AVIC-Z3 very long start up / boot up, about 2 min

[jeffreyhslin]

Hello,

I'm new to the forum and I have looked around at similar topics, but haven't found any resolution.

 

I have been using an AVIC-Z3 for about 3+ years.  About 4 months ago it started to take awhile (about 2 minutes) to boot or start up.  The black start screen "Starting Pioneer Car Navigation" screen stays on for around 1.5 minutes and then the spash screen comes up for around 20 seconds.  During the start up, the radio/XM will work, but everything else doesn't kick in until the start up is complete.

 

Some details: This is an actual original AVIC-Z3 (not upgrade from Z1 or Z2).  I have XM, Bluetooth, and rearview camera modules.  I had the 2010 HDD Navigation Upgrade (CNDV-1000HD) loaded a few years ago.

 

I have tried different resets, per talking with Pioneer: the 2 different kinds while pressing the "map" button and also the manual paper clip button on the bottom left front of the device.  I have basically reset the unit back to factory, erasing all saved music and nav markers in the process; the XM, Bluetooth, and camera still work though.  Anyways, this did not help and Pioneer advises to send the whole unit to them in CA along with $230 in order for them to figure it out.

 

I've seen some posts that say that the hard drive could be failing.  Is this what it is?  I've heard of possibly hooking up the harddrive to computer and removing bad sectors or something. 

 

Any help/recommendations/advice would be appreciated.

 

Thanks

[garrettoomey]

It could possibly be the hard drive having some bad sectors are starting to fail completely.  You can unlock the drive fir free (see hacks section) and then connect the drive to a PC in order to scan all 4 partitions as well as check the 'smart' feature of the drive.  I have only seen a couple of hard drive failures in these units and that includes all the way back to the original Z1.  If you don't have the hardware to test the drive, I would be willing to check out the drive for you (no charge), just pay shipping both ways.

[CaptainInsaneO]

My vote is on the drive failing. The fact that you can get SiriusXM shows that the unit is probably good (this service does not require the drive to work). Garrettoomey is great at what he does, I would just have him check it out. If the drive is failing, he can get you a new one

[jeffreyhslin]

I went ahead and installed a new hard drive.  It has all the new updates, but the boot up time hasn't changed (still around 1:45).

 

So, it appears the issue may not be with the hard drive. 

 

Any suggestions?  Please help!

 

Jeff

[ssri1]

I have exactly the same problem as the original Author ! I have an AVIC Z3 with 2012 map update (so I assume that I have the latest firmware too).

 

The unit was working perfectly fine, when suddenly one day, it started to act strange and gets stuck at the "starting up pioneer car navigation..." screen. After 2 to 3 minutes, the Pioneer logo appears and from that point of time, it takes around 30 seconds to boot. Once booted, the unit operates normally !!

 

I have tried most usual suspects - Method 1 reset, method 2 reset, method 3 reset (lost all my music and personal settings) - made no difference.

 

I thought the hard drive is the issue, so I borrowed the hard drive from a friend's AVIC Z3 ( not having the problem my AVIC Z3 has) - made no difference, which makes me believe that the hard drive may not be the issue.

 

I am at my wits end - I somehow think that this is a hardware issue, cannot nail it though. I think some device driver is initializing and has some exception, and takes 2 to 3 minutes to time out and come out of the loop.

 

If anyone has/had this problem and moved past this, please reply. 

 

Regards.

[ssri1]

BTW, adding to my earlier post, both the hard drives, mine and my friend's hard drive that I swapped, are both permanently unlocked - thanks to instructions in this forum !!