What I'm specifically asking about is playlist files on the actual thumb drive. Does the car support them, and if so, how are they formatted?
OK, for what it's worth, I actually figured this out. Turns out, it was a PEBKAC (
Problem
Exists
Between
Keyboard
And
Chair). The stereo handles playlists on CDs, DVDs,
and thumb drives differently than it handles them on iPods. On the latter, there's a button at the bottom of the Nav screen that says "Playlists", and pushing it takes you to the list of playlists on the iPod. I
ASSumed that the same thing would happen with the other music sources.
I
ASSumed incorrectly. Turns out, the owners manual kind-of hints at how the playlists on the other sources are handled. But it isn't clear enough. It says something like, "Playlists are special folders that...." The key word in that sentence is "folders". I never thought to look in the "FOLDER" button on the Nav screen, because playlists are files, not directories. But, as it turns out, the stereo system treats those playlist files (in M3U format) as folders.
Hit the "FOLDER" button, scroll to the very top of the list, and voila, there are the playlists.
Works like a champ. The playlist file format follows the standard M3U format:
#EXTM3U
#EXTINF:465,Song Title
Directory1\Directory2\...\01 Song Title.MP3
#EXTINF:325,Song Title2
Directory1\Directory2\...\02 Song Title2.MP3
...
jas
