Hard Disk Capacity

[Numb Thumbs]

Can anyone please tell me how much useable space there is on the hard disk to store media files?

Cheers
Numb Thumbs ;)

[WhiteD3]

I've tried to get access to the car's HDD, corresponded with LR and researched the issue to death. The outcome was that there is no user access to the HDD in my MY18 with Meridian sound system.

I use a 32GB USB instead. Probably a simpler solution.

[AK83]

Can anyone please tell me how much useable space there is on the hard disk to store media files?

Cheers
Numb Thumbs ;)

it depends(on a few things).

But on the whole, say you have a 1Tb HDD, it may only be capable of formatting to say 930Gb(you always lose a little with the formatting).
And the term formatting has different meanings for different types.
Some(formats) have more robust error checking abilities than others so you will lose a little in the process.
And then even the format itself has variables that make differences. eg. Fat32(common on Windows systems) .. same with NTFS.
If you format the drive with a smaller block sizes, then you can fit more smaller files, but it 'supposedly' reduces overall speed of reading off the drive formatted in the way.
If you format with larger block sizes, it hold fewer small files overall(ie. the drive will report lower space), but it makes it a bit faster to read from.

So don't take it as gospel what the stated HDD size is on the device, or packaging, or marketing spiel.
This value is the bit size(literally the 1's and 0's) when it's not formatted.
And bytes aren't the same thing at all times when it comes to drive storage ... there's decimal bits and there's binary bits.
storage is quoted in decimal bits, not binary.
So a supposed 1000 Gb drive goes something like this: 1 000 000 000 000/1024 = *976,562,500KB‬/1024 = 953,674MB/1024 = 931Gb
And then you lose some space again(sometimes) due to the formatting type.

[Numb Thumbs]

I've tried to get access to the car's HDD, corresponded with LR and researched the issue to death. The outcome was that there is no user access to the HDD in my MY18 with Meridian sound system.

I use a 32GB USB instead. Probably a simpler solution.

I use a 500 GB portable Hard Drive on the Jeep. I suppose I'll give it a try then. Solid State Devices can be better on corrugations, though... Is there a known limit on USB drive size?

Cheers
Numb Thumbs ;)

[AK83]

.... Is there a known limit on USB drive size?

Cheers
Numb Thumbs ;)

$s

[biggrin]

and common sense.
Largest for sale I've seen is easily bought(but also no risk dodgy brothers gear) .. is 512Gb .. but it comes to $s.. between $300-400
When 1 Tb SSD m.2 drives and case costs half that .. why bother with the above?

note: an M.2 SATA drive and case would equate to a similar sized device as a regular fast USB stick.

eg. search for Volans VL-U3M2S Aluminium M.2 (SATA) SSD Mini External Enclosure. (this is just an example of what's out there, not a recommendation of what to get) .. $25
search for Crucial 1TB SSD, MX500, M.2 (SATA) ~ $170 .. total cost >$200.
Faster than a USB stick, 2x the capacity.

Note you can also get (theoretically)faster M.2 SSD in the NVME/PCIE form type. But this is 'wasted' currency. The speed limit will be the USB connection, so the cheaper SATA type M.2 SSD type makes more sense.

The other factors to consider too are what devices you connect this too. An old car stereo, that won't have USB3 will be slower again than a newish device that does have it(*eg. PC phone tablet .. now easily available with USB3)
So you'll get faster transfer from that USB3 device to this built M.2 SSD from the above products. But on the stereo, it doesn't really need that extra speed, as it is what it is .. slower!

Basically, don't get the device or parts based on what's fastest .. think of it in overall terms .. $s per size per speed .. keep it to sensible value for money levels.

Also, when I say build the device, it's not a hard thing to do. For many of these enclosures, they are toolless types nowadays. Unclip the case apart, stick the teeny SSD in, secure it, clip case back together .. instant USB 'stick'.

Also-Also, I recommend not to use a USB stick stuck directly into the head unit, like I see many folks doing on their in-car entertainment heads.
Only reason for that comment, is that we're on a off road based forum, so assumption is that you're likely to do some rough road driving sometimes. The vibes on the USB stick weaken the solder joints on the USB port on the stereo.
Better to have it connected via a cable(extension) and USB stick resting somewhere secured(console/dash) .. just less likely to ruin the USB ports solder joints on the stereo head unit. Not saying it will happen, but likely to happen.

[Numb Thumbs]

My question was if there was a size limit as to what the device will accept/read. My current Jeep will read a 500 GB SS HDD, but not a 1 TB one. Many devices have an upper limit - dash cams usually have one which can be as low as 16 GB or as high as 512 GB. I just wondered if anyone knew what the limit on the D5 was - if there is one.

Looking at it, the USB sockets are blue, so I assume USB 3.

Cheers
Numb Thumbs ;)

PS I have done some further digging on the UK forums and there may be a 128 GB limit... [bigsad]

[WhiteD3]

I'm too lazy to look this up (Friday wine-o-clock time) but the FAT32 format may limit the size?

[Pedro_The_Swift]

Why the limit interest? Will (can) you be showing movies?
serious noob L462 question. [bigsmile1]
a very small usb drive will carry a thousand songs....

[AK83]

I'm too lazy to look this up (Friday wine-o-clock time) but the FAT32 format may limit the size?

I don't think Fat32 is the issue. I think Fat32 is OK up to 2Tb or something(maybe more) .. but it's then up to the operating system if it can recognise it.

So if the Jeep can only see up to 500Gb, then it'll be the OS used(ie. the firmware) in the device that's the limitation.

Would be curious to see if it would recognised 2 separate partitions on the same physical device tho.(unlikely)
That is, format the 1Tb drive(or SSD) into two separate partitions of 500Gb each.

As for the D5's stereo/entertainment system .. zero idea on it's specs from me(sorry).

[Numb Thumbs]

On long drives I listen to Audio Books and Podcasts. Audio Books can be up to 1 GB each and Podcasts are usually around 25 MB each. It soon adds up. I have 1.4 GB in a Podcasts folder at present. And then there is music...

Cheers
Numb Thumbs ;)

[Pedro_The_Swift]

Thats a great alternative to music!,, [thumbsupbig]

[Numb Thumbs]

I picked up the Disco today. It does not recognise the hard drive at all. So USBs it is...

Cheers
Numb Thumbs ;)

PS I'm still trying to work out a whole pile of stuff!

[AK83]

I picked up the Disco today. It does not recognise the hard drive at all. So USBs it is...

Cheers
Numb Thumbs ;)

PS I'm still trying to work out a whole pile of stuff!

What formatting on the disk? (and the USBs)

If different, eg. the USB is Fat32 and the hard disk is NTFS(assuming you're a Windows PC person), try formatting the hard disk with Fat32 too.

But if it could be limited to the size of the ext device too.

As a side note, about how confusing/frustrating devices and peripherals can be.
I used to use a Nikon D300 camera for a good many years. Got it a decently fast 8Gb Compact Flash(CF card) worked a treat for some years.
Updated camera to a Nikon D800E, popped in this CF card into it(for it's speed) .. zip! .. nothing!! .. no work. back into the D300 works, back into the D800E, nothing!

Why? no one knows, how .. no one knows. Ended up getting a larger CF card for the D800E works. Popped that into the D300 .. works!
No matter what I try the D800E just doesn't recognise that this particular card is in.

just happens .. move on with life.

[Numb Thumbs]

I only have NTFS an exFAT available, and neither works.

Cheers
Numb Thumbs ;)

[WhiteD3]

Been through all of this on the D4 and D5. Best I can get to work is a 32GB FAT32 USB stick. On this stick I have ~20GB of music which the D5 can take some minutes to recognise at start up. Maybe its cataloging the contents?

I too am an avid listener of podcasts but I keep these on my phone (for auto downloads) and BT the audio to the car.

On a side note I got Apple Carplay and Android Auto enabled at the last service. Thinking I could dump the USB stick and just use my 64GB phone with Android Auto, but the Car's media centre is so laborious and slow I gave up and went back to the stick for music and the phone via BT for podcasts.