I've had my 2010 MCS for about three weeks now and I just have to say I am very happy with how integrated the USB interface is.

Complete mp3 tag integration, list by artist, album and genre (as well as directory), looks like it even has playlist support, which I haven't tried yet.

It remembers my settings across starting and stopping the engine and even if I remove and replace the same USB drive.

Well done, MINI, no more clunky aux cable or constantly recharging the mp3 player!

 

I agree, I like the whole playing off the USB stick thing! It took me a couple of tries to find a compatible USB stick though. I did read somewhere in these forums that the USB access can be a little slow and the way to cure that is to remove the extra information in the MP3 tags. I went through the ones I copied to the stick and did that but I can't say I noticed any difference, did you try anything like that?

 

I love the USB interface too. I haven't really thought to myself that it was slow, however the initiation time could be faster. I created .m3u playlists with Foobar.

FWIW it sees my Iphone 3Gs as a USB drive not as an Ipod. The only drawback ii that it does not recognize the Iphone playlists, but I am still able to scroll through by MP3 tags.

 

No, but I'm only using a 2mb flash drive right now and don't plan to go larger than 8mb. I haven't had any problems with the MINI, but I have had quite a few problems with large flash drives and the way various devices read the entire drive when you plug it in. Makes them seem very slow and clunky until things get loaded up.

 

D'oh! 2gb and 8gb of course. Those would be really small flash drives. Blame it on after lunch brain lag.

I also see I probably should have put this in the Nav&Audio forum.

 

I love it too. Don't make the same mistake I did though and get a 16gb and fill it full. It takes forever to sync.

A couple smaller ones is better.

 

the usb works fine, but it still wont charge my ipod or iphone with the provided cable

 

blame apple.

 

No, I blame Mini because it's their fault. It's not hard to make an ipod integration that works and charges your ipod, but I guess it was too much for Mini.

 

NO. it is APPLES fault. Apple decided to change the voltage it charges it's equipment with. The newer devices will not use the same chargers as the earlier ones.

Get an older ipod or get the newer cable that had to be designed to work with APPLE'S change and it should work just fine.

Try reading this:
http://www.broadbandreports.com/foru...harger-voltage

 

Well my ipod is a 4th generation ipod color and its at least 5 years old and it does not charge either so its Mini's fault. When did they come out with a new cable? Because I did have my cable replaced about half a year ago because it shorted out.

 

There is a fix. You can either get it fixed or keep complaining. It works for everyone else who got the correct cable for their generation ipod.

Your statement that MINI is incapable of making a simple usb charger work for Apple is incorrect.

 

Alright Jim McDowell, I'll see if Mini will give me a new cable.

 

What audio option to have the USB?

 

I'm using a 16GB Kingston stick which is about 75% full and it doesn't seem to be slow at all, but I haven't unplugged it from the MINI since the inital install so maybe it hasn't had to resync.

 

FYI, I did a project in college (engineering) on charging Apple devices that I almost bombed simply because of this issue of charging/not-charging from 3rd party devices. All of the iPhone models except the first one (so 3G, 3GS, 4G) have a hardware integration that blocks 3rd party chargers. This was Apple's way of blocking outside parties from developing charging/syncing devices and forcing people to buy from so-called "Apple-approved vendors", or companies like Belkin who pay Apple a portion of every Apple-device-accessory sold. Lastly, recent firmware updates have blocked almost all older 3-rd party players..my Sony radio that worked with my 2G and 3GS (pre iOS 4.0 update). It didn't charge my 3GS but still played music..iOS4 blocked even my ability to play music, rendering my $300 Sony system useless
It's utterly ridiculous of Apple and it's not outside vendors' (i.e. Sony, MINI, etc) fault.

The reason your iPod probably doesn't work is the layout of the pin connector changed ever so slightly. Voltage regulation also changed. I have one too (well, the video one, back from 2004) and it works with older connectors, but not new ones. More recent chargers probably send it slightly haywire too.

I love Apple products, I have a laptop, been a firm supported of the iPod line, and love my iPhone, and will probably move to an iMac later on in life when a laptop is useless to me. But some of their business practices are downright shady (don't even get me started on their "protected" music), but it makes it one of the most successful companies around at the same time. Go Steve

 

While Apple does check to make sure a "proper" charger has been connected, there's nothing "smart" in the charger itself. However, the charging circuits HAVE changed from generation to generation. Here's a history from someone who has reverse-engineered the chargers each time Apple has changed them:

http://www.ladyada.net/make/mintyboost/icharge.html

 

THAT is why I don't have the iPod or iPhone! I won't dispute their marketing though, any kind of accessory you want for those devices you can find, smucks like me can't find the same cool stuff for devices we use (Creative Nomad 5GB 6 years old and still going + Creative Zen +3 years old but has issues occasionally.).

 

Yup, it's not the charger, it's the physical device. We know it's a hardware/firmware relation too because a regular 3G with the current firmware (at the time iOS 3.2) wouldn't work. A 3GS, regardless of firmware, wouldn't work. A 2G worked. And, much to our happiness, a jailbroken 3G worked. 3GS and 4G has a nice little Texas Instrument chip regulating charge. The 3G was based off a firmware update. The 2G doesn't seem to matter.

It was rather interesting finding this all out. Our project was a "green" charger, and we thought dealing with the iPod/charging part would be the easiest. Turns out we had to do A LOT of research to find out the correct charging voltage/current accepted by iPods/iPhones and then we got into the whole "why does her 2G work and not my 3GS?". That was a snakepit, but in the end, our report only gained from this troubleshooting and we learned a ridiculous amount, not only about electronics, but about the business behind consumer electronics.
Also, that site you mentioned was our first stepping stone into this realm Great site, and great project!

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