I have a Z2, since I've owned it the thing randomly will not boot up sometimes. It will freeze at the Pioneer screen or loading navigation screen. Sometimes it even freezes just blank. I noticed a few months back the music on the HD would stop randomly during the song and skip through tracks.

I pulled out my Ipod the other day to put new music on. I plugged it back up and it hasn't booted correctly since. It's frozen on one of the 2 screens or just blank.

I ran the diagnostics through the "reset+eject" service menu. The HD read test showed the drive as failing. If I pull the drive and replace the case do you think AM/FM would even boot? How do these work, do they boot up off the HD or flash memory?

I thought about buying a new drive but I hate to throw money at something if I'm not sure of the problem.

Most hard drives DO last forever but most hard drives aren't used in a moving vehicle on a daily basis. One of the reasons I'm kind of glad Pioneer moved away from the idea.

I'm having the same problem and it just started yesterday. I have a new drive in transit and I hope that's the problem. Pull the drive out, and replace the cover. If AM & FM work, "they" says it's the drive. I'll know for sure in a day or two. Don't understand the issue with drives. Most hard drives last "almost" forever.

Well I'm going to pull the HD this weekend and give it a shot. I hate to throw another $50 at a HD and it turn out to be something else as well.

Most hard drives DO last forever but most hard drives aren't used in a moving vehicle on a daily basis. One of the reasons I'm kind of glad Pioneer moved away from the idea.

If solid state drives were more cost effictive it would be a nice change. Until that day they need to stick to flash memory of some sort. I replace a lot of HDs working as a system admin so it's no suprise that the ones in these Pioneers aren't lasting very long do to their enviroment.

I'm a SysAdmin as well and am surprised that I haven't had to replace more hard drives in the last 5 years. I completely agree that they should move over to SSD or Flash Memory, and luckily for us they've moved to Flash in the newest line of Z units

I have the exact same problem. About 50 to 70% of the time, the system just 'freezes' at the boot up screen. The only Radio does work when using the head unit buttons, but no audio feedback. When it works normally, button presses give a beep.

Is there a special drive that needs to be used if I do replace it or must it be purchased from Pioneer?

Thanks

Have you done the Z2 firmware update from Pioneer to fix the lock/freeze issue?

http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/PUSA/ ... C-Z2?tab=F

This update or replacing your drive with a Z3 upgrade drive should fix your problem. If you choose to replace the drive, I would recommend doing the Pioneer update first to confirm that the firmware update will fix your issue.