Sync playlists to USB Thumb drive for Ford Sync

[EggYolkBill]

I figured it would be helpful to have a how-to for syncing playlists usable by Ford Sync.

The first step (easiest method IMO) is to download and install Media Monkey. You can get MM here:

Media Monkey

The next step, once MM is installed and has scanned your library is to setup the proper settings for the USB thumb drive you wish to use in your vehicle. The first thing you need to do is select the drive on your PC. See "Select USB device.jpg"

The next step is to correct two settings that are needed in order for the playlists to be recognized properly by Ford Sync. See "Correct settings for proper playlist functionality.jpg"

It is essential for the playlists to sync to the exact same root directory that your music is syncing too. Otherwise you will get an error that the playlist is corrupt or unusable.

I have tested this on MFT in my '13 Focus and also on standard Sync in a '12 Fiesta.

Playlists are essential for me so I am sure there are others who will find this useful.

There are other ways to do this but this seems the least painful way from my perspective. This also provides a way to easily add and update content and playlists to your USB drive.

Also, one other thing to note is that for standard Sync you have to format the drive with FAT32. On MFT you can use either FAT32 or exFAT. The reason for the difference is that MFT supports USB hard drives and standard Sync does not. If you format it with exFAT on MFT it will see it as a USB DSK.

Mac users see posts #6 & 12

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[focustamer]

this may be a dumb qeustion but would this also work to totally elimnate have the ipod in the car? just put your whole library on a thumb drive and just leav it plugged in your car all the time

[EggYolkBill]

Not a dumb question at all. That is exactly what I have done. I have a 128gb flash drive with 70gb of music and all my playlists.

[focustamer]

wow you just made me a happy man I never thought of this and my ipod is full and I didnt want to go by a new one with bigger memory but now i can just go buy a huge flash drive and never have to worry about filling it and its way cheaper thanks again

[focustamer]

now my problem is i have a mac and it looks like the monkey is for pc any ideas?

[EggYolkBill]

Originally Posted by focustamer

now my problem is i have a mac and it looks like the monkey is for pc any ideas?

I will do some web searching in a couple minutes. The bottom line is that the playlists must reside in the same root folder as your music. These playlists must also have recursive paths to each files. In other words, they must not have drive letters in the path, such as "h:\music\album\song" but instead just have "album\song" for the path to each song.

I will get back to you in a few.

[focustamer]

thanks appreciate it

[EggYolkBill]

I have no way to test this but this link makes it sound easy.

Playlists on USB sticks for MFT/Sync for Mac Users

So last night I was searching the Mac App Store and I came across a gem for $4.99 that will create playlists that work with Sync and copy the music and playlists into a folder structure that Sync works with. This application converts iTunes format playlists into many different formats, a couple that Sync understands (I chose m3u Extended). The name of the application is "Playlist Exporter"...

[focustamer]

ill try it out and let you know if i can get it to work

[EggYolkBill]

One other thing to note is that for standard Sync you have to format the drive with FAT32. On MFT you can use either FAT32 or exFAT. The reason for the difference is that MFT supports USB hard drives and standard Sync does not. If you format it with exFAT on MFT it will see it as a USB DSK.