club.liberty.asn.au

I've been mucking around with this for a little while, and am "almost" finished with it.

In short, the install consists of:

Nexus 7 2013 2nd gen, rooted, Timur's kernel, and a few of the usual things installed.

USB 3.0 powered hub. (Both tablet and hub are powered by a second cigarette lighter socket/dual USB lighter socket thing, wired off - but behind - the cigarette lighter below the stereo).

FSL-21 connected into the back of the McIntosh head unit, and a Behringer USB DAC connecting the tablet to the FSL2-21 (and hence the stereo).

I've also connected a 200Gb 2.5" laptop SSD to the hub (it's in one of those transparent cases which provide a USB-SATA "bridge". The SSD is ostensibly to hold a music library of ~150Gb. There's also a 16Gb USB stick, ostensibly for maps for the TomTom app.

Both USB drivers are "seen" in ES Explorer Pro. However, the SSD causes errors, with the message "this drive is not suitable for this device, do you wish to format" appearing in notifications. I'd initially formatted it as NTFS and copied the music on to it (on a Win7 laptop). The first time the error got thrown, I took it out of the car, re-formatted it (as exFAT), and re-copied the music. Re-installed in car, and the same issue occurs.

I must be doing something wrong...but what?

First question...Are you actually getting stereo sound from the DAC?
These DAC's are known not to work with the Lollipop on a nexus 7 for stereo sound, and actually output mono instead

I also have had issues with thumb drives. They work for a while, and then they become corrupted and need to be formatted and have the data recopied to it

Flat6Estate wrote:First question...Are you actually getting stereo sound from the DAC?
These DAC's are known not to work with the Lollipop on a nexus 7 for stereo sound, and actually output mono instead

I also have had issues with thumb drives. They work for a while, and then they become corrupted and need to be formatted and have the data recopied to it

Good question. I'd have to check. Strange, though, as almost every BOM I've seen for a Nexus 7 install lists the Behringer UCA-202 as the go-to DAC. (Or is it the FSL-21 you're referring to?)

Just to follow up on this, it "seems" (correct me if I'm wrong), that the issue relates to the Behringer (and similar) USB DACs only supporting 48KHz sample rates, whereas the later (6.01) Android ROMs only out put audio at 96KHz. So the USB DAC "down samples" (is that even a term?) the signal and outputs in mono only...?

If that's correct, would replacing the Behringer with a 96KHz DAC allow stereo output?

Oh, and I could still use some advice on the best way to get the 200Gb SSD formatted, with music copied on to it, in such a way that the N7 recognizes it and can load up the music...

Regards,

Michael

Anyone? (Let me know if I'm posting tablet install-related questions in the wrong forum, BTW).

Maybe try formatting the ssd via a disk utility app on the nexus?
Also check it’s getting enough power via the hub...

If I may butt in with a question I've had about Nexus setups for a while...
If you do a Nexus install, are you still able to play music from your phone using the Aux connection? Or does that become taken up by the Nexus? Could you splice two connectors onto the Aux cable?
Or, could you connect your phone to the nexus via Bluetooth and play music that way?
Just curious cos I'm trying to decide if I want to go the Nexus route or get a double din head unit instead.
Cheers

I have tried formatting thumb drive via PC and Nexus. The thumb drive always seems to corrupt eventually. I'm a bit lost on this one

I'm investigating a new DAC now. Once i get confirmation it works properly, i'll post a link

Just a thought - it may be possible that the Nexus will not recognize devices over a certain storage capacity.

I'm not sure if there are any limitations on the nexus, although I know that even though the Samsung Galaxy S8 can take a microSD card it will only work with cards up to 200gb. And if I remember correctly the S7 maxed out at 64 or 128gb.

If I may butt in with a question I've had about Nexus setups for a while...
If you do a Nexus install, are you still able to play music from your phone using the Aux connection? Or does that become taken up by the Nexus? Could you splice two connectors onto the Aux cable?
Or, could you connect your phone to the nexus via Bluetooth and play music that way?
Just curious cos I'm trying to decide if I want to go the Nexus route or get a double din head unit instead.
Cheers

I think most Nexus 7 installations - mine included - avoid the use of the Aux cable, as the sound quality is rubbish (verified during initial testing). Mine is installed with an OTG cable which "splits" power and data, with data routing through a USB hub ==> USB DAC (the efficacy of which is yet to be verified - suspect it may be outputting mono audio only) ==> FSL-21 unit ==> McIntosh head unit.

As for the Aux connector, that is still snug and sound in the centre console area, un-used.

I'm investigating a new DAC now. Once i get confirmation it works properly, i'll post a link

If you could - particularly if I'm correct about the "down-sampling from 96KHz==>48KHz resulting in mono output - that would be helpful. Not super happy to have (potentially) wasted the $ on the Behringer unit, but I'll wear it as a "lesson learned" and purchase a better unit if need be...so long as I know what that unit is.

Just a thought - it may be possible that the Nexus will not recognize devices over a certain storage capacity.

I'm not sure if there are any limitations on the nexus, although I know that even though the Samsung Galaxy S8 can take a microSD card it will only work with cards up to 200gb. And if I remember correctly the S7 maxed out at 64 or 128gb.

Could well be a very salient point. It "does" see the HDD, and will format it. TBH, though, I haven't checked as yet as to what it actually formats it out to. (Maybe my 200Gb SSD becomes a "128Gb" or "64Gb" device. I'll have to check...

Thanks for the replies guys, much appreciated.

Hmmm...This Nexus 7 thing is really doing my head in.

I've now removed it (and the SSD) from the car, and am trying to bench test.

If I connect the SSD to it, ES File explorer goes into a continuous loop, mounting the SSD as "USB1001", then unmounts it, then mounts it as "USB1002" and on and on. I've no idea what's wrong with, or how to fix it...Anyone?

I have ES File explorer Pro on the device, which is rooted. (Es File Explorer has been granted "Root explorer" privileges).

I also have Stick mount installed on then device. It too keeps throwing errors, because the SSD is continuously being mounted and unmounted.

Frankly, I'm about ready to give up on the install, and go back to having the boring centre cubby bit in the car...just seems a bit too much hassle to get things actually working properly on the tablet. (Let alone getting apps to be properly turned off/deep slept when the car is powered off...but that's another story.

Use a supported mSD card in the nexus and eg dropsync to update the tunes via wifi: possible ssd alternative?

bigBADbenny wrote:Use a supported mSD card in the nexus and eg dropsync to update the tunes via wifi: possible ssd alternative?

Funnily enough, I actually seem to have gotten the damn thing working!

I connected it to a Linux box I have here and fully formatted the thing (full wipe, re-format as FAT). Connected it to the N7 and it could "see" it, without un/re-mounting all the time. Hmmm...

Re-connected it to the Linux box, and copied the music across (~160Gb). Again, the tablet had no issues seeing it in ES File explorer Pro. Couldn't quite get VLC to see it, though. Slept on it, and this morning powered the tablet up. Launched VLC, and pointed the media directory at /sdcard/usbstorage, and now VLC is sitting there busily parsing the SSD, and building a music library for us.

I'll put the whole lot back into the car today and see what happens then...

TBSTI-Wagon wrote:

bigBADbenny wrote:Use a supported mSD card in the nexus and eg dropsync to update the tunes via wifi: possible ssd alternative?

Funnily enough, I actually seem to have gotten the damn thing working!

I connected it to a Linux box I have here and fully formatted the thing (full wipe, re-format as FAT). Connected it to the N7 and it could "see" it, without un/re-mounting all the time. Hmmm...

Re-connected it to the Linux box, and copied the music across (~160Gb). Again, the tablet had no issues seeing it in ES File explorer Pro. Couldn't quite get VLC to see it, though. Slept on it, and this morning powered the tablet up. Launched VLC, and pointed the media directory at /sdcard/usbstorage, and now VLC is sitting there busily parsing the SSD, and building a music library for us.

I'll put the whole lot back into the car today and see what happens then...

Just to follow this up, I installed the SSD and tablet in the car, and started the car. Tablet "woke" and I got a message from Stick mount saying that it had mounted the SSD and a flash drive I also have in there. So far, so good.

Launched VLC, and the media list came straight up. I scrolled through a few albums and came to the "Xanadu" sound track (don't ask...I'm a bit older than - most of - you people, OK?) and played what I thought was an appropriate song...ELO's "I'm alive". Came through OK on the stereo, but suspect that it's only doing mono. (Still need confirmation/recommendation on an alternative USB DAC which will take/output 96KHz...)

Also put a few "starup" and "shutdown" tasks in tasker, to hopefully start and kill the right things at the right times going forward.

I reckon I'm about 90% of the way there. Hopefully knock the rest off in the next months or so, then on to the tuning (and other) stuff.

link to working DAC
https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/DAC-Digital-to-Analog-Converter-with-USB-Interface-Headphone-Amplifier/282520843444?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649