I just installed my Audio Link Mp3 USB player. I have an Ipod shuffle for running/working out, dont want to buy another because i cant even use iTunes on my pc (i use a neat little trick to get around it for the shuffle) etc etc etc... So i figure the USB drive will work fine, since I have about 7 of them from work from 1 to 8 GB.

Anyway, It works and sounds great but I can only play the music in the CD01 folder. It says it limits each folder to 99 songs for organization, but if i cant get to the other folders then i'm gonna be pissed, because that was a lot of work+$ for 99 songs. I have the regular CD player in the car, not the 6 disc, but RPM store didnt have anything saying that it would be an issue, it said it will play 6 discs, possibly 10. and I have the disc^ discV buttons but they dont do anything. My firmware version is not one of the ones it says has an issue either.

So can anyone help me. I hope i'm just missing something easy cause that was a bitch of an install. I removed a different "hidden bolt"... still dont know wtf it was for...

While on the topic. When removing the HU, i could not, for the life of me, get the plugs out of the climate controls or the light out of the ashtray... also the navigation buttons plug from the center console would not come out. I had to wrap em in shirts and leave them hanging. Getting to the back of the console with it still in was......... fun.... Anyone have any suggestions for getting them out? I tried as hard as i could to press the tab, even got a mirror to check... This was definitely the hardest dash I've ever taken apart.


EDIT: Talked to guy from RPM, tried different thumb drive, formatted it... worked perfectly. A company that supports what they sell...within a hour... is great.

 

have you named each folder on the thumb drive according to the audiolink instructions?

 

hey speaking of the usb audio link, do you have to put the files into folders called CD01, CD02, etc, and only put in 99 songs per folder, or can you just dump a bunch of songs onto the memory card and have them play? I read a post a while back from a guy from RPM that said it would work without the CD01 folder structure, but their website says it needs to be in that format and no other or else it won't work.

 

i'd also like to kno the answers to raphy3's questions..!

 

ditto.

i tried up to cd06, with 99 in each, works great.
i tried making up to cd10, and 7-10 dont play, i guess because the firmware is set up for a 6 disc, so each folder is a disc... as for the dump, i have not tried, but will... i will post what happens.

 

ok thanks. so it looks like we're limited to ~600 songs.

 

Yea pretty much, 6 100 song divisions. so basically we end up with...
CON: significantly less music than a 80gb ipod.
CON: no id3 tag support, kinda hard to find a specfic song
PRO: easy change of music on any computer, no itunes necessary
PRO: thumb drives are small, can be hidden out of sight
PRO: easy control via steering wheel + HU controls
PRO: still has a 3.5mm aux jack so you can input via ipod that way
PRO: includes two nice extension cords for hiding the module
PRO: significanly cheaper to just buy this one than the ipod one + buy an ipod.

 

yeah agreed. I bought three 2 GB SD cards from newegg for $10 each, and plan to use the usb card reader that RPM is sending along with the audiolink
That's almost 1800 songs, and 600 songs is like having 3 mp3 CD's at once, too. I'll probably only need to change out cards like once a month or something.
So it still beats the OEM mp3 player in that sense, except for the lack of ID3 tags. My current CD only player doesn't have even CD text support though so my LCD display will look basically the same.

 

yup, somehow i ended up with a car with every possible option they offer except that i got a single cd-only player, what a gyp... also i didnt get appearance package... saved the 1200 for the new bumper ill eventually get. if only i coulda taken back the 2000 for nav and just got a aftermarket dash one.

note to self: next time buy base model and spend the 10k on custom work.

 

yeah I'm still searching for a nav option myself. Basically I have all the options except nav... and also ended up with a single CD player. ugh.
btw, how does it play the songs you put into the folders? In the original thread the RPM guy seemed confused in that he didn't know if it was alphabetical or what.

 

I think so, i dumped music from multiple CDs that start with numbers and it seems to play all the 01s, then all the 02s, and when the songs start with the artist name, its all grouped by artist. so yea...

for nav, you can get a double din touchscreen unit ~1000$ and the corksport dash kit ~700$ and pay someone 300$ to install it all, and theres your 2000$ factory nav.

 

finally installed my audio link this weekend. Good lord this is the worst car I have worked on for audio installations.

When putting it back together I wondered, should I put the 10mm screw behind the steering wheel back? No, I left it out and put it in the trunk, so the next time I go and open up the radio to do something or move my audiolink or whatever, I will at least have 1/3 of the job done.

The adaptor works great. You can put songs in subfolders of the CD01, 02 folders, so that everything doesn't have to be lumped into one directory.
I mounted underneath the steering wheel where the metal cover is, and then brought the usb cable to the bottom of the steering wheel just above the cover. So now it's pretty well hidden but easy for me to access. No one would know it was there unless they looked for it.

 

Sweet. I couldnt get my damn HU out because of the climate controls, so i took off the glove box, got in my car upside down and stuck my arm back there until the plug went in, and then the unit just chills in the glovebox, totally out of the way.

the trick to getting the nut off is to take off the metal plate under the steering wheel and then kneel at the hinge for the front door and look toward the center of the car. then get in the car upside down with your feet at the head of the seat and a socket wrench with 2 extensions. eeeeeeasy. just dont take off the OTHER 10mm bolt thats more upwards and leftwards that connects to a plasticy thing.

and yea, this car sucks for the dash. I dont like the red lights and im tired of prying plastic parts off and stuff... after a few installs the plastic parts are gonna lossen and get creaky...

on that note, anyone happen to know how to get the silver pieces that line the center console off?