Music Box hard drive replacement on 2009 M35?

[SVonhof]

Our music has started doing strange things. When playing a song, sometimes it will skip to the next song all by itself.

I was wondering if the hard drive can be replaced with a SSD or if I can replace the unit that houses the hard drive with a used one.

I don't even know where the hard drive is or a part number for the replacement piece.

Any thoughts, hints or tips?

[Ilya]

Welcome to the forum.

If the connector back there isn't proprietary I don't see why not. SSD or Non-SSD, it's the same SATA connector. I believe the drive is in the glovebox somewheres...no idea if it's a 2.5" or a 3.5". I'd use a site like InfinitiPartsUsa.com or something to see if the schematic shows the drive and corresponding part number.

[SVonhof]

Thanks for the welcome. I have been on many forums over the years, but this is my first time on here.

The issue with going onto the parts breakdown is I don't know where the drive is and I cannot find anything in the basic descriptions and images that indicate where it is, so I don't even know where to look. I guess I will have to call the dealer?

BTW, I ride a 2009 Kawasaki Concours (previously had a TL1000R, CBR600F3 and Ninja ZX-6D).

[Ilya]

I'm pretty sure the drive is in the glovebox somewhere near to the navigation DVD reader. But yes, dealer would be able to confirm where it is.

Nice. I love Kawi's. I had 2 '13 Ninja 300's, a '13 ZX6R with ALL the goodies (what an animal) and then 'downgraded' to my Vulcan S. I barely rode this year due to work travel and trip to Europe, etc. Hoping to do my usual amount of riding next summer.

[Larz]

I've never used the HD in my 09 M35. I use the flash drive as it's much more convenient, operates with lightning speed and each flash card holds hundreds of tracks. I load the tracks onto my flash card (using a card reader and my comp) in such a way that the main file is letters from A-Z and under each letter are separate folders with the bands / artists that correspond to that letter in the alphabet. That way I go to my screen, scroll down to the letter U, and bammm .... U2 comes up, then UB40, Usher, etc. I pick the artist and those tracks begin immediately. I can also navigate up or down the tracks or folders using the steering wheel. The tracks play brilliantly and even use the surround / sound stage effects if they contain that info. Cymbals might come from the upper speaker on my door, while bass comes from all over, and the voice sounds center stage.
The HD doesn't allow you to organize tracks in a customized way. It just chucks them into a list willy nilly and organizes them using the CD info or embedded track info.
Of course, in true Infiniti fashion, the flash drive feature was dropped and is no longer available on any models.

[SVonhof]

O.K., I didn't know 2 things.
1. there is a DVD drive in the glovebox. There is a cover over it and I have never removed the cover so I didn't know it was there.
2. I had no idea you could play music from the CF card. I don't own any CF cards, but if the hard drive does fail, that's where I will go.

[EdBwoy]

From your symptoms, I am not certain it's the storage (hard drive). It sounds like more of a controls issue, so check the steering wheel buttons or the buttons and dial in the center stack control panel.
If all those check out, then it might indeed be a module issue. That's the AV control unit, aka the headunit, which is where the hard drive is. I am sure you could disassemble it to get to the hard drive, but I would just replace the entire thing.

*Pre-08 it was a 6 CD changer, and now it takes up the same space with only a 1 CD player.
The hard drive of course allows storage of all the music that 5 CDs would do (and then some), but it also stores the navigation data that the 06/07 used the glove box drive for.