Question about IPOD

[jfbk]

I was thinking about buying an IPOD so I could use it to play music in my Explorer. From only the few posts that I have read, it seems that everytime you plug in your IPOD it downloads your music again, which seems to be a lengthy process. I tried going to the Sync My Ride website but the information there is very vague.

So my question is, is this true? Does each time you plug in your IPOD does it download all of the songs off of the IPOD, or can you in a sense, play the music from the IPOD. (hope that makes sense) I've had my 2011 Explorer for almost a year and only have 5,100 miles on it, so when I do drive it, its for very short trips.

Thanks!

 

[Hidef]

It does not download the songs, it indexes them. I used an iPod a few times at first, but I cannot remember if it indexes it every time it is unplugged and plugged back in. I bought a 16gb USB drive and put songs on it and just leave it plugged all the time.

 

[deewan]

The iPod does index every time you plug it in. However, I have an 8GB nano that I plug in and leave in the USB compartment. So MFT doesn't need to index it every time I start the Explorer. Works much better than streaming from my iPhone because I can skip the indexing.

 

[baxterdown]

@deewan, +1

 

[Trembler]

SYNC and IPOD indexing issues

My experience seems to differ on this.

Every time I start the vehicle it indexes my Nano. I have an older Nano that only holds about 180 songs but it takes forever to index them. My commute is only about 20 mins so it never finishes.

I just got updated to the newest version of Sync and this area (using an IPOD) seems to be the only area causing trouble. Sometimes it will take 10 seconds to respond to a command, like skipping to a different track for example.

I think the indexing may be the cause of this. Does anyone know how to disable it? Thoughts...

 

[cnsheets]

Isn't there an option in the settings of MFT to stop it from indexing every time?

 

[astrorex]

I know this is not what you asked, but if the music is non-DRMed, can't you just buy a vanilla USB flash drive? I initially had a 4 GB flash drive with songs on it and I leave it plugged in. Once in a while I refresh the songs, but after the first index, I've never had much problems. Now, I have a couple of 8 GB sticks with all my songs, so once in a while i swap them out. Much cheaper and easier option.

 

[jfbk]

Thanks for the responses!

 

[deewan]

I know this is not what you asked, but if the music is non-DRMed, can't you just buy a vanilla USB flash drive? I initially had a 4 GB flash drive with songs on it and I leave it plugged in. Once in a while I refresh the songs, but after the first index, I've never had much problems. Now, I have a couple of 8 GB sticks with all my songs, so once in a while i swap them out. Much cheaper and easier option.

If the music is standard mp3's, the music can be loaded onto a plain jane USB thumb drive. I dont' recall the make or model, but there is one that is highly compatible for MFT.

The older iPods do have some troubles with MFT. They will take longer to index, may not always display album artwork... My 1st generation iPod has this problem. My wifes 5th generation nano does not. And when I bought a 6th generation 16 GB nano with a cracked, but working screen, off the Bay, it has worked flawlessly. I figured I didn't care the condition of the Nano or the screen since it simply sits in the USB compartment and is never seen or used for anything except a storage device. I have use an iPod of some sorts since I buy my music using iTunes and all my CD's are ripped using AppleLossless file formating.

 

[explorernoles]

I have a 32gb classic ipod and haven't had a single problem with it and in fact I think with the new update the way you can browse is much easier than before.

I've been unplugging mine each time I exit the vehicle from the usb port, but when I get back in and start the car, it maybe takes 5 seconds from the ipod to pick up where it left off from the previous day or last time I was in the Explorer.

 

[jrmexplorer]

For those having indexing problems, you need to download syncmyitunes and run it on your music.

It's a program from Ford (not quite sure where to get it, but Google turns up a few hits) that parses your music tags and removes problems that Sync has with tags. For example, Sync hates the compilations check box.

Also, to increase indexing speed, for those of you with USB drives, a couple hints:
1.) rename all your files short names with no special characters.
2.) flat directory structure - e.g., all your music in one directory.
3.) remove all tag information other than the bare minimum: Album, Artist, Title, Track#, Album Art (if you have it), Genre.

My USB stick with 747 songs takes about 2 minutes to index and generally does not index everytime I start the car.

Most of the time it doesn't index. Sometimes it says indexing but then quits right away (probably because it found the index!), othertimes it does do a full index, but then the next time I start the car its fine (no indexing).

 

[Trembler]

Good tips

Great tips, thank you!!

For those having indexing problems, you need to download syncmyitunes and run it on your music.

It's a program from Ford (not quite sure where to get it, but Google turns up a few hits) that parses your music tags and removes problems that Sync has with tags. For example, Sync hates the compilations check box.

Also, to increase indexing speed, for those of you with USB drives, a couple hints:
1.) rename all your files short names with no special characters.
2.) flat directory structure - e.g., all your music in one directory.
3.) remove all tag information other than the bare minimum: Album, Artist, Title, Track#, Album Art (if you have it), Genre.

My USB stick with 747 songs takes about 2 minutes to index and generally does not index everytime I start the car.

Most of the time it doesn't index. Sometimes it says indexing but then quits right away (probably because it found the index!), othertimes it does do a full index, but then the next time I start the car its fine (no indexing).

 

[VinceL]

We use an HP 32gb flash drive (super tiny) in Gray Ghost. It has mp3's ripped at 320kbs and stands half full with 2900 songs. It took a few minutes to index, and a little longer to build the voice commands. Nice thing was that you could play the music while it was doing that.

One issue I have come across is that after shutting off the car and restarting it, it says the HP is disconnected (when it's not), but a reindexing from the options menu fixes it. Funny thing is, it takes only moments to do this supplemental indexing, so I would think it is not doing the whole thing. I'll have to do some more observation and research on this one to determine any patterns that may be triggering this behavior.