My new BB1 doesn't recognise USB or external drive

[Barbara Dalton]

Hi, I have just bought a brand new BB1 so we can download my husband's CD collection. It switches on and seems to work OK but when I connect a USB or external hard drive nothing happens.  I cannot see the USB symbol at the bottom of the welcome page and the Menu item "Browse USB" doesn't appear.  Any ideas before I return it as faulty?

[john Henrick]

Hello

You need to ensure the usb us formatted as fat 32 only

[Fred Hopper]

It is best to format the USB stick (before you put music onto it) using the Brennan's format as USB device option.

You can then load it with your music and the Brennan will recognise it and be able to read the contents.

[Histopathkid]

Can this be done from a bb1

[Peter Lowham]

Hi All,

Yes, the BB1 won't recognise a USB device that is not formatted as 'FAT32'.

The next issue is that the BB1 does not have a 'Format' function (which the B2 does have) so you will need to format the USB device on a PC.

Then, if your USB device is a hard disk drive, it may have to be independently powered, as the BB1 USB seems to be a 'low power' port.

To reformat your USB device, if you are using Windows 7 or 10, then do the following.

1.  Right click on Windows 'Start' icon.

2.  Click on 'Computer Management'.

3.  Click on 'Storage' icon.

4.  Select 'Disk Management (local)'

4.  When the 'Disk Management' window opens, select the USB device that you want to format.

5.  Select 'Delete Volume' to delete the existing volume.

6.  Ensure that the USB device is still highlighted.

7.  Right click on the highlighted USB device and select 'New Simple Volume'.

8.  Click 'Next' and 'Next'  and 'Next' again, accepting the default values shown in those windows.

9.  In the Format Partition' window, in the 'File System' field, select 'FAT32'

10.  Click 'Next' and then click 'Finish'

11.  The newly formatted partition should show in the window.

12.  The USB device should now be ready to use in your BB1.

Regards,

Peter.

[Jan2000]

I do feel for you, I bought it for the same reason and have the same problem. I can't connect to the internet (many people have tried to help on this forum) but thought at least I could download from a harddrive, no such luck. I tried formatting it as suggested, I don't have FAT32 as an option but chose exFat. Still not recognised by the BB1. I sometimes enjoy learning new processes but this has just been one thing after another and at the moment all I have is is a Bluetooth speaker for my phone. I'm waiting to be able to use someone else's internet connection. I know a lot of people are pleased with the variety of things they can do with their B2 or BB1 but I do think owning one takes a certain level of enthusiasm for problem solving.

[Peter Lowham]

Hi Jan2000,

Formatting a USB drive as 'exFAT' will NOT work with Brennan devices.  The format has to be 'FAT32'. If you look on the internet there are various format programs which will give you the option to format to 'FAT32'.

Then your Brennan will recognise the USB device.

Regards,

Peter.

[Fred Hopper]

Barbara, Jan

Please do not blame your Brennan for your difficulties. Your BB1 or BB2 uses the  widely compatible as FAT32 standard.

For various strange reasons Microsoft (ie Windows) has decided not to use this format any more and to try and force people to use their more proprietary alternative solutions. There is no reason why Microsoft should not have continued to allow people to format to the FAT32 standard if they wanted to, but they have not, so you have to download and use 3rd party "apps" on windows to achieve this.

One such utility can be obtained from

http://www.ridgecrop.demon.co.uk/index.htm?guiformat.htm

if you feel confident to try it.

  

[Jan2000]

Hi, many thanks for this I'll try it out. I'm quite interested in learning all this and pretty good at plugging away at things till I find a solution. It's just that I bought this as a fun item and so far it's been a learning curve. 

[Daniel Taylor]

Yes, the BB1 - and B2 - definitely have a learning curve.  I'm currently trying to teach my totally non-computer-literate wife how to use an iPhone.  Many things that are worth knowing have a learning curve.  If you already know how to use a computer, then you have a head start on catching on to the Brennan products.  They are computers.

[Mark Fishman]

(a) FAT32 is a publicly defined standard, as an extension of the original FAT system that was used in operating systems before Microsoft got involved. exFAT is their attempt to collect money by forcing other companies to pay for licenses. If they enabled formatting drives to the older standard, they wouldn't get as much money. There's your explanation.

(b) re: teaching your wife to use an iPhone -- Steve Jobs said he'd make computers as easy to use as the telephone. He did it by making the telephone as hard to use as a computer.

[PMB]

Hi Barbara,

Apart from the formatting issue - which must be FAT32 - there maybe a power problem.

USB ports, like the one on the BB1, provide power for the device, your USB memory stick or USB HDD for example, that's connected to it. The USB port on BB1 can only supply limited power, plenty for a USB memory stick but possibly not enough for some types of HDDs.

So I would check that the memory stick is FAt32 formatted and works with the BB1 before trying the HDD (which will also need formatting).

Please let us know how it goes or if you require more assistance.

Paul

Brennan Support.

[Fred Hopper]

Hi Barbara

If it is a power problem then connecting the BB1 USB to a powered USB hub (type "Powered USB Hub" into Amazon search) and the HDD into that would resolve the power issue.

Fred