Playing files located on external HD via iAudio? (Pardon my ignorance)

[radioradio]

I've searched the forum and cannot find an answer to my question (wrong keywords, perhaps?), which is:

Can the iAudio w/ Rockbox play a file from an external hard drive hooked up to it via USB?

I'm interested in playing music through a home stereo and keeping a couple of hundred gigs of Oggs on an external harddrive. I'd like to use a portable like the iAudio as the interface between my stored files and the stereo in this scenario because 1.) I need a portable anyway, and 2.) because the "audio jukeboxes" like the Modix HD3520 and the MVix MV5000U don't have great (or any) Ogg support.

I doubt the answer to the question above is going to be yes, but I'll ask just the same. It sure is hard to find devices that meet all of one's criteria, as everyone here knows...

Any other advice on playing Oggs on stationary equipment welcomed. If money were no object, I'd probably get an Olive digital media / CD player. May end up there yet.

Thanks,

Neil H.
Raleigh

[Llorean]

It doesn't at the moment. I'm not 100% familiar with the X5 hardware, but I believe that the official firmware has USB On the Go, in which case if/when that is ever implemented in Rockbox, it ought to allow for this option.

[scorche]

I have moved this topic to Hardware, as that is where this type of question should be.  The forum you posted in before deals with installation related issues.

The iAudio port is not yet able to use the USBOTG feature yet, so no, this would not work yet.  However, I would think that eventually, this feature would be supported.

[saratoga]

You could use a modded xbox.  They'll take 1 drive of any size, and can play off an unlimited number of additional disks via ethernet.  Supports Ogg/mp3/aac/flac/etc.

[c0utta]

I asked this question about 1 month ago, but didn't really come up with a good answer.

I asked the same question on dapreview.com and got a response that the Archos gmini 220 provides this functionality albeit rather limited.  But, no Rockbox, therefore not an option for me.

I also read of others who had been able to get the Pretec Allegro to work with a USB card reader.  I didn't find anyone who had used an external HD though.

My dream is to have a flash-based player that can also be "plugged" into a (smallish) base station that could have any device attached, such as an external HD.  Rockbox compatible of course.  I'm still looking.

Cheers,

c0utta