1. Attachments are working again! Check out this thread for more details and to report any other bugs.

USB Size limits for flash drive?

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Audio and Electronics' started by jetwashf14, Apr 17, 2010.

Page 1 of 2
  1. jetwashf14

    jetwashf14 New Member

    Joined:
    Apr 17, 2010
    7
    1
    0
    Location:
    Ohio
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    III
    Anyone know if there are limitations on the size of the USB flash drive the stock port will read? I have a little 2GB sandisk cruzer micro that works fine..bought a 32GB sandisk cruzer and it won't read.

    Can anyone tell me what is the largest size USB drive they are using successfully AND brand?

    (trying not to buy a iPod.... CORRECTION: Wife not letting me buy an iPOD)
     
    #1 jetwashf14, Apr 17, 2010
  2. RodJo

    RodJo Member

    Joined:
    May 30, 2009
    423
    56
    0
    Location:
    Boston
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    V
    My 16GB PNY Attache works...
     
    #2 RodJo, Apr 17, 2010
    1 person likes this.
  3. jetwashf14

    jetwashf14 New Member

    Joined:
    Apr 17, 2010
    7
    1
    0
    Location:
    Ohio
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    III
    Thanks Rodjo,

    I just borrowed a friend's Verbatim 16gb "store n' go" and it worked. So far looks like 16 is the magic #. Any 32gb cards successful out there?
     
    #3 jetwashf14, Apr 17, 2010
  4. 2k1Toaster

    2k1Toaster Brand New Prius Batteries

    Joined:
    Feb 14, 2010
    6,035
    3,854
    0
    Location:
    Rocky Mountains
    Vehicle:
    2006 Prius
    Model:
    Three
    There is no limit in the host. The device (the flash drive) tells the host (the computer) what it is and how to communicate with it. If the manufacturer programs their chip to say it is "x" bytes, then that's the limit.

    You didnt buy this really cheaply online did you? Lots of Chinese/Taiwanese companies brand devices that are not what they are. Also they sometimes use a single flash memory chip like a 4Gb chip, then program their flash devices to be 512Mb/1Gb/2Gb/4Gb/8Gb/16Gb. Basically they are betting you will never use up more than 4Gb. So they tell the Operating System "hey I have 16Gb", but when they try to use it, it just rewrites the same 4Gb memory and corrupts everything.

    Your drive is most likely defective if you bought it retail or at a "reasonable" price.
     
    #4 2k1Toaster, Apr 18, 2010
  5. jetwashf14

    jetwashf14 New Member

    Joined:
    Apr 17, 2010
    7
    1
    0
    Location:
    Ohio
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    III
    No, this Sandisk 32gb was legit. I was able to load it totally with mp3 and other files nearly maxed out and transferred to another computer. After removing the non-mp3 files, and formatting, the prius port still didn't read it. The drive was very much NOT reasonably priced.

    Thanks, though

     
    #5 jetwashf14, Apr 18, 2010
  6. 2k1Toaster

    2k1Toaster Brand New Prius Batteries

    Joined:
    Feb 14, 2010
    6,035
    3,854
    0
    Location:
    Rocky Mountains
    Vehicle:
    2006 Prius
    Model:
    Three
    Sorry I completely missed the Prius part of the question. Generally those are limited since they are not full computers.

    There will be a limit, and I do not know what it is. Sorry.
     
    #6 2k1Toaster, Apr 18, 2010
  7. sandsw

    sandsw Member

    Joined:
    Feb 24, 2007
    99
    37
    0
    Location:
    Sydney Australia
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    V

    I vaguely remeber reading somewhere that the maximum drive size for a FAT partition is 2GB. Perhaps the Prius can only read FAT partitions?

    Just a thought,
    Warwick
     
    #7 sandsw, Apr 18, 2010
  8. RonJ

    RonJ Junior Member

    Joined:
    Apr 17, 2010
    9
    8
    0
    Location:
    Arizona
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    IV
     
    #8 RonJ, Apr 19, 2010
  9. jetwashf14

    jetwashf14 New Member

    Joined:
    Apr 17, 2010
    7
    1
    0
    Location:
    Ohio
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    III
    Thanks for the reply. After initially adding the mp3 files to the 32gb Sandisk Cruzer and its subsequent failure to read in the car, I formatted it to meet FAT32 . .... in both 'quick format' and (quite) lengthy format modes. Still no luck.

    It seems like 16gb is about the tops anyone has had any success with in Non-iPod devices.




     
    #9 jetwashf14, Apr 19, 2010
  10. hampdenwireless

    hampdenwireless Active Member

    Joined:
    Aug 21, 2005
    1,104
    86
    0
    Location:
    Baltimore MD
    Vehicle:
    Other Non-Hybrid
    Fat can only hold files up to 2gb each. You can have many 2gb files on a 16gb stick but no 4.01gb files. I am sure the Prius can only read FAT partitions.
     
    #10 hampdenwireless, Apr 19, 2010
  11. Aaron Of Iowa

    Aaron Of Iowa New Member

    Joined:
    Jun 25, 2010
    1
    0
    0
    Location:
    Iowa
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    IV
    I have successfully attached my Toshiba Canvio 1 TB USB 2.0 Hard Drive (yes 1 TB Drive) to my prius usb.

    This needed the extra Y cable for power that is available from the Toshiba site (Y cable see the Toshiba web site)
    and a 12 volt lighter plug to usb to power up (power is from the second usb plug on the y), and so far works fine.

    I am still trying to determine how many files and directories can be handled. I am at 236 Folders, but I have other stuff on the drive. If I can determine max file and max folder I report back.

    Does anyone know the file structure / sorting method protocol? It appears to be first on the drive first on the list...
     
    #11 Aaron Of Iowa, Jun 25, 2010
  12. JimN

    JimN Let the games begin!

    Joined:
    Nov 26, 2006
    7,028
    1,116
    0
    Location:
    South Jersey
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    V
    On an 8GB FAT32 drive I had to reformat it as FAT32. Otherwise it needed to be reseated every time to be recognized & would start playing from the top of the list.

    The reformatted drive is automatically recognized when the audio system is turned on & starts to play where it stopped.
     
    #12 JimN, Jun 25, 2010
    patambre and GardenWeasel like this.
  13. Rhythmfiddle

    Rhythmfiddle New Member

    Joined:
    Dec 10, 2010
    1
    0
    0
    Location:
    North Carolina
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    III
    Re: USB Size limits for flash drive? - Hard Drive

    Noob here... This seemed the only logical place to post this...

    I had an 80 GB portable HD laying around and after reading all the above, cleaned it, created a single 16 GB size partition on it and formatted the volume to FAT32.

    Loaded with music files, works like a champ. Port has power to run the HD, though the file system display and navigation is archaic...

    Just saw no reason to fork over $$ for a 16 GB USB drive if this would work...

    Interesting...
     
    #13 Rhythmfiddle, Dec 10, 2010
  14. skilbovia

    skilbovia Member

    Joined:
    Oct 25, 2010
    400
    91
    0
    Location:
    Massachusetts
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    V
    I had my 60GB WD passport drive hooked up and it worked fine. I took it out when I learned how difficult it was to search and put in a 4GB flashdrive. I also bought a usb extender cable for the dang thing because I can't get my fingers down there to plug it back in when I change files.
     
    #14 skilbovia, Dec 10, 2010
  15. RichPasco

    RichPasco Richard C. Pasco, Ph.D.

    Joined:
    Nov 6, 2008
    70
    8
    0
    Location:
    San Jose CA & Land O Lakes FL
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius
    Model:
    Plug-in Advanced
    What file systems are on these drives? FAT32? NTFS? Something else?
    I'd guess FAT32, since other posts imply the Prius only supports FAT16 and FAT32. If anyone has success reading an NTFS drive I'd especially like to know.
     
    #15 RichPasco, Mar 18, 2011
  16. SageBrush

    SageBrush Senior Member

    Joined:
    Jun 4, 2008
    11,627
    2,530
    8
    Location:
    Southwest Colorado
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius v wagon
    Model:
    Two
    What does the Prius do if a flash drive formatted with two volumes is inserted ?
     
    #16 SageBrush, Mar 18, 2011
  17. hamil33

    hamil33 Junior Member

    Joined:
    Dec 21, 2007
    54
    5
    0
    Location:
    Florida
    Vehicle:
    2011 Prius
    Model:
    Four
    My 2011 Four will definitely play from a 32 GB, Class 6 formatted Fat32! However, Fat 32 will impose limitations on the number of files it will read.
     
    #17 hamil33, Mar 18, 2011
  18. CTpriusV

    CTpriusV Junior Member

    Joined:
    Jun 21, 2010
    70
    4
    0
    Location:
    Bristol Ct
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    V
    DO you know what that limit is? TIA
     
    #18 CTpriusV, Mar 20, 2011
  19. Judgeless

    Judgeless Senior Member

    Joined:
    Jun 30, 2009
    1,821
    255
    0
    Location:
    Cleveland, OH
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    IV
    Why do people just make facts up? If you are not sure of a fact look it up or post that you think this is the limit. Here is a link with the facts about FAT32

    [ame=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File_Allocation_Table]File Allocation Table - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia[/ame]


    - FAT32 has a 4GB file size limit. I doubt you will have a song that big.
    - There is no limit on the amount of files the drive will hold.
    - The largest volume size is 16TB with 64KB clusters (not widely supported) or 8TB with 32KB clusters.
     
    #19 Judgeless, Mar 20, 2011
  20. hamil33

    hamil33 Junior Member

    Joined:
    Dec 21, 2007
    54
    5
    0
    Location:
    Florida
    Vehicle:
    2011 Prius
    Model:
    Four
    My post said nothing about the number of files you could load on a 32gb memory card. It did say that you would have trouble trying to read them all in your Prius. I have tried it a number of times in my 2011 Four. Have you tried it in yours?
     
    #20 hamil33, Mar 20, 2011
(You must log in or sign up to post here.)
Page 1 of 2