CompactFlash MP3 Issues for QX56

Post by **Direct2U** » Mon Mar 17, 2008 11:18 am

I bought a 8GB CF card and I filled it with about 7GBs worth of MP3s. No DRM, and they play fine on my computer. When I put it into the QX56, it only sees anywhere from 15-31 of the 59 folders that I have. It is very random and if I rearrange the folders a little, it will then read a different set of random folders. Are there certain folder settings, CF format (FAT/FAT32, currently it is FAT32) or other file settings that need to be in place for this to work properly?

Post by **Timmbo** » Mon Mar 17, 2008 2:13 pm

Hello fellow Wisconsinite! First of all, welcome to NICOclub, I am the moderator for this forum, located in good ole Green Bay. Congrats on your new puchase, I previously owned an '04 QX56 and just moved to a fully loaded '08 Armada with the exact same Nav & Stereo system you have, including the Compact Flash slot. Here is the kicker, and I hate to break this to you, but you can't use a card larger than 2GB. This may be stated in your owner's manual, I can't quite recall. I know I knew about it before I purchased my '08 Armada, so fortunately I bought a 2GB. For whatever reason, and I honestly don't know why this is the case, but the songs get "lost" and you don't see them once you place the card in your QX56. I basically burned a lot of songs to a CD and downloaded those to the Music Box, and the MP3's that I wanted I left on the Compact Flash Card. Do it however you want, but 2GB is the limit. Sorry for the bad news, but glad to have you here as a new member to NICOclub. Feel free to post a pic or two of your new beast, we have not had many recent pics posted.

Post by **Direct2U** » Tue Mar 18, 2008 2:06 am

Thanks for the reply.

I would bet that the limitation of 2GB is due to it's use of the FAT file system which only supports 2GB. I am glad the Infiniti uses MD-DOS level technology in their systems.

Post by **GrillAg98** » Tue Mar 18, 2008 10:16 am

Why wouldnt they use a more conventional memory card like SD?

Post by **Timmbo** » Wed Mar 19, 2008 4:04 am

Don't know, but for now, it is what it is, and it is more than anyone else offers, so I am happy.

Post by **q56er** » Wed Mar 19, 2008 5:21 am

How fast we get spoiled. My first MP3 player was a $350, 128MB Intel, and I was happy as could be with it. It was so cool to have well over a CD worth of music in a unit slightly smaller than a pack of playing cards.

Post by **Dave2026** » Mon Apr 07, 2008 7:10 pm

The musicbox in my mind is the fantastic feature they fell completely short on. Most everything else about this car is great.Does anyone know if there is a way to load music (.mp3) to the hard drive without having to rip from a CD. I suffered through that process once on a PC and can't imaging attempting it again. It's hard to imagine how the product manager for this feature could have overlooked this basic need.

I unfortuately discovered the 2gig compact flash limitation after I bought the 8 gig card.

Has anyone heard whether Nissan has acknowledged these shortfalls ans plans to release an upgraded version of the software??

Post by **Timmbo** » Tue Apr 08, 2008 4:50 am

I have heard nothing regarding an update. I am simply glad that I have both options, most vehicles don't have either of these two features. You are NOT able to rip MP3's directly to the Music Box. You can only play MP3's via the CFC.

Post by **MinisterofDOOM** » Wed Apr 09, 2008 2:30 am

GrillAg98 wrote:Why wouldnt they use a more conventional memory card like SD?

That is an EXCELLENT question, and one I'd very much like to hear the answer to myself. CompactFlash is the LAST format I would ever expect to see used in a 2008 model car.

With the choice of CF and the limitation to 2 GB cards, it feels like Nissan has implemented 5 year old technology into their high-tech flagship SUV.

SD would have made much more sense.

Post by **BigGeek** » Mon Aug 04, 2008 1:29 pm

Hey all, perhaps I can help a bit on this particular topic. I recently purchased a QX56 and am LOVING it so far. I own a software dev company and have always been really into technology, whether it be home theater, automotive, computer related or whatever.

Yes, the CF technology is a bit outdated, but these vehicles are still ahead of the curve compared to other cars/trucks. Acura is usually pretty innovative, but even they don't have a memory card slot in their line-up yet.

Now, here's my fix for the problem. You can simply purchase a CF to SD adapter that will work just fine in the slot. You're still limited to the 2GB capacity, but SD cards are smaller, and much cheaper than CF media. The SD card fits completely into the CF adapter and it fits nicely. The best deals I've found on the adapters is on eBay. You can usually pick one up for about $25 and free shipping. The ones I've purchased are actually shipped from Hong Kong, but they guy is consistent. I also recommend that you get an adapter that specifies it supports SDHC (the newer SD technology) so you can use it with larger capacity SD cards in other devices if you wish.

Here's a link for you:http://cgi.ebay.com/MMC-SDHC-S...l1318

You can also play MP3 files from a CD, but they won't burn to the internal 9.3 GB hard drive.

There are a few shortcomings with the media functionality of the Armada/QX, but as far as I'm concerned it is still the best out there and has so far made me a very happy camper!

Post by **yorker** » Fri Jul 03, 2009 2:23 am

Acura RDX actually has an SD slot.

Post by **BUBBAGUMP** » Sat Oct 31, 2009 8:30 pm

I actually think the muisc system sucks. I just purchased a new 2009 QX and love the truck and think its a big improvement over my old 2006 QX exept for the music system. With my 2006 QX I could burn 6 cd's full of MP3's and have 1000 + songs at my fingertips. With the 09 QX the CF card will only hold 200 songs and the "music box" is a PITA to use. The last thing I want to be doing is screwing around with a bunch of 2GB CF cards when I want to switch music. It should allow you to burn CD's full of MP3's and load this onto the hard drive but it seems that is not possible. What were these guys thinking?? Way too uch brain damage loading individual CD's and waiting for them to convert to MP3's and then have very limited control over the files after that. Disapointing given the price of this truck. In addition, the 2GB CF cards are almost obsolete and difficult to find.

Post by **EvilJack** » Sun Nov 08, 2009 6:57 pm

I have to disagree with this 2GB card limit. I am using an 8GB card but I only fill it up about 50%. I think the limit has more to do with the number of songs than the size of the card. My 8GB card works perfectly, all folders and songs appearing. Again though, I keep the contents to about 4GB's

Post by **deboraha** » Sun Dec 13, 2009 12:23 pm

I have a G35 and loaded an audio book from iTunes onto a CFC (4GB). I get an error message in the car that says "not an audio file". Can any of you suggest a fix?

Post by **Timmbo** » Mon Dec 14, 2009 5:48 pm

deboraha wrote:I have a G35 and loaded an audio book from iTunes onto a CFC (4GB). I get an error message in the car that says "not an audio file". Can any of you suggest a fix?

Welcome to NICOclub! Glad to have you here in the Armada/QX56 Forum!

You need to make sure the audio files are MP3's. If it isn't an MP3, then it will not be recognized.

Post by **ajpnyc** » Sat Dec 19, 2009 11:28 am

I recently picked up the 2010 QX56 and absolutely love it. Read through some of these posts to try and find some answers to issues with the CF / Music Box. The compact flash needs to be formatted in either FAT12/FAT16/FAT32. The limitations after that are really twofold: you can't have more than 512 files on the card AND maximum 255 files for one folder. So to have any amount of songs on the CF over 255 you need at least one sub folder. I bought an 8GM cheap CF and have about 6+ GB on there and all's good.

Love this car but with everything so high end it's surprising they didn't put a little more thought in getting the MP3 files onto the Music Box?

Post by **Timmbo** » Sat Dec 19, 2009 7:14 pm

Look at it this way, it is a lot better then what most vehicles offer

Post by **ajpnyc** » Sun Dec 20, 2009 12:23 pm

I love this ride Timmbo or probably wouldn't have bought it. The point is a small technological oversight could have gone a long way in making it that much better.

Post by **jared2** » Tue Dec 29, 2009 7:13 am

Is there any way to transfer the CF songs to the Music Box? I have a 2010 QX56, but since I garage it, I haven't had time to play with it.

Post by **Timmbo** » Fri Jan 01, 2010 3:38 pm

jared2 wrote:Is there any way to transfer the CF songs to the Music Box? I have a 2010 QX56, but since I garage it, I haven't had time to play with it.

No, sorry but there is not a way.

Post by **RickC** » Thu Jan 14, 2010 11:53 am

Hello, I have a 2009 QX56. I have set up a CF card with a directory structure containing sub directories so I can group music together. When I put it in the car it ignores all of my catergories and shows only each individual directory. For example, I have a directory called easy listening, under that I have several sub directories for various artists. The same for pop, rock, or whatever. When I pop it in the car the directory structure is gone and it only shows each artist directory. Help!!

Post by **Timmbo** » Thu Jan 14, 2010 4:33 pm

RickC wrote:Hello, I have a 2009 QX56. I have set up a CF card with a directory structure containing sub directories so I can group music together. When I put it in the car it ignores all of my catergories and shows only each individual directory. For example, I have a directory called easy listening, under that I have several sub directories for various artists. The same for pop, rock, or whatever. When I pop it in the car the directory structure is gone and it only shows each artist directory. Help!!

I posted a reply in the other thread you started here:zer...-card

Post by **atl_marathoner** » Sat May 22, 2010 7:04 am

I have a new 2010 QX56 that I picked up 2 weeks ago. I'm trying to get the CF Flash working, and have a few questions:

1. Is there still a limitation on the CF Flash size of 2GB?
2. The CF Flash is formatted in FAT32 format....will that suffice?
3. I moved one of my purchased iTunes song to the CF Flash, and tried to play it. It's in .m4a (Mpeg4) format. Is this format supported? If not, is only mp3 supported? Any suggestions on format conversions (if required)? I get an error message "not an audio file". Would this be because of the 2GB issue, or the mp4 format?

Thanks!

LATER POST:
Figured it out....it will work with 4GB CF-Flash, configured FAT32. Format must be mp3, and you can convert your music in iTunes by 'selecting all', then selecting 'Advanced -> Create mp3' on the iTunes menu. I then searched for '*.mp3', and dragged-n-droppedinto the CF-Flash. I suppose I could create subdirectories by genre, may try that next.

CaLiGentLman · Post by **CaLiGentLman** » Sat Jan 09, 2016 12:41 am

I have a 2010 Infininty Q56. I purchased a CF adapter and put in a SHCD card with mp3 music files on it. It recognizes the music but will not play it. If I turn the car off and back on, it asks says "NO AUDIO FILES". If I remove the CF adapter and put it back in as well as switch to another music source, suddenly it recognizes the CF but it plays only a few notes of a song then stops. Any recommendations?posting.php?mode=reply&f=192&t=322340#

Post by **marctronixx** » Sat Jan 09, 2016 7:40 pm

FAT32 only

there are only so many tree/folder levels the car head unit will recognize

could be the card you are using is not compatible. its best to only use a CF card in the head unit.

CompactFlash MP3 Issues for QX56

CompactFlash MP3 Issues for QX56

Re: CompactFlash MP3 Issues for QX56 (Direct2U)

Re: CompactFlash MP3 Issues for QX56 (Timmbo)

Re: (Timmbo)

Re: (q56er)

Re: (GrillAg98)

Re: CompactFlash MP3 Issues for QX56 (Direct2U)

Re: CompactFlash MP3 Issues for QX56 (BigGeek)

Re: CompactFlash MP3 Issues for QX56 (yorker)

Re: CompactFlash MP3 Issues for QX56 (BigGeek)

Re: CompactFlash MP3 Issues for QX56 (deboraha)

Re: CompactFlash MP3 Issues for QX56 (Timmbo)

Re: (Timmbo)

Re: (ajpnyc)

Re: (jared2)

Re: (RickC)

Re: CompactFlash MP3 Issues for QX56

Re: CompactFlash MP3 Issues for QX56

Re: CompactFlash MP3 Issues for QX56

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