How to Prepare 128 GB USB Drive for Use in Model S

[jacobp]

Please forgive my stupidity. I am about to upgrade my Model S sound system and I've been encouraged to use FLAC files on a USB drive in order to really appreciate the difference in sound quality provided by the new system. Although I've had the car for over two years, I've never used a USB drive in the car for music.

So now, I plan to buy a tiny 128GB USB 3.0 drive to load my music and play in the car. So I have some questions that i hope this community can help me through.

First, will a 128GB USB 3.0 drive (SanDisk Fit) work in the car? Second, using a Mac, how do i prepare/format the drive so that it will work best in the car? Third, I'm beginning to download FLAC music files. Do i just drag and drop those files onto the USB drive? Finally, is there anything else i should know?

Again, sorry for the newbie question and thanks for your help.

Jacob

 

[miamibeacher]

That's probably the same one I have. Use Disk Utility to format in FAT. Drag and drop files. It's that easy.

 

[RLA12194]

What a timely thread. This morning I was actually researching similar micro USB drives. My question to the community is... Does it matter if I format this thumb drive on a Mac vs a PC? As long as its in the FAT format it should be compatible between both computers, right?

 

[miamibeacher]

What a timely thread. This morning I was actually researching similar micro USB drives. My question to the community is... Does it matter if I format this thumb drive on a Mac vs a PC? As long as its in the FAT format it should be compatible between both computers, right?

Correct. Mac or PC doesn't matter

 

[thegruf]

exactly my solution here too. works great.

 

[msnow]

Format FAT32. Tesla supports 2.0 down so your Sandisk will work but not at 3.0 speed, it will be 2.0.

 

[Tdriver]

If you want to create a playlist......create folders and label the folders with the logical title.

 

[maximus16]

Fat32 is limited to 4GB, so make sure to format it in exFat..

 

[jacobp]

Fat32 is limited to 4GB, so make sure to format it in exFat..

Thanks. Can you please walk me through the steps of doing this on a Mac (if you don't mind).

 

[scottf200]

Thanks. Can you please walk me through the steps of doing this on a Mac (if you don't mind).

Guide: How to format an external drive to work seamlessly with Macs and PCs without third party software. | MacTip

 

[PaulR]

Fat32 is limited to 4GB, so make sure to format it in exFat..

I am under the impression that Tesla will not recognize exFAT. You have to format the USB drive in Fat32. I have a Mac and formatted it in MOS-DOS and it works great.

 

[BertL]

I am under the impression that Tesla will not recognize exFAT. You have to format the USB drive in Fat32. I have a Mac and formatted it in MOS-DOS and it works great.

I found the same thing. Formatting in exFAT simply results in no tracks being found once the Media Player sees the USB stick, and no error message or anything else being presented.

For Mac users with recent OSX El Capitan:
- Plug your USB Stick into your Mac
- Start Disk Utility
- Click the "Erase" Icon at the top
- Set "Format" to "MS-DOS (FAT)" in the dropdown
- Click the Erase button to start the process
- When you get confirmation, you're done. Eject the stick or copy your tracks to it (then eject before pulling it back out).

I've used that procedure with 8GB, 16GB, 128GB and 256GB Sticks. All are readable by my MS. On a Mac with the current Disk Utility, you don't have to worry with specifying FAT32 or not.

 

[artsci]

128 GB? I have a 1 TB usb SSD drive that works without a flaw and the thing is about 2" square. All the files are FLAC. No problems with FAT formatting.

 

[jacobp]

128 GB? I have a 1 TB usb SSD drive that works without a flaw and the thing is about 2" square. All the files are FLAC. No problems with FAT formatting.

Wow. Which one do you have?

- - - Updated - - -

I found the same thing. Formatting in exFAT simply results in no tracks being found once the Media Player sees the USB stick, and no error message or anything else being presented.

For Mac users with recent OSX El Capitan:
- Plug your USB Stick into your Mac
- Start Disk Utility
- Click the "Erase" Icon at the top
- Set "Format" to "MS-DOS (FAT)" in the dropdown
- Click the Erase button to start the process
- When you get confirmation, you're done. Eject the stick or copy your tracks to it (then eject before pulling it back out).

I've used that procedure with 8GB, 16GB, 128GB and 256GB Sticks. All are readable by my MS. On a Mac with the current Disk Utility, you don't have to worry with specifying FAT32 or not.

Thank you very much.

 

[pramod1969]

I use a free program AMOK to play FLAC and WAV files in Tesla. This program writes music in the same song order as your home playlist and I don't have to chose the random function. Please see the tutorial in TMC.
https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/threads/best-way-to-organize-music-on-us...

P