Making a USB drive act like an Ipod?

My Jeep came with the Uconnect package and sat radio (RES+RSC) that has an integrated USB port hidden in the center console. I have a 4th Gen Ipod Touch (32gb) with all my music on it. The factory head unit does an OK job of Ipod integration. There is a bit of lag when changing between songs and navigating between folders requires going song by song through each subsequent folder. I'm hesitant to upgrade the head unit as my Jeep is a soft top and I don't want to entice the immoral.

Therefore, I don't want to leave my $300 Ipod in the console. I bought a 32gb USB drive that is tiny (seriously, its smaller than my thumbnail) to keep in the Jeep. My entire mp3 library is about 22gb.

How do I get the USB drive to emulate the structure of the Ipod? The file structure I used is /usb/artist/album/song.mp3. That was basically useless because the head unit did not group the music into folders, it alphabetically listed the artists in one big list and forced me to cycle through every single song to get through the list.

I have a program called iTunes Export that can basically export the file and playlist structure of iTunes. I haven't been successful in creating a faux Ipod. The Chryco head unit is seriously pissing me off. I have a 9.5 hour drive (one way) coming up on Thursday to pick my kids up for Christmas. I will seriously go insane if I don't have music...

Any ideas? How do you guys do things?

Well, the solution for Thursday is easy - take the iPod. When you get out of the Jeep, slip the huge unwieldy beast of an iPod Touch in your pocket.

Alternately, pull up the center console and move the USB connector to somewhere that's not accessible without tools so the iPod is not accessible or visible. I'm assuming you can't just lock the center center console.

Buy a cheap used disk-based iPod and call it a day.

There is a lot more to an iPod than a specific file system, you need to be able to emulate the command responses etc.

Huh usually people want to do the opposite.

Yeah you'd need a special device to emulate the iPod protocol that Apple's always trying to keep hidden.

At least if you have an iPod-specific player, it's better to have the USB interface. In 20 years it'll be like having an 8-track player in your car, but if you have the iPod connector it'll only be maybe 8 years - Apple recently deprecated the old iPod connector.

There's an app called Playlist Export or some such that will copy music out of iTunes while maintaining the artist/album/song.mp3 structure. I recently used it to fill a cheap 16GB flash drive with music for my Saab's MP3 player.

Now if you want said USB drive to fool the head unit into actually thinking it's an iPod...good luck.

EDIT: didn't read that you had tried the app. Worked fine for me. IIRC, I had to go into the advanced menu and turn on "copy file hierarchy" or something to get it to work right.

Yeah, I forgot to mention that I can just remove the Ipod whenever I get out. But when I get back in and plug it back in, it takes about 5 minutes for the head unit to read and recognize the Ipod again. With the USB thumbdrive, I can just leave it connected and not worry if it gets stolen (it was only $23).

The console IS lockable but its laughably flimsy. The latch "hook" is ABS plastic. Hell, even the lock is plastic.

Maybe I'm just over thinking it? I had such a simple solution that is proving anything but simple haha.

GameboyRMH wrote: At least if you have an iPod-specific player, it's better to have the USB interface. In 20 years it'll be like having an 8-track player in your car, but if you have the iPod connector it'll only be maybe 8 years - Apple recently deprecated the old iPod connector.

No kidding. In 2010, Dodge used a proprietary connector in their trucks and sold a separate cable that turned that into an iPod interface. In 2011, they put in a USB connector instead. It's the one thing I wish I had from the 2011 trucks. I figure I'll just end up with a dedicated iPod in the truck someday, which isn't really any different from the cars that are being shipped with hard drives. But I am taking very good care of that cable.

5 minutes to recognize the iPod? In my Dodge, it's about 5 seconds. Less time than it takes the satellite radio to lock in. My interface is different too, it's easy to navigate by playlist (easiest), album, artist, etc.

In reply to SlickDizzy:

I have a program called "iTunes Export" that is very intuitive. You can copy music, the playlist, or just the iTunes file structure. I converted my library to AAC and am trying to use that plus an iTunes created playlist with my entire library in one playlist.

I just want to jump between folders and not be forced to scroll though every single song. Plus the head unit stops reading the file name after about 50 songs. It gets stuck even though I can switch songs. Arrrrgggg!

Keith Tanner wrote: No kidding. In 2010, Dodge used a proprietary connector in their trucks and sold a separate cable that turned that into an iPod interface. In 2011, they put in a USB connector instead. It's the one thing I wish I had from the 2011 trucks. I figure I'll just end up with a dedicated iPod in the truck someday, which isn't really any different from the cars that are being shipped with hard drives. But I am taking very good care of that cable. 5 minutes to recognize the iPod? In my Dodge, it's about 5 seconds. Less time than it takes the satellite radio to lock in. My interface is different too, it's easy to navigate by playlist (easiest), album, artist, etc.

The good news is that the new iPod connector is just a smaller version of the old one and only a simple mechanical adapter is needed, so only things that the iShiny docks directly into have really been made obsolete.

In reply to Keith Tanner:

I had a 2011 Ram the had the plain-jane RES head unit (not sat radio or Uconnect). I know exactly what cable you are talking about. I almost bought it so I could use my Ipod Touch with it.

I bought a Pioneer FH-8000BT instead. I figured I would just upgrade. It was double DIN and required a tiny amount of trimming to the dash substructure to fit. I loved that thing! Everything worked flawlessly. I either used the Ipod interface or the Bluetooth to stream Pandora from my phone.

I'm glad that Chryco decided to put an integrated USB port with Ipod controls in but damn, its super clunky to actually use.

I don't feel so bad about having the proprietary connector then! I just found out there's a new version of the cable out that will charge the newest (pre-Lightning) iPods and iPhones and it's only $27 right now. So I bought me a spare

Epic fail. It only took about an hour to write everything to my USB memory stick. The head unit did the same thing - no folder structure; everything just dumped into a root folder. It also didn't let me choose artist or folder. It just says "No items found". After scrolling through about 10 songs, the line that displays the song title changed to "...". Dammit. I tried the Ipod next. It was just as slow but let me choose either artist OR album. Once I chose the artist I wanted, it lumped all songs from every album together, listed alphabetically. No bueno...

I guess I could buy a microSD for my phone and put my entire library on it then stream it over Bluetooth. Or I could stream Pandora.

stanger_missle wrote: I guess I could buy a microSD for my phone and put my entire library on it then stream it over Bluetooth.

Ding ding ding!

i don't know about the Jeep setup, but my cheap ($120 3 years ago, and it came with a pair of 6" speakers) Sony Explod deck reads my 16GB thumb drive in whatever format i put them in.. i've found that it works best to number the different folders for the artists (1 Anthrax, 2 Biohazard, 3 Foo Fighters, 4 Metallica, 5 Waylon Jennings, 6 Volbeat, 7 ZZ Top, etc) and then number each album within those folders, with each song also numbered. it might be a pain in the ass to do up front, but before i did that, it just ignored the different band and album folders and just put each song on the whole thumbdrive in alphabetical order.. i had to play with different ways of numbering things before it took, too, which involved trying it with and without spaces between the number and title and things like that.. i think all my numbering would up being 2 digit 01, 02, 03, etc.- because it would do weird things if i just went 1,2,3,4..

i ripped all my music off my cd's with Windows Media Player- i know, i know, only a caveman starts off with actual physical media these days- and i think there were settings in there for how it would label each track within the folders.

BoxheadTim wrote: Buy a cheap used disk-based iPod and call it a day. There is a lot more to an iPod than a specific file system, you need to be able to emulate the command responses etc.

this one. i bought a 160 bg for my wifes care for $80. but unless oyu need the whole colelction oyu can go way cheaper. I needed htt because i needed the kids' music taylor swift etc, Wife's stuff James taylor, and my stuff led zepplin in the car becuase ithte the family car. in my car i have a simple 30gb.

Do your mp3s have the ID tags filled out?

In reply to stanger_missle:

I have been using 16GB flashdrives and notpod.exe ever since I got my Sony media player 3 years ago to avoid having to keep my ipod in the vehicles to play my tunes. I have one in the E550 now too. This program creates an iPod looking (to the various head units anyway) device from your iTunes library or a playlist you create for the drive.

This is one place to start the download from but there are several places that list the program, just search notpod.exe on Google:

Cnet notpod download

The security situation is easy. If you like using an Ipod controlled through your head unit, and the head unit keeps the ipod charged, buy an additional cheap ipod that will hold your music. Find a very inaccessible spot in the car, like behind the dash, or UNDER the center console and secure the ipod in place.

Then you can leave the ipod in the car as a semi-permanent installation. You'll occasionally want to pull it out to update your music collection and playlists, but otherwise it can stay in the car, unseen and undisturbed.