Is there a way to control the write order of file copying?

[tinmancactus]

Title says it all, really.

I got a new head unit for my car which supports USB memory sticks but this feature is implemented really badly and rather than sorting files alphabetically it sorts them by the order they were written to the drive.

So I can keep albums in the correct order, I'm trying to find a way I can control the order that these files are written to the USB stick - like setting up some sort of rule that waits until the previous file is finished copying before it starts the next one.

Does anybody have any ideas how this could be done? Is there any file copying software that might do it or will I have to write a script? (Which I can't do...)

Thanks for your help.

tinmancactus

 

[GGJstudios]

Title says it all, really.

I got a new head unit for my car which supports USB memory sticks but this feature is implemented really badly and rather than sorting files alphabetically it sorts them by the order they were written to the drive.

So I can keep albums in the correct order, I'm trying to find a way I can control the order that these files are written to the USB stick - like setting up some sort of rule that waits until the previous file is finished copying before it starts the next one.

Does anybody have any ideas how this could be done? Is there any file copying software that might do it or will I have to write a script? (Which I can't do...)

Thanks for your help.

tinmancactus

While it may be time-consuming, you can drag and drop them one at a time in the order that you want them.

 

[tinmancactus]

That's exactly what I'm trying to avoid doing with 8GB worth of music

 

[GGJstudios]

That's exactly what I'm trying to avoid doing with 8GB worth of music

Ouch! You didn't mention how much music was involved. I'm not aware of any app or script that will do what you want. It sounds like the head unit you bought is pretty archaic, if it can't sort.

 

[tinmancactus]

It's a brand new Alpine head unit... if I can't find a way to do this I think I might take it back and swap it. I tried making a disk image and restoring it to the drive but Disk Utility just says "Could not validate source - Invalid Argument" when I try that...

 

[GGJstudios]

It's a brand new Alpine head unit... if I can't find a way to do this I think I might take it back and swap it. I tried making a disk image and restoring it to the drive but Disk Utility just says "Could not validate source - Invalid Argument" when I try that...

I would take it back and get something that's more capable and compatible. It might help to do some research and read some reviews or forums to get feedback from users on which models worked well and which didn't.

 

[tinmancactus]

Yeah, I might do that. Bit of a shame Alpine are releasing products that clearly aren't ready to be used.

 

[tinmancactus]

Just for the record (or really, for anyone who has dug up this thread who is trying to sort out the same problem), I have found a solution.

To control the write order, put all the music in the order you want and then put them all in a zip archive. Format/wipe the USB stick and then extract the zip into the root directory. I also used Hidden Cleaner to get rid of hidden files that were causing "USB ERR4" on my alpine head unit.

tinmancactus