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Replace factory Nav Hard Drive with an SSD

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Old Feb 16, 2024 | 06:25 PM
  #91  
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Originally Posted by EAST
I know this is a super old thread, but I stumbled upon it while searching around for info on head unit hard drives (for the thread where the SD card corrupted the drive).

It looks like someone was able to do the clone. They actually referenced this thread.
https://forum.hddguru.com/viewtopic....43701&p=306325

I'm wondering if a locked drive can be used between another head unitvor if it will only take a new unlocked drive (to then lock).
​​​​​
This is very cool, a shame that the newer SSD did not work. I wonder if there is an older model of SSD that will be recognizable by the car.
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Old Feb 16, 2024 | 06:41 PM
  #92  
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Ah geeze, you're right. I didn't even see that part.

Well, now I'm intrigued. If things calm down next I'll give it a try. Worst case, I"ll have a backup of the drive.
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Old Feb 17, 2024 | 12:19 AM
  #93  
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Originally Posted by EAST
Ah geeze, you're right. I didn't even see that part.

Well, now I'm intrigued. If things calm down next I'll give it a try. Worst case, I"ll have a backup of the drive.
Honestly my quick research now suggests that not every SSD manufacturer actually implements the ATA standard on their SSD's. Makes me wonder if maybe they tried a really cheap drive. I wonder if a Samsung (or other big manufacturer) drive would work.

Looks like the Samsung SSD 850 EVO supports it and I'm sure lots of their other drives do too.
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Old Feb 24, 2024 | 08:04 AM
  #94  
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Well, I'm dumb. I should have searched around more before buying stuff. Since mine is a 2018, it uses an SD card instead of a hard drive.

My plan of attack was going to be similar to how others attempt to do it.
First, try to see if a Western Digital platter drive of a different size worked doing a bit by bit clone. I was going to try with a 7200 rpm gaming drive, just to get some speed boost.
If it did, then I would have tried a couple different SSDs, formatted to match the parameters. It looks like platter drives have a 512 logical/physical sector size, while SSDs will typically default to 4096 bytes. But you can format them to 512 bytes.
​​​​​​In the meantime, I was going to try to get the ATA password from the Western Digital drive. You can dump the module contents and get it from there (at least on older drives). I'm not sure what I'd do with that, but at least could see if it was doable. There's some software that's supposed to let you view the KIWI files (KIWI format explorer).

At least it was a fun bit of reading, and can return most of the stuff.
​​​​​​
In case it's needed, here's the microSD card slot.



Last edited by EAST; Feb 24, 2024 at 08:09 AM.
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Old Feb 24, 2024 | 08:14 AM
  #95  
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To remove the password on the hard drive in my 2007 Infiniti G35x I had to use this method using this zu command

https://www.myg37.com/forums/audio-v...functions.html

I used an old laptop with internal PATA drive and only connected after system had posted. This would get me past the software lock.

Obviously different vehicle but some other options.
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Old Feb 24, 2024 | 08:19 AM
  #96  
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Originally Posted by Acrad
To remove the password on the hard drive in my 2007 Infiniti G35x I had to use this method using this zu command

https://www.myg37.com/forums/audio-v...functions.html

I used an old laptop with internal PATA drive and only connected after system had posted. This would get me past the software lock.

Obviously different vehicle but some other options.
Yea that was also an option that popped up a lot. I kind of went down a small rabbit hole, and wanted to see if I could retrieve the actual password just to see if it was something that "made sense"/universal, or if it was more obscure. It was more of a "well now I want to know". Zu just unlocks the drive without revealing the password (which to most would likely be all they need).
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Old Feb 24, 2024 | 08:22 AM
  #97  
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Yeah... I just needed to unlock the drive and didn't need to know the password
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Old Mar 21, 2024 | 05:29 AM
  #98  
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Default Radio navigation cd information sys not working after car accident 12-22-20

We were in a car accident in our 2013 Lexus ES350 beck on 12-22-2020. Our radio went out from getting read ended. I assume the hard drive crashed because Lexus couldn't get into it with their diagnostic tool.
A factory radio now costs about $2,400.
Anyone know of a good aftermarket radio that will plug n Play with the information system??
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Old Mar 21, 2024 | 05:40 AM
  #99  
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Originally Posted by LEXUS350ES
We were in a car accident in our 2013 Lexus ES350 beck on 12-22-2020. Our radio went out from getting read ended. I assume the hard drive crashed because Lexus couldn't get into it with their diagnostic tool.
A factory radio now costs about $2,400.
Anyone know of a good aftermarket radio that will plug n Play with the information system??
Do NOT buy new, buy a used one on eBay or car-parts.com. Plug and play.
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Old Mar 21, 2024 | 08:39 AM
  #100  
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As yours is a 2013, you may want to look into getting a later version with more functionality when looking at used units.
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Old Jan 27, 2025 | 04:08 PM
  #101  
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Originally Posted by peasodos
You can get the entire stereo/nav unit with hard drive from this wrecked Lexus for $275:
It also is for Mark Levinson sound system

Grade A Condition:
https://www.tlsautorecycling.com/sea...0h/291055.html
If the radio satnav head unit is replaced with another from a wrecked car, will it work? My car is a 2012 rx450h facelifted version.
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Old Mar 13, 2025 | 04:31 AM
  #102  
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Default password

Hello everyone,

I recently got a 2012 GS450H F sport in the Netherlands, EU.
I started researching on how to swap the HDD to an SSD and I found some great info, including the password.
I have not tested this yet as I am still gathering info but I will.
Password: siihakawhc2o6937 followed by 16 spaces
Explenation: "siihakawhc2o6937" in revers 2bytes order is "ishikawacho29673" City Ishikawacho and 29673 with adress and PO of Kenwood company in Japan
Source: https://forum.hddguru.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=40368
Here are some more sources with details on requirements and how to:
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls-...010-ls460.html

Good luck,
Vl4d
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