[jreiter]

You are correct. It simply shows the files and folders in the order in which they physically exist on the file system. It unfortunately doesn't do any sorting. There is a way around that, though. There are utilities which will physically re-order the filesystem on your USB key to specifically combat the lack of sorting on so many audio players. I use a utility called DriveSort:

Anerty's Lair - DriveSort

Just copy all the files you want onto your flashdrive, then run DriveSort on it to re-order the files and folders in just about any way you want (including alphabetically).

 

[jreiter]

One other thing to watch out for: Avoid long folder and file names. The display on the nav unit can show roughly 24 characters before the folder/filename scrolls off the screen. If you have too many folders/files that scroll of the screen, it can make the listing of folders/files *extremely* slow and sometimes not even work at all. I went through and truncated all my folders on my flashdrive down to a length that would show on the nav screen, and it sped things up tremendously.

For example, rather than having a folder called:
Lady Gaga - The Fame Monster (Super Ultra Deluxe Whatever Edition)

Cut it down to something like:
Lady Gaga - Fame Monster

Do that for all the files and folders. It's a pain, but you'll be happier in the end.