usb hard drive to new hu?

[CRUISERMEDIC]

has any one out here connected a laptop type portable usb drive to a hu that has a usb interface? ive been using thumb drives but the cost is crazy compared to the cost per gig of a real hard drive. i was thinking i could hook the hard drive pover supply in to a device that drops from 12 to like 4-5 volts whatever the drive needs and then wire this device in permanantly.....have a slide out type crrier so i can take it out and change up my music. sure would be nice to have like 40-50 gigs available in one nice neat little package. my hu recognises folders and subfolders so i could organise everthin very nice this way. im not sure thought if it will work as hard drives usually need a operating system to run them.....b ut if i got some thing in my hu already to access flash drives maybe it will work.


thanks, steve

 

[410Fortune]

I did! well sorda...

When the Phatnoise Music Keg came out about 3 years ago I got one for my Kenwood head unit.
My new Kenwood head unit also has the USB interface and I can plug my 1 gig jump drive into that if i want to, but I have a 40 gig cartridge for my Kenwood music Keg that is basically a MP3 hard drive that is controlled like a CD changer

I recently took it apart for a custom install in my truck and found the cartridge is basically nothing more then a hard drive and the phatnoise box is the power supply and controller interface.

Are you sure the USB interface will work with a powered hard drive?
It reads files and folders from a jump drive buit I have never tried using it with a laptop or external USB drive? have you?

 

[CRUISERMEDIC]

Are you sure the USB interface will work with a powered hard drive?
It reads files and folders from a jump drive buit I have never tried using it with a laptop or external USB drive? have you?

no i havent yet.....i got a friend with a spare cheap drive we are going to try it with.....my kenwood hu i think it a kdcmp-532u deck thats just from the top of my head though has a power restiction of 500milliamp from the usb drive. and thats where i think my restriction is....i tried a larger thumbdrive but it wouldnt work....i checked the power needs and it called for more than my usb lead put out. so i was thinking if i had a way to reduce the 12 volt to the 5v that the drive i will be testing uses it might work.....only thing is i dont know how well the drive will work in the cold as im in michigan and it gets cold here.

 

[JasonF]

Just use an external hard drive enclosure (about $20) that has its own plug-in power supply. Then you aren't limited by what the USB jack can provide.

 

[CRUISERMEDIC]

thats exactly what i was thinking

 

[Nocturnall]

I don't know if the constant bumping of the road would cause a problem or not.