Tried connecting Apple external USB SuperDrive to USB port - no luck

CD and DVD drives need driver software present that is specifically designed to support the drive. Tesla has not written such software and I'm sure has no future plans to support it.

mg012 said:

@ercarfan: Since Linux is running on the car I was hoping there was a generic cd drive driver out there. Seems like there would be a use for Tesla to be able to connect a cd/dvd drive for backup download purposes (network down). I guess what you are saying is that they could have a driver in the system but not one that would work for the apple drive. Is there a way to snoop and find out if there is a cd/dvd driver in the OS?

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The drivers exist, they are just not installed. As there is a very limited amount of storage (I assume) every driver you install means there is something else (like additional map data) that you don't install.

Sorry, I incorrectly implied that the drive software did not exist. I meant that from Tesla's point of view there is no support for external drives and they do not allow customers to access the OS at this time, so it's not currently possible to connect a drive to the USB port and have it function in a way that we can access, there's no UI for it.

I believe that Elon has stated that in the future Tesla will open up the car's OS to third party apps. At that time it seems likely that there could be an app that would support various types of external drives.

I think Model S apps would be great but I don't think that Tesla should put a high priority on it. I do have a concern that apps could become a driver distraction.

the usb port is only designed to work with UMS devices (USB Mass storage)

optical drives are not using the UMS protocol.

ecarfan said:

there's no UI for it.

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Exactly - even if, by some off chance, there was an USB optical drive driver installed and auto-mounting the device, I'm sure that Tesla's audio player app isn't looking for an optical drive to play from and therefore would never display it as an option.

I have had no luck connecting a 2 TB USB HD. Initially the light is turned on, and the HD seems to be working, but after a minute it goes passive. The media library never recognises the connected HD.

Is there anything to be done, or do I have to try another HD? (I'm using Toshiba Stor.E Plus)

Something else to consider, the Apple Superdrive only works with Apple Computers (in my past experience).

Has anyone tried a generic CD/DVD Player? I have one, will try later today,

K-billy said:

I have had no luck connecting a 2 TB USB HD. Initially the light is turned on, and the HD seems to be working, but after a minute it goes passive. The media library never recognises the connected HD.

Is there anything to be done, or do I have to try another HD? (I'm using Toshiba Stor.E Plus)

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USB drives must be formatted using FAT32. They will not be visible to the car if they're formatted as NTFS volumes.

I am now trying to convert the NTSF partition to FAT32 without losing the 1,3 TB of FLAC files (although I have a backup, it takes days (literally) to make another copy from my old NAS).

The Apple USB Super Drive requires more power than the 500mA that a standard USB port provides. It only works with Apple computers and displays, which can provide it with 1 Amp.

K-billy said:

I have had no luck connecting a 2 TB USB HD. Initially the light is turned on, and the HD seems to be working, but after a minute it goes passive. The media library never recognises the connected HD.

Is there anything to be done, or do I have to try another HD? (I'm using Toshiba Stor.E Plus)

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Same results with my 1TB Seagate USB drive.

But external floppy disk drives do work!

wayner said:

But external floppy disk drives do work!

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Pics

spentan said:

Pics

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Even better - video Tesla with USB Mouse and Floppy Drive!! - YouTube

Todd Burch said:

USB drives must be formatted using FAT32. They will not be visible to the car if they're formatted as NTFS volumes.

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I don't think exFAT works either - only FAT32...

wayner said:

But external floppy disk drives do work!

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That is very odd. Hard to believe Tesla intentionally made it so that their OS would read that kind of drive. Maybe some remnant driver in the version of Linux they are using.