mal_TX

Woah there. Creating a Smart Playlist by Artists in iTunes will NOT require any manual effort when a song is added.

Smart Playlists are stored queries (think Outlook Mail Filters) that are applied every time you sync your iPod. The conditionals are applied to whatever is in the music library at the time.

Smart Playlists are not your father's hard-coded manually-maintained lists

mal_TX

The CF interface is 10x worse than the iPod. If you have a single complaint about the iPod interface, don't waste your time with the CF interface.

But to answer your question, yes, the Tune **** works and it jumps to the next Folder on the CF card, instantly. You can't browse around in the CF card... changing folders or songs instantly starts playing something different.

I really do not think Apple intends for you to use your 80GB iPod in this fashion (looking for individual artists, songs, or albums). They intend for you to dump thousands of songs on there and then use the tokens (ID3 tags) in the mp3 files to arrange them in listenable-chunks, like a radiostation that you control. In other words... playlists.

flux303

I'm not a programmer, but network engineering is one of the things I do for a living, so it's not like this is the first time I've been in front of a computer. I'm also quite familiar with licensing in the entertainment industry and I imagine that licensing contracts in software can and do carry just as many stipulations and restrictions.

The truth is that neither of us knows what the license terms are between Apple and Infiniti. You said as much in your post. As far as you know, they may be able to add the improvement I'd like to see. Sure, license issues may prevent them from doing it, but from a common sense standpoint, I'd be surprised if their license said anything about preventing them from increasing the scroll speed.

The homework I've done shows that smart playlists don't work well for me. Maybe I'm doing something wrong but it isn't making the iPod interface any faster to navigate. Whenever I create one, I get a flat file. For example, if I create a smart playlist for artists beginning with "A", it's just a big collection of all the songs by "A" artists. The playlist doesn't hold subdirectories. There is no artist->album->song structure. Right? Or am I doing something wrong?

I'm with VC on this issue. A good solution here would be welcome. Perhaps there isn't one.

dmkozak

iTrader: (1)

But, I do know the licensing agreement is between Apple and the third party provider to Nissan. There is no agreement between Apple and Infiniti.

dmkozak

iTrader: (1)

But, the reasons why the solution you are seeking is so difficult to find is because the mechanics of the situation make any such solution difficult.

However, you are right about one thing; it is a waste of time trying to get people who want a specific resolution to focus on the reasons why the resolution they want is so difficult.

Maybe, the best response is to say that if you want something that no one else knows how to do, come up with the answer and share it. A question was asked. The best answer currently available was provided. But, that wasn't good enough. Okay, let someone take the time to reprogram the factory code.

This is kind of like, if the Canadian cars use the foglights as DRL's, can't we easily come up with a mod which will allow the U.S. cars to run the foglights independently of the headlights? If this was so easy, then a forum member wouldn't have a cottage industry selling black boxes which will allow you to operate the foglights independently of the headlights. And, it wouldn't be as difficult to install as it is for some people.

likwidfuzion

Solution: get an Apple composite cable

Much better than Infiniti's cable.

User 111021

iTrader: (2)

Some people dont know, but theres a Page down button, on the touch screen.

I wish they had a search feature, and I also wish they would somehow let you put songs on the go like you can do on your ipod, and It sucks how I cant use the iPod when plugged in.

VC22348

Raheel: the "page down" button on the touch screen is even more agonizingly slow than the wheel.

Likwid: where can we get this Apple composite cable? Scanning the Apple website, I don't see it. And THANK YOU for an elegant -- and hopefully functional -- solution.

Flux: there is no "substructure" as you described, but I have found that if I make a playlist called "A" (for example) and put in it, in order all songs by all artists beginning with A, it will copy them into the playlist in the order of Artist-->Album-->Song IF that's how I copy them into the Playlist. In your iTunes, make sure that "Artist" is selected on the top Library menu so that the Library begins with the first "A" artist and descends in alphabetical order. Prodvided that your Library is organized within each artist by album, then it should already be alphabetized that way. Make sure "Shuffle" is OFF in the car when you begin to play the Playlist and that should do it. This solution is fine, though cumbersome, for a modest number of Artists. When you're getting into the 10,000s of Songs and hundreds of Artists, this becomes, to me, unworkable. Of course, another easier solution would be to have a "Search" feature, like the iPod itself. Who knows, maybe this "Apple composite cable" will more closely duplicate the iPod itself, including a search function. We shall see.

gmlee86

iTrader: (1)

If you want to watch videos with the car off, you're gonna need the OEM Apple cable found here:

http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPL...nplm=MB129LL/A

If you're just getting it for audio, you can get by with any cheapy cable, such as this one (also perfect because its retractable so you have less cable clutter):

http://www.eforcity.com/dappipodda10...iJp-j9AyD575kr

They also have the cable in black to match a black iPod (a couple dollars cheaper too):

http://www.eforcity.com/dappipodda17...iJp-j9AyD575kr

bboysteele

You guys do now this is the first year that this car has been out, right? Remember that. This will probably be one of those things they fix in next years model if they are allowed to. This works great for me though because I have smart playlist (I hate the limitation on smart playlist though) set up the main one I use has all my highest ranking songs on it. Just start it and have it on random and I am good.

flux303

Yeah I know it's the first model year for this car... so let me balance out my negativity in this thread by saying that I LOVE everything else about my G37!

antimatter

You don't need to buy apples composite cable to watch video.
They are sneaky bastards! All you need is a regular composite cable and switch out the video(yellow) with either the red or white audio cables in the connectors and it'll play through. I'm using the composite cable from an old minidv camera that I don't use anymore, try it it works.

mal_TX

Apple's cable is great if you like fumbling with your ipod while driving, never use your steering wheel audio controls (next track, previous track), and prefer dealing with analog level/double-gain audio distortion issues over pure digital audio.

I think what you want is an iPod control override hack. The iPod is designed to lock the UI when connected to a car.. that is "for safety." Then, the interface on the car is supposed to be somewhat limited, again for safety. I have heard of iPod kits that somehow still allow you to use the iPod controls. These kits operate in simple mode, in which the interface cable only supplies next track/prev track/ff/rwd controls and the rest is done on the iPod. If you could figure out how to make the interface on the G37 default to simple mode, you could keep your basic wheel controls, digital audio, and be able to crash your car while trying to find a needle in a haystack in your 1,000 artist list

mal_TX

Anyone try this? I got it from an FX forum. I'll try it in my car after work today.. but maybe it will make you happy if it works?


1- Take your ipod, and make sure its on.
2- Plug it in to the FX gateway.
3- Immediately hold the play/pause button on the Ipod until it goes to sleep (a couple of seconds).
4- Then press the menu button on the Ipod. It will wake up, and still be under the radio's control, but you now can scroll thru the ipod and play whatever you want! Plus the song up/down on the radio still advances songs! (I tried using track up/down to go into the menus, but it would work. Didnt try again but it should work).

Gyoza

Anyone know how to get back to the track listing after the car has been restarted?

Before the car is shut off, I can just hit the back button to go back to the track list, album, artist, etc. Once the car has been restarted, hitting the back button only takes me to the "main menu" where I have to scoll all the way back down to the artist.