I seen that alot of you are not able to. But I made a couple cds of mp3's and loaded them on with no problem. They are DRM free, and I used Sonic Record Now! 6.5.3 for anyone that wants to put mp3's on their unit.

Were they MP3 CDs or Audio CDs?

I think mp3 cd's. I have a few thousand mp3's on my comp. (some from when it wasn't illegal to download them, and some that I just got off of amazon. I made it as a audio cd not data cd. If that is what you are talking about. If that isn't that problem, I am sorry about the post.

Aw man you got me all excited for a minute.

Yeah, we've known about the audio CD thing, in fact I make audio CDs all the time. That's pretty much my prime way of getting music on my Z2.

You know, if you figure out a way to rip MP3 CDs, or somehow get MP3s put directly on your hdd from your computer, you'd find the holy grail of this forum.

Can you use Sonicstage 3.4 ? I never used it, but it will let you convert mp3's to Atrac (isn't that the z format ?)

Yes it is. The problem with transferring ATRAC files to the Z's hdd is that the file structure is not what we're used to (i.e. all your files appear as contiguous files to you). Apparently, the Z scatters the ATRAC files that it makes when it rips CDs all over the hdd, and then uses a sort of database to access them. Therefore, just "dragging and dropping" ATRAC files is made - at this point - impossible without knowing the algorithm that the Z uses for file placement.

If it was possible (which it is) to copy the OS data and code from the EEPROM on the unit, it could theoretically be reverse engineered to reveal the algorithm and lead to a program being made to allow us to transfer ATRAC files directly from our machines to our AVIC hdds.

Hey..I'm new to this forum and I just read your post about reverse engineering the OS on the Z2 to possibly upload your MP3s directly to the HD. Anybody know where I could get a copy of the OS and EPPROM? Any other supporting information would help also (ie: What OS is it, CPU type, etc.). I wouldn't mind taking a crack at it; I do program in multiple languages (VB, C/C++, Assembly, PIC) so I would love the challenge...if it hasn't been solved yet.

I have found that I can rip protected AAC audio files from Itunes playlist disk onto my Z2. I have not heard anyone else mention this. Is this common knowledge?

Hi dmarciano,

After al little research the OS is Windows CE (WINCE420) this one is common used in automotive as I found out, The Eprom and CPU is a little Dark for me but, I will find out. In first case the OS is ease to handle. And you can make a virtual.

If you download the Update file Z2firmwareupdate.zip from the Pioneer site and unpack it you have a nice basic an some little files from the OS. and some structure. I did not have the time to watch al the files. but i think it is a nice start.

To finde some info http://www.tech-archive.net/Archive/Win ... atbuilder/

In the OS root there is the folowing map where I can see the program is running from and where are the basic files stored.

C:\build\nn703Apl\AvEU

C:\build\nn703Apl\AvEU\AvControl\StateMonitor\AVC_BootProcess.cpp

I still found some more information but I'm working on research.

CPU is Hitachi SH4. Most CE devices are ARM, so unfortunately the Z-series needs binaries compiled custom for SH4 which makes it a little more difficult for hacking.