Mossman

There seems to be an firmware update for the Z3 in the Pioneer website, version number 3.100400. I have a Z1 that has been upgraded to a Z3. I was wondering if anyone experienced any adverse affect from this update. The current version in my Z1 is 3.100200. I think, the only reason for this update is to be able to upgrade to the latest gracenote version. I just want to make sure before I update it. The latest version for the Gracenote is 09-01-0020. Also, is there any newer update for the bluetooth nd-bt1? Thanks in advance.

The original image did come from a z3 40gb drive, but the 4 partitions only use 30gb of the drive. It fits PERFECTLY on the original 30gb drive.

 

Thank you garrettoomey for your prompt reply. So I do not have to make any adjustments in partitions sizes? Perfect. I will continue on with my image restore process. Thanks again.

First of all, I would like to thank Hyperite, Septicdeath, and everyone else who is involved in making this image a reality for all AVIC Z series users. You guys are major contributor to the forums and I enjoy reading all of the topics.

 

Second, I do have a question in regards to placing the image in my stock Z1 30GB HD. It would seem that the original image came from a 40GB drive and everyone else here is using a larger drive to copy the image to. I was just wondering, does the sizes of the partitions matters when restoring the image to the regular 30GB? Can I keep the default settings in Acronis to restore the image or do I have to make some changes in partition size? I had it working fine on an 80GB HD currently in my Z1, but I really do not need that much music space so that is why I would like to use the original stock drive instead of a larger replacement. Thanks in advance for everyone's input.

Okay, finally got my Z1 stock HD to unlock. I had to use my work's Dell machine running Win2K to do it. It's not that easy, either. For some reason, the system will not boot when the drive is installed. I had to boot the machine and install the drive after it is on. Basically, hot swap it. I thought I was going to fry the drive but it's all good. Just thought I would give my 2 cents to someone who might be having the same problem. Thanks.

Yeah, I tried it and it didn't work. I got 6 other PCs but all of them are running Vista and they are also setup in RAID 0 Array. My next step attempt is to try to install XP in a regular single HD setup and see if that works. Does anyone have any other suggestions that I can try? Thanks.

Hello all,

I tried to unlock my Z1 HD and put the Z3 image in. When I used the HDD Unlock Wizard to unlock it, it is telling me that it is unlocked, but I am unable to see the drive. I am using a P4C800-E Deluxe mobo with RAID configuration. I'm not sure if RAID has anything to do with it not detecting the drive properly. Someone else on this thread had a suggestion to use MHDD first to remove the security settings on the drive, then unlock it. Does this make any difference? I will give it a try later, but if any of you professionals have other ideas for me to try, please let me know. Thanks in advance.

Didn't the same thing happen when the Z1 first came out, then the Z2? It was not posted on their website and the reps do not know anything about them. It seems that the pioneer products would usually be available to the public first before the info is available on their website or from the representatives. I think when the Z1 to Z2 upgrade discs were made available, it was available at the Pioneer distributors first. It wasn't until a month later that the discs were available on their website for everyone to purchase.

Thanks AFMagnum for everything that you have done for us. You have been one of the major contributor to this forum and to all AVIC enthusiast. We are all very grateful.

 

I have a question in regards to using this Z2 image. Will the device ID be the same for everyone who uses this image or will it find the device ID of our individual Z1? I'm just wondering if this would perhaps affect future upgrades of the Z1/Z2's. Thank you.

If you don't know what newsgroups, FTP, or torrents are, then google would be your best friend. You would have to do a lot of reading in order to learn about them. FTP is probably the simplest topic learn since the IP address, username, and password is already provided. Torrents would be your next step up. Newsgroups IMO is probably the most difficult topic to understand. Especially by a newbie.

 

Starting off with FTP, the easiest thing you can do is open up a web browser and type in "ftp://63.173.68.42" in the address field. A window will pop-up asking for login and password. Here are the information:

 

Username: leech

Password: account

 

This would probably be the slowest method since this is using AFMagnum's bandwidth and I'm sure a lot of people will try this method first. Torrents and newsgroups would probably be a faster method of acquiring all the files.

 

Do a bit of reading. Ducatiboy, in this thread, have provided a link to a good tutorial of newsgroups. Again, google would probably be your best friend in order to learn more about the various downloading techniques. Good luck.

That sounds like the most logical step to a free unlocking procedure. I think someone have mentioned in another thread that the hard drive cover needs to be on in order for the avic to boot up. It might be just a small switch under that plastic cover that you can hold down and keep holding while you remove the hard drive. Although this procedure sounds simple enough, I don't think anyone is brave enough to risk doing it due to the possibility of frying the hard drive. Besides, there aren't that many hacks or modifications you can do with the hard drive just yet to risk using step. Perhaps once someone figured out a way to play divx files or backup their dvd's into the hard drive or even just copying compressed music files into the drive directly from the PC, then it may be worth the risk. Right now, the only thing you can do is just change various images.

I just got my Z1 about a month ago, so I don't think I have contributed much to this forum. I agree with everyone else who stated that it should go to someone who is planning to do a lot of testing. Especially when it comes to the Z2 image. The update for the Z1 to Z2 would be coming out soon. Most people, including me, would want to upgrade to the latest features of the Z2. If someone can find more hacks/mods available for the Z1/Z2 hard drives, it would be most beneficial for the rest of us. Just my 2-cents.

Yes, after having those weird problem with connecting my drive to the USB, I decided to install it in the secondary IDE channel on a Vista machine. Although it showed that my drive was connected properly, it was not given a drive letter by Vista. I used the Disk Management Tool under Administrative tools and found that the drive is there, but I am not given the option to format it or add/change drive letters. I came to the conclusion that the drive was locked by the Z1 even though I tried to unplug the negative terminal while it was running.

Palacios' suggestion sounds promissing. Any chance you might be able to give it a shot, DucatiBoy? I would try it myself if I have any extra laptop hard drive sitting around. Does anyone else have other suggestions that we might be able to test out? Perhaps if someone else have an extra laptop hard drive sitting around, they would be willing to attempt the Hot Swap method described before, where you remove the hard drive while the Z1 is running. Or, if anyone is willing to sell me a cheap laptop hard drive, I'm willing to give the Hot Swap method a shot in my Z1.

Thanks for all your suggestions guys.

Ok, I just gave it a shot, no luck on the unplugging the negative terminal.

Since the only thing we can do with it right now is just to change various screen pictures and icons, I guess I can wait a while. What I was hoping to do was to copy my music through my PC/laptop to the hard drive, or at least find a much faster way of doing it. Well, that's another free attempt to unlock the hard drive gone to the trash.

What's weird was that, while trying to hook up the locked hard drive to my PC using USB, both XP and vista would not stop searching for the drivers to properly hook up the drive. Then I tried restart the PC with the drive still hooked up on the USB port. First of all, it won't let me completely shutdown my PC until I unplugged the USB cable. While restarting, I tried hooking up the USB again and this time it won't even let me boot XP until I unplug it. Weird.

I will give it a try perhaps sometimes this weekend. But just to clarify, if my hard drive was locked, I would not be able to access it (read it) from the PC, correct? Now if it was unlocked, I should be able to use the 2.5" ATA to USB adapter and connect it to the USB port of my PC and I should be able to read the files/partition in the drive using WinXP or Vista, right? And with just using the USB adapter, I can use the program Pulp Fiction mentioned to keep it unlock? Just want to make sure before I start messing around with it.

I have read a bunch of threads on this site about unlocking the hard drive on the Z1, and I know a lot of people have been looking for a way to do it for free. I'm not sure if this sounds a bit too simple, and I'm not sure if anyone has tried it, but since the Z1 unlocks the drive when you start it, what happens if you suddenly just disconnect the negative terminal to your car's battery? Will the Z1 have enough time/power to lock the drive? Basically, my suggestion is this:

1. Power up the Z1 and let it boot fully until you get to the NAV screen.
2. Press the eject button so you have access to your hard drive.
3. Disconnect the negative terminal to the car's battery.
4. Remove the already unlocked hard drive.

This way, you won't be doing a HOT SWAP like others have mentioned.

I know this sounds wayyyyy too simple, but has anyone tried it?

From what I understand, the navigation software was made by a Canadian company. No offense to anyone, but what do Canadians know about US maps? Where are they getting their data from? My cousin's neighborhood was built in 2001/2002. The spelling for the street names in his neighborhood was often off. One of the street name was suppose to be Fairfield, but according to the AVIC-N2 and Z1, the street's name is Fairchild.

 

I don't think the Z1 was Pioneer's first navigation system. I believe the N1 was their first, running the CNDV40MP software. Perhaps, if possible, Pioneer would contract a different navigation software company and make it so that we can reformat the hard drive with the new software. I had my N2 for a long time, and recently upgraded to the Z1. So far, the street's names in my cousins neighborhood has not been fixed. I haven't done too much navigating with the Z1 yet, but with the N2, there was only one time where the POI threw us off. We were looking for a nearby Claim Jumper Restaurant in the San Diego area. Although we were only 3.5 mile away from where the restaurant actually is, my N2 took us to a deserted area. We were just about to turn around and head to a different location when we found the restaurant, accidentally, about a mile from where the N2 took us. It was all the software's fault. It would be nice if the navigation software company would just make the software OPEN SOURCE. That way we can do our own editing of whatever is not correct with the program.

I'm not sure if anyone has ever tried this before, but will the AVIC-N2 work in Europe? I understand that there is a way to clear/erase the firmware in the unit. Will using the European map DVD update the firmware so that the navigation will work in Europe? Thanks in advance for any information provided.

Hello,

I'm looking for the VSS wire for a 2001 Honda Accord EX manual transmission vehicle. I read that it was suppose to be in the passenger side center console under the carpetting, but I was unable to locate it. Is the ECM computer in a different location for a manual transmission Accord? Thanks in advance for any help provided.

Thanks to everyone who posted a lot of good information on this site, especially Ducattiboy and Cochoo. Thank goodness I did all those reading first prior to installing my Z1. Everything worked well.

 

There was one issue, though. I'm not sure if it has anything to do with the gracenote or bluetooth update, but after doing both updates, I tried recording 1 music CD onto the hard drive. The music in the library played fine, but when I tried to play a movie (original, not burned) in the dvd drive, It wouldn't play it and would just give me a blue screen for a very long time. I had to press the reset button to get the dvd player to play my movies again. I lost the presets for my FM and AM, but that's not a big deal. I was wondering if anyone knows if it had to do with either one of the updates? Perhaps, everytime I update the gracenote files, or do any other type of updates, I am suppose to press the reset button for everything to work properly. Just wondering if anyone else had this problem after doing the updates. Thanks again everyone.

I'm trying to find out if I need the bluetooth hardware in order to upgrade the software in the hard drive? I'm trying to avoid the flasher bypass and just do the 2 wire grounding bypass on my z1. The thing is, I don't plan on purchasing the bluetooth hardware. I've been searching in many of the forums but unable to find this specific information.

 

Also, in a couple of pages before this one, I read that Ducatiboy was able to remove the hard drive and unlock the image to his PC hard drive. Does anyone know what type of hard drive is on the z1? Is it like a regular 30gb laptop hard drive or is it something different? And since this can be done on the PC, any chance that the hard drive can also be upgraded to perhaps a 100gb size by copying all of the locked image for the original 30gb hard drive?

 

Thanks in advance to anyone offering more information.

Anyone knows if there will be a map update to the Avic S1? or maybe an S2 with updated map or POI?

 

Thanks guys.

curious.. is there a monthly fee for portable gps? if yes, how much?

I was just doing a quick search on the web and found this:

[url]http://www.idealav.com/item.aspx?eid=5&pid=99050[/url]

Including ground shipping, it comes to about 1498.83. Yahoo gave them 4 1/2 out of 5 stars, so I think they are a reputable business. It also includes the 1 year warranty from Pioneer. Thought, perhaps, somone else can do a bit more research on the company. Has anyone ever purchased anything from these guys? Anyway, just want to share this information with everyone.

I was just doing a quick search on the web and found this:

[url]http://www.idealav.com/item.aspx?eid=5&pid=99050[/url]

Including ground shipping, it comes to about 1498.83. Yahoo gave them 4 1/2 out of 5 stars, so I think they are a reputable business. It also includes the 1 year warranty from Pioneer. Thought, perhaps, somone else can do a bit more research on the company. Has anyone ever purchased anything from these guys? Anyway, just want to share this information with everyone.[url][/url][/quote]

Even for a price of 1399 for a Z1 at the camerapros, it might be worth it. As long as it is new and all. Installation is pretty much self explanatory for most stereo and if needed you can always download the manual off the of pioneer website. Does the Z1 require a DVD to install the firmware and all the images in the hard drive or is it already pre-installed in the harddrive? I guess you might need the DVD if required, but then again, there are a lot of sites where you can get the images of the DVD's. The only thing I can think about that you will need is the GPS antenna and the wiring harness and you might be able to get both of those off of eBay for less than $50. Either way, it's still quite inexpensive for a brand new item.