GS - 4th Gen (2013-2020) Discussion about the 2013 and up GS models

Replace factory Nav Hard Drive with an SSD

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Old 04-07-17, 10:58 AM
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jtrue28
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Sounds interesting.

Can't say that I've ever heard the hard drive noise while in the car, at any point. Besides, quieter functionality wouldn't be the reason I would be buying an SSD for a car. Definitely will watch this thread though to see how much faster everything may boot up. Be sure to do either a video of the car/nav booting up with old hard drive and another video with the new. Or get a stopwatch and time them separately. That will be the true determination if it's faster.
Old 04-07-17, 11:07 AM
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Originally Posted by jtrue28
Sounds interesting.

Can't say that I've ever heard the hard drive noise while in the car, at any point. Besides, quieter functionality wouldn't be the reason I would be buying an SSD for a car. Definitely will watch this thread though to see how much faster everything may boot up. Be sure to do either a video of the car/nav booting up with old hard drive and another video with the new. Or get a stopwatch and time them separately. That will be the true determination if it's faster.
I have the 450h in all electric mode if you listen for it you can hear the hard drive. If you put your ear close to the cd slot you can defiantly hear it spinning. Good idea I'll take video of the startup before and after.
Old 04-07-17, 11:13 AM
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Interested in the results as well.
Old 04-07-17, 12:08 PM
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tejanp
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curious of this as well. not sure you will see much of a bump in performance though.. there are other factors into play as well. Nav's processor for instance.
Old 04-08-17, 04:13 AM
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DaSyce
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Would be interested in knowing if a third party maps software like iGo would be compatible. Also wonder how the drive is setup between operations. Cool project either way!
Old 04-08-17, 11:06 AM
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kamskeez
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Was this done? Let us know if there's a difference!
Old 04-08-17, 12:57 PM
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ChronoR
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So that's what the sound was. I heard a sound from the console even with fans off in my GS450h because it's so quiet in electric mode and couldn't figure it out. Didn't realize the nav system used a hard drive.


I wonder if I can just yank it out. I use Google Maps and have no use for the built in navigation.
Old 04-08-17, 05:31 PM
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So I removed the factory hard drive, here it is.

I connected it to my computer with a usb adapter and unable to initialize the drive. I think Toyota/Lexus locks the hard drive when you turn the car off so it's only readable to the car not anything else.

Anybody have any ideas on how to unlock a hard drive?



Old 04-08-17, 06:08 PM
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ChronoR
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Can't initialize as in read or can't initialize as in the computer doesn't recognize it at all? Most likely it's not in a format that Windows can read so it'll appear to be an uninitialized drive. Partition Magic or Acronis TrueImage should still be able to clone the drive though.
Old 04-08-17, 06:58 PM
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Originally Posted by ChronoR
Can't initialize as in read or can't initialize as in the computer doesn't recognize it at all? Most likely it's not in a format that Windows can read so it'll appear to be an uninitialized drive. Partition Magic or Acronis TrueImage should still be able to clone the drive though.
Paragon Partition Manager gave me an error. Unable to read or write to the drive. It just showed the drive but nothing on it. This was on windows.

I plugged it to my mac and unable to initialize the drive.

I'm torrenting Acronis True Image and will try that.

.
Old 04-08-17, 08:29 PM
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Originally Posted by ChronoR
Can't initialize as in read or can't initialize as in the computer doesn't recognize it at all? Most likely it's not in a format that Windows can read so it'll appear to be an uninitialized drive. Partition Magic or Acronis TrueImage should still be able to clone the drive though.
I'm calling this project not possible.

The two cloning software I tried cannot even read the drive. I think Toyota/Lexus found a way to lock the drive and prevent it from being tampered with.

Old 04-08-17, 08:41 PM
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ChronoR
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I don't know if it's applicable to our GS's but I found this interesting post: http://www.navitotal.com/toyota-lexus-f117/toyota-lexus-navigation-with-hdd-t16936.html


​​​​​​It mentions password protection and problems with USB adapters. So it does seem possible but perhaps difficult.
Old 04-08-17, 08:52 PM
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Originally Posted by ChronoR
I don't know if it's applicable to our GS's but I found this interesting post: http://www.navitotal.com/toyota-lexu...dd-t16936.html


​​​​​​It mentions password protection and problems with USB adapters. So it does seem possible but perhaps difficult.
I connected the drive directly to my computer motherboard and had the same issue. At this point it's beyond my abilities to figure it out.
I know there are hardware disk cloners, but you'll probably run into the same issue.


Apparently BMW uses a similar Toshiba Hard drives and people are able to clone it successfully using software.
http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=841458
Old 04-08-17, 08:59 PM
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If anyone else wants to attempt this here is the location of the hard drive on stero/nav unit.


Location of Hard drive

Anybody know what this 4 pin connector is for?
Old 04-08-17, 09:06 PM
  #30  
ChronoR
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Btw, does everything other than navigation still work without the hard drive? I kinda want to remove even the HDD whir sound.


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