Been lurking here for a while and now that I have my 2012 Volt on order, I feel I can ask the following. ;)

I know the 30GB that is available to load music on is good to have for most people, but what about people who want to take everything with them (need more space), or else possibly load their music easier (remove from the Volt and hook directly to a PC)?

I'm curious as to how the HDD for the navigation package is set up:
- Is it a standard platter-based drive or is it solid state? Maybe a large (32GB) SDHC card?
- What kind of interface does it use (SATA or maybe something proprietary)?
- Where is it located within the vehicle? How hard/easy is it to access?
- How is/are the partition(s) set up on it? What format is used on it (FAT32, NTFS, something else?)?

I figure that the drive is fairly small, probably needing less than 2GB for the navigation map data and the rest is assigned as user storage.

Thanks! :)

My understanding is that it's a 60 GB "HDD", with 30 GB for maps/system/whatnot, and 30 GB left over for user data.

No idea what the actual physical device is, or even if it's an HDD. The service manual isn't out for the Volt yet, and I don't believe the question has been asked for the other infortainment stacks in GM inventory.

Anyone know how that works in other GM cars?

That said, for your application it sounds like you should just carry around a big stick...

Back in the early 2000's i was building custom carputers and my experience has shown that a platter based storage device (even laptop HDD's) do not stand up well in automotive use. Even with rubber bushings and other precautions to prevent shocks to the drives they typically failed within 2 years. I would imagine that they would be using some sort of SSD or flash memory chip within the unit for longevity reasons. But if your truly curious you can always get out the tools and take a look, If I had a volt I would be.

That said, for your application it sounds like you should just carry around a big stick..
True, a large USB drive would work, but then you don't get the fun of attempting to hack the system. ;)

No idea what the actual physical device is, or even if it's an HDD. The service manual isn't out for the Volt yet, and I don't believe the question has been asked for the other infortainment stacks in GM inventory.


The $150 service manual is due in less than three weeks (August 1st, 2011), so just wait until Helm Inc has it available:

http://www.helminc.com/helm/Result.asp?Style=helm&Mfg=GMC&Make=CHV&Model=VOLT&Year=2011&Category=&Keyword=&Module=&selected_media=

But the $400 DVD set is already in stock!

The $150 service manual is due in less than three weeks (August 1st, 2011), so just wait until Helm Inc has it available. But the $400 DVD set is already in stock!

Is the 01-11 SERVICE INFO DVD (http://www.helminc.com/helm/product2.asp?Make=CHV&Model=VOLT&Year=2011&Category=&class%5F2=CHV&mk=Chevrolet+%26+Geo&yr=2011&md=Volt&dt=&module=&from=result&Style=helm&Sku=2011Q1&itemtype=N) a superset of the information contained in the 2011 Chevrolet Volt Service Manual Set (http://www.helminc.com/helm/product2.asp?Make=CHV&Model=VOLT&Year=2011&Category=&class%5F2=CHV&mk=Chevrolet+%26+Geo&yr=2011&md=Volt&dt=&module=&from=result&Style=helm&Sku=GMP11R&itemtype=N)? Are they even related? The "Click here for detail" information isn't exactly... well.... informative.

In my Volt, if it is very quiet and I'm loading MP3's from a USB stick to the car's hard drive, I can hear the hard drive making the usual hard drive clicking noises. So it is not a solid state drive.
I'm curious about the rest of the details such as interface (SATA?), partition scheme, filesystems, etc.

If the drive isn't solid state, it would be nice to be able to swap one in; less power used, less noise, and much more shock resistance (probably the most important of the three).

Bump - anyone have any new info on the technology/location/specs of the hard drive? I'm up for a little creating fdisking and cloning.

Dan

When you're copying music from a CD to the hard drive, its converting it to MP3, so its really no different than loading your own MP3's on a USB drive - except its slower, and mediocre quality.

Although I can understand wanting to hack it just for fun :)

...so what is wrong with using a USB stick .. or an iPod type device? My iPod has a lot more storage than the 30G drive in my Volt...and it is easy enough to take it with me...
VM

That's the "too easy" way. :)

I should have my Volt perhaps as soon as tommorow. I will get to this eventually though I've got alot of other projects going on right now. When I get to it I'll let you know. I never got an answer to a related question I was looking for an answer to which is any pointers on tapping the Ent. system for an auxillary video input. If the usual folks come out with a plug in solution for a reasonable price I might just go that route to save time. Right now there isn't a plug and play solution so I'll be digging into the system. I've got my eyes on that drive while I'm there too.

I know there are lots of other ways to store stuff but thats not nearly as fun as a clean mod to a huge drive. My experience with other devices is that it's usually a relatively standard setup. I've hacked up everything from DVR's to MP3 players with bigger disks and you usually find a standard interface and FAT32.

It's cheaper to buy your fish at the supermarket but it's alot more fun to get the boat and the gear and go catch it yourself.

Pauldon - I'm in the area. If you'd like to join forces, let me know!

Pauldon - I'm in the area. If you'd like to join forces, let me know!

I'll keep that in mind. My car is unloaded from the train and hopefully will make it's way to my dealer soon. From your profile it looks like you'll be close by when my new house is done and I get moved (Dec/Jan).

The drives in the GM units like the Volts appear to be Toshiba automotive spec hard drives. Pretty standard stuff. It appears any upgrade of the drive may require reapplying the Nav map data to get the Nav to recognize it though it's possible that cloning the data on the existing drive and expanding the partition used to hold the music may work.

So Dan, was that you today east of Covington going eastbound on Kent Kangley Rd about 3:15 PM in what appeared to be a silver ice metallic? I passed one going westbound on the way back from checking on the progress of our new house.

Pauldon - I'm in the area. If you'd like to join forces, let me know!

Don't have the software skill, but if you need a mech ...I'm in! Also in the area.