Tesla Style (Android) HU external flash drives

[kcjaz]

Hi guys, yet another Tesla style HU question. I've got multiple Tesla related going and so do others. I'm not sure if starting new threads is the best way, but I think when it is a specific question, it will be easier for people to find later if its in a separate thread. Its harder to find a specific post in a long general topic thread. Anyway, here is my Tesla HU question of the day:

I want to down load a bunch of Gaia and OnX maps to a flash drive as I will quickly run out of built in storage. Is there a drive format type that is better or necessary for Android? i.e. will a FAT32 or exFAT work. I'd like to have 256GB or maybe a TB of storage. Ideally, I'd like to be able to add/manage files on the drive from a PC rather than having to download large files with the HU wifi.

 

[greynolds]

Hi guys, yet another Tesla style HU question. I've got multiple Tesla related going and so do others. I'm not sure if starting new threads is the best way, but I think when it is a specific question, it will be easier for people to find later if its in a separate thread. Its harder to find a specific post in a long general topic thread. Anyway, here is my Tesla HU question of the day:

I want to down load a bunch of Gaia and OnX maps to a flash drive as I will quickly run out of built in storage. Is there a drive format type that is better or necessary for Android? i.e. will a FAT32 or exFAT work. I'd like to have 256GB or maybe a TB of storage. Ideally, I'd like to be able to add/manage files on the drive from a PC rather than having to download large files with the HU wifi.

512GB seems to be the sweet spot on price, 1TB flash drives are still kind of pricey. The EC Offroad interface module I’ll be replacing with the Tesla style head unit works with several USB to Ethernet adapters that also double as USB hubs, which allows you to hook up more than 1 flash drive, a wireless keyboard dongle, etc.

FAT32 and exFAT should both work just fine. Don’t worry about how the drive comes formatted as you can always reformat it if you need to.

Unfortunately, most Android apps don’t support downloading and managing things like maps on a PC, so plan on doing a lot of this kind of stuff on the head unit over WiFi (or get a USB to Ethernet adapter and hook it up to your network when at home for a faster connection). You can certainly manage music and video files that way though.

Support for some of this stuff will vary between head units, so there may be some value in asking questions like these in the thread for your particular unit.