Attach external drive to B2 to use as main drive?

[David Dinwiddie]

Is there a way to attach an external drive to B2 via USB so the B2 defaults to using the external drive as the HDD?  I'm thinking it might be easier to manage (and it turns out I have more CD's than I originally thought I wanted to upload to the B2.)  I have the 480 G version, but have really like the SSD response.  I'm open to other solutions and ideas.  I've really enjoyed this forum and playing with various approaches to getting CD's ripped to disk!

[Mark Fishman]

Not an external drive, no, but you can replace the internal drive. You need a 2.5" (laptop-style) HD or SSD with a SATA connection, no larger than 2TB because it needs to be formatted using a FAT32 filesystem, and that's limited to 2TB. Make sure it is empty if you are going to format it, before or after installation, because formatting will overwrite everything already on the drive.

There are instructions -- with pictures -- on the Brennan website (brennan.co.uk) for replacing the internal drive.

[David Dinwiddie]

Thank you!  Do you know if the 2 TB model of the B2 comes with an internal SSD?

[Mark Fishman]

According to the Brennan website, "We are now selling two SSD (solid state disk) B2s - the 240G and the 480G. SSDs are a bit quicker and have no moving parts. SSD B2s are only available in Black." -- but 2TB SSDs are available separately from trustworthy retailers. You don't need to buy a new B2 (unless you want to), you can install a 2TB drive in your 480GB model B2 -- everything else is the same.

[PMB]

Hi comput,

The 2TB model uses an HDD - there isn't much choice of large capacity SSDs yet and they are currently much more expensive than HDDs.

Paul

Brennan Support.

[fred.w....@gmail.com]

For your info, I have a 2016 B2 which had a 2TB HDD. I replaced the HDD with a 2TB Samsung SSD quite easily myself and it is working well.

Fred.

[Keith Gardner]

On a historical note, some early model B2's were sold with a 64Gb SD card, but without an internal HDD, these could store music directly to an external HDD/SSD connected to USB-B. I operated this configuration for some time before fitting an SSD internally.

The USB-B socket does not exist on newer B2's, and this is definitely not applicable if there is an internal HDD/SSD fitted. My B2 was purchased in 2016.

Owners of one of the early 'SD only' models may be interested in this feature. Connect the external USB HDD/SSD to USB-B, then power up and select 'Use HDD' from the Maintenance Menu.

Keith G

[Keith Gardner]

Copy of Private Message sent from Andy Douglas.

Firstly apologies for messaging you directly but I can't get to grips with this forum my messages always get bounced back

I have a 64g Brennan and I also bought mine in 2016. everything has been going well until I recently bought a Sonos speaker. I won't go into the details but I can't get my Brennan to play on the Sonos speaker in my kitchen. Paul has been helping me and it might come down to the fact I haven't got an internal HDD. Paul is going to ask Martin if 1) this is the problem and 2) if he can tweak the software to enable me to use the Sonos speaker as other B2 users are able to do so.

I'm awaiting Paul's reply but in the meantime your post interested me. I wondered if I added an external HDD this might sort out my problem? I have a couple of questions. Firstly, and sorry if this is a stupid question, is it possible to connect an external HDD to my B2 using the HDMI port on the back of the B2? The reason I ask is that I use the USB C port to add music to my B2 and to back up onto a flash drive. In the B and C ports I have a WIFI dongle and a bluetooth dongle. Not sure which dongle is which as they both look the same. My WIFI works brilliantly and I always connect to my IP address every time I turn on my Brennan. So I'd be loath to move that. The bluetooth I've had varying levels of success hence the purchase of the Sonos speaker. So if my bluetooth dongle is in B then I'd have no problems removing it if it fixed the problem with Brennan B2 linking up with the expensive Sonos speaker.

Any advice appreciated.

Andy 

[Keith Gardner]

Andy D,

I'm unable to assist regarding bluetooth, sonos, HDMI etc as I don't use them, others on the forum should be able to advise here. From Past posts I get the impression that you cannot connect a HDD to the HDMI port (for storing/playing music). You will need to remove the bluetooth dongle from USB-B port. (its usual position, my WiFi dongle is the same vintage B2 as you and has a small blue LED lit when Wifi is connected). You would need to timeshare the bluetooth dongle with USB-C.

Regards

Keith G

[Peter Lowham]

Hi Andy,

What version of software is your B2 64G running on?  Is is 'B2 xxx yy zzzz' or 'B2B xxx yy zzzz'?  The 'B2B' version has a much improved Bluetooth service.

Regards,
Peter.

[Daniel Taylor]

The B2s that have an internal hard disk expect it to be on USB-B.  The newer ones, with the internal HDD, have both USB-A and USB-C available for external devices.  I have WiFi on USB-A.  And I keep the Bluetooth dongle in USB-C, until I have to remove it temporarily to do either an Import or an Export.  Keep in mind that the B2 doesn't like to do more than one thing at a time.  So swapping out Bluetooth with Import/Exports should be of no real concern.

BTW, the Bluetooth dongle says CSR 4.0 on its side, and the WiFi dongle says 802.11n one the end of it.