Files on USB drive

[Steve Woodhouse]

I wouldn’t think so, but I’d hope that’s something that WiiM could add to their views of the USB drive contents. As was mentioned in another recent post, server software like Minimserver offers that as a configurable setting amongst other benefits.

Cheers. I think my best bet is to wait for the Ultra to appear, then attach a small drive with a few folders in, and see if it works. If it does, clear the cache, and replace with the larger, finished drive. But thanks for the answers, I'm now more confident that this will work.

 

[Steve Woodhouse]

And given the size of your library, I’d guess your usb drive has or will need an external power supply

Sorry for digging this up again.

Any reason something like this wouldn’t work?

https://amzn.eu/d/axiIZnn

No external power supply, just a pen drive.

 

[Brantome]

Sorry for digging this up again.

Any reason something like this wouldn’t work?

https://amzn.eu/d/axiIZnn

No external power supply, just a pen drive.

Might be touch and go - I expect the Ultra’s USB port to be the same as the Amp, whose current capacity of 650mA can be found here:

Using USB Disks with the WiiM Amp

Transform your living space into an immersive concert hall by connecting a USB stick to your WiiM Amp. To achieve the best performance and ensure compatibility, it's crucial to know which USB disk types and power specifications are supported by t...

faq.wiimhome.com

The official data sheet for the xxx doesn’t give any power consumption info here:

https://documents.westerndigital.com/content/dam/doc-library/en_us/assets/public/sandisk/product/usb-flash/ultra-flair-usb-3-0/data-sheet-ultra-flair-usb-3-0.pdf

However, the following page suggests it might draw up to 900mA on a USB 3.0 port, but I’d suspect the Amp/Ultra is probably just usb 2.0

Sandisk Ultra Flair USB 3.0 Draw Maximum Power

Hi… I wanna ask, is it normal that the USB FD draw max power from USB 3.0 port? in my screenshot the USB Sandisk Ultra Flair (bought less than a week ago) draw almost 900 mA from USB 3.0 port Earlier also I found out the FD draw 500 mA on USB 2.0 port (just 1 time) then the rest just 224 mA...

forums.sandisk.com

Think it might be a case of trying it out, but be prepared for the need to buy a y cable and external power supply like I used on my 1TB SSD

 

[simbun]

Any reason something like this wouldn’t work?

https://amzn.eu/d/axiIZnn

No external power supply, just a pen drive.

That's going to be painfully slow to write to, at least the initial load. I've used the Extreme Pro for many years, but they are twice the price.

 

[simbun]

However, the following page suggests it might draw up to 900mA on a USB 3.0 port, but I’d suspect the Amp/Ultra is probably just usb 2.0

I knew there were power constraints but I hadn't realised it was so low that USB 3 (900 mA) was an issue!

 

[Jls]

I’ve used a lot of conversion programs, and so far, they’ve all had a setting somewhere to manage the names.

Changing your metadata without options seems like a deal killer.

 

[Jls]

Most WD USB drives will work with USB 2.0, and switch to faster writing when 3.0 is available.

I’m using a WD 4 Tb drive a media server on a Roku, and it works fine. Switching from USB 2 to 3 is automatic and 2,0 is fast enough for video. When you are writing to the drive, you are presumably at a computer, with 3.0 available.

 

[Steve Woodhouse]

Many thanks.

Can anyone recommend a 500gb external USB drive with its own power supply.

The western digital ones at Amazon start at 4TB, which is overkill.

EDIT: Just a thought, if I use a powered USB hub, would the hub power the external drive?

 

[Jls]

Many thanks.

Can anyone recommend a 500gb external USB drive with its own power supply.

The western digital ones at Amazon start at 4TB, which is overkill.

WD Passport drives at Amazon start at 1 Tb, for about $60. For lower capacity you are looking at thumb drives.

 

[Brantome]

EDIT: Just a thought, if I use a powered USB hub, would the hub power the external drive?

I used one of these to support my 1TB ssd drive into the WiiM amp. That drive has a usb c connection, but I guess you’d need a similar cable with a usb a female lead to fit the pen drive into. For mine, the usb c went into the drive, the single usb a to a charging port while the usb a with the two leads went into the Amp. Works a treat

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01LAV03KE/

 

[Steve Woodhouse]

I used one of these to support my 1TB ssd drive into the WiiM amp. That drive has a usb c connection, but I guess you’d need a similar cable with a usb a female lead to fit the pen drive into. For mine, the usb c went into the drive, the single usb a to a charging port while the usb a with the two leads went into the Amp. Works a treat

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01LAV03KE/

Cheers.

The reason I was asking about the powered hub is that I have one already, so no extra cost.

 

[harkpabst]

Sorry for digging this up again.

Any reason something like this wouldn’t work?

https://amzn.eu/d/axiIZnn

No external power supply, just a pen drive.

I'm using this even cheaper, even lower spec SanDisk Ultra with my WiiM Amp and it's working perfectly well.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/SanDisk-Ultra-Flash-Drive-Read/dp/B083ZLJ5MG/

Initial indexing took two or three runs to finally finish (for just short of 12.000 songs in 886 albums) but that was the only complaint. No idea if this was down to the Amp or maybe the WHA version at that point in time. I'm very confident the Ultra will do at least as good as the Amp in this regard.

 

[BowsAndArrows]

I'm using this even cheaper, even lower spec SanDisk Ultra with my WiiM Amp and it's working perfectly well.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/SanDisk-Ultra-Flash-Drive-Read/dp/B083ZLJ5MG/

Initial indexing took two or three runs to finally finish (for just short of 12.000 songs in 886 albums) but that was the only complaint. No idea if this was down to the Amp or maybe the WHA version at that point in time. I'm very confident the Ultra will do at least as good as the Amp in this regard.

If you have an old laptop or pc lying around idle/broken. Then you can take the 2.5" (or m.2) SSD from it and put it in an external enclosure?

That would be faster, more durable and probably cheaper than other solutions

 

[BowsAndArrows]

T

WD Passport drives at Amazon start at 1 Tb, for about $60. For lower capacity you are looking at thumb drives.

Those are magnetic HDDs though? I would recommend paying extra for the solid state options I reckon.

 

[BowsAndArrows]

If you have an old laptop or pc lying around idle/broken. Then you can take the 2.5" (or m.2) SSD from it and put it in an external enclosure?

That would be faster, more durable and probably cheaper than other solutions

There are good options like this Kingston XS1000 1TB SSD https://amzn.eu/d/aqlsN6b. Others available from reputable brands around the same £70-80 price point.

If you really want to stick to 512GB then there are options around £50ish. SSK 512GB Portable External SSD https://amzn.eu/d/eJDb3WI

 

[Jls]

T

Those are magnetic HDDs though? I would recommend paying extra for the solid state options I reckon.

I’ve used mechanical USB drives for decades and have only seen one fail. I’ve seen the same number of SSDs fail. The trick is always have backups.

 

[harkpabst]

If you have an old laptop or pc lying around idle/broken. Then you can take the 2.5" (or m.2) SSD from it and put it in an external enclosure?

That would be faster, more durable and probably cheaper than other solutions

I'm not on need of another solution.

I already own this thumb drive and it's working more than fast enough, 100% reliable and using little power.

Equally important: My ripped/downloaded music lives on my NAS, I'm just playing around with the USB drive feature for educational purposes.

 

[Jls]

I'm not on need of another solution.

I already own this thumb drive and it's working more than fast enough, 100% reliable and using little power.

Equally important: My ripped/downloaded music lives on my NAS, I'm just playing around with the USB drive feature for educational purposes.

Unasked for advice: After 40 years of supporting business networks, I can say, nothing is 100 percent reliable.

Backups. USB drives are cheap. Time spent building a library is not.

 

[BowsAndArrows]

I’ve used mechanical USB drives for decades and have only seen one fail. I’ve seen the same number of SSDs fail. The trick is always have backups.

yeh, it's not really about reliability. but more about latency when performing random reads with small file sizes - which is what's needed in a music-server type application. i agree with you about durability of the HDDs. especially NAS-grade HDDs are built like tanks and will probably outlast most cheap SSD implementations...

I'm not on need of another solution.

I already own this thumb drive and it's working more than fast enough, 100% reliable and using little power.

Equally important: My ripped/downloaded music lives on my NAS, I'm just playing around with the USB drive feature for educational purposes.

yeh, no i was actually speaking to @Steve Woodhouse giving him suggestions, but in response to your suggestion for a cheap thumb drive...

i'm not a huge fan of them - many of them have randomly died on me over the years, and also sometimes they randomly don't work. i also tend to lose them very easily so that's why i recommend to most people - just get a good cheap NVME m.2 and a decent enclosure!! but even a 2.5" SSD in an enclosure works great as a cheap and reliable quick storage medium.

for anything that i used to rely on a thumb drive for - nowadays i usually use some sort of web based transfer - either cloud storage or just e-mail and messaging apps etc. so i don't have a use for them - except for maybe flashing RPi ROMS or similar....

 

[Jls]

I really question whether latency can be a problem reading audio files. That’s what buffering is for. I’ve never seen a problem with video, and the data rate is much higher.

Second, you can eliminate the randomness by copying to a new or formatted drive, eliminating fragmentation.

But, for a few dollars more, SSDs. No argument, except money. Does not eliminate the need for backups.

High quality drives fail. Google has tested everything, and there are no good predictors of longevity.

Backups.