Hello
I recently purchased a vehicle with both USB and Auxillary ports that an IPOD can be connected to, in fact a cable came with the vehicle.
My question, is there an all-in-one cable that will allow me to connect my Fuze to the car and use the player to select what to listen to?
I have a cable that will connet via the ear bud jack to the car and that works but the Fuze won’t charge while connected this way. I tried connecting my USB cable at the same time but that stops the headphone jack from working. I can connect with just the USB cable but I can’t use the Fuze to select what to play. All I get on the Fuze screen is the CONNECTED image. Music will play but rather then being able to select albums to play it selects by files (I hope I explained that clearly).
I don’t think the sandisk firmware has any way to charge the player while connected to a USB data connection. AFAIK you have two options: 1) Get a cable that charged from the car’s 12v plug, or a power only USB cable and use that. 2) Use rockbox rather then the Sandisk firmware so that you can charge off a data connection.
The Sansa disables manual control when it is plugged in to a data connection. With your car radio head unit, you may have several options.
Depending upon the level of sophistication of the head unit, it’s possible to play files that are loaded on the device by reading them from the memory directly, or some units allow transfer from the device to the head unit’s internal hard drive. This may be limited, as most units may understand only mp3 format media, or may only be capable of MSC transfer, or may not be capable of finding music files contained in logical folders.
Try a simple trick first, see if the USB port has a sufficient 5v power supply. Just plug in the Sansa, and check its display. Do you see the battery indicator flashing, indicating charging? If so, a simple modification to the USB cable will allow you to use the USB port for charging while listening via the Sansa’s headphone jack, connected to the AUX connection.
The key here is to use the %v supply to power the Sansa, while having no data on the two center pins, so the device will run manually. The original Fuze has a nige legible display, and offers rapid navigation via its scroll wheel. Simply place a small piece of tape (clear Scotch type tape is best) over the two center pins of the USB connector, then plug in. The Fuze will think it’s connected to a USB charger, and will operate normally.
Equally simple is to purchase a basic cigar lighter socket USB car charger, and connect the Fuze cable.
I like using the USB port, as it has a smaller likelihood of ground-loop noise, or alternator whine, since the power supply and audio output are grounded at the same head unit.
Bob :smileyvery-happy:
Thanks for replying. I’ll try the tape trick.
Another quetsion, If I plug into the cigarette lighter socket with a USB adaptor installed and the Fuze’s USB cable, since there will be no data being transmitted will the unit still block the headphone jack?
OK it work with a USB adapter in the power outlet.
A small word of caution… I’ve sometimes found that, even without data being transfered, the USB cable can still “block” the headphone jack. The device will continue to function as normal, but the sound might dissapear, or be mixed with odd noises. If this happens, you don’t quite have the USB cable plugged in correctly. The obvious solution is to push it in. Problem solved.
Also, I know this has been said many times, but I feel it should be added as a warning to people who are new: don’t try to use an iPod cord with the Fuze. They may look similar, but the Fuze will fry if plugged into an iPod cable (I assume the iPod will also be destroyed if plugged into a Fuze cable).
