External hard drive with multiple partitions

Okay, below I'll fill in the suggested form but this is more of a question than a real problem.

Case in point: the really slow transfer speeds of Rekordbox to my USB-sticks are driving me a bit mad, so I had the idea to use an external hard drive I have lying around. I created four partitions (2 FAT32, 1 NTFS, 1 HFS+), one of which I would dedicate as my export device for Rekordbox (the hard drive is formatted with an MBR, not a GUID partition table). It is a 2,5" hard drive so no external power supply is necessary. To be clear: the hard drive is the export device, the Rekordbox library is located on my computer.

My question is whether this will work with CDJ's. Will they be able to recognise the one partition of the hard drive on which I have exported my library? I mostly use CDJ-2000's or 2000 Nexus's and always take a network cable with me so I can link them up myself if necessary. But occasionally I have to use 350's, 850's, 900's, ... So to be a real solution for me it also should work with those models. (I know the 350/850 can't be linked so I'll still have to use two devices with them.)

Another alternative I came up with was using my iPod Classic 160 GB. Again, I don't want to use the music on the iPod itself exported via iTunes but just using it as an export device in Rekordbox, just like a hard drive. Exporting in Rekordbox isn't a problem, but I want to know beforehand whether this will hold up if I show up at a gig. Although I don't have high hopes for this one. Some research showed me the 2000's will recognise the iPod but the Nexus's won't. Anyone who can confirm this?

The iPod is formatted in FAT32 so I can use it on Windows machines as well.

I'm really thankful for any response.

Cheers!

0) Have you read the "READ ME FIRST" thread in its entirety AND TRIED THE SOLUTIONS THERE before posting: Yes, I swear it!

1) Operating System: OSX 10.10.3

2) OS Type: 64bit

3) rekordbox version: 3.2.1 rev.3231-4360

4) Using LINK: Not with my computer, between CDJ's if possible

4b) LINK Connection method: switch supplied by venue or direct with network cable between 2.

4c) Using with CDJs: Yes, supplied by venue

5) Source Hard drive / Flash drive / SD card file system: HFS+

5b) Connection type: Built-in in my Mac

5c) Does the device have multiple partitions: No

5d) If it's a flash drive, is it a U3 device: No

5e) With what utility did you format the device: OS X (Disk Utility)

6) Export Hard drive / Flash drive / SD card file system: FAT32 / NTFS / HFS+ (as described above, partition for Rekordbox is FAT32).

6b) Connection type: USB3.0 / USB2.0

6c) Does the device have multiple partitions: Yes for external HDD, no for iPod

6d) If it's a flash drive, is it a U3 device: No

6e) With what utility did you format the device: OS X (Disk Utility)

7) Have you scanned your files for errors: Yes

7b) Have you scanned your drive for errors: Yes

8) Is rekordbox crashing at all: No

8b) If not crashing, are there any error messages: No

9) Are you able to repeat / reproduce the problem: No

9a) If yes, can you do it consistently: No

10) Does the problem occur with one specific song: No

11) Any other notes regarding your setup only: Check above

12) Provide as much detail of the issue here: Check above

Kristof Buts May 17, 2015 13:31

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Date Votes

5 comments

Well, my first recommendation is to ditch partitions unless you have a specific reasoning for having them on the drive. Only the first partition is recognized by the players anyhow.

Not all drives are able to be powered by the CDJs; be sure that you have tested it or carry a Y-split for providing power from an external source (eg. powered USB hub). The biggest draw is at spin-up and I've certainly seen some drives not start because of this.

The iPod should only be used as a worst-case-scenario device as the playlists will show (on non-nexus devices) but you would still be without waveforms, cue points, etc.

Pulse May 17, 2015 20:14 0 votes

Thank you for your response, Pulse.

Okay, guess I'll have to live with the transfer speeds or buy a dedicated external hard drive. I don't really think the power supply would be a problem in this case, but better safe than sorry I guess.

Guess I wasn't clear about the iPod scenario. I don't want to just export my music and playlists through iTunes. Speaks for itself I won't have waveforms etc since the music will never pass Rekordbox that way.

What I want to do is use the iPod as an external hard drive and use this in Rekordbox for export, just like a regular drive. This way the music and playlists don't show up on the iPod itself but are on the "mass storage" part of the hard disk. But it seems the non-Nexus players won't recognise the iPod as a normal drive, or am I getting it wrong?

However, iPods draw quite a lot of power so maybe this also isn't a perfect scenario. It surely would be handy though since the transfer rate to my iPod was quite a bit higher and with 160 GB it's more or less future proof (I'm currently pushing 16 GB).

Thanks for your help though!

Kristof Buts May 17, 2015 20:28 0 votes

The transfer speeds are primarily based on the type of drive used; even crappy USB3 drives can wind up being slower than high-performance USB2 drives based on the chipsets used to manage the memory and data flow.

If you used the iPod as an external drive, it may function, although my testing with that was so long ago that I can't recall exactly how and where it worked, and neither I nor Pioneer would guarantee its performance.

Pulse May 17, 2015 20:31 0 votes

Yes, I've noticed that. But even with decent flash drives Rekordbox always turn out to be quite a lot slower. This week I just a really decent USB 3 flash drive which rocks around 70 - 80 MB/s in normal file transfer. Using Rekordbox for exporting, this fell down to about 10 - 15 MB/s (monitored with Activity Monitor, no other data traffic to the flash drive).

The transfer speeds have definitely improved with Rekordbox v3 but it's still quite disappointing. Nonetheless, I love Rekordbox so keep it up guys! :-)

Guess I'll just bring the iPod on my next few gigs and test whether it works or not.

Thanks for your input!

Kristof Buts May 17, 2015 20:43 0 votes

If you're comparing a single large file transfer, that's an unfair comparison as rekordbox has to write many small files as well, an the lead-in/lead-out writing of a file takes the same amount of time no matter the file size. So doing that many times will slow the process WAAAY down vs. a single large file transfer.

Besides, a USB3 device transferring at only 70-80MB/s is quite slow - you should be getting speeds roughly double that.

Pulse May 17, 2015 21:04 0 votes