Removing Hard Drive on a June Z2 without power

Posted Jul 08, 2007 · 19:13 UTC#1

Hey everyone.

Just bought a Z2, june manufacture date. I want to remove the hard drive and image it before I boot it up for the first time so others can download it.

Reading the FAQ, it says I do need power (to flip the screen) to access the CD slot. Is there any way to do this without power? I want to pull a completely new virgin drive and copy the image off it so others can download it.

Thanks.

Posted Jul 08, 2007 · 19:25 UTC#2

Hey everyone.

Just bought a Z2, june manufacture date. I want to remove the hard drive and image it before I boot it up for the first time so others can download it.

Reading the FAQ, it says I do need power (to flip the screen) to access the CD slot. Is there any way to do this without power? I want to pull a completely new virgin drive and copy the image off it so others can download it.

Thanks.

Chances are it's locked anyway and you'll need to spring for the $40 unlocking, but the motor on the bottom has a small worm gear. You can spin that with a screwdriver until the screen is about 1/2 way down, then just gently pull it the rest of the way.

Posted Jul 08, 2007 · 20:13 UTC#3

Got it, thanks!

Ya I dont care about the locking, I just wanted a complete virgin drive that hasn't been booted up yet so I can take a look at file structure and stuff. I used to work as a software reverse engineer, so it'd be fun to see what I can find out about the Z2.

Posted Jul 08, 2007 · 21:28 UTC#4

Got it, thanks!

Ya I dont care about the locking, I just wanted a complete virgin drive that hasn't been booted up yet so I can take a look at file structure and stuff. I used to work as a software reverse engineer, so it'd be fun to see what I can find out about the Z2.

Good deal... use Acronis TrueImage, and let me know when you can upload one... i've got all the ZX software iterations thus far, I want to see where the differences are.

Posted Jul 08, 2007 · 22:01 UTC#5

I'm curious to know whats on this as well. Too bad you didnt have an april or may drive to compare this one to.

Posted Jul 08, 2007 · 22:18 UTC#6

Good deal... use Acronis TrueImage, and let me know when you can upload one... i've got all the ZX software iterations thus far, I want to see where the differences are.

I was gonna use ghost... Is TrueImage the same thing and what most ppl use? If so I'll just go and buy a copy, 50 bones... cheap. I just wanted to back everything up into a small IMG file (virgin drive should be nice and small) so others can use it as a bypass.

Got kinda busy all of a sudden today, so probably wont be able to upload the image till tomorrow at work.

Posted Jul 08, 2007 · 22:45 UTC#7

Good deal... use Acronis TrueImage, and let me know when you can upload one... i've got all the ZX software iterations thus far, I want to see where the differences are.

I was gonna use ghost... Is TrueImage the same thing and what most ppl use? If so I'll just go and buy a copy, 50 bones... cheap. I just wanted to back everything up into a small IMG file (virgin drive should be nice and small) so others can use it as a bypass.

Got kinda busy all of a sudden today, so probably wont be able to upload the image till tomorrow at work.

Acronis is better than ghost, but you could use any. Also they have a 14 or 30 day trial download for their Home edition. Your call

Posted Jul 08, 2007 · 23:22 UTC#8

Got kinda busy all of a sudden today, so probably wont be able to upload the image till tomorrow at work.

Bummer, I was looking forward to doing some testing tonight!

Posted Jul 09, 2007 · 00:38 UTC#9

I'm curious to know whats on this as well. Too bad you didnt have an april or may drive to compare this one to.

I do

Posted Jul 09, 2007 · 02:18 UTC#10

Bummer, I was looking forward to doing some testing tonight!

Sorry buddy... I just got home was gonna crack the thing open. Grabbed my toolkit and the smallest TORX bit I have is a T10. Thing needs a T8. Gotta buy one tomorrow now...

Posted Jul 09, 2007 · 02:25 UTC#11

Sorry buddy... I just got home was gonna crack the thing open. Grabbed my toolkit and the smallest TORX bit I have is a T10. Thing needs a T8. Gotta buy one tomorrow now...

Arrg! Fricken Torx standard. Over the years I've probably made a dozen late night Wal-mart trips looking for a torx driver to fit which ever electronic component, cell phone or car part I'm taking apart.

Posted Jul 09, 2007 · 03:13 UTC#12

Arrg! Fricken Torx standard. Over the years I've probably made a dozen late night Wal-mart trips looking for a torx driver to fit which ever electronic component, cell phone or car part I'm taking apart.

Walmart has them? I'll bomb over there to see if I can find one. They're open for another 45 mins.

edit - Canadian Walmarts suck... no kit has T8, only T10. I got tons of those already .

Posted Jul 09, 2007 · 22:48 UTC#13

Hey, how about setting up a bit torrent for the image file. I know it will take a long time but that would be sweet. Easier than hosting it from a ftp server.

Posted Jul 10, 2007 · 02:59 UTC#14

Radioshack carries the T8 torx. If you wanted to boot the system and everyone should do this....BTW....go to the HARDWARE menu under harddrive and see what version of the software you're running. You can also hold the "reset" and CD-eject buttons on the first boot without actually booting, log into the screen and see what software version your Z2 is using. It should be different from what the rest of us are using. Just my .02!

Posted Jul 10, 2007 · 17:49 UTC#15

I've sent out my virgin June Z2 image to a few people, so hopefully they can report back on file differences between pre-June vs June, etc. Once things are confirmed, I can probably throw it on a torrent site somewhere for those wishing to upgrade.

I haven't even installed mine yet, waiting patiently for my double din bezel. Stupid BMWs :evil: .

Posted Jul 10, 2007 · 20:44 UTC#16

Thanks rage2 for your help hopefully this bypass can finally be cracked, keep us informed and let us know how the install in your car goes. Thanks

Posted Jul 10, 2007 · 23:17 UTC#17

I'm completely relying on others to do testing, the bezel is custom and takes 2-3 weeks before I'll see it. Hopefully everyone will be bypassed by the time I get the thing installed!

Posted Jul 10, 2007 · 23:28 UTC#18

Well, there are SIGNIFICANT file structure differences between the June Z2 and older software. I'm about to fire it up for the first time...

Posted Jul 10, 2007 · 23:39 UTC#19

can you make that file update from CD or do we need to unlock the drive ?

Posted Jul 10, 2007 · 23:42 UTC#20

It's a full image, intended to be imaged on a new drive, replacing your old drive. If you want the CD update, you'll have to wait for Pioneer to officially release an update.

Depending on the differences (I personally dont have a pre-june unit so I can't test) it may be possible to unlock your Z2, copy a few files on there to update the unit.

Posted Jul 10, 2007 · 23:42 UTC#21

Well, I'll confirm that the flasher bypass still doesn't work, and inserting the zero-byte file made no difference. I'll pull it out to do the 2-wire this week, since i haven't had the need to do that yet.

Posted Jul 10, 2007 · 23:45 UTC#22

Well, I'll confirm that the flasher bypass still doesn't work, and inserting the zero-byte file made no difference. I'll pull it out to do the 2-wire this week, since i haven't had the need to do that yet.

Can you verify the version numbers for pre-june vs june? I haven't seen that posted anywhere yet...

Posted Jul 10, 2007 · 23:47 UTC#23

Well, I'll confirm that the flasher bypass still doesn't work, and inserting the zero-byte file made no difference. I'll pull it out to do the 2-wire this week, since i haven't had the need to do that yet.

Can you verify the version numbers for pre-june vs june? I haven't seen that posted anywhere yet...

In the Hardware Info screen, it says 02.000, I'm not sure what the old one said.

Posted Jul 10, 2007 · 23:48 UTC#24

this week :shock:

Grr just pull it

Well, I'll confirm that the flasher bypass still doesn't work, and inserting the zero-byte file made no difference. I'll pull it out to do the 2-wire this week, since i haven't had the need to do that yet.

Posted Jul 11, 2007 · 00:12 UTC#25

can somebody make a bit torrent out of it and upload the torrent to piratebay (or any other of the thousands of free torrent hosting sites out there)?