USB head units destroy pen drives (due to heat?)

[akash_m]

It has happened to me twice! My Transcend 4GB pen drive got corrupted while listning to music continuously for 1 hr in my Sony Single-Din car cd player (with USB). Similarly my sony 2 GB pen drive got destroyed (unusable anymore). I guess that there is no option of 'Safely removing Hardware' unlike the PCs to remove the pen drives from CD players. Also, these drives become literaly 'hot' even after playing 2 MP3 songs.

When I took the pen drive to sony dealer for replacement under warranty, he flatly refused saying that the warranty stands null void in such cases. He told that the pen drives are never ment for high speed continuous data transfer. Live audio streeming cannot be done using conventional pen drives!

Has anyone of you experienced similar issues..?

[low_bass_makker]

Originally Posted by akash_m

He told that the pen drives are never ment for high speed continuous data transfer. Live audio streeming cannot be done using conventional pen drives!

From when is 128-320 kb/sec is considered High speed

[zaks]

Originally Posted by low_bass_makker

From when is 128-320 kb/sec is considered High speed

No, the data rates of USB 1.0 and 2.0 are fixed and for usb 2.0 it goes at something like 4.5Mbps. They should be able to be used continuously without any problem. But check the specs for sure.

[vebmetal]

Hmmm. I hope this is not true for all, and you are just an unlucky fellow, akash_m.

I have been using my pen drive (8GB Corsair) for 2 - 3 months now, and the pen drive is still fine. I have used it upto 1 hour at a time in the Delhi heat. (But then again I only disconnect it physically when the engine and HU are off).

[Driven]

Originally Posted by low_bass_makker

From when is 128-320 kb/sec is considered High speed

Hahahahahahah... Yaar you are the two muchs yaar... I'm no geek like you but even I know thats just the encoding bitrate and not the transfer speed of USB hahah...

[bblost]

Imagine this.
2 buckets, one bucket holds 20 liters and its is full.
The other bucket can only hold 100 ml at a time.
You have a mug that can take 1/2 liter at a time.

The small bucket has a leak and looses water at 10 ml a second.

so when you want to transfer water, you will move 100 ml from bucket 1 to bucket 2 every 10 seconds.

Now suppose you have a big bucket 3, that can hold 30 Liters.
You can move the water 1/2 ll at a time and finish it off in just 40 moves.

now replace
bucket 1 is your pen drive
bucket 2 is your HU
bucket is a PC.

[Spinnerr]

Originally Posted by akash_m

Has anyone of you experienced similar issues..?

Well, my pen drive has now started acting funny. I too have been using it for some time now, but just on long drives, each time it was hooked on to the HU for about 4-5 hours at a stretch.

The problem with the pen drive is that you can open it (when connected to the PC) only when that window comes up, the one that pops up immedialty when you connect it to the computer. the one that lists Play, open folder...etc etc

It does come up as a drive in 'My computer', but double clicking it would not open. Gives one of those 'device error' messages.

So to reopen a folder on the pendrive, i have to reconnect it to the computer.

Strange, but it is happening. May be I should also try removing the drive only after I switch off the vehicle.

[DerAlte]

Originally Posted by bblost

Imagine this.
2 buckets, one bucket holds 20 liters and its is full.
...
bucket is a PC.

OK, I give up - never did well in arithmetic in school! I am still trying to figure out which PC can hold 30l of water, and which pen drive can hold 0.5l. And your point was ...?

Originally Posted by akash_m

It has happened to me twice! My Transcend 4GB pen drive got corrupted ...

Commiserations, @akash_m, either your HU is giving a massive jolt of static to the pen-drives (HU grounding problem), or passing on massive amount of heat through the connector/tracks, or you have got 'lemons'/fakes twice.

Usually HUs will connect to USB devices ONLY in READ mode - they never try to write anything, so there is no possibility of spurious writes.

"Safely remove hardware" is required only with Windows machines, since directory changes may not be written to the pendrive if you remove it, resulting in a corrupted directory. If nothing has been written during a session, the pendrive can be removed anytime.

[bblost]

Originally Posted by DerAlte

And your point was ...?

OK I need to work on my communication with people.

I was trying to highlight that a device can support high rates of data transfer but will be limited by the amount of data the recieving device can take.

TO clear up the point raised in
"the encoding bitrate and not the transfer speed of USB"

[tsk1979]

Agree with derAlte, this looks to be a classic case of static damage.

[amit_mechengg]

even though the HU doesnt have the facility of "safely remove hardware" you can switch off the HU completely before pulling off the pen drive.
secondly you can do one thing. connect the pen drive to PC. on the drive click properties. one dialog box will open named removable disc properties. click on your pen drive from the list and click on properties. go to policies TAB and select " Optimize for Quick Removal " . your pen drive will be ready for removal without clicking safely remove hardware.

[DerAlte]

Originally Posted by bblost

OK I need to work on my communication with people.

I was trying to highlight that a device can support high rates of data transfer but will be limited by the amount of data the recieving device can take.
...

No issues, happens to most of us.

You are absolutely right about the data transfer rate. Slight modification though - for audio / video, the actual transmission speed is limited by the amount of data the receiving device needs. The real rate expectation should be based on the actual byte offtake needs, not audio stream bps.

In this case, the bytes from the mp3 file on the pendrive is being buffered in the HU, which is being converted by the codec. The transfer happens in bursts based on HU buffer capacity and dynamic status.

[low_bass_makker]

Originally Posted by DerAlte

The transfer happens in bursts based on HU buffer capacity and dynamic status.

I think it is done continuously not in burst rate or it may be different from model to model.

[kuttapan]

@akash - I have played music from my USB stick(Cruzer micro 4GB) for hours on end on my HU, and there has been no issues. My HU is a Pio, btw.

[Driven]

Has it occurred to anyone that for some reason we assume that all these drives are built equally well.

I believe you get what you pay for.