W211 MP3 Changer with Comand

[barneybeardsall]

Dear All..

I have just picked up a W211 with Comand DVD installed and the CD Changer that plays MP3...

Unfortunately the Comand DVD Head/Unit is not playing MP3's but the CD Changer appears to ok...

Any suggestions on how to arrange the folders/files for the CD changer to work more effectively.. so far I have maybe 8 folders with 93 tracks.. but I see no way to navigate thru the folders and the changer just shows the 93 tracks....


thanks for your time....

Barney.

 

[glojo]

Dear All..

I have just picked up a W211 with Comand DVD installed and the CD Changer that plays MP3...

Unfortunately the Comand DVD Head/Unit is not playing MP3's but the CD Changer appears to ok...

Any suggestions on how to arrange the folders/files for the CD changer to work more effectively.. so far I have maybe 8 folders with 93 tracks.. but I see no way to navigate thru the folders and the changer just shows the 93 tracks....


thanks for your time....

Barney.

Hi Barney,
Is this a new 211 and are you in the UK?

Older vehicles had to go back to the dealership for a COMAND software upgrade to get the DVD player to accept Mp3's.

Only the latest 211's have the CD changer that plays Mp3's, but this can be purchased and placed in the older models.

If the vehicle is new, then I would guess 'operator error' in writing the DVD, but it is strange that it works in the CD changer. So...... more information please.

Take care,
John

 

[barneybeardsall]

thanks for the prompt reply.. the W211 is actually a july 04 registered car.. and came with the V3 DVD Nav disc..

I have tried to read MP3 on a DVD-R created with the UDF File system and a CD-R.. the DVD-R in the slot in the front just give a disc error.. the CD-R just tried to read.. but no joy...

The CD Changer accepts the CD-R with MP3... and plays no problem at all... however it is not very navigatable around the files/folders on the MP3 disc...

 

[glojo]

thanks for the prompt reply.. the W211 is actually a july 04 registered car.. and came with the V3 DVD Nav disc..

I have tried to read MP3 on a DVD-R created with the UDF File system and a CD-R.. the DVD-R in the slot in the front just give a disc error.. the CD-R just tried to read.. but no joy...

The CD Changer accepts the CD-R with MP3... and plays no problem at all... however it is not very navigatable around the files/folders on the MP3 disc...

Hi Barney,
It is not the DVD navigation disc that actually does the COMAND upgrade. My first suggestion would be to visit your local dealer and check that the upgrade on the COMAND has been carried out. (a search on this forum will give you exact details of the specific upgrade)

I like to keep things simple when I write my DVD's. I simply make sure I title the folders with the relevant names. Then the Mp3's I rename with the singer, then the song. I then copy the relevant Mp3's into the right folders and use Nero Express to copy them onto a DVD. I don't touch any of the technical settings because I am convinced this is where problems are created. I just use the wizard for creating Mp3 Disc's.

You can actually write 255 folders with no doubt a couple of files in each, or you can put a maximum of 255 files into as many folders as the DVD will hold.

I have learnt my lessons the hardway and wasted several DVD's whilst playing with different settings. The annoying thing is the DVD will sometimes play on the computer, or a home DVD player, but not in the car. That is when I decided to keep things simple and it now works everytime.

Good luck with your quest,
John

 

[barneybeardsall]

thanks for the info john...I'll be back to the stealer shortly.....

but any on the CD Changer MP3 functionality.. if I create a disc with say the singer name as each folder and then the MP3 tracks in that folder.... and so on.. the changer just seems to ignore the folders and just list the tracks...i.e I have 8 folders with 9 tracks in each folder.. the changer will just show 72 tracks...

any idea on how to locate what software version the Comand is using...

 

[glojo]

thanks for the info john...I'll be back to the stealer shortly.....

any idea on how to locate what software version the Comand is using...

Hi Barney,
There is a way of pressing a combination of buttons on the COMAND, but I am always afraid of creating more problems than are already there.

The symptoms you are describing perhaps suggest you need this upgrade. It is quite literally a ten - 20 minute job which should be free. The dealer merely puts their upgrade disc into the COMAND and lets it do it's 'thing'. They keep the disc and the COMAND is upgraded.

I believe Guy has the COMAND and CD changer that both play Mp3's. Our own vehicle is a January 04 build which only plays Mp3's from the DVD player. I do have the multi CD-changer but it is only newer vehicles that have the Mp3 playing CD changer. (No idea though when the change came about)

Good luck with the dealer,
John

 

[barneybeardsall]

thanks John...I'll keep playing with the discs.

 

[calum]

Much as I love being able to play MP3 DVDs, I do find two things annoying:

o lack of folder flexibility. I create a directory/folder hierarchy on the DVD:

artist1
album1
track1
track2
artist2
album1

etc, etc. Unfortunately, this is not shown by COMAND, which ignores the artist directory (name) and collapses to just lsit the albums. This means I have to put the artist name in the album title, otherwise I don't see it.

o poor use of screen space

despite COMAND having a resaonbly large display, the use of this is poor for displaying the album/track names. Add this to having to put the artist name into the album title, and you very rarely are able to see anything really helpful on the display.

Still, on the whole, it's great

 

[glojo]

Unfortunately, this is not shown by COMAND, which ignores the artist directory (name) and collapses to just lsit the albums. This means I have to put the artist name in the album title, otherwise I don't see it.

Hi Calum,
I am the World's thickest techno person and am trying to understand what you are very helpfully trying to say.

I am under the impression I can only have folders on the 'front end'. In other words I cannot put folders within folders? (not tried though)

If I list my folders, it shows the name of the folders, but not what is in them.

If I play a track, then it displays the name of the foilder, plus the singer and the song.

Are you suggesting it should do more and if so what would you recommend?

Regards,
John

 

[calum]

hi John

interesting. Yes, I do mean folders within folders, e.g. album folders - containing tracks - within a per-artist folder. When I create such a DVD, COMAND collapses it, and shows me the entire list of album folders. The enclosing artist folders are ignored.

eg. on the top-level root of the DVD, I have:

Norah Jones
The Pogues

as two folders, say. Within those folders, I have one folder for each album. COMAND collapses this to solely a list of the nested album folders. The artist folder names, as above, are not shown. Because I've nested it, on the DVD itself, my album folders names don't containt the artist name - they don't need to, since they're in a per-artist folder. But COMAND doesn't show me this upper level folder, so I don't see the artist name.

In effect, I think the following statements are true:

o COMAND ignores folders that do not contain MP3 files. This means it ignores my per-artist folders, since they only contain more folders, not MP3 files.

o COMAND collapses all the hierarchy for the folders it finds, and presents *all* folders found in a flat list.

Of course, this is easy to work around - I have to name my album folders with the name of the artist *and* the name of the album, and then it can be seen.

Except that it can't, since it's now too long to fit.

This raises another gripe: since the COMAND doesn't support playlists, or rather in addition to that, if you want your albums to appear in chronological order, so that they play that way if you just let it play on, you need to include either the release date, or some other numeric ordering, in the album title. This also takes up space, of which there isn't much available.

 

[calum]

So, I end up with album names like:
Van1996HowLongHasThisBeenGoingOn
which don't even begin to fit

 

[glojo]

So, I end up with album names like:
Van1996HowLongHasThisBeenGoingOn
which don't even begin to fit

And No Spaces!!!!

Hi Calum,
Thanks for the informative reply.

Regards,
John

 

[MikeL]

Folders

So, I end up with album names like:
Van1996HowLongHasThisBeenGoingOn
which don't even begin to fit

Hi Calum,

This is because Mercedes uses a form of Microsoft file structure, whereas something like iPod uses MP3 tags.

Don't forget to number your tracks otherwise they will be in the wrong order.

I believe the single folder issue is a safety aspect so that you aren't hunting through multiple layers while driving, which I suppose is reasonable.

Personally I find Comand difficult enough while drinking my coffee and using my mobile, but that is just me......

Mike

 

[glojo]

Personally I find Comand difficult enough while drinking my coffee and using my mobile, but that is just me......

Try doing all that AND driving!!

Don't forget that favourite male pastime of irrigating the old hooter with the index finger.

John

 

[MikeL]

Try doing all that AND driving!!

Don't forget that favourite male pastime of irrigating the old hooter with the index finger.

John

John,

Left or right hand, these things matter

Mike