Trying to hack SYNC

[nickstewartroc]

Unfortunately not. It looks like the drive only holds data such as your ripped CD's, map data, and some some of the graphic elements such as the startup ford logo and the background. If you remove the drive and turn on the head unit, it will "work" though it will say it's having a problem and you are limited in the use, such as the radio. I think the main OS is stored on the board inside the head unit itself, so without the proper tools, I don't think there is really a way to modify it. One this I did notice on one of the main boards in the head unit is an SPI interface, one might be able to interface with that, though I am not really sure what you get, if anything. As far as the OS, there might be a way if you could get a set of clips that would fit on the onboard storage chips, I might do some more digging into it...

Have you been able to turn your image into a VM?  This should allow you to pull out any drivers in order to create a custom image (Win 10 or bare CE)

[J-Will]

Have you been able to turn your image into a VM?  This should allow you to pull out any drivers in order to create a custom image (Win 10 or bare CE)

Unfortunately not. It looks like the drive only holds data such as your ripped CD's, map data, and some some of the graphic elements such as the startup ford logo and the background. If you remove the drive and turn on the head unit, it will "work" though it will say it's having a problem and you are limited in the use, such as the radio. I think the main OS is stored on the board inside the head unit itself, so without the proper tools, I don't think there is really a way to modify it. One this I did notice on one of the main boards in the head unit is an SPI interface, one might be able to interface with that, though I am not really sure what you get, if anything. As far as the OS, there might be a way if you could get a set of clips that would fit on the onboard storage chips, I might do some more digging into it...

I understand.  Makes sense that its a slow drive then, if its being used for storage only.  It is great that you are able to unlock it and replace it though.  But i think the real fruit is within the OS section. 

[nickstewartroc]

Definitely! I do wonder how my setup compares to the 2013+ though. It might be easier with the newer, they may even store the OS on the drive, but I am not sure since mine is the older one :/