SD Card - Media - Format Type and Useful Information

[Studvart]

Hi,
Long time Seat owner, first time poster.
I have a Mk3 FR with full link etc, i have been trying to use the second SD card slot (1st is used for Nav) to hold music files so that i am not beholden to always have a phone plugged in.
I cannot find any resource that tells me:
- What format type I should use to be compatible (exFAT, FAT32, NTFS, etc)
- What is the maxium size the SD card can be to be compatible
- I have a 128GB card (which I assume is too big), and i cannot find a guide to tell me how to restrict the size to make it okay to use
- Best practice in terms of song/file names and layout to be useful once successfully compatible

I have tried searching for results on this but seem to have missed anything useful.

I would appreacite a steer in the right direction.
Thank You

 

[DigitalSushi]

Cant say for sure but every SD card stereo i have owned has insisted on Fat16 or 32.

Fat 32 is probably the best bet. And I seem to remember they had a <32Gb limit

easiest way to create a smaller Fat32 partition is to use computer management on windows.

Stick your usb in.
open computer management and delete all current partitions on the usb (right click > delete)
Right click on unpartitioned space and create a new simple volume
set size to 30000
Format FAT32 (do not quick format)

you should end up with something like this

Stick a file on there and see if it works.

 

[Tell]

You are safe with Fat32 but since the infotainment system, mib2 is written in QNX they have declared limits in the program which they declare in the infotainment manual . Basically the limit you may hit with mp3 files is this:

• For memory cards, a maximum of 4000 files and a maximum of 1000 files per directory.

If you use Flac in 128gb card you are highly unlikely to hit the limit. With mp3, smaller files, more files. If you exceed the limit it just doesn't see the contents after the limits. It's come up before. Some people have a strategy of spreading the files out in that case.

I use 128gb Kingston SD cards, no problems rather than having a USB wobbling about although there are the stud type. Easier to use an SD card in the spare slot. Keep the Fat32 the card comes in. Don't play with the sector size. Observe the limits or use a strategy to spread the files out.

This is all mib2 stuff for the standard and high units which is what is on your car.

 

[Yern]

I use a USB stick, first attempt I found the file tree didn't display albums and tracks properly on the infotainment unit. Inserted USB stick back in PC, right click select Properties then Customise tab and optimised for Music (click OK). This then displayed albums and tracks correctly...in my case.

 

[Tell]

That is probably populating the entities held in the format of the file so like an little mp3 player you can search and play be type etc. I always play by folder view but I do keep those fields populated if making music files using Audacity etc.

Page from the manual on playing music:

You jab those menu button to show the contents by view where it's either using the folder structure or what is in Id3 tag. There are some experts about round here on id3 tag editors. Yep so Id3 tag is important if you like to search the contents of your music files by the tags. Artists, Albums, Tracks etc.

Bought mp3 files come with the tags populated. If digitizing your own music you need to be aware of the tags and album art to get it to display correctly. I populate the album art if it's not contained in the tag by putting a jpeg 512 x 512 in the album folder called cover.jpeg. It uses standard media server methods to display the album picture on the screen in that case. Won't reliably display art greater than 512 x 512. The art you can pick up via a Google on images if making your own music folders.

Id3 not just used for mp3 these days

ID3 - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

The tag editor people let rip with a tag editor to adjust the tags on mass. Never found the need myself for that.

The above is all standard media server stuff if you have your own media server in the home, the cars infotainment system obeys those media server rules. Just copy what you use indoors into the car off your media server.

Attached is a manual for Seat Infotainment mib2 standard and high (Seat Plus) which is good across models for that period although this is the Ateca one. Mib2 was fitted 2015 - 2019 models roughtly. 2020 models and above mib3. Mib1 the 5 years before.

 

[249mat]

Hi
You mention having to have the phone 'plugged in'.. my 2015 has bluetooth connectivity (phone and audio) so plugging in isnt necessary... is it possible you have that too I wonder?

 

[Studvart]

Thanks All, Really helpful.
@Tell , Cant beleive i missed that section of the manual. I had tried the find function but thank you.
@249mat , Yes i do have the bluetooth option but i prefer to use hardwired connections. Just preference.

 

[249mat]

Fair play. I must admit that in my car the quality of audio when cables was never as crisp as when Bluetoothed - and when I’m in calls people used to say it was rubbish when cabled up!

good luck!

 

[Tell]

Fair play. I must admit that in my car the quality of audio when cables was never as crisp as when Bluetoothed - and when I’m in calls people used to say it was rubbish when cabled up!

good luck!

Probably your audio stage in whatever you had plugged into your Mib unit was defective why bluetooth sounded better. That's analogue input.

Seat audio units have always been good. Let down by poor speakers in the early days but now the speakers are much better. Given the speakers are glued and moulded in on lugs the desire for speaker projects is reduced. Gone are the days of removing four screws each side and eyeballing up what Halfords had in.

You are always going to get a better sound off the SD card / USB than fumbling with your phone and Bluetooth. Given you can get so much on an SD card and in Flac form you preserve the original quality of the digital recording it's going to win over Bluetooth and Mp3 if you have the original digital source loss less uncompressed. How I see it, the Mib unit becomes an extension of your home media server based on loss less compression namely FLAC. Just populate those files as you do your media server in the house if you store your music on one of those. If you like mp3s do it that way.

Being a purist, if I only have a lossy compressed source, I run it thru the conversion programs to go into Flac so the uncompressed wave form (WAV) from the lossy compression is loss less recompressed to Flac e.g.. the audio off concerts ditching the video side else you would have to recompress that to lossy.... so it grows to preserve the original uncompressed lossy sound. The joys of digital audio not to recompress lossy audio in lossy after decompressing it.