GregUMR

So I've been talking in another thread about the "Hard Drive" mod for the g37. I assure you guys I will make a detailed write up when I figure everything out, which could take me quite some time since I'll have to edit and compile files for an operating system that I'm not entirely familiar with. The G37 uses the QNX Real Time OS.

I feel like an idiot for assuming that infiniti would make the CF slot unlimited and able to read any amount of files. I ASSURE you that infiniti went out of their way (ie spent development time) in order to CRIPPLE the CF slot. By default, QNX would not only be able to read the max 32gb CF card, but also have no limitations on the folder count or file count.

I can surmise two reasons infiniti would have crippled the CF slot. 1) To make the i-pod interface seem to be the most usable way of loading music on the g35/g37, thereby increasing sales for the i-pod in general ( albeit small considering how many they sell anyway ). 2) They were scared by the DRM/RIAA bullying and thought that allowing 16 to 32gb of mp3 files on a car would have the RIAA on their cases ready to sue them. 512 files makes the CF slot really only slightly more useful then a CD, and no where near as useful as the i-pod, as already discussed in here.

I'm definitely going to try and find some code/scripts/files that deal with the reading of the CF slot and see if its a quick easy fix. There is no reason that we should not be able to use 16/32gb CF cards to their fullest. The QNX OS can do this, so there must be a limitation coded into the "infotainment" systems files.

Just as a justification, for 70 bucks I can get a 16gb CF card, which in my opinion is the cheapest and most effective way to have music on this car, if of course it were able to access all 16gb of files. A 80gb i-pod costs a 250 bucks, which isn't horrible, but the its much easier to add files to a CF and its a lot smaller then an ipod as well. I didn't have 250 bucks to spend, but 70 for a 16gb cf would have been more then enough music for the time being.

Anyway, stay tuned to the HD mod thread for any updates, I'll be sure to post there when I figure some things out.

bryan3d4

Hi Greg, thanks for chiming in, but to be honest with you.

For me, this is not a big enough deal to take the possible steps to change it.

I'm thinking it would go something like the following:
1. buy a new hard drive
2. execute whatever script you write to copy the current data from the original hard drive (including all non-audio related info) to the new drive.
3. pull apart my dash (assuming the hard drive is somewhere behind the face unit) to gain access to the original hard drive for the swap.
4. install the new hard drive
5. Test and pray like hell that all the above steps were done correctly
6. Reassemble my dash
7. Re-Test and start praying again.

Too big of a risk for me... I can surely live with 512 files on multiple disks.

mal_TX

Greg,

Your efforts are pretty cool from a hacker point of view -- but I wonder if you've actually compared the usability of the iPod interface to that of the CF interface? That is, sat in the car and used them both? There is a lot more to the iPod interface that is very advantageous when compared to the CF interface. I'll try to list some off the top of my head:

1. the CF slot is folder/file-based only. The iPod can have any number of playlists that point to the files in any overlapping fashion.
2. the CF slot does not let you "queue-up" music. That is, it switches songs as you browse the folders/files, rather than letting you find what you want while playing the current song.
3. the CF slot does not fully show the data in the ID3 tags in MP3s. It relies on filename where it should show the song title data, for example.
4. the CF slot does not display the song title on the nav screen (in between the temperature read-outs) while viewing the map. It just says CF and some useless folder/file numbers. The iPod says "iPod All Along The Watchtower" (e.g.) at the bottom of the map screen.
5. the CF slot does not use genre, album, or artist information for anything useful. You must create your own folder structures if you want to access your music this way and then you now have duplicated files. On the iPod, I can get to Jimi Hendrix by "Genre: Blues", "Artist: Jimi Hendrix", "Album: Are you experienced?", or as part of my "Guitar Blues" playlist. All of these point to the same file on the iPod.
6. the iPod offers tone controls by way of a pretty limited digital equalizer. The CF slot offers no such control.

Those are some of the differences that stand out to me just from my recollection. I have an 80GB iPod classic that lives in my center console, a 4GB CF card, and I ripped about 15 CDs to the music box. I originally had a 4GB iPod nano and thus I was leaning on the CF and musicbox to "fill in the gap" by placing certain kinds of music on them. After using all the available choices extensively, I've realized how vastly superior the iPod interface is and thus I now have an 80GB iPod and *never* use the other options.

Like you, I wonder if Apple paid Infiniti some money to make the iPod interface so superior. No moving vehicle lock-outs, no b.s. capacity cripple, etc. My other theory is that Apple has requirements for letting you use their "iPod" name -- that is, if your implementation does not support certain things, they will pull the plug on your support. This last theory is what I think is happening. Infiniti's user interface/music systems are crap because:
1. they don't want the expense of creating something really good. == development time.
2. they don't want to take any lawsuit risks. == moving vehicle lockouts and b.s. 512 song limits.

I think Apple says "you have to do all things or no iPod for you" and so Infiniti HAS to do it right and as a bonus they can tell the RIAA or the family of someone who crashed their while searching for music that "Apple MADE us do it, go sue THEM"

GregUMR

Yeah, I've used the i-pod interface and I completely agree its leaps and bounds better then the other interfaces. I do believe that they could easily have made navigation and album/genre/year sorting and playlists available in the CF slot very minimal development, in fact I know this. However, we're stuck with what we have. If my HD mod doesn't work I will be forced to buy an i-pod. I hate being forced into a situation by a manufacturer..

BTW, my hd mod is mainly so I can see if I can setup a web browsing interface and some other interesting options, the CF access space would just be a side job I'd like to do, if its easy enough which I will find out once I have the HD in my possession.

DetroitG37Joe

iTrader: (2)

Yeah i dont like to be forced into a purchase either - but in this case i guess id rather give in than risk messing up something or voiding a warranty from tampering with it

oh FYI guys there are PCCMIA cards that go into the slot that almost all laptops have in order to put stuff on the CF cards....these are a bit slower than some CF Readers but they only cost like 13$ at bestbuy and prob cheaper via amazon/ebay.....

bboysteele

Hey Greg, coming from an Engineers POV this will be great if you can do it. I think most people don't realize or understand the possiblilities that can be opened if you are able to crack this NAV/OS system. For example, playlist that the IPod does could be done for the musicbox and CF cards aswell like creating playlist in WMP and saving it. There could be tons of possiblities. Of course this will probably be a lot of work. You should develope the package for this upgrade (if you get it done) and sell it on here and EBay (only if you get all the extras to work).

KAHBOOM

iTrader: (4)

I think that the cd player doesn't play mp3s with a bit rate lower than 256. I bought a bunch of songs online , loaded them on cd and only a few sogs with the higher bit rate played. Teh songs with the lower bit rate were skipped.

Now if I could just find a source that sells songs only with the higher bit rate. Or better yet if I could just find a conversion software....

Any ideas anyone?

KapH33n

Interesting K... This was a data cd burned with mp3 files on them or a mp3 > cda conversion?

Can you confirm whether those files were 256 CBR or 256 VBR? I have never gotten mp3s to play on the CD player, because I didn't even think it was an option. I do however have quite a few 256+ bitrate mp3s that I wouldn't mind throwing onto a CD for use in the car...

Jee III VII

The CF card also uses the WMA format which is better compression than the MP3 for the same quality of sound.

TopTech

WMA sucks. MP3 all the way!

berzerko

I've burned and played a bunch of CDs with MP3s encoded at 128, 192, and 256 kbps with no problems. Most of the MP3s were encoded at 128 kbps. Burned as straight data CDs using imgburn, filesystem iso9660+joliet.

A google search should find lots of software you can use to re-encode your songs - winamp should work using the disk writer plugin (mp3 => wav => higher bitrate mp3).

Before you go to the effort of converting your files you should first confirm that the bitrate is really the issue by trying other mp3 files, like ripping songs from a CD you own or downloading something, like a 128 kbps podcast. Maybe there are some characters in your file names that are causing problems, not sure. Like I said, I've had no problems playing MP3s at various bitrates from burned CDs.

Tony

KAHBOOM

iTrader: (4)

Thanks for that input.. hmm I wonder if it is my burn software... I have the same issue on both of my MP3 payers in bothe of my cars. I am using Windows Media player to burn my CDs. Do you buy songs online? if so from where? I will also try your suggestions and see what I get.

To someone else who asked a question- yes I am burning them as data CDs. I must admit that I am only moderately savy on CD brning, MP3 technology etc... So if anyone has a forumla or technique that works for them and for playing MP3s at all bit rates on their CD player I am all ears.

bboysteele

OK KAHBOOM, like berzerko said mp3's of 128kbps works. I tested this out by burning a disk with 128kbps MP3 files on it and it works great. I didn't mix kbps files though and I don't use anything under 128kbps so I cannot test that. I would believe berzerko though since he says different rates on the CD worked for him/her. I can try though if you need me too.

On the CD burning software, DO NOT USE WMP to burn your mp3 cds. It sucks. I personally use Nero but there are others out there. If you can only use WMP then I can try to see if I can get it to work for you but I have had friends that use to use it and it always messed up cds. The easy way to burn them in Nero is just select the Jukebox burn function under the Music burning section. I get most of my mp3s from I-Tunes. Hope this helps. Let me know if you need anymore help.

berzerko

I wouldn't (and don't) use windows media player to burn CDs. You can use Nero, aShampoo Burning Studio, and lots of other apps instead. If you prefer a free program, try ImgBurn, that's what I use. It's not as user friendly as others, there's less hand-holding, but it's fairly straightforward to use. Whatever burning program you use, try to make sure that you can configure your settings so that you're burning a single session (might be referred to as closed, no multi-session, dao/disc-at-once) CD, with filesystem ISO9660 (Joliet extensions are ok) and that you're burning a data CD, treating the MP3s as data files. Regardless of what burning program you use you should always be able to control these settings at a minimum, though how you do so will depend on your particular burning program. My wife gets her music from iTunes, though I never bothered using it because I thought they only provided DRM-locked files - guess I'll look into it if they allow MP3s now. I have a pretty narrow range of music that I listen to anyway so most of my MP3s are ripped from CDs with a few others downloaded from online sites like yahoo and emusic.

Where did you get your MP3s from? I could take a look and see if I have the same problems. Do you have/use compactflash? Do the same files on a CF card also give you problems? That could help narrow your problem a bit better since I'd assume that any problems specific to the MP3 file itself would affect playback from both CD and CF while problems related to the burning process would only affect CD.

Good luck, let me know if I can help out.

Sivle

I am getting an ipod just to avoid this mess with cds...compact flash...music box...haha