RNS-510 HDD replacement/SSD swap DIY

**tmiw** · 30-07-2012, 03:39 AM

Originally Posted by failurbydesign

More because i'm new to this and would need to find all the correct firmware/maps for my unit (USA). Its a bummer its ide, i have a few ssd sata drives i could have used..

https://www.vw.techliterature.com/consumer/ has the RNS-510 firmware discs for the US models (search for "RNS 510"). You'll still need the maps disc though (~US$150-200 new from VW, possibly cheaper used). Hope this helps!

**HumbleGT** · 26-11-2012, 09:30 AM

Hello chaps...resurrecting an old thread I know however, the wealth of knowledge offered in this one thread alone cannot be over stated.

I'd like to add my two pence to it.

First off, thanks to JohnC for the awesome guide. I was able to follow it without a hitch. In fact, due to coming up against some obstacles I've had to use the guide a good few times so now I'm quite adept at doing so...with NO screws left over afterwards...bonus!!!!

Anyway...if I can add ONE piece of advice when preparing to do this upgrade is to ENSURE ANY CD/DVD IN THE DRIVE IS REMOVED "BEFORE" COMMENCING!!!!

Not doing so resulted in me having a DVD stuck in my unit with no way of retrieving it. I believe this was due to the unit having no controller because the freshly installed SSD had NO software/firmware on it! Ok, so panic aside...I put the old HDD back in the unit, reinserted it in the car and straight away it spat the disc out.

I've now reinstalled the SSD back in the RNS510 and I shall report back shortly how the fw n maps install goes.

I have a B unit currently on 1120. Kamold has kindly created n supplied a "Firmware 3810 for older RNS510 units (known as A and B) that has tables swapped to prevent battery drain with older CANbus gateways. Firmware has been modified to create 75/20/5 % partition ratios for music/maps/POIs respectively.
Also has VIM and secret menu enabled".

That's a direct quote from www.rnsfirmware.com.

I have a 2007 VW Golf GT Sport 170 TDi with a B unit.

I shall report back the result of this fw and western Europe v9 maps update shortly.

Cheers

**HumbleGT** · 27-11-2012, 01:46 PM

Ok, so I can report that installing the SSD did not work.

I went to install the fw 3810a on it but no drive was recognised. I removed the SSD and put the HDD back in and it worked fine.

I have successfully updated the original HDD to 3810a with v9 western euro maps.

I have now placed the SSD in an enclosure with a view to having tools diagnose any potential issues and possibly zeroing out the drive before reinstalling it in the rns for another go...

Again I shall report my results.

My B unit currently reports as below:

**foogy69** · 27-12-2012, 12:10 AM

I am obviously doing something wrong, but I have no idea what.
When I have put the unit back into the car after swapping the hard drive over, I can't get the unit to reinstall the firmware or format the new drive.
I put the CD in and it just spins. I then can't eject it and rebooting the unit has no effect.
As soon as I put the old hard drive back in I can eject the disc.

**kamold** · 27-12-2012, 05:18 AM

Make sure there is no jumper on the ssd drive. Have you tested the ssd in a pc?

Sent from my HTC One X using Tapatalk 2

**foogy69** · 27-12-2012, 05:38 AM

There is no jumper on it.
It shows up as the correct type of drive in my laptop, and it seemed to show up as installed when in the unit. I have tried it in 2 different units with the same result, one F and one H unit.
I am starting to wonder if the drive is the problem, I will run a full disk check on it and ensure that all partitions are wiped.

**kamold** · 27-12-2012, 09:01 AM

Sounds like the same issue HumbleGT is having in the UK. Are they kingspec pata ssds? What size?
I would see if there is a firmware update for the drive maybe, and make sure the drive has no partition table on it at all before putting it in the rns.

Sent from my HTC One X using Tapatalk 2

**foogy69** · 02-01-2013, 01:14 AM

It is a Kingspec IDE SSD 64 gb.
The drive had no partitions on it had the only firmware listed on the Kingspec website.

As both myself and HumbleGT have had problems with recent drives, it is going into an old laptop now, as I don't think it is suitable for the RNS510.
Thanks for you help kamold

**HumbleGT** · 13-01-2013, 12:02 AM

Originally Posted by kamold

Sounds like the same issue HumbleGT is having in the UK. Are they kingspec pata ssds? What size?
I would see if there is a firmware update for the drive maybe, and make sure the drive has no partition table on it at all before putting it in the rns.

Sent from my HTC One X using Tapatalk 2

Foogy...exactly same problem as you buddy. I've just put the damn drive in an old pocket sized caddy for use as a portable. So not all bad. Gutted tho.

Thanks btw Kam. Your fw is still a huge hit for me.

**bluey** · 23-03-2013, 06:41 AM

For those having trouble with SSD, wondering if they have tried disk cloning. I have been using Clonezilla live CD on PC drives for Windows PCs. Free and open source from Taiwan National Center for High-Performance Computing. Clonezilla can automatically clone with partition resize. Should work with USB-IDE adapter. I have those multi USB-IDE/SATA cables which work with Clonezilla for sata. Developer seems to regularly read Clonezilla forums and is there to help with bugs/issues.

I'm only using the radio and nav on RNS510, and would consider upgrading if it improved performance. From what I've read here, boot time is limited by firmware and unchangeable. What about nav responsiveness, which depends on map data - is it noticeably faster?