VAIS Technology VML (MultiMediaLinQ) to the Rescue
About a month ago I had a VAIS Technology VML (MultiMediaLinQ) installed in my Lexus. The VAISTech device adds a USB interface to Generation 5 Lexus Navigation systems like mine. The USB interface allows you to hook up an iPod, iPhone, iPad (haven't actually tried it yet), other random portable music player, or USB disk drive to your Lexus audio system.
I ordered it through the dealer and had them do the install. I was too lazy to pull out the navigation system on my own. Having the dealer do the install basically doubled the cost. On the plus side, they did a great job and after a few weeks of waiting for the parts and a four hour install I now have a cool USB port in my center console.
For the first week I had my iPod connected. This worked great. I used iTunes to manage playlists which show up as MP3 CD Folders on the Lexus Navigation interface. I could use all the normal steering wheel mounted controls to switch songs etc. I was pretty happy except that I was limited by the size of my iPod disk and I didn't want to upgrade. I also noticed a few sound issues. Some songs with a wide dynamic range were having their audio clipped.
I switched to using a 2.5" notebook drive I had laying around. The advantage of using the notebook drive is that it has more capacity than my iPod, primary drive partitions show up as CDs, I can use FLAC for my favorite music, I can organize files with or without iTunes, and I can hear the sound without distortion introduced by the iPod.
So far I'm sticking with the USB disk approach. Though I think I may be open to having passengers connect their iPods. I still use iTunes to create Genius playlists (just like Pandora but with your music library). I also use Playlist Creator to manage m3u playlists that the VAIS VML supports.
The VML isn't without quirks. Managing music on a USB disk drive requires that you manually update playlists or that you delete cached data in the multimedialinq folder on the USB disk partition. You only need to do this when you're adding or deleting music or playlists. It's manual because there is no desktop software for managing USB disks. I also had some issues with the USB port not providing enough power for a big disk. I connected a 1TB Seagate FreeAgent Go drive. It worked but occasionally went offline. I was able to get it working reliably by adding power from a car charger USB port. And speaking of large disk drives, the VML requires FAT32 which really isn't ideal for 1TB drives. And because FAT32 isn't supported in the Windows 7 GUI disk management tools it is hard to prep the drive. Finally, VAIS provides firmware updates through a secure FTP site. Which is a bit weird because you have to email a request for access. That said, once you get access you can download updates that provide new functionality and improvements. Try getting an update for Lexus components without a forced recall in effect. Overall, even with the quirks the VML is still pretty cool.
At this point, all my music is in the car. I can't readily access a specific song because the Lexus user interface locks down while the car is moving, and apparently the user interface is not extensible by third parties (why not?), but at least it's easy to scan through and play my music library for my occasional hour long commute.
I ordered it through the dealer and had them do the install. I was too lazy to pull out the navigation system on my own. Having the dealer do the install basically doubled the cost. On the plus side, they did a great job and after a few weeks of waiting for the parts and a four hour install I now have a cool USB port in my center console.
For the first week I had my iPod connected. This worked great. I used iTunes to manage playlists which show up as MP3 CD Folders on the Lexus Navigation interface. I could use all the normal steering wheel mounted controls to switch songs etc. I was pretty happy except that I was limited by the size of my iPod disk and I didn't want to upgrade. I also noticed a few sound issues. Some songs with a wide dynamic range were having their audio clipped.
I switched to using a 2.5" notebook drive I had laying around. The advantage of using the notebook drive is that it has more capacity than my iPod, primary drive partitions show up as CDs, I can use FLAC for my favorite music, I can organize files with or without iTunes, and I can hear the sound without distortion introduced by the iPod.
So far I'm sticking with the USB disk approach. Though I think I may be open to having passengers connect their iPods. I still use iTunes to create Genius playlists (just like Pandora but with your music library). I also use Playlist Creator to manage m3u playlists that the VAIS VML supports.
The VML isn't without quirks. Managing music on a USB disk drive requires that you manually update playlists or that you delete cached data in the multimedialinq folder on the USB disk partition. You only need to do this when you're adding or deleting music or playlists. It's manual because there is no desktop software for managing USB disks. I also had some issues with the USB port not providing enough power for a big disk. I connected a 1TB Seagate FreeAgent Go drive. It worked but occasionally went offline. I was able to get it working reliably by adding power from a car charger USB port. And speaking of large disk drives, the VML requires FAT32 which really isn't ideal for 1TB drives. And because FAT32 isn't supported in the Windows 7 GUI disk management tools it is hard to prep the drive. Finally, VAIS provides firmware updates through a secure FTP site. Which is a bit weird because you have to email a request for access. That said, once you get access you can download updates that provide new functionality and improvements. Try getting an update for Lexus components without a forced recall in effect. Overall, even with the quirks the VML is still pretty cool.
At this point, all my music is in the car. I can't readily access a specific song because the Lexus user interface locks down while the car is moving, and apparently the user interface is not extensible by third parties (why not?), but at least it's easy to scan through and play my music library for my occasional hour long commute.
Comments
Formatted to fat32 and transfered albums etc but vml sees nothing, any suggestions
Formatted to fat32 and transfered albums etc but vml sees nothing, any suggestions
1) Formatted the partitions FAT32
2) Made sure the partitions are primary (logical doesn't work)
3) In the simple case created folders at the top level with music files in each folder (scenario 3 in the quickstart guide).
Download the VML Quick Start Guide for 2001-2009 Toyota/Lexus vehicles to see the other structure options. Note that in the guide all the structures start with "ROOT" which is essentially just the top of the partition and not a folder.
Two devices just didn't work with the multimedialinq at all (Seagate 300GB USB disk, and Intel branded USB flash drive).