rpe94

I need to have my hard drive replaced. It doesn't work when it gets really cold out, but otherwise works perfectly.

I want to download the songs I have on it, so I can upload them to the new hard drive.

How can I go about doing this?

Thank you,

Ray "buried" in Boston

mustafakha

Just make a clone of your old HDD and it should have all you data including GPS maps, POI, songs etc. I would prefer using UltraISO.

fly_s2k

iTrader: (1)

Would you happen to know if one could swap the hdd for one that had greater capacity?

sktn77a

iTrader: (2)

Unfortunately, integrated systems usually have the hard drive capacity burned into the system firmware, so this is unlikely. Please post a follow up to your hard drive exchange if this is successful (with pics!) - I know a lot of us will be facing this in the next couple of years, given the typical life of HDDs.

greg3852

I know I looked into it a while back and i think there may be more to it than just cloning the drive. I haven't tried it yet, but if I pull out the nav again for some reason, I probably will attempt it.

Vansibel

http://jp-carparts.com/lexus/partlis...ype=5&fig=8603

1,378.00$ for a hard drive, and this is even before dealer markup and labor (usually my dealer always sell everything twice the price of that guy for any part). I'm pretty sure the final bill at the dealer would be well over 3000$ for that thing. There should be laws against ripoff of this magnitude. I'm pretty sure this is just a standard 2.5 inch laptop hardrive, probably of the rugged type (and to add insult to injury it's only 30gig). I'd be very surprised it you couldn't clone it and swap it with just any regular HD and even increase capacity. If it was mine I would swap it for ssd memory (if the connector are sata) for improved reliability. If you ever manage to get picture of it it would be great if you could post them here. It would be interesting too if you could dump a copy of the systems files of that thing and see if it would be possible to tweak.

roadfrog

Oh man.... an SSD would be awesome!

Steve748

Gents,
I'm there. I believe my HDD is finally toast. I had an intermittent "Could Not Read Map Data" message over the past year and I could hear the faint sound of a Hard Drive searching (click,click,click). Now when I start my '07 LS 460 the screen stays black and then says "A program could not be read". Is it possible to remove the console and replace the hard drive and then have Lexus install the operating software and Map Data? I'm not looking forward to what they will charge to do the whole job themselves. Any input is greatly appreciated!

Steve

greg3852

Last year there was something posted about the hard drive which stated it was a specific size and it did not appear to be something easily cloned. I gave up my interest in it as I haven't taken out my nav unit lately.

Getmotiv8d

my Map hard drive just went out in my 2007 Lexus LS 460 a few months ago. The new map hard drive cost $1665 plus tax at the dealership total cost for a map hard drive and installation is $1900.

LS2k

Has anyone tried to swap his with one from another LS? If that works then hopefully someone can create an image of his so that it can be burned onto a generic 30GB 2.5 hard drive.

wilkesmann

Hello I have the same problem with my US LS460 2008 model, nothing works. can anybody tell me where the HD is? And is it easy to get it out/ self replaced?



thank you
Kurt (Switzerland)

Steve748

Hey Kurt,

The HDD is located in the rear of the flat screen display. In order to get to it, you'll have to remove the glove box, the 2 leather side panels on the gear shift console and the plastic panel beneath the steering column. There's about 6 screws holding the flat screen in. It's been about half a year since I pulled mine out so I'm forgetting the details. It's not to hard to get out but your have to be careful prying out the wood trim over the flat screen unit and also the airbag below the glove box has to come out. So make sure your battery is disconnected. I have pictures from when I did it. I'll find them and see if I can post them.
But the problem is not so much getting to it, it's getting the new one programmed. From what I'm reading, it costs $1600 for a HDD from Lexus. This is a HDD that can be bought for $60 on Amazon. So the dealer is in essence marking up the unit $1500 which is ridiculous if you ask me. So I pulled mine out took pictures and put it back together. I'm still driving with a blank screen. If anyone knows how to program a new HDD please let us all know!!!

roadfrog

Indeed! Whoever does, will be VERY popular here at CL.

sktn77a

iTrader: (2)

Well, the dealer isn't making $1500 - they aren't getting the drive from Lexus for $50. Lexus load the drive with the necessary operating system, programming and maps and then sell it to the dealer.

I see no reason why a cloning program can't make a bit-for-bit copy of the drive but someone will need to get a working drive out of another car and try that first.

Oh, and don't believe all the hype about SSDs. They have a lifetime about the same as a mechanical drive because they are limited by the number of read/write cycles (MLC). Of course, if you can afford an SLC SSD, that might mitigate the read/write cycle issue. Also SSDs have some fundamental differences from mechanical drives so, while you might be able to clone a mechanical to mechanical drive, mechanical to SSD might be more problematic.

None of which is meant to deflect attention from the cost of the (inevitable) drive replacement!