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      08-27-2012, 10:49 AM   #1
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USB External Hard-drives in the glove compartment USB

So.. I can't seem to get the USB in the glove compartment to recognize a thumb drive or a small portable hard-drive. They both work in the USB under the arm rest. Any ideas?

Can you only have one of the two working at the same time? Because I had a ipod connected to one when I was trying the USB in the glove compartment.
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      08-27-2012, 11:20 AM   #2
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Quote:
Originally Posted by sonicgrounds View Post
So.. I can't seem to get the USB in the glove compartment to recognize a thumb drive or a small portable hard-drive. They both work in the USB under the arm rest. Any ideas?

Can you only have one of the two working at the same time? Because I had a ipod connected to one when I was trying the USB in the glove compartment.
The USB port in the glove box is only for importing music onto the HD, or for importing/exporting user profiles.

You can't play music directly from the USB port in the glove box, only the port in the arm rest.

I don't know why BMW designed it that way, but that's the way it is.

I tried putting a USB HUB in the armrest USB port to see if I could connect multiple thumb drives, but that didn't work either. The still only showed one of the drives.

That's one of the reasons I got BMW Assist; it allows me to stream music from my Blackberry and iPhone without using a USB port.
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      09-04-2012, 05:29 AM   #3
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for me nothing is working even the usb,ipod or iphone connection,any recommendations????
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      09-05-2012, 02:13 AM   #4
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just came back from the dealership,they gonna change the usb unit cause its not workin' at all,will receive the car by the end of the day,will feed u back
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      09-06-2012, 04:18 PM   #5
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just received the car from the dealership...they changed the software and the Y cable as well,i've tried the Ipod Classic 160gb workin' fine,and a 8gb flash usb drive,workin perfectly, couldn't ask for more actually,now im enjoyin the car after a huge turn off
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      10-06-2012, 10:12 PM   #6
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Can you use a thumb drive to upload to the glove box USB? Will it only recognize apple? I wanted to load onto the harddrive via a thumbdrive in the glove box but to no avail.
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      10-07-2012, 12:27 AM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by verbs View Post
Can you use a thumb drive to upload to the glove box USB? Will it only recognize apple? I wanted to load onto the harddrive via a thumbdrive in the glove box but to no avail.
USB sticks work fine in the glove box USB port.

If you want to load music onto the HD, you have to do it through the USB port in the glove box. The USB in the armrest is for playback only.

Media -> Options -> Music data import/export -> Import music (USB)

I've done it lots of times. It can take a while (30-60 seconds) after you plug the USB stick in before the car will recognize it being there.
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      10-09-2012, 01:01 AM   #8
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Heres one for you. I plugged in my wifes Ipod Shuffle into the arm rest USB. The Shuffle has 60 some songs loaded and they all play just fine with headset. When plugged into the car, only 1 thru 21 play. If you hit the arrow button to move to the next song when on 21, it goes back to number 1. Not sure why this would happen, very odd.
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      10-09-2012, 08:47 AM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by pkancel View Post
Heres one for you. I plugged in my wifes Ipod Shuffle into the arm rest USB. The Shuffle has 60 some songs loaded and they all play just fine with headset. When plugged into the car, only 1 thru 21 play. If you hit the arrow button to move to the next song when on 21, it goes back to number 1. Not sure why this would happen, very odd.
I've used an iPod nano without problems. Is you shuffle's firmware up to date?
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      01-12-2013, 07:42 PM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by verbs View Post
Can you use a thumb drive to upload to the glove box USB? Will it only recognize apple? I wanted to load onto the harddrive via a thumbdrive in the glove box but to no avail.
You can use any thumbdrive/zip drive to upload songs from the glovebox USB. It will recognize any drives. As far as I know apple doesn'ty maske zip drives.
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      01-16-2013, 10:47 PM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Frogman View Post
The USB port in the glove box is only for importing music onto the HD, or for importing/exporting user profiles.

You can't play music directly from the USB port in the glove box, only the port in the arm rest.

I don't know why BMW designed it that way, but that's the way it is.

I tried putting a USB HUB in the armrest USB port to see if I could connect multiple thumb drives, but that didn't work either. The still only showed one of the drives.

That's one of the reasons I got BMW Assist; it allows me to stream music from my Blackberry and iPhone without using a USB port.

I want to say that you can also use the Glove Box USB to update the software under connected drive
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      01-17-2013, 12:10 AM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mjmonjure View Post
I want to say that you can also use the Glove Box USB to update the software under connected drive
where do you find software updates?
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      01-17-2013, 10:04 AM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by m1kal View Post
where do you find software updates?

This is the bluetooth update.

http://www.f30post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=783879

Put it on a USB stick and put it into the arm rest USB port (not the glove box) and go to Settings -> Software Update.
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      02-06-2013, 06:15 AM   #14
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I have a quick question, but i may just get around to trying it later and let you all know.

I was going to buy a 64gb thumbdrive to plug into the armrest (my 32gb just isn't enough!), but then thought, hang on, a 500gb portable drive is the same kind of money so will one of them work in the armrest port?

I know they are powered by the USB so that may be an issue, but does anyone know if this will work?

Thanks
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      02-06-2013, 11:52 AM   #15
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Quote:
Originally Posted by slayaz View Post
I have a quick question, but i may just get around to trying it later and let you all know.

I was going to buy a 64gb thumbdrive to plug into the armrest (my 32gb just isn't enough!), but then thought, hang on, a 500gb portable drive is the same kind of money so will one of them work in the armrest port?

I know they are powered by the USB so that may be an issue, but does anyone know if this will work?

Thanks
I just tested my WD external HDD in the armrest USB port and it works fine.

But...

I don't use it because it's still spinning media and I worry about a sudden jolt crashing the HDD heads. I don't think these drives are designed to be jostled all that much. If you really need more than 64GB and need a HDD, then I'd put it on some foam or something to reduce the likelihood of a shock crashing the heads.

Another note is that if you go to a 64GB USB stick, then it will likely be formatted as exFAT32 which the car does not currently recognize.

Most 64GB sticks cannot be formatted as normal FAT32 because they do not support variable sector/cluster sizes. You will need to format the 64GB memory stick as NTFS. The car does read NTFS disks. Both my 64GB stick and my USB HDD are formatted as NTFS.
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      02-07-2013, 05:53 AM   #16
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Frogman View Post
I just tested my WD external HDD in the armrest USB port and it works fine.

But...

I don't use it because it's still spinning media and I worry about a sudden jolt crashing the HDD heads. I don't think these drives are designed to be jostled all that much. If you really need more than 64GB and need a HDD, then I'd put it on some foam or something to reduce the likelihood of a shock crashing the heads.

Another note is that if you go to a 64GB USB stick, then it will likely be formatted as exFAT32 which the car does not currently recognize.

Most 64GB sticks cannot be formatted as normal FAT32 because they do not support variable sector/cluster sizes. You will need to format the 64GB memory stick as NTFS. The car does read NTFS disks. Both my 64GB stick and my USB HDD are formatted as NTFS.
Hi Frogman, thanks for your valuable insight.

I have tried the drive in my F30 and the drive span up but never mounted. I then tried it in a mates 5 series and it mounted and played fine.

So far the test is inconclusive, so I have another mate who has an identical car to mine, so i will get him to check.

I'll let you know.

Thanks
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      05-12-2013, 10:16 AM   #17
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Frogman View Post
I just tested my WD external HDD in the armrest USB port and it works fine.

Another note is that if you go to a 64GB USB stick, then it will likely be formatted as exFAT32 which the car does not currently recognize.

Most 64GB sticks cannot be formatted as normal FAT32 because they do not support variable sector/cluster sizes. You will need to format the 64GB memory stick as NTFS. The car does read NTFS disks. Both my 64GB stick and my USB HDD are formatted as NTFS.
Just for reference. I have no issues with 64 gb San Disk's being formatted in FAT32 with no issues in BMW's. Formatted on a Mac or a digital camera.
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      07-16-2016, 10:45 AM   #18
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Frogman View Post
I just tested my WD external HDD in the armrest USB port and it works fine.

Most 64GB sticks cannot be formatted as normal FAT32 because they do not support variable sector/cluster sizes. You will need to format the 64GB memory stick as NTFS. The car does read NTFS disks. Both my 64GB stick and my USB HDD are formatted as NTFS.
That's a Windows limitation. You should be able to "format" the stick as FAT32 it just wouldn't be able to use all of volume b/c FAT32 only supports a max size of 32 GB. Or it's a limitation of the car's system.

https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/.../cc938432.aspx
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