no that ebay stuff is fake

I disagree!! Most of it is excellent and this one is probably one of the good ones judging by the repeat business.

I have my hands on a virgin Z3 HD that came from a local retail store (NOT ebay). I have it unlocked and backing up now. I will upload it to Hyperite's FTP (with his permission) today.

Here is some info that I have found:

4 partiions (exact same size as Z1 and Z2)

It is a 40gb Toshiba vs the 30gb that came in the Z1 and Z2.

17.52gb for maps

572.8mb for system files

9.308gb for music

572.8 for personal files

The file structure appears to be identical to the Z1 and Z2. I will be testing to see if I can restore only the maps and system files onto my existing drive as I did before, and this would preserve my music library and personal phonebook, etc. All while still updating the system files to the Z3 OS and maps to 2008.

More to follow.

Please do not PM me for a copy of this image. It will be posted so that everyone has access.

I'll post more later today

Permission granted and PM sent. I'll pull it down to a nice safe place everybody can access and post a new thread when that happens. Shouldn't be long now, folks!

Ouch, that is gonna take awhile. Good luck with the upload!

 

Hopefully you have a good pipe to upload it through.

5GB over cable modem is about 24 hours.

 

Thanks for sharing the image.

Getting a little over 500 KBS (hit or miss). We'll see how much smack I get from our network admin. They have me limited at 250 per connection, but I've got 2 machines going at the same time.

i am like a kid at christmas time. waiting,waiting,waiting. i cant take it anymore( i never thought i would get excited over things like this at my age(i am 38)

You want me to stop, I dont see why to do this more than once. I do have the image, and about 40% of it up on megaupload. I was waiting to here from ya, if you want me to upload it to your ftp, send me the info, like I said. I have the tib, and it rar'd into 498 mb chunks...

I have successfully restored the Z3 maps and service data partitions without loosing the music library, personal settings, and phonebook.

I am now uploading the the entire vz3 virgin image peices to hypertite's ftp server. It is almost 10gb, and will take about 20 hours to complete.

20 hours

its ezy to keep ur setting and music

only restore 2 partitions and you get to keep ur setting and music

joking

I have successfully restored the Z3 maps and service data partitions without loosing the music library, personal settings, and phonebook.

 

I am now uploading the the entire vz3 virgin image peices to hypertite's ftp server. It is almost 10gb, and will take about 20 hours to complete.

Should we upload this on more than one ftp?

it may be a good plan

not sure if Hypes FTP can take that much abuse

I have successfully restored the Z3 maps and service data partitions without loosing the music library, personal settings, and phonebook.

 

I am now uploading the the entire vz3 virgin image peices to hypertite's ftp server. It is almost 10gb, and will take about 20 hours to complete.

So is this image of the actual z3 image or is it just pieces to keep all the music & phonebook?

It is a full Z3 virgin drive image (all 4 partitions) from an actual z3 40gb toshiba drive. The partitions only use 30gb of the 40gb drive, so the image will fit perfectly on a Z1 or Z2 drive.

When I stated "pieces" on my previous email, it is becuase I had acronis break the tib into 700mb "pieces".

Excellent..can't wait to try it on my z2 hard drive

on 14 of 19 files (500 meg chunks) on mega upload. When I get back from lunch I will provide clickable links to my file chunks.

on 14 of 19 files (500 meg chunks) on mega upload. When I get back from lunch I will provide clickable links to my file chunks.

why are you doing it on megaupload? Why would someone wanna keep waiting 45 seconds to download a part and there is numerous parts. The FTP server is a much better idea just like last time, but if its the same as the one on ftp server then i guess more variety where to download. Also seems like the z3 is a 40gb HD, does that mean there is only 10gb of music space vs the z1,z2 you had 20gb if you had a 40gb HD upgrade?

it may be a good plan

not sure if Hypes FTP can take that much abuse

Oh, we'll abuse it

Prepping FTP/HTTP/torrent transfer groups....

I think BigFloppy might mirror it though, we'll see

I just sent hyperite the links to teh first 9 of 19 files. Im sure that I'll be done in the next couple of hours.

SD

The z3 has a 40gig hd, but only using 30gb of it. If you own a z3, you could unlock the drive and expand the music partition. If you already have an upgrade drive (and larger music partition), then you will only want to restore the first 2 partitions (maps and os).

I'm definitely buying a new 40GB drive for $50, no need to F with my current one.

Megaupload isn't a bad idea if the FTP ends up getting floaded.

It is $9.99 for a membership and you could kick off the parallel downloads with all the links before you leave for work and it will be done when you get home.

OR

Wait about 1-2 weeks and it will be all over the internet

Wait 1-2 days and it'll be all over the internet...

Wait 1-2 days and it'll be all over the internet...

Holy crap! lol I was just checking today because I was finally deciding to upgrade to the Z2 and I get surprised by this!

Thanks guys; this is awesome!

Just for a refresher what is the best hdd for the avic z series stereo's? That way as people read this thread they will know what hdd to buy Hyperite would probably anwser this one!

I see there are both 40 gig and 60 gig on ebay. I would like a bigger drive for more music if possible. Thanks everyone for all your efforts. I hope there will be another tutorial to upgrade the Z2 to Z3 just like the bypass.