USB on the stock radio - Toyota GR86, 86, FR-S and Subaru BRZ Forum & Owners Community

Dadhawk · 05-18-2012, 10:37 PM

Has anyone pulled their stock radio yet on the FR-S? I'm interested in seeing if there is a way to get a second USB connection on it. I want to throw my old iPod in the glove box and just leave it there (I only use it in the car) and don't like the cable running from the USB port to the little cubby hole.

michaelahess · 05-18-2012, 10:55 PM

Hard wire a hub behind the lower jack, cut it, wire in the hub, run one of the hubs ports to the factory original one, then the others to wherever you want them. Assuming the radio works with a hub, which it should to be USB compliant. Plug the hub in first to be sure

Dadhawk · 05-18-2012, 11:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by michaelahess

Hard wire a hub behind the lower jack, cut it, wire in the hub, run one of the hubs ports to the factory original one, then the others to wherever you want them. Assuming the radio works with a hub, which it should to be USB compliant. Plug the hub in first to be sure

Yea, that is what I was thinking as well, but thought maybe the radio had a USB on it. I'm guessing not though from looking at the lame diagram in the manual. I'll definitely try the hub first, as you suggest.

michaelahess · 05-18-2012, 11:34 PM

The FCC pictures do show a usb port on the back, but I suspect that's what's going down to that jack, might be able to just plug a hub in there. However it looked really square, so it may only be a USB B port which probably wouldn't support host mode.

jdrxb9 · 05-22-2012, 12:03 PM

Maybe a dumb question, but is the stock USB port 'right side up' or 'upside down'?

In other words, if I wanted to order a short cable with a right angle connector (like from here: http://www.angledcables.com/a-to-micro-b.html) to have the cable go toward the cubby, do I want a 'left angle' or a 'right angle' on the A plug end?

Thanks for any info!

Dadhawk · 05-22-2012, 12:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jdrxb9

Maybe a dumb question, but is the stock USB port 'right side up' or 'upside down'?

In other words, if I wanted to order a short cable with a right angle connector (like from here: http://www.angledcables.com/a-to-micro-b.html) to have the cable go toward the cubby, do I want a 'left angle' or a 'right angle' on the A plug end?

Thanks for any info!

On mine, it is "right side up". When you plug a cable into it, the USB logo goes up.

Dadhawk · 05-22-2012, 02:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by michaelahess

Hard wire a hub behind the lower jack, cut it, wire in the hub, run one of the hubs ports to the factory original one, then the others to wherever you want them. Assuming the radio works with a hub, which it should to be USB compliant. Plug the hub in first to be sure

Quote:

Originally Posted by michaelahess

The FCC pictures do show a usb port on the back, but I suspect that's what's going down to that jack, might be able to just plug a hub in there. However it looked really square, so it may only be a USB B port which probably wouldn't support host mode.

Tried plugging an unpowered hub into the USB plug on the console, but the radio throws up a "USB Error" message. Back to the drawing board I guess. Now I have to decide if its worth pulling the radio to try it. Maybe this weekend.

michaelahess · 05-22-2012, 03:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dadhawk

Tried plugging an unpowered hub into the USB plug on the console, but the radio throws up a "USB Error" message. Back to the drawing board I guess. Now I have to decide if its worth pulling the radio to try it. Maybe this weekend.

It may require a powered hub...I believe they all run at 5v so it may be possible to run it off the car power with a small inverter or rectifier...I'll look into this.

If you have a powered hub and an inverter laying around you could try.

Dadhawk · 05-22-2012, 03:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by michaelahess

It may require a powered hub...I believe they all run at 5v so it may be possible to run it off the car power with a small inverter or rectifier...I'll look into this.

If you have a powered hub and an inverter laying around you could try.

Yea, I thought about that too but didn't have a powered one handy. Will try that later.

Want.FR-S · 05-22-2012, 03:44 PM

Just thought about this over a long driving session. IIRC in the manual it stated that the default HU can read the MP3 files from a USB Thumb drive. So if the OP's requirement is to have a device storing music files left in the car, would it make sense just to get a cheap Thumb USB drive and load it with all your music file and plug that in all the time. With that, no cable is needed. Furthermore, changing music files is a breeze with your PC to copy-paste files.

I remember in the early days the forum members had discussed about the requirement of the HU. Things that 2-din unit with USB/AUX inputs are definitely required. It seems that Toyota got this and provide a decent HU for this purpose. (Although the SD card slot idea was not accepted...)

I know this is the work-around but not solving the problem. Just fruit for thought.

Dadhawk · 05-22-2012, 04:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Want.FR-S

...So if the OP's requirement is to have a device storing music files left in the car, would it make sense just to get a cheap Thumb USB drive and load it with all your music file and plug that in all the time. With that, no cable is needed. Furthermore, changing music files is a breeze with your PC to copy-paste files....

That is an option, and I have my "86" USB drive loaded with music. The HU does a really nice job of controlling an iPod though, so I don't really want to give that up since I have a spare iPod.

It would also be nice to have the front USB port available for phone charging, etc since I want to "permanently install" the iPod. If it was an easy fix, I thought I would mount it in the glove box, but if not, I'll just leave as is.

HotLavaMann · 05-22-2012, 05:23 PM

So I tried the "86" thumb drive loaded with 320 kbps mp3 music. It works great though I could only get about 55 songs on there which is a bit limiting. OTOH there isn't a way to play a playlist, it's all just one long list of music. So if I had all my music on a big thumb drive, it would be painful to find anything.

And the 86 thumb drive looks really cool in there. I think I'll stick with that for now.

ESBjiujitsu · 05-22-2012, 05:26 PM

very interested in your findings i have an old ipod i could do the same thing with!

Nitro · 05-22-2012, 05:55 PM

Does anybody know if the built in USB near the shifter connects to the stock radio via USB or a proprietary connector. I want to put an aftermarket unit in and it would be nice if I could use the built in USB

05-18-2012, 10:37 PM	#1
Dadhawk Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2012 Drives: '13 FR-S (#3 of 1st 86) Location: Powder Springs, GA Posts: 20,104 Thanks: 39,658 Thanked 25,434 Times in 11,599 Posts Mentioned: 187 Post(s) Tagged: 4 Thread(s)	USB on the stock radio Has anyone pulled their stock radio yet on the FR-S? I'm interested in seeing if there is a way to get a second USB connection on it. I want to throw my old iPod in the glove box and just leave it there (I only use it in the car) and don't like the cable running from the USB port to the little cubby hole.

05-22-2012, 05:23 PM	#12
HotLavaMann First 86 member Join Date: Jan 2012 Drives: FRS, Tacoma, Honda CB1100 Location: WA State Posts: 165 Thanks: 3 Thanked 92 Times in 29 Posts Mentioned: 3 Post(s) Tagged: 0 Thread(s)	"86" USB drive loaded with music So I tried the "86" thumb drive loaded with 320 kbps mp3 music. It works great though I could only get about 55 songs on there which is a bit limiting. OTOH there isn't a way to play a playlist, it's all just one long list of music. So if I had all my music on a big thumb drive, it would be painful to find anything. And the 86 thumb drive looks really cool in there. I think I'll stick with that for now.

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05-18-2012, 10:55 PM	#2
michaelahess Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2012 Drives: '13 GBS BRZ Lim, 2006 Dodge RAM MC Location: Wyoming Posts: 663 Thanks: 72 Thanked 148 Times in 98 Posts Mentioned: 5 Post(s) Tagged: 0 Thread(s)	Hard wire a hub behind the lower jack, cut it, wire in the hub, run one of the hubs ports to the factory original one, then the others to wherever you want them. Assuming the radio works with a hub, which it should to be USB compliant. Plug the hub in first to be sure

05-18-2012, 11:34 PM	#4
michaelahess Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2012 Drives: '13 GBS BRZ Lim, 2006 Dodge RAM MC Location: Wyoming Posts: 663 Thanks: 72 Thanked 148 Times in 98 Posts Mentioned: 5 Post(s) Tagged: 0 Thread(s)	The FCC pictures do show a usb port on the back, but I suspect that's what's going down to that jack, might be able to just plug a hub in there. However it looked really square, so it may only be a USB B port which probably wouldn't support host mode.

05-22-2012, 12:03 PM	#5
jdrxb9 Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2012 Drives: ND2, formerly BRZ (MT/CBS) Location: PA Posts: 200 Thanks: 27 Thanked 73 Times in 42 Posts Mentioned: 0 Post(s) Tagged: 0 Thread(s)	Maybe a dumb question, but is the stock USB port 'right side up' or 'upside down'? In other words, if I wanted to order a short cable with a right angle connector (like from here: http://www.angledcables.com/a-to-micro-b.html) to have the cable go toward the cubby, do I want a 'left angle' or a 'right angle' on the A plug end? Thanks for any info!

05-22-2012, 05:55 PM	#14
Nitro Senior Member Join Date: May 2012 Drives: 2013 Firestorm Scion FR-S Location: East Lansing, MI Posts: 111 Thanks: 2 Thanked 93 Times in 22 Posts Mentioned: 2 Post(s) Tagged: 0 Thread(s)	Does anybody know if the built in USB near the shifter connects to the stock radio via USB or a proprietary connector. I want to put an aftermarket unit in and it would be nice if I could use the built in USB

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