maxtog

I have my 2009 G37S Journey (loaded/nav/Bose) for 13+ years now. I originally purchased a used 30GB Classic 5th gen ipod for music in the car. It has worked fine for all these years. Now it is starting to show signs of dying (screen not working, sometimes takes a long time to connect, etc). But finding a "compatible" generation ipod NOW that will work with this exact car is not exactly easy. And whatever I find is already going to be very old. Plus, I would really like to move to something solid-state (no spinning disc inside).

The manual only lists these:
● Third generation iPod (Firmware version 2.3 or later) (Audiobook and Podcast are not
available)
● Fourth generation iPod (Firmware version 3.1.1 or later)
● Fifth generation iPod (Firmware version 1.1.2 or later)
● iPod mini (Firmware version 1.41 or later)
● iPod photo (Firmware version 1.2.1 or later)
● iPod nano (Firmware version 1.2 or later)

Note that all iPods are discontinued. 6th gen is not listed. Touch is not listed. None of the Mini, Photo, or Nano are big enough (at least 30GB).

What are my options? I want something that turns itself on, has all my music, starts quickly, powers through the iPod port, is fully controlled by the head unit (with song names, etc). So I am not interested in wireless or bluetooth solutions. Doesn't have to BE an iPod, but has to act like one with this car. I searched for ipod clones using modern tech (SSD) and can't find anything. Thanks

13_SkylineSedan

iPods may be discontinued but you can still buy 5th generation "refurbished" classics for not too much $$ on Ebay and the like. That could be the simplest way for you to extend the life of your system because you know it works. I assume your official Infiniti iPod adaptor used the original 30-pin connector so that might lock you into that vintage. There are 30-pin to lightning adaptors so you could try going that route with a newer iPod touch or even a retired iPhone with enough storage for your music library.

But having said that, we connect our iPhone / iPad to our 2013Gs (Bose, no NAV) using a USB / lightning cable and it's hit and miss with regard to onscreen info, steering wheel controls, and even simultaneous charging. We've found that we need to start music playing on the device before connecting the cable. Awkward, but that usually makes it work...

Keeping different generations of gear working together is tricky!

iCrap

iTrader: (8)

Wow, someone STILL daily driving an iPod, that's impressive.

Well, you can bring your iPod into the modern days with the iFlash adapter + an SD card. If the screen is going bad they sell new replacements as well.
https://www.iflash.xyz/

I've refurbed a few of them, the iFlash is great. You get way more space + the iPod is way faster. Your 30GB HDD is probably dying.

JSolo

iTrader: (14)

Dump all your music to a small usb flash drive, call it a day. When I had the G, drive came out 1-2x a year for updates (new tracks), other than that it worked flawlessly the whole time I had the car.

ILM-NC G37S

iTrader: (3)

[QUOTE=JSolo;4315288]Dump all your music to a small usb flash drive, call it a day./QUOTE]
I was going to suggest the same thing as that is what I do (128gb microSD card), however, I do not think the 2009's have USB, do they?

maxtog

Yeah I think that might be my route.

Yep. Thanks

maxtog

LOL! Yeah, I like that it just works, and works correctly with everything. I hate ipods, since they are proprietary. I have to use "gtkpod" on my Linux machine to communicate with it and update the music. But ipod is the only fully functional option in the G37- I knew that going into the purchase of the car.

Thanks for the info, I see that there are some people offering refurbs with the flash upgrade. I Emailed on guy on Ebay for more info on his product.

maxtog

It doesn't work. I can't remember all the limitations, but I believe they were one or more of the following:

1) Only supports music on a compact flash card, not USB devices.
2) Severe limitation to the number of songs (I have over 5000, it I think it only did like 1024 or something like that)
3) Inability to do random playlists, it would pick a random song every time, so it would replay songs I just heard recently.
4) It might have also had limitation to the number of files in each directory.

It is a shame, because without such horrible limitations, a simple USB flash drive would do exactly what I want.

maxtog

The 2009 has a USB port lighter/12v socket in the arm rest compartment (along with the ipod connector and RCA jacks). No SD card slot, only an ancient Compact Flash port with severe limitations (see my other post about the limitations). Even in 2009 when I bought the new car, I was laughing that it had an obsolete Compact Flash port!

Absinthe

Are you using an Android phone? The only difference between an iPod and an iPhone is the inclusion of the cellular interface. I've been using my 128GB iPhone to store my music for several years now. I believe the 2009 still uses the 30 pin IOS cable, correct? The best workaround for that is a Bluetooth dongle (Bovee 1000) and if necessary, a charging converter so the phone will charge while being used.

maxtog

Yes, but I really don't want to use my phone for car music

That is correct. 30 pin and hard-coded for an old ipod.

Bluetooth will:

* Not allow control of the music from the steering wheel.
* Require unlocking the phone, launching the music app, and pressing "Play" for every car start.
* Not show music names on the head unit.
* Drain my phone, so it will have to be plugged in to charge (which I rarely do).
* Require setting the head unit on "Aux", then exiting that to see maps.

I do use a bluetooth dongle with my Android to listen to pod casts, occasionally, on longer trips. It isn't bad for occasional use, but way too much hassle for normal use.

maxtog

Reply to self....
Feb this year I test-drove a 2022 Q50RS and actually tested 30GB of music on a USB flash drive and it worked perfectly in THAT car.

It was a very impressive car, but I could just not justify spending over $61,000 for a car I couldn't get in silver and with a dark interior I don't like, to replace my mint 2009 G37S. The G37S is just such a nice car, and beautiful. Still, I was tempted... The only real issues I have with my G is that the tech is so old and missing modern features- No heated steering wheel, tinted outside mirrors, wrap-around cameras, folding rear seats, lane/backups warnings, TPS number,USB audio, and an outdated head unit.

iCrap

iTrader: (8)

Have you looked into installing rockbox on the iPod? Im not sure if the car will work correctly with it, but it's worth a try. you can dual boot iPod OS and Rockbox as well. I do it on my 5.5g. It makes it much easier to add music as well.

JSolo

iTrader: (14)

^^My bad. COmpletely forgot earlier MY's couldn't use usb for media. Perhaps the phone option with a headphone jack is your easiest solution. Install something like power amp for the media player app. Does the 2009 have functional audio controls via BT?

Absinthe

Not sure what dongle you're using or what the issue is, but my setup has none of the limitations you list above. I have to kill the Bluetooth on my phone before I hand off the car to a valet otherwise, the poor guy will get blasted when the infotainment system boots up