USB drive playlists

[artmem]

I remember seeing a comment in another thread that said there was a limit of 250 items per playlist. Is that true?

I currently have a USB drive with about 2500 songs on it, and one playlist that contains everything, so i can play it on random. It takes forever to load (about an hour), and I know there are songs on it that have never been played, but I'm pretty sure it's played more than 250 different songs.

Anyway, if that is the limit, would it speed things up if i broke it up into 10 playlists of 250 songs each, instead of one giant 2500 song list, or would that not make a difference?

[schatzy62]

I do not belieive that anyone has been able to prove that there is a limit. But the fact that it take so long to lead is probably caused by the large play list. Others have had a bunch of smaller play lists and not had a problem with loading time being very long.

The only way to know for sure is to split it up and try it.

[zanary]

I'm thinking it's not the large playlist, but the number of tags you have in total for all the songs. There is a limit in the Mini as the tags are written to memory when the USB drive is scaned whent he Mini is started.

You might want to consider removing all tags except for the absolutely needed one (ie, Artist, Album, Track Name, etc...). Remember to also remove any album art as well.

[artmem]

I removed most of the tags, and broke up the large playlist into several smaller ones. I'll report back on what happens.

[schatzy62]

Originally Posted by zanary

I'm thinking it's not the large playlist, but the number of tags you have in total for all the songs. There is a limit in the Mini as the tags are written to memory when the USB drive is scaned whent he Mini is started.

You might want to consider removing all tags except for the absolutely needed one (ie, Artist, Album, Track Name, etc...). Remember to also remove any album art as well.

artmem has already taken all but a few tags our of each track before creating the big play list. This is all in another thread.

From my experience large play lists are a problem. basically what happens is tha t the system goes thru all the music and the redoes it as it loads the play list which then does the job a second time and that is where the lag time comes in.

[nicknbecka]

Originally Posted by artmem

I remember seeing a comment in another thread that said there was a limit of 250 items per playlist. Is that true?

The 255 item per playlist limit only happens with the dealer-installed secret compartment kit. It connects as a CD changer, so it has some limitations you don't get with the USB port version.

[artmem]

Originally Posted by nicknbecka

The 255 item per playlist limit only happens with the dealer-installed secret compartment kit. It connects as a CD changer, so it has some limitations you don't get with the USB port version.

That's good to know. I think the one big playlist is the problem. Removing the extra tags helped with the initial load time -- music starts playing in less than a minute now, but I left the large playlist on the drive, in addition to the smaller ones, and it is still taking too long to load all of the nav options. I haven't been driving much this week, but I'm going to remove the big list and see what happens.

[artmem]

Update: I got rid of the "everything" playlist, and no change.

I've got about 2500 songs, and ten playlists of 250 songs each, and it still takes about an hour to load all of the nav options. I think I'm going to start removing songs to see if it makes a difference.

[Hmmm]

I am starting to notice if I don't unplug my thumb drive, the next time I start the car, it's much much quicker at loading.

[artmem]

i generally leave it plugged in. It starts playing quickly -- usually less than a minute, but it takes nearly an hour for all of the nav to load (playlists, artist, genre, etc.)