rwcan

The hard drive is great, and sounds wonderful but doesn't always load the titles on the disk.

When you first load a cd in it shows the title of the album and the artist, as well as the titles of each track.

But then it goes out to the internet, accessing a service called Gracenote, to get info on the disk. If Gracenote can find the album, all of the track information goes onto the harddrive. That's great.

But if Gracenote can't find the album (this happens often, even to popular cd's right from the store) the info is lost.
The album title becomes the date and time you recorded it, and the track info shows up as "Track 01." That's a real pain, because then you have to type them in by hand on the screen.

Does anybody know how to get the data on the disk to transfer directly to the info on the hard drive? It would be great because then I'd bypass Gracenote all the time.

dimapb

I have the same problem and so far have not been able to find a solution.

dleach

So far, I have not experienced the problem with grace notes. All 26 CD's recorded to date (it took 10 hours to down load) have all the info. What I see is a bigger problem. 1)Time to down load. 2) When stored you can not pull up artist to select the CD. You only get the CD title. I have had to edit 21 CD's to put the artist name as the stored name. I found it difficult to remember the CD title and then think of the artist. (Especially greatest hits CD's)
I just put 330 miles on the car and it run's great. Has anyone been able to sink there cell phone to the phone directory? I have manually put it 76 names and numbers...(I had plenty of time due to down loading CD's) and don't care to do the next 200.
Can anyone help?

dfiorito

I am in the same boat.

VelvetBlue

The system does not access the internet to get the gracenote info. The Gracenote database is stored on the hard drive. It is only going to have info on what is already in it's database. When a new CD gets released it is not going to be in the database until you bring the car in to the service dept. and get a new version of the Gracenote database downloaded.

rwcan

OK, this is a case where a small piece of info makes a difference in how the problem is approached.

Now I wonder why the info on the disk can't be grabbed directly. In other words, if the album can't be found on Gracenote, I wonder if the system could be modified to grab the info on the disk? After all, it is read and shows when the disk is first loaded.

gs400jon

I've wondered where the title and artist information from music played on a FM station come from when it appears on the non navigational display of the ES330. Is this related somehow?

gwong

Doing a little followup on this thread. The information that is displayed on the screen, such as album title and track name, when playing from the cd is cd text. Cd text has been around since '99, but you need a player that can read that information. Most now can, but not all.

The player in the Lexus can read cd text when its playing. The information that is displayed is cd text. The player doesn't use or access the Gracenote database when playing the audio cd. According to Lexus, cd text information is given priority when playing from the cd.

When the cd is ripped to the hard drive library, the library uses Gracenote, which means if there is no information in the database, no album title or track name is displayed.

Btw, this information is not found in the owners manual, at least that I could find other than the ability to read cd text. Cd text is normally stored on the cd separate from the audio track. When ripping, only the audio is normally recorded. On a home computer, when burning a cd, you have the option of adding cd text to your cd-r, but I believe the added cd text comes from an online database such as Gracenote.

If you want to see title or track information, you're going to have go into the edit mode and add the information manually or wait until your Gracenote database gets updated.

Car Nut

Thank you. That easily explains why newer CDs are not recognized by Gracenote but give info when playing the CD.

Do you know how often Gracenotes are updated by Lexus?

gwong

Unfortuneatly, no. When you go in for your regular service, you may want to ask them to update the database.

jg_hill1

I was told by my Lexus corporate technical rep that the Gracenote database update will be available quarterly. The update must be installed by a Lexus tech in the show using the service laptop computer. Of course, dealers may charge for this service so ask first!

Car Nut

I still wish they had it on a DVD to be installed by the owner. This way, the only cost would be the DVD and no installation charges by the dealership.

Would be interesting to get feedback from the first few customers using this service.

mistermet

I think somebody really missed the ball on this one. Many of us already have extensive MP3 files on our computers with titles etc. which have been accessed from Gracenote which took considerable time. Now, to get the data onto the car's hard drive the process must be repeated all over again to say nothing of the quarterly update delay. A simple USB interface would have enabled a direct transfer of the files using a portable flash drive or something similar.

Car Nut

One of the advantages of downloading music on the computer is the ability to use the keyboard to edit song titles etc. Until I get the quarterly upgrade to the Gracenote database, disc info will have to be punched in manually on any new CD I buy. To do this on the Lexus touch screen is tedious, especially if you want the song titles as well.

Lexus should think about (for future models) a computer keyboard hook up via an USB interface that can be used to edit song info. The USB socket can easily be hidden in the glove compartment.

However, when the CAR is used what it is meant for i.e. take me and my family from place to place quickly, safely and in supreme comfort, it is absolutely fabulous.