For those who have unlocked the MMCS, what have you done to upgrade it?

 

Well, unfortunately so far I haven't done anything to upgrade it. The main hurdle was getting it unlocked in the first place Sorry!

The main thing I can think of that may be useful is for people who have already filled the music partition of the hard drive. They'd most certainly want to consider upgrading the hard drive size to see if it works to allow room for more music. In my case, I don't have enough CDs to even come close -- most of my music comes from sirius. Note that nobody I know of has tried resizing the partitions onto a new drive, so its still very experimental.

 

I have had my Outlander since November. Between Sirius and an Ipod connected conveniently through the Rear jacks,I personally have found the music server completely useless and quite un-user friendly and I am no ludite.

So when I look at this question about unlocking the MMCS, I have no choice but to evaluate it in two ways. 1. What's in it for me? and 2. Risk assessment.

So for #1.

What's in it for me? More HD space possibly if I upgrade to a larger drive that can withstand cold and shocks. OK, but the interface is still horrible. My Ipod is a simple 20Gig photo generation. The interface is quasi-perfect. So, in my case, there is nothing in it for me. The music server was a big sell when I bought the vehicle and now it's the feature I talk about the least.

#2 Risk
Probability and Effect of something going wrong in unlocking and fiddling with the MMCS.
Probability = moderate to high. It's definitely not a low-risk activity playing with electronic components that cost $4000. The very sophisticated gaming PC with a great monitor costs $1500. Think of the cost of replacement of your MMCS

Effect = High. If you damage the unit, you will have already voided the warranty by simply removing the item and now you have a $4000 price tag on a replacement unit. You may also have opened the door to the manufacturer ending your warranty on all electrical items in your vehicle.
Risk management dictates especially in a clear cut case like this to avoid this option. High probability X high effect = Recipe for disaster.

I wouldn't do it and I studied in electronics.

To those who unlocked the MMCS, my hats off to your abilities and to your warnings on attempting this procedure.

This ismy 2 cents on this subject.
:-)

 

Hah thank you! I work with and design embedded systems professionally, so the risk for me was quite acceptable. Given the fact that a week after I bought the car with only 6 miles on it, I already had to take it in to service for audio problems with the MMCS, and that I was without my car for 4 consecutive days for something that turned out to be as simple as replacing the whole head unit, I'm not terribly impressed with the warranty on the electronics items anyway. I also do not believe merely removing the hard drive could void the warranty for a non hard-drive related problem (the drive is perfectly accessible from the front without much effort at all), and most definitely not the entire car's electronics.

In your case specifically, one thing you might consider is simply making a backup of the hard drive. That way 5-10 years when the drive finally does crash on you out of warranty, you won't have to buy a new system. Although one argument is that the system by then would most likely be so out of date getting a new one may not be out of the question. Just something to think about though.

 

Now how do you remove the HDD again? I always thought that little slot was the HDD. Got pics?

 

Just open the screen, and you'll see a little plastic cover underneath where the CDs go. The cover comes off pretty easily. Use a small flat screwdriver (with tape to help prevent scratching) to pull it off and you'll see the hard drive directly behind it. Oddly enough I don't have any pics ... maybe someone else does.

 

Points well taken. I think you are not the average owner... My warnings are more for everyone else...

As for backing up my drive for 10 yrs down the line... I won't have my Outlander by then, I get bored faster than that... :-)