It does suck that it can't rip mp3 cd's.... i noticed this problem the first time i tried and hopefully upgraded firmware will allow us to i nthe future!

 

And you can't simply copy mp3's to the unlocked drive and expect to use those music files on your MMCS.

When the MMCS rips a CD, the resulting files on the hard drive aren't in mp3 format, or any format you can convert mp3's to at the moment. Go go mitsubishi for not using standard music files on the hard drive /sigh

 

First... hahahahahahaha

Second... 'automotive grade' will be solid state drives. Any drive with a moving head and platter is not 'automotive grade'. I'll bet that drive stops dead in it's tracks every time you hit a bump, and that's generally firmware/software controls (see HP, Dells, Lenovo, etc.)

Third... Your concern would be overheating, not freezing. The only way that drive is going to freeze internally is if the lubricant on the bearings were to freeze.. fat chance. Aside from moisture somehow materializing within the HDDs internal vacuum, freezing moisture won't be an issue either.

The drive MAY overheat, but you're looking in the neighborhood of 131F or higher usually. You're gonna be dead in your car before your HDD hits 131 while operating. If it reaches 131 while it's off, you have no issues since none of your silicone board, rubber grommets, and metal parts are suddenly going to melt while sitting there, or you're car would be gone first.

You can use any drive you'd prefer, but honestly, if you want a drive in your car that'll actually LAST, get a SSD, not an HDD.

JMHO.

 

I beg to differ. Automotive drives are real rotating harddrives in a small variety of capacities, generally in 9.5mm x 2.5" notebook size. A quick web search shows the following specs from two different mfgrs:

Fujitsu: Op temp range -30C to +85C

Toshiba: Pata, 30GB:
Op shock of 200G, non-op shock of 800G
Oper temp: -16C to 70C (3.2 F to 158 F)

Toshiba: Sata, 80GB:
Operating: 300G, non-op 800G
Op temp: -22 - +185 F, non-op temp -40 - +203F

200G at 150 F is not a simple notebook drive. Automotive interiors around here will reach 145 F easily in summertime - especially black interiors. Curious that Toshiba's "Automotive Quanity" SATA drives are rated to 300G and up to 185 F. That's a good product for sure.

 

Your drives are still not rated as "automotive quality". Crack open your Tough-book, it's the same, or very similar drive specs. They are using these drives to deter any sort of extreme movement damage - again, heat is not a problem. These drives being rated at 300G shock impact will not be reached unless you're in one hell of a collision. For normal reading operations, when jostled, even non-"extreme durability" drives can be forced into a drive head lock, in which your head is immediately either moved away from the platters, or will no longer travel the platter. HP uses this tech on a lot of their laptops and even has an icon to show your drive lock status. Move the laptop around a bit, no problem, shake it, HDD is locked. Guess what HDD is inside? Yeah, your standard run-of-the-mill HDD (Seagate for mine IIRC - non heavy-use rated).

If you reach 141F in your interior, again, while the car is operational (and therefore the HDD), you're drive is the least of your issues.. death is probably your main fear. And, again, if it reaches 141F while stationary, you're only issue would be the lubrication in the bearings reaching boiling, however while your dash, and interior of your car are 141, the HDD is still insulated within the nav unit.

What I am trying to convey, is that regardless of it's shock and temp rating, any HDD you get is still susceptible to movement damage. You're only truly non-damageable drive due to movement, as well as surviving any weather conditions, is a SSD. No moving parts, no bearings, just circuitry and contacts.

 

Can u preload ur music on to the hdd rather doin it cd by cd??

 

No

 

I'm gonna unlock my drive on friday and start playing with it, but just wanted to see if someone had the answer before I do so. I'm a software engineer by trade and *may* be able to write software to convert mp3s to the MMCS format if I can figure out what that format is.

Also, I'm planning on using a non-automotive grade drive, and here's why:

1. I can keep a cloned copy of the drive on hand in case of failure.
2. Music is going to be loaded directly onto the drive, or not at all (I'm NOT going to do it cd by cd, too much time).
3. Since I've got a cloned copy, I can just re-build a new drive if the one in my car fails.

Something to think about. For what I'm hoping to do to the unit the 80GB size limitation of current automotive grade disks is a limiting factor that I'd rather not deal with.

Also, has anyone inspected the hardware on these units? From what I've read they're running WinCE so it could be possible to really make some cool **** happen, especially if the board on the unit has some sort of USB controller.

Just some thoughts, looking forward to posting my findings on this thing soon

 

The main purpose of this was to be able to clone the hard drive and it has been done ( to bigger HD's ) but has lead to stuff like DVD motion fix and changing themes and colors, and putting mp3's on easier. But I think that there will be a lot more things people can do now that they have the image from the MMCS.

Page that this all came from with a lot more detail and stuff people have tried.
http://mitsubishiforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=25583

Page about the DVD motion fix.
http://mitsubishiforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=27471


--Edit--
How to with pictures
http://loapsh.wordpress.com/2008/11/...removal-guide/

 

wait...so there's a hack to change theme's and colors? i'd like to know where i can get that. sorry if i'm behind the news...

 

Yeah there go look at that top link I posted. I know this isn't cool to send people to another site but it seems you just unpack the files that are on the hard drive after you unlock it and just create and edit the images you want. So far ive seen the background and loading images replaced, and the colors of everything changed. except the borders on the buttons.

 

awesome info, bookmarking

as an engineer, i believe "automotive grade" basically should mean the HDD should be able to withstands the bumps and G's our cars pull, similar to meeting MIL-SPEC but perhaps not to that quality. FWIW, a coffee maker for a 747 is thousands of dollars -- you may not be able to justify it for your kitchen, but airlines do ... because it has to withstand the rigors of flight and be FAA certified. it costs money to certify stuff. its your choice really, and i could care less. a cheap HDD would work, the question is for how long?

 

I've performed this and a few things:

1. The hard drive is not "automotive grade" rather it's a run of the mill 40GB PATA notebook 2.5" hard drive. Note I've run 2.5" drives in cars for years and they've yet to fail (carputer projects, etc.)

2. After getting the drive unlocked, I found where the music is stored. It uses a proprietary codec, possibly ATRAC, haven't experimented too much in this area yet. Not only that, but it uses it's own file naming convention and databases. This leaves out the option of just dumping files and folders into it. We'll need some software that can read this database and allow us to dump files onto it directly.

3. The hard drive can be changed, cloning software has been used. Don't see much benefit to this until someone takes the time to reverse engineer the way the system puts music onto the drive.

4. Once the drive is placed back inside the unit, it re-password protects it. There are firmware hacks out there that remove this, haven't looked into it much because of #2.

 

Great post

 

so much for "automotive grade" LOL.

back to the project, i listen to a good chunk of asian music, is there a way to enable CJK display?