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Playlists on USB thumb drives

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Audio and Electronics' started by pjb_spammable, Jul 31, 2010.

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  1. bridgebum

    bridgebum Junior Member

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    The playlist file can be (but does not have to be) at the root of the drive. The software will apparently find the '.wpl' files wherever they are. The playlist name does not have anything to do with the location of the music files. The music files can be anywhere on the drive. The drive letter, if it exists in the playlist file, is apparently ignored. The following is the contents of 'special.wpl', which I just created:
    <?wpl version="1.0"?>
    <smil>
    <head>
    <meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Windows Media Player -- 11.0.5721.5280"/>
    <meta name="AverageRating" content="0"/>
    <meta name="TotalDuration" content="1118"/>
    <meta name="ItemCount" content="5"/>
    <title>special</title>
    </head>
    <body>
    <seq>
    <media src="\soft rock\The Animals-The House of the Rising Sun.mp3"/>
    <media src="\soft rock\Arlo Guthrie-City of New Orleans.mp3"/>
    <media src="\soft rock\The Beatles-I&apos;m Looking Through You.mp3"/>
    <media src="\new age\2002-Even Now.mp3"/>
    <media src="\Calm Radio - Folk\Jim Croce-I Got a Name.mp3"/>
    </seq>
    </body>
    </smil>
    As you can see, these 5 files are in three different directories, and the playlist works fine.
     
    #41 bridgebum, Aug 22, 2012
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  2. RaZa

    RaZa Member

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    how do you find the playlist? what does it show up as? on my radio i can only view artists, albums, and i think genres. i tried exactly what you've done here and it didn't work. i'll have to try again though. i think i used foward slashes, not backslashes...

    oh wait i just looked in the manual. i guess you'd see your playlist as a "folder" then... ill have to try this sounds cool.
     
    #42 RaZa, Aug 24, 2012
  3. rockerdan

    rockerdan PiP Rocks!

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    I tried this for a week now...still nothing. I added a playlist file(.wpl) and it showed up as another folder to choose(just like artist,albums genres ect. But when i open it it says folder empty. I just wish the person above could be much more specific as to what to do....i dont doubt he has it working but he needs to step by step for me, as ive tried everything.

    Closest i found which works well is I did this....

    Here I setup TWO different methods pretty easily for playlists......Genre and album search.


    FOR a playlist in ALPHABETICAL ORDER (Search by Genre method in car)

    1- Open USB stick on left side of your PC......Open iTunes on right side of PC.....Create a new folder on USB stick....I made a new folder named 'classic rock' , then in itunes, opened my playist 'classic rock' , highlited all songs , right click and choose 'GET INFO' , at bottom of 'info' screen you see Genre , checkmark genre and type in "classic rock"(or whatever your Playlist will be called)...click OK. (this changes every highlighted song to genre 'classic rock' or whatever you type in).... and then drag the entire list into that folder you just made named 'classic rock' on USB stick.

    2- Now repeat the process by creating another folder named(IE: "party tunes") and then open "party tunes" in iTunes, highlite, change genre, drag onto USB stick folder. and keep repeating for each one of your playlists. This will give you all your songs under GENRE when in the car....however these will ONLY Be in alphabetical order at this time since car only will reads albums alphabetically. This works well if you are NOT trying to do a specific order of songs.



    FOR a playlist in exact same order you want (search by album method in car)

    **earlier version of windows you can group files 'NON alphabetical'..... but windows 7 you cannot, so you need a file reader program to allow viewing of files NOT in ORDER.....Use this program if you have windows 7 so when you drag your songs onto USB stick they will stay in same order as itunes playlist.

    This will allow files to NOT BE IN Alphabetical order....windows 7 does not allow for this. So I grabbed a free explorer file reader called "xplorer lite'' here:
    Xplorer2 Lite - CNET Download.com


    1-Open xplorer 2, open your USB stick, be sure to first go to VIEW>ARRANGE BY>UNSORTED(checkmark) This will allow all your files(songs) to stay in the same order as your playlist.

    2- Create a new folder on USB stick, Name the folder "playlist-classic rock"(or whatever you want) ....Now go into itunes, highlite all your songs in 'classic rock'....now drag them into the new folder named "playlist-classic rock"

    3- Since you have chosen VIEW>arrange>UNSORTED, all your songs will remain UNSORTED with this xplorer2 program.....Now here is what i did.

    4- Highlite all the songs in that new folder named "playlist-XXXXXX"(on the USB stick) .....right click , and choose properties , then at top TAB DETAILS....go to ALBUM, and TYPE IN , Playlist-classic rock . OK...... **BE SURE TO DO THIS ON USB STICK AND NOT IN ITUNES AS THIS WILL CHANGE EACH SONG TO A NEW ALBUM!!!**

    5- What this does is it puts every song , IN ORDER , under an album named playlist-classic rock. You can name the album anything you want. I chose playlist-xxxx so I would remember when im searching for albums in car. So on car i go to albums, choose letter 'P"....find my album named playlist-classic rock, and play it....this new album named playlist-classic rock in car is my exact playlist, in exact order. works perfectly.

    *** the one downfall is when you change the ALBUM NAME for each song, you LOSE the ARTWORK. SO for these ORDERED Playlists, you will not see album art, which sucks.

    So what i did was I made a PLAYLIST-CLASSIC ROCK album which is in order...and made another folder named CLASSIC ROCK-GENRE. So if I want all the artwork to show up, I choose GENRE when searching on the car. If i want that same list but in my order, I choose playlist-classic rock under albums. Searching by GENRE will bring up the playlist WITH all your album ART but not in order. While searching for you ALBUM playlist will bring up the renamed album, in perfect order but no artwork.

    So I have several methods of playing the same songs, just depends if i want them in order or not..

    for the most part I only really needed my playists that are more party tunes, which I like how I have it ordered, but others i dont mind the alphabetical.

    Dan


    PS: I installed my speedlock override today, and love it!..Im able to watch a slideshow of pictures off my USB stick while i drive! My 16gb stick has about 2500 songs and about 2000 pictures, very cool this car!
     
    #43 rockerdan, Aug 25, 2012
  4. bridgebum

    bridgebum Junior Member

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    OK, here are step by step instructions to create a working .wpl file. There are several ways to do this, but this one works
    1. Load your mp3 files on to your USB thumb drive.
    2. Open the thumb drive.
    3. Start Windows Media Player (make sure the window is not maximized).
    4. Select 'Library', 'Music'.
    5. If, in the upper right area of Windows Media Player you see a left facing blue arrow, click on it to open the
    list pane.
    6. Move the Windows Media Player window to the left so you can see your thumb drive contents.
    7. Drag the appropriate music files from the thumb drive to the list pane.
    8. Click on the small down arrow to the right of "Untitled Playlist" and select "Save Playlist As ...".
    9. Give the playlist whatever name you like and save it onto the USB Thumb Drive.
    10. Eject the thumb drive from your computer. You should be able to see the playlist when you pop the thumb
    drive into your Prius.
     
    #44 bridgebum, Aug 27, 2012
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  5. rockerdan

    rockerdan PiP Rocks!

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    Ok, while it took me about an hour to understand what you were trying to say, I kept pluggin away at it til i got it, and it works!!!! I cant tell you how happy i am!

    I am going to do an indepth post here so noone gets lost....I use iTunes on my PC so it was very tricky getting the playlists from iTunes , into Windows media player, onto USB in exact order. But with your pointers i got it all worked out.


    Stay tuned as I will post here for anyone working on this that doesn't understand. Its actually very easy once you get hang of it. and if you use iTunes ill walk you thru it!

    thanks again bridgebum!
    Dan
     
    #45 rockerdan, Aug 27, 2012
  6. rockerdan

    rockerdan PiP Rocks!

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    Ok I spent some time getting familiar with these Playlists after the above post that finally led me in the right direction of how to do it!

    This will help alot of people that use iTunes as their default music player on their PC. I know I have never used Windows media Player but I was able to make it all work, just took some time.

    The whole Purpose of a playlist is to be able to have your fave tunes in a specific order, so song after song its playing what you like in order. The car typically alphabetizes songs so having a playlist is awesome, and remember you can still always search by artist, album or genre at anytime alphabetically.

    I will try to give an in depth view of how I created my playlists from iTunes, using windows media player.

    OVERVIEW

    We need to put each song on the USB stick. And also the .wpl file......

    Basically we need to get each song onto the USB stick and then we also need the ".wpl file" on the USB stick for each playlist we have(Each playlist will have its own named .wpl file).

    If you use windows media player you probably already have created playlists before. If so, go to your music and go to the artists, then go to folder letter "P" and you should see a folder named 'playlists'(the playlists made in WMP reside in your music folders alphabetically) on my PC they would reside between Artists "Platinum Blond" and "Poison". If all your music on your PC is in WMP already, you have it much easier to install playlists onto your USB stick.

    For those of you like myself who use iTunes for all your music, you need to do a few extra steps as you cannot drag songs directly from iTunes into WMP (I tried!) Too bad cause it would be alot faster.

    The basic procedure is to drag songs, and the .wpl file onto the USB stick. If all your songs are already on WMP then you have alot less to do. With iTunes you need to do it in two steps.

    Detailed instructions below.....






    Making Playlists In a Specific order from iTunes

    **First you will need a file reader program to allow files(songs) to be in a 'UNSORTED' order, Windows 7 does not allow for this, so if you have windows 7 go download a free file reader called "xplorer lite'' here:Xplorer2 Lite - CNET Download.com


    We will open 3 windows at one time on our PC screen, minimized to see them all at once
    Left side of screen -Open Windows Media player
    Right side of screen -Open iTunes
    Center of screen -Open Xplorer lite (file reader)

    1- First Open windows media player....We will be dealing with the right portion of WMP only, the area that says 'unsaved list' drag items here.
    [​IMG]


    2- You want to be sure the 'PLAY' tab is open where i have circled in red top left.
    [​IMG]


    3- Now slide Windows Media Player to the extreme left of your screen as shown below(dont worry about anything else in this pic yet)
    [​IMG]


    4- Now Open iTunes to the extreme right side of your screen..... and then open the file reader(xplorer lite) in center of your screen, so all 3 screens are open looking like this below(dont worry about the Copying window in middle yet)
    [​IMG]

    4a- In the center, open your USB stick with your file reader program xplorer2. First be certain to VIEW,ARRANGE BY, UNSORTED(checkmarked) before you do anything. This allows the songs to stay in the PLAYLIST order.

    4b- Open your USB stick within the file reader program in center window of your PC. Next we will make FOLDERS on the USB stick, this helps alot when you have 5000 songs to work on trust me!

    4c- Right click, New folder....I recommend you name the new folder the same name as your playlist..... Lets just make 1 new folder on the USB stick at this time(Once you get the hang of it you can make as many as you want later) Make the new folder and name it to coincide with the name of your playlist you want to make. See my USB stick below, has folders named after my playlists and also has some photo folders, which is cool for slide shows on the car.
    [​IMG]



    [​IMG]

    5- Now we will start dragging in our songs....we will drag from itunes, onto USB in center window..Be sure to first OPEN the FOLDER you just created on the USB stick. IE: open "classic rock" folder you created on USB stick, so we have an open window on USB stick to drag the playlist "classic rock" into.

    5a- Now we have all 3 windows open and are ready, In iTunes open your playlist you want to start with first. Be sure the iTunes playlist is exactly how you want it. Now simply click EDIT at very top and select all, this will highlite all your songs in your playlist see pic below. red arrow ect.
    [​IMG]

    5b- Now we simply drag the entire list left over onto the USB stick. This picture show my dragging a "hairmetal" playlist onto my USB stick, into a folder i made named "hairmetal"
    [​IMG]

    and another pic of me dragging classic rock playlist onto USB stick into a folder named the same...(just do 1 list at this time til you get hang of it)
    [​IMG]


    6- Now that all the songs for your first playlist are in center window USB stick, within a folder named exactly the same as your playlist...we are ready to take next step. We need to highlite all songs in center window USB stick in the folder we are working on, choose 'Mark' on top,then select all.... Once highlited, drag all songs leftward into the windows media player window where it says drag item here.
    [​IMG]

    7- This will create an exact replica in perfect order of your songs...

    7a- Now click the pulldown arrow on top right, and choose SAVE LIST AS....
    [​IMG]

    7b- VERY IMPORTANT STEP!!! Now be sure to find your USB stick after save as!!...We need to save the new playlist from media player ONTO the USB stick AND ALSO INTO the SAME FOLDER WE JUST DRAGGED THEM OUT OF(basically each playlist name should match the folder it will get saved into on USB stick folder)
    [​IMG]

    7d- Once you have file location found, and that same folder open and ready, you MUST title(SAVE AS) the new playlist the SAME NAME AS THAT LIST YOU ARE CURRENTLY WORKING ON. In this pic you can see the songs, and at the very last song you will see the .WPL playlist file. This is exactly how your USB stick playlist folder should look when done. it should have each song, and also the playlist .wpl file at end, this is what puts the songs into order.
    [​IMG]

    Once done your USB stick should have all your folders look something like this, but with your named lists, and within those folders the songs MP3 themselves along with the .wpl file at end of songs.
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]

    **I recommend starting with a small playlist of 5 songs in a specific order, to try....go thru the process and try it in car to be sure you get hang of it. Once you do a couple its super easy. The only thing that takes some time is waiting for the songs to drag from iTunes window onto USB stick folder.....Can take 20 minutes if you have a huge amount of songs.




    when done you will have this on your car audio system!!!
    [​IMG]







    ​
    Dan​
     
    #46 rockerdan, Aug 28, 2012
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  7. fobber

    fobber Junior Member

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    This looks useful and should be sticked.
     
    #47 fobber, Nov 6, 2012
  8. rockerdan

    rockerdan PiP Rocks!

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    Yes I absolutely love my playlists....works well.

    Dan
     
    #48 rockerdan, Nov 9, 2012
  9. mycnam

    mycnam Member

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    I just tried it... No for 2010 III with JBL and Nav. I think playlist is for 2012+ only.
     
    #49 mycnam, Jun 30, 2013
  10. rockerdan

    rockerdan PiP Rocks!

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    Good to know, I have never heard anyone trying this on other models/yrs so thanks for trying it and posting.

    Dan
     
    #50 rockerdan, Jun 30, 2013
  11. ny_rob

    ny_rob Senior Member

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    Thanks!
    Worked like a charm on my 2012 PIP w/regular NAV.
     
    #51 ny_rob, Jul 1, 2013
  12. mrbigh

    mrbigh Prius Absolutum Dominium

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    this instructions are bookmarked
     
    #52 mrbigh, Jul 1, 2013
  13. ImeanGreen

    ImeanGreen Prius v Five BP Brigade #236

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    I bought a thumb drive over the weekend and transferred mp3 files. I gave up using the thumb drive due to same issues as stated here and opted for BT audio streaming due to the following reasons. 1) I have better control with music selection and playlist. 2) Much easier to arrange the songs by folders without going through a lot of process. 3) USB thumb drive require higher volumes to get to the acceptable volume level compared to BT streaming 4) The most significant difference between the use of this 2 devices is the sound quality. Music via BT streaming was superior/vibrant/great detail playing music when compared to sourcing it from the USB thumb drive. All mp3 files for BT and USB drive came from the same computer files. I don't know why there was a difference in sound quality knowing that it came from the same source. BTW, using S3 as my BT source.
     
    #53 ImeanGreen, Jul 2, 2013
  14. rdgrimes

    rdgrimes Senior Member

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    I'll guess that your perceived "audio quality difference" is due to volume. Your BT phone controls the volume on the audio input to the car, and it also has a multitude of EQ options that can be applied. Perhaps you have one of the EQ options turned on?

    I don't see the benefit you claim for organizing files on your phone, the car has the same organization. In fact on my own S3 phone, the car doesn't offer any file/folder browsing at all, only skipping ahead and back through folders with the ^ button. Only USB offers file/folder browsing.

    It is true that the phone offers a lot of nice browsing and the ability to "push" audio to the car, but then you're watching the phone not the road. You also can't use voice commands when using BT.
     
    #54 rdgrimes, Jul 2, 2013
  15. ImeanGreen

    ImeanGreen Prius v Five BP Brigade #236

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    SoundAlive set to normal. Thumb drive has no option and maybe you are right. But try it. Maybe it's just me and I'm an audio freak when it comes to detail.

    The car audio controls cannot play folders unless you go through a lot of processing as stated in the previous post. I use my phone to control which folder to play and then use the cars's control to do the rest. If you don't organize the thumb drive as stated in post # 46, you cannot play each folder. What I did with mine was just transferring the folders in my computer to the thumb drive without following post # 46. I will try it next time though and organize the thumb drive. But based on my experience so far, I like the audio quality from the phone possible due to the extra processing of the phone's audio.

    I don't see no difference likewise when using your car's button other than volume, forward or rewind. You still have to look at the screen and not the road. I have no problems using voice command when using Bluetooth as my audio source. Music stops when I get calls or when using voice commands.
     
    #55 ImeanGreen, Jul 2, 2013
  16. rdgrimes

    rdgrimes Senior Member

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    I did compare the same files on BT and USB, I don't hear any difference in quality but there is some difference in volume.
     
    #56 rdgrimes, Jul 3, 2013
  17. fobber

    fobber Junior Member

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    I have yet to try using the USB method, frankly I was busy. Anyways, the primary reasons why I think USB maybe a good choice for some:
    1) Does not overheat the cell phone (iPhone 4 heats up pretty quick when using radio apps & not worry about memory size)
    2) Cheaper than buying a MP3 player

    I will try to test this out this summer and hopefully get it working the way I want it to work.
     
    #57 fobber, Jul 5, 2013
  18. rdgrimes

    rdgrimes Senior Member

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    USB works pretty well as long as you have all your files tagged appropriately. The car can search by artist and album, but its true that folder browsing is useless.

    FWIW, the WMP playlists don't work on my model, the car doesn't even see them.
     
    #58 rdgrimes, Jul 5, 2013
  19. ImeanGreen

    ImeanGreen Prius v Five BP Brigade #236

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    My S3 does not overheat. Maybe you need to switch to android now and damp the iphone. :LOL:
     
    #59 ImeanGreen, Jul 6, 2013
  20. fobber

    fobber Junior Member

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    I was unable to extract the songs from my iTunes onto xplorer. I also noticed, when installing xplorer, it changed a few of my computer settings, which was not too thrilled.

    Probably going to opt the idea of putting songs onto the flash drive and make a .wpl. Sucks cause I have my playlist on my iPod/iTunes.
     
    #60 fobber, Jul 12, 2013
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