LG VX 8100 - Verizon (Enabling MP3 Player)
I recently upgraded my mobile phone (Friday) and after much deliberation between the Samsung, LG or Moto RAZR, I went with my second LG phone. Even though multimedia features were not desired, of course you have to try them out. I was unpleasantly surprised to find that none of the marketable features worked. The problem-solver that I am, I couldn’t let that go. I scoured the web to find out all the tips/tricks to “hack” my mobile phone into compliance. I even purchased a 1GB mini sd card from Best Buy this afternoon and now I am going to store songs and movies on my phone (just in case).. Below is what I learned:
My software version: T81VZ06
- to find: Menu > Settings & Tools > 4 (system) > 3 (device info) > 2 (sw version)
- version xxxxx04 and later allow mp3 player
I have a 1GB SanDisc miniSD card
My PC: MacBook Pro (new mac notebook w/ intel duo core processor)
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Simplest Way to Enable Multimedia Features:
- buy a miniSD card 128MB or more (256 was $30 at BestBuy)
- buy a USB card reader (to attach to your computer - this way mac or pc) - I bought MobileMate SD+ ($22+ at Best Buy)
Enabling MP3
Menu
0
000000 (when the ?????? is displayed)
11 (Music Settings)
MP3 Enable
Formatting mini-SD (do this before placing card in any other devices)
Settings and Tools
4 (System)
4 (Manage Memory)
3 (Card Memory)
Options (lower right corner)
1 (Format Card) - your password is last 4 digits of your phone number
Enabling PLAY Shortcut Key (front panel)
Settings and Tools
1 (Tools)
3 (Shortcut Key)
2 (Play Key)
My MP3s
Ok. That is it. Now remove your mini-SD card, insert into your favoriate card reader and PC. Copy the MP3 files to the MY_MP3 folder on the mini-SD card. Insert mini-SD card back in to your VX8100 and enjoy all of your songs. To play them, hold down the play button on the front of your phone for 2+ seconds. You will see a song list and while playing a nice little equalizer display appears. You can also open your phone and the same display and controls are available.
I hope this helps you all out and good luck.
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MY PHONE HISTORY:
As an early adopter I have had Motorolla pagers and mobile phones back when they were bag and “beat a would-be purse snatcher” models, then onto the first flip phone then the Star Tac and Star Tac Lite… I made the switch late 90’s to Nokia and was a fan of their intuitive user interface and compact design (I had candy-bar phones mostly). In 2003 I switched to the LG VX 6000 clamshell phone with built-in camera. Although I don’t use it much, nor any other multimedia features, I have found on several occasions that they were very useful.
Well that’s my mobile phone history but back to my new LG VX 8100. I didn’t care about the mp3 player capability, etc, but did like the expandable memory. It was a hard choice but I made the decision to stick with a phone (ruling out AudioVox, Palm, etc.) given I will use my phone to demonstrate my new software product (coming soon). The VX 8100 offers email, wap, im, sms and voice and is a realistic example of what most users will have (a real phone, not a pocket pc).
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OTHER MENTIONABLES:
I have also played around with the BlueTooth connection and I am trying to find a way to enable OBEX (object exchange) so I can transfer files to/fro my computer without cables cards etc.
BitPim Users: I found that my mobile office usb cable for the LG VX6000 did work for the 8100. You can see the the grooves in the phone end are different, but the pins are the same. You can either file down the grooves or while facing the keypad of your phone, insert the plug at a slightly upward angle from bottom up. GENTLY ease it in the receptacle on your phone as you begin arcing upward and it will fit nice and snug. I used the cable to try the DUN (didn’t work for me) to see if I could get internet access via the phone. I used both the #777 number, mynum@vzw3g.com, vzw and other combinations - no success. If anyone has successfully gotten a VX8100 to act as modem via bluetooth on mac - please share…
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Videos. I am still looking into that - seems like most wm videos will work and you just need to rename the file extension. Not sure on that yet…
(4 votes, average: 4.25 out of 5)
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June 21st, 2006 at 6:08 am
I just bought the LG vx 8100 as well. Can you use the USB cable from verizon to load songs from a mac or should I return it before opening the package and use the card reader route to load songs onto the mini sd disc. I was not sure if the Mac would recognize the phone from the USB cable to load songs thru the phone onto the SD disc that way. Info I have found is only for PCs. Any info would help.
thanks
fsovinski@abdgroup.com
June 21st, 2006 at 8:03 am
Hi Frank,
You can use the USB Cable. There is a software product online called BitPIM that has a Mac version and it allows you to browse the somewhat cryptic file system on your phone. Just search for “bitpim usage” or “bitpim tutorial” in a search engine and it will tell you how to create your own ring tones (use 10-30 seconds of your favorite mp3s, etc.). It also has a calendar and contacts program allowing you to edit both easier than on your phone and then synching. If you bought the cable, I think it came with mobile office. I don’t use that but cable does help - unfortunately not everything works with Bluetooth (disabled directory browsing).
In short (my long way), keep it! For photos I just pop out my miniSD card and pop them into the USB reader. The same with MP3s transferred to the phone. On the card, if properly formatted by phone first, there will be a MY_MP3S folder and in it you can place as many songs as your card will hold - I only use 1/2 of my 1gb just in case (photos, etc).
Hope that helped and thanks for visiting.
June 27th, 2006 at 11:29 am
I have a Mac and used the card reader to load MP3s to the MY MP3 folder.
I have two files for each song in the playlist one file has a ._ at the beginning of the title and the other file does not. The file with ._ will not play but the other file without it will. Do you know how to fix this? It is a problem when you use the shuffle mode and it selects a song that has ._ will not play.
Any help thanks
Frank
June 27th, 2006 at 1:25 pm
Hi Frank.
I’m not sure why that is? I don’t really use the multimedia features of the phone as stated in my original post but had to figure out how just because I had the right, ha ha.
I don’t think I can help as I dont have too much time to play w/ my phone right now. As far as I know, when I copy files (many months ago) from my PC to the MY_MP3 folder it only copied the song_name.mp3 file. Perhaps you have a “view hidden files” setting on or something that allows you to copy Mac system files. I suggest you delete the files in the folder and simply copy files with file_name.mp3 by clicking on the ones you want and dragging them to that directory.
Hope that helps.
Mike
June 30th, 2006 at 7:20 pm
Hey Mike, this article helped with a few things, I havent tried it out yet, but I was curious if you’ve found a way to use custom ringtones, or if that is the way, I really dont like anyo of the ones verizon has and Id like to use my own, thanks in advance.
June 30th, 2006 at 7:21 pm
Ah, sorry forgot to ask, does enabling .mp3’s also enable the use of the itunes format mp4’s?
June 30th, 2006 at 9:42 pm
I don’t know about MP4s, sorry… I just got mine to work but don’t really use the multimedia - just had to make sure I could given the problem solver in me.
Regarding creating ringtones, I believe I answered that in prior comment. You need to get the cable to connect to your phone (or try Bluetooth but it didn’t work for me). You will download a software product called Bitpim and do a couple google searches on usage. Make sure you clip your song to 20 seconds or so as you don’t need much longer. Bitpim will convert it and add it for you.
Good luck!
July 1st, 2006 at 3:16 am
Sorry just re-read your last comment, but all in all thank,s you’ve been the most help on this subject, im just having trouble finding a free mp3 converter as most of my files are m4a’s or mp4’s
July 1st, 2006 at 7:38 am
Maybe this? search for “convert mp4 to mp3″ and found this link: http://www.howtodothings.com/electronics/a1664-how-to-convert-mp4-to-mp3.html
July 12th, 2006 at 6:00 pm
hey mike, I’m trying to figure out how to view videos too. I would say they have to be in .mov since that’s the format that you record with using the video camera.
July 12th, 2006 at 6:58 pm
I don’t do videos so cannot help. Please read prior posts. Thanks.
July 13th, 2006 at 4:38 am
Alright people I figured out how to play your own videos…
1. Download “ImToo MPEG Encoder v3.1″ just google it.
2. You’re gonna need to crack it or buy it as the trial has a limit of 5 mins encoding time.
3. Once downloaded/installed, open it.
4. Click the “+Add” button to the left.
5. Pick what files you want to encode.
6. Then below hit the “Profile” drop down box and select “3GPP2 - 3rd Generation Partnership Project 2 (*.3g2)”
7. Then hit encode.
8. Put encoded videos in your “MY_FLIX” folder.
9. Then go to your video player (hit the camera button twice)
10. Then go to the “Gallery” (left arrow button) and your videos are there for playback.
Thank you and God Bless.
July 17th, 2006 at 9:46 am
Hey Mike, i have found this site very helpful for putting my own mp3 songs on my mini sd card for the 8100. I was just wondering if there is a limit to the amount of songs you can have in your playlist. at 1st I had 12 songs on the card and it only showed 10, so i formatted the card and put the songs back on the card and added 4 more, and now shows 12 not 16. just wondering if you had encountered this problem and if you had any suggestions. thanks alot
mandy
July 17th, 2006 at 10:01 am
Hi Mandy, I loaded over 90 on mine just to try it out - I purchased a 1GB Mini SD card from Best Buy. Honestly I’ve never counted the songs so I’m unsure whether this happens to me or not. If they are the same songs, there may be issues with the format or naming of the files. If they are different each time, then ??? sounds like software bug. That’s about as good as I can figure but enjoy the 12 songs you do have!
Happy rockin’. /Mike
July 17th, 2006 at 10:57 am
ok, i have no clue what the problem is. but thanks for the help.
mandy
July 22nd, 2006 at 3:08 pm
Mandy, are the filenames too big? There is a limit to the filename. If you have:
Rage Against The Machine - How I Could Just Kill A Man.mp3
It won’t show up on your phone.
July 22nd, 2006 at 3:23 pm
1 gb card can hold about 250 songs. Going by 4 minutes at 128 kbps.
July 31st, 2006 at 11:07 pm
i have the Lg Vx8100 as well i have found out sometimes some mp3’s wont show up i havent figured that out yet besides maybe the file name may be to long also im trying to figure out how i can put video’s/movies on my phone as well?? any tips as of yet?
July 31st, 2006 at 11:11 pm
also i did get a video to show up on my phone from my mini sd card i had to make the filename shorter but it showed up…but when i went to try to play it all i got was a white screen my guess is verizon has it blocked somehow ive even talked to a customer service person from verizon wireless and they said the only way was if you download videos with the internet on your phone
August 12th, 2006 at 11:19 am
Mike, thanks for the page and info it has been helpful. I am going to buy a mini sd today, but I am confused about the custom ringtones. Do I still need to buy the usb cord to make my custom ringtones work on my phone? I can’t just run them off of the mini sd card? I am not too worried about playing mp3’s or videos, I just want personalized pictures and ringtones. My friend had a verizon phone a year or two ago where you could email himself ringtones for free. Is this still possible or does anyone know anything about this? Thanks again!
Ryan
August 12th, 2006 at 1:04 pm
In theory you don’t have to buy the USB cord; the program BitPim should work with Bluetooth if your PC is equipped. If not, you will have to purchase the USB cord as far as I know. I would search some BitPim posts in Google and perhaps you can create the tone and store it locally, then simply use a USB adapter (card reader) and drag those tones to your card. Then insert the card into the phone and there are settings on where you store your ringtones, music, pictures, etc. I think there is a place to choose card instead of phone memory for ringtones.
August 18th, 2006 at 9:01 pm
Thank you for the steps for the video, the ImToo encoder worked wonderful! I just have one question about videos. Do you know if there is a way to get videos off of youtube.com to be saved to your computer, so they can be put on the phone?
Thanks again.
August 18th, 2006 at 9:28 pm
So I used the BitPim to put the file into my MF folder, and it’s not on my phone. It seemed to trasfer to the phone and is in folder on the BitPim but not on the phone… any idea where else it could be?
August 18th, 2006 at 9:55 pm
Sorry for the multiple posts, but I found it, I had to reboot my phone and it showed up. But I sitll have the question about the youtube. haha, thanks again
August 18th, 2006 at 10:05 pm
Hi Lax. From what I’ve read, YouTube converts videos into a Flash movie. I haven’t really looking into it but if it’s in Flash, I don’t think you can import it like and AVI, MOV, etc. I would right-click on the page, view source and determine URL for the video file. If it’s within [embed][object] tags and says it’s a Shockwave Flash movie (.swf) then who knows. If it’s an ASF, MOV, AVI or other, I would simply do a Google search “import [FORMAT] into LG VX8100 using BitPim” and see if anything is available.
Hope that helps.
Mike
August 19th, 2006 at 8:27 pm
Ok thanks, I’ll check it out. The videos on my phone so far are great!
August 23rd, 2006 at 10:15 pm
The problem with the mp3’s not showing up on the phone is DEFINATELY the length of the file name or what characters are in that name. Once I shortened the file names of the mp3’s (on the miniSDcard) that weren’t showing up on the phone mp3 player, they all appeared and played just fine.
Mike, great page by the way.