I searched for the answer to these questions that I have and did not find anything. Please forgive me if this has already been discussed!

I have the Nav system and I have a couple questions:

1. Can you actually record what's playing on the radio or does it only buffer it to the hdd? When listening to the radio and I hit record, nothing happens. I've read several reviews where they say you can "record" the radio but I have not been able to do so. It is FM that I'm trying to record.

2. I purchased a SanDisk Cruzer 4.0 GB flash drive and loaded a few mp3s on it to copy to the hard drive. I inserted the drive and hit the AUX button and got the error (this is from memory so I'm not sure if it's exact): The USB device is not supported. Please remove. The system automatically went back to the source I was listening to prior to trying to play the songs on the flash drive.

Any ideas on this?

You cannot record radio to HDD except as a temporary buffer for 1 hour - and it is an automatic buffer. You have to use the rewind buttons to access the buffered material. Changing stations will dump the buffer and start it all over again.

I have no idea on the USB issue.

Thanks for the quick reply. I didn't think you could record from radio but I read that you could in several reviews so I was curious.

Thanks again!

SanDisk Cruzer's typically are U3-enabled. The CTS Audio system does not handle U3-enabled devices. Disable U3 on your Cruzer and it will work.

Thanks for the quick reply. I didn't think you could record from radio but I read that you could in several reviews so I was curious.

I believe the reviews are referring to the buffering, since it is technically recording to the HDD at that point.

Disabling U3 worked... thanks!

If I could please hijack this thread and ask another question that ie related? Okay thanks.

Is there a way to record a single track from a CD? I have been unable to do this. The only way I can record from a CD is to record all the tracks.

If I could please hijack this thread and ask another question that ie related? Okay thanks.

Is there a way to record a single track from a CD? I have been unable to do this. The only way I can record from a CD is to record all the tracks.

While I have not recorded anything from CD, according to the manual you can record a single track:


Recording From Audio CDs

REC (Record):
While listening to an audio CD, press to

start recording songs from the disc. The radio has the
option to record the current song playing or all songs
from the CD. Press the pushbutton located under
the desired record option.
A status bar appears on the top of the display when the
recording process starts. The status bar disappears
when the process has ended. The recorded songs are
now available.

Yes I read that also, thanks. When I push the record button while playing a CD, it asks if it should record all the tracks. If I pick No, it does not record anything, and I do not see any pushbuttons under any record options as stated in the manual. The only way I can get the status bar is if I pick Yes to record all the tracks.

Same problem here.

If you have a non-nav hdd radio, it should follow what is in the owners manual. Record current song / Record all songs

If you have the nav radio, you can record the artist/album/genre/song/etc by highlighting what you want to record and pressing the Rec button. Though I heard that you cannot copy this way for the song you are currently listening to. Ie, change to a different artist/album/etc and then try it again.

I have the radio with nav, I hit yes, record the whole cd, then once its on the hard drive go to the album and delete the songs I do not want. Easy.

What happens if you turn the car off while downloading from the USB port to the HDD? Does it complete the download anyway with the power off? Does it cut off in mid-song transfer? When you start up the car and start the transfer all over again, it doesn't seem to pick up where it left off. Is it creating dupes on the HDD? Or is it smart enough to know the files that are already loaded and doesn't try loading them again?

What happens if you turn the car off while downloading from the USB port to the HDD? Does it complete the download anyway with the power off? Does it cut off in mid-song transfer? When you start up the car and start the transfer all over again, it doesn't seem to pick up where it left off. Is it creating dupes on the HDD? Or is it smart enough to know the files that are already loaded and doesn't try loading them again?

If it's like ripping a CD, it'll go until accessory power is turned off, at which point it'll toss any half-finished transfer. It won't resume when you power up again, but it's smart enough to recognize dupes and avoid retransfer

I believe the Cruzer has U3 capability. If you go to the Sandisk web site and download the utility that removes the U3 capability it will work fine. I had the same problem. The car needs to see a "pure" flash drive.

Got the nav system...You can record radio...but its not intuitive. You have to hit the pause button instead of the record button. Took me a trip through the owners manual to figure it out.

Got the nav system...You can record radio...but its not intuitive. You have to hit the pause button instead of the record button. Took me a trip through the owners manual to figure it out.

IMHO, it's intuitive -- that how it works with every DVR I've seen. If it did anything when I pressed Record, I'd expect it to be saved as a file on the HDD that could be played until I manually deleted it.

If I could please hijack this thread and ask another question that ie related? Okay thanks.

Is there a way to record a single track from a CD? I have been unable to do this. The only way I can record from a CD is to record all the tracks.
Yes you can record one track, and can actually do it while it is playing. Just did it. While in CD mode, spin the Menu knob. This brings up a list of all tracks on the CD. Scroll to the song you wish to record and hit record. You will get a prompt asking you if you would like to record the single track.

IMHO, it's intuitive -- that how it works with every DVR I've seen. If it did anything when I pressed Record, I'd expect it to be saved as a file on the HDD that could be played until I manually deleted it.

Ahhh...don't own a DVR so for me it wasn't obvious. I figured if I wanted to record the radio I would hit record while on the radio. Pause to me only stops playback. Guess it is all perspective.

I take it the radio is always buffering?

In another words, if I hear something on the radio I want to
repeat all I need to do is hit a rewind button...yes? Do I have
to tell the radio in advance I want it to buffer?

I take it the radio is always buffering?

In another words, if I hear something on the radio I want to
repeat all I need to do is hit a rewind button...yes? Do I have
to tell the radio in advance I want it to buffer?


It is always buffering when you are on a radio station. When you change stations it resets the buffer. When you change to another audio source it resets the buffer.

If you are on a station, hit rewind and you can go back up to an hour (less if you were on the station for less than an hour).

I take it the radio is always buffering?

In another words, if I hear something on the radio I want to
repeat all I need to do is hit a rewind button...yes? Do I have
to tell the radio in advance I want it to buffer?

Yeah, it's always buffering, and no, you don't need to tell it in advance to do that. Of course as soon as you change channels, it flushes everything buffered from the previous channel.

I have another question. I've successfully loaded somewhere between 2,000-2,500 songs to date onto the HDD. The show up fine while playing back, but I can't seem to get any of the buttons on the bottom of the screen to function. I can get the random and playlist buttons to work (although I haven't created any playlists yet), but when I press artist, genre, etc., the buttons blank out for a few seconds, then return to their normal display. When I press the edit button, it defaults to a screen filled with blank lines and says it can't find whatever it is it's looking for. Looks like I need to revisit the manual. When I first ripped a CD or two, it seems like I was presented with options like "more songs like this", etc., yet I haven't seen anything like that again, since I've loaded up the HDD. BTW, it looks like it transfers one song per four seconds, from my USB 4 gig drive onto the HDD, more or less.

Yeah, it's always buffering, and no, you don't need to tell it in advance to do that. Of course as soon as you change channels, it flushes everything buffered from the previous channel.

If I understand correctly (salesman demo and nav manual p.3-9) the auto buffer is active when the car is on (assume that includes acc. position), BUT to do the "tivo" thing when you leave the car (not running or on) you need to press the play/pause button to keep it recording. and then if you don't get back within an hour the recording is lost.
rg

Ronster,

Am I to understand correctly from reading your post
above that you can set the radio to buffer up to one
hour with your car turned off? Seems odd, but that
seems what you were implying above.

Would love to go shopping for an hour and return
and hear whatever I missed.

Ronster,

Am I to understand correctly from reading your post
above that you can set the radio to buffer up to one
hour with your car turned off? Seems odd, but that
seems what you were implying above.

Would love to go shopping for an hour and return
and hear whatever I missed.

Yes that is exactly the point. If your wife sends you out to buy some milk and you are listening to the game in the car you can set it to record while you are in the store, come back, rewind, and you will not have missed a thing.

I have another question. I've successfully loaded somewhere between 2,000-2,500 songs to date onto the HDD. The show up fine while playing back, but I can't seem to get any of the buttons on the bottom of the screen to function. I can get the random and playlist buttons to work (although I haven't created any playlists yet), but when I press artist, genre, etc., the buttons blank out for a few seconds, then return to their normal display. When I press the edit button, it defaults to a screen filled with blank lines and says it can't find whatever it is it's looking for. Looks like I need to revisit the manual. When I first ripped a CD or two, it seems like I was presented with options like "more songs like this", etc., yet I haven't seen anything like that again, since I've loaded up the HDD. BTW, it looks like it transfers one song per four seconds, from my USB 4 gig drive onto the HDD, more or less.

When you are playing a song and you've got the Artist, Album, and Genre buttons across the bottom of the screen, they don't take you to the song menu. Rather, you press & hold them to add the current artist or album or genre to your favorites. You can config how the favorites are handled by hitting the CONFIG button and going to the HDD section, I think. I think the UI could use a little improvement in this area, but that's how it works today.

The Edit button is for the occasional case where the Gracenote DB has multiple entries for your CD (e.g. an explicit language version and a radio-friendly version). Then, you can hit Edit and choose the Gracenote entry that matches your CD.

Ronster,

Am I to understand correctly from reading your post
above that you can set the radio to buffer up to one
hour with your car turned off? Seems odd, but that
seems what you were implying above.

Would love to go shopping for an hour and return
and hear whatever I missed.

Yup, like Akkilees mentioned, that's how it works. And like Ronster mentioned, you've gotta hit the Pause button if you're going to turn off the car.

If you're listening to AM/FM, when you return the FWD and REV buttons move you 30 seconds at a time. For XM radio, they take you to the beginning of the next or previous song.

When you are playing a song and you've got the Artist, Album, and Genre buttons across the bottom of the screen, they don't take you to the song menu. Rather, you press & hold them to add the current artist or album or genre to your favorites. You can config how the favorites are handled by hitting the CONFIG button and going to the HDD section, I think. I think the UI could use a little improvement in this area, but that's how it works today.

The Edit button is for the occasional case where the Gracenote DB has multiple entries for your CD (e.g. an explicit language version and a radio-friendly version). Then, you can hit Edit and choose the Gracenote entry that matches your CD.

Hmmm. Okay, well, how does one search for a song title, artist, album, etc., then? I also need a little more hands on time with the thing. When I pressed one of the buttons on lower left side somewhere, a new set of buttons labeled numerically showed up and a message said in order to add that song to your favorites, press and hold the button. But I wasn't sure which button they were referring to. One of the numbered buttons? Aaah, time to hit the books I guess, and read up on that manual. That's one of my worst traits. I never like to read the manuals for anything. I just like to be able to figure it out for myself and think that everything should be designed in order for me to do that without a whole lot of fuss. Oh well. Owner's manual, here I come.:rolleyes: Don't fail me now!

Crackerz,

I'm like you. I never read the manual. I just depend on people
like yourself to do it for me and then let us know. :)

Just kidding! Love 'ya!

... I never read the manual. I just depend on people like yourself to do it for me and then let us know. ...

there are limitations to reading the manual. I think they leave some stuff out on purpose.
and learning by doing (playing around and finding new features) seems to stick a lot better.
rg

Hmmm. Okay, well, how does one search for a song title, artist, album, etc., then?
Press on the big button in the middle of the screen while you're playing a HDD song. It says "Album" or "Artist" or whatever you chose last. That'll take you to a list where you can pick by album or artist or whatever. Picking by Album sorts songs by track number, while picking by Artist combines all of that artist's songs and sorts alphabetically.

See? Easy as oil, carmel, three!

I also need a little more hands on time with the thing. When I pressed one of the buttons on lower left side somewhere, a new set of buttons labeled numerically showed up and a message said in order to add that song to your favorites, press and hold the button. But I wasn't sure which button they were referring to. One of the numbered buttons? Aaah, time to hit the books I guess, and read up on that manual. That's one of my worst traits. I never like to read the manuals for anything. I just like to be able to figure it out for myself and think that everything should be designed in order for me to do that without a whole lot of fuss. Oh well. Owner's manual, here I come.:rolleyes: Don't fail me now!

Manual, schmanual. Press & hold works on the bottom buttons, but how often are you picking favorites anyways? Just toss the manual over your shoulder and start pressing buttons like the rest of us. If something doesn't make sense, blame it on GM or Alpine or Microsoft!

See? Easy as oil, carmel, three!


:histeric: :histeric: :histeric:

:thumbsup:

Yeah, okay, I've got it all figured out now. Time to finally sit back and enjoy the ride.

...Easy as oil, carmel, three!...

wonder how many people are going to read that and think you've lost your mind.
rg

wonder how many people are going to read that and think you've lost your mind.
rg

Heh...only the folks who haven't been keeping up with the posts in the 2008 CTS forum...

wonder how many people are going to read that and think you've lost your mind.
rg

They'd be right. After awhile, you hardly miss it though!