Before I lost it, I had a little iPod about an inch square and got a cable for it that allowed me to plug it into my Bose radio. (The little iPod had no screen, so I couldn't tell it what tracks to play in what order.) In the big clear out before moving, I am ripping CDs so I don't have to take them with me and find space to put them. They are all being put on an external hard drive. Is it possible to somehow play the music from the hard drive through the radio with some sort of connecting cable ? If I switch the radio to the Aux will it recognise that there is music on the hard drive and start playing it? Or does the device that holds the music have to be able to 'play' it in order for it to come out of the radio as sound? (I'm not fussed as to what order it plays in.)
Do you know the exact model of radio? In my experience the aux generally needs to be playable...but these days more modern stereos have the ability to read off sd cards and USB sticks so it may be possible...
If the aux connection is through a 3.5mm mini-stereo jack then the answer is no. The device needs to put out an analogue signal for the stereo/radio to play. In simple terms, if you can't listen to it with earphones, you can't listen to it with the radio. If the radio has some sort of provision for USB then it should be possible but is still by no means guaranteed.
Thanks for the replies, chaps. It's a Bose Wave radio about 9-10 years old, so I don't expect it would have any modern facilities, although I keep it because the sound is terrific (don't know what I'll do when radio goes all digital). And yes, that makes sense - I can't listen from the hard drive with headphones, so it makes sense that the music tracks are just stored on it. Looks like I'll have to transfer tracks to my iPhone and play them through that (I know that works because I've tried it). Just a bit tedious, really. I have another question, if you don't mind: the radio in my Mondeo has a button marked Aux, but not a little hole to plug my iPhone/iPod into it like the radio in my Bora. Presumably there should be some kind of access for a cable to fit in - does that mean taking the radio out of the dash and looking to see if there's a hole round the side/back? (not a job I'd relish doing).
