Replacing the Hard Disk in Audi MMI 3G head unit

Since this is the second time I have to bust into my Audi MMI 3G unit, I figured I’d record it this time to give anyone else an idea of how to replace the hard drive in these units. While the drives themselves are designed for extreme conditions, they’re getting to be the age where they might be failing, and this can be a much less expensive option than buying a new MMI unit - save money on a new one, or even buying a used one and getting component protection removed.
In this case, we’ll go over removing the MMI unit from the car, in my case, a 2010 Audi A5 that has been upgraded to MMI 3G+, disassembling, removing the drive, cloning to a new drive, and reassembling and reinstalling the unit.
It’s highly recommended to run a replacement software update after cloning the drive, in case there are data errors. That is not covered in this video, and I cannot provide links to where to get this software, except that search is your friend.
Note that all the links below are affiliate links - feel free to search for content if you don’t want to use them.
VW/Audi Radio Keys
ATLIN Radio Removal Tool Set: amzn.to/3Ay5Ph9
USB to IDE Adapter (Mac, Windows, Linux)
Vantec SATA/IDE TO USB 3.0 Adapter: amzn.to/3PbVVpl
Toshiba MK6050GAC replacement drive
You may also use a MK8050GAC, or another drive designed for extreme conditions. While the firmware doesn’t stop you from using other types of drives, I do not recommend using an off-the-shelf consumer grade drive as it will be prone to failure earlier on. If you buy a higher capacity drive, you will not have more room for your jukebox, as we will not be altering partitions.
dd for windows:
www.chrysocome.net/dd
Go to Downloads, and download the latest release, dd-0.6beta3.zip.

[@mikenaz-q8p]

was able to successfully upgrade from original hhd to a mSATA IDE adapter flawlessly following your instructions. Thank you

[@breakallthethings]

Nice work! How is the mSATA drive working?

[@eros143]

thank you again-- we were successful on cloning the drive to a new HDD , it is faster and snappier , we did not try SDD but will in the near future. i save that much money that i purchased a CarPlay retrofit kit and all is well!

[@ozzyjack3026]

What drive did you use?

[@ismailsener]

can you please provide the video how to add carplay software to hdd. thank you.

[@snapdragogon69]

he said carplay retrofit kit, not software@@ismailsener

[@KillerZero259]

Thanks for the tutorial! Very helpful!

[@esebugui]

@breakallthethings great video and excellent explanation. In my 2010 Q5 8R I've had a hard drive fatally broken. We live in a extreme heat weather country and I believe this has caused the damage. I find myself that I do not have the data to restore te system when replacing the drive. Since it looks like you might have looked into this , could you help me out to find a solution. Cheers

[@paulmoore9917]

@breakallthething am I missing a step... when using the same program, the disk just not show up when doing list disk, cant seem to figure out why.. shed some light on this? can I just ship you both the new and old drive hah

[@ALUMNI2K]

Would this fix my mmi 3G its on emapp emergency update

[@jameslee4845]

I was taking mine apart today. Do we know what the green one is for? Mine was also not plugged in, but curious what it's for. I'm thinking a tv tuner?

[@vintagemrwhite]

what options are there if you cant pull the data off the old hard drive to copy into a new drive?

[@cihangirozturk354]

hello a question and indeed have an Audi Q5 8R with 3g high and have found a hard drive with 3g Plus if I take out my old hard drive and replace the 3g Plus would it go or not ???

[@Psyxology.]

hey there, not sure if you actively receive these comments...but ill try anyway I bricked my unit trying to update. It is now stuck in the update screen and the scroll wheel does not work. What would you recommend I do in this situation? I feel that if I clone the drive I will also clone the update loop issue. Thanks for any response

[@misiekwwa87]

if i make a clone on SSD it will work? Do I have to use only power shell?

[@anthonycurcio5388]

Hey why was the fix, did you have a LCD screen that wasn't working? I have an 09 A4 and my LCD screen isn't working at all so my dial, nav, bluetooth or anything that uses the LCD in dash doesnt work. Is that a hard drive issue if you would know?

[@piotrprs572]

GREAT VIDEO!!! I bow to u for it!! :-D

[@glueby7247]

Hi, when using dd --list, I am not seeing the partitions listed. I can see there are 8 partitions using diskpart and list part, but it won't show up on dd --list. Any ideas?

[@elchapinitochapin7424]

do you have an image of your hard drive? my is not. working I tried to connect it to my computer but it is not reading it the HD is dead.

[@andreiiftene7892]

i got one problem with my audi Mmi issue found hard disk fault in mmi control unit req new control unit and coding it can be solved that the cost for a new one is £ 3500

[@sheldonmanuel3338]

Good day. I have an Audi A4 B8.5 same mmi unit like yours. The problem is I accidentally went into the engineering menu and activated some things I wasn't supposed to. Now the MMI unit just comes on and is stuck on the Audi Logo start up. I took it to Audi and they saying the the MMI system is corrupt. To replace the unit cost more than the value of the car. Is there any suggestion on how I can repair or fix this problem without replacing the unit?

[@callelyrander5199]

hey, can't find the link to dd for windows. has it been removed?

[@Sfinx1994]

Hi, Is there any version of MMI that DOES NOT HAVE an HDD? I just opened my unit and there is no HDD (under the CD reader). (It looks almost identical to yours just with other options - Start/Stop and ESP). I mention that the car MMI worked when I purchased it but after 3 months it went dead black and when I went to the Audi Dealership they used the tester and told me that the 5F unit is dead (this unit). Have any ideas? Car: Audi A4 2014.

[@dorulemon]

can you do it again? i need to a hdd my is broken.how much cost?

[@cihangirozturk354]

hello what would it cost me if you play MMI 3g on 3g plus on Best regards Öztürk

[@jamesgranger9029]

Fantastic video….. 👍

[@mariarenequiroga9249]

@breakallthething I have an error mesage after entering the ./dd command, “0k Error reading file: 1117 The request could not be performed because of an I/O device error 0+0 records in 0+0 records out” Is there a way to solve this issue?

[@AutoReignMY]

Great info. I wonder if it would work with higher capacity HDD (say 160GB) with proper partitioning.

[@breakallthethings]

I think I remember seeing something on the forums where people were using QNX to repartition an SSD for this purpose, but I think there was an issue indexing more than a certain amount of music.

[@djcip18]

Thanks for this amazing video... Are this available when I replace Hdd with an Ssd...?

[@breakallthethings]

So, that's where things get complicated. I've noticed on the forums that people have attempted to replace their HDD with an SSD, and ended up running into weird gremlins, but usually they also attempted altering the partitions at the same time. The two problems with using this method with an SSD is that most SSDs are not designed with the temperatures that the stock HDD are designed for, and most SSDs require you to align partitions to match the byte alignment of the SSD. Most Windows drive migration software will do that for you, but a bit-for-bit copy wouldn't align the partitions, and so you'd get either no speed boost, or a moderate speed boost when working with it. Furthermore, if you make a lot of changes on the drive, the OS will have no idea how to perform TRIM cleanup on the drive, so eventually, you'll lose all the speed you gained.

[@timothylawlor3455]

Any chance I can get a disk copy? My Hard drive died. I have a new blank drive but I need to get the info on it. Any help would be greatly appreciated

[@lifeslooker]

Can you add an SSD drive (I'm guessing the connector will need to be changed as they are different from an EIDE drive) to this unit so it boots much faster (no moving parts)? And then, I guess, use the same PS scripts to export the information and then import them back onto the new drive. Also, what do the connectors do? IE which one is the aerial/ GPS, etc? Appreciate the help. Great video by the way.

[@breakallthethings]

Thanks! I've seen in the forums a few people attempt an SSD. If you find an IDE SSD (which exist, but aren't great), it should work if you direct copy the partition table over like I do here. However, I haven't really found anything that achieves the operating specs of this spinning drive, so I didn't really bother. As for the connectors, blue cable is the radio antenna, yellow is the AMI connection, grey is -- I think -- GPS, the multi-cable with the lever is a /lot/ of stuff --including but not limited to, canbus, amplifier and/or speakers, power --, and the fiber optic cable, which is the MOST connection to other infotainment stuff.

[@eugenefarrell8144]

Hey @breakallthings I want to know where can I get the os or software Since I wat to change my language and maps will it be simpler to install English os and local maps? Thanks in advance

[@breakallthethings]

That one's gonna be tough. Technically, distribution of the base upgrade is only done through Audi. There is a name that will pop up on audiforums for someone who will get you software for a small fee. I don't know if EU and US software are interchangeable on MMI units.

[@weargas13]

Quick question. It sounds like the actuator in my HDD has gone (HDD clicking). Was thinking about buying an MMI 3G head unit from ebay and just swapping out the HDD's. Do you know if this would work or are the HDD's matched to the head units? Thanks.

[@ammarhamdoon7697]

Weargas dose it work with you !?

[@simuxz13]

Is this also apply to A6 C6 facelift with MMI3G High? And dont you get component protection problems after the replacement?

[@breakallthethings]

I don't know the answer on the A6 -- I think the MMI control unit is elsewhere on this model, so the process would be different, but the drive copy would likely be the same. No component protection, though -- the check for that is on a separate chip on the control board, and has nothing to do with the drive in the unit.

[@SosedSeba]

Hey man i need disk coppy. Pls

[@1uminoso]

@breakallthethings does it boot faster/load navigation faster? or is it about the same?

[@breakallthethings]

If you replace with a similar drive, the response time is about the same. That said, if the drive is failing and skipping, suddenly things move a lot faster. :)

[@tonycanela1261]

Hello, Im having issue with my audi wont load navigation or multimedia radio seen to work fine and everything else. have any one encounter this issue ? if so what was the solution?

[@joemihai6699]

Have you found a solution? Mine is doing the same

[@NickName-nc2ld]

Hello everyone i bought an identical HDD and proceeded to clone it (for Backup purposes) per this great tutorial (it gave me an error copying one of the files) i installed the clone, everything works perfectly fine except one thing, i lost Bluetooth! anyone came across such issue? The icon dissapeared and in the bluetooth settings everything turned grey except the turn BT on/off which doesn´t do anything. thank you

[@64Squares2Moves1Life]

I get a error “39,070,080k Error reading file: 483 The request failed device hardware error.” But, finishes with: 1220940+0 records in 1220940+0 records out Will this be a problem once writing the .img back to the new harddrive? Should I try ripping ripping the old hard drive again or with another method? Would that help? Any help will be greatly appreciated.. Also was wondering if you can tell me how I could expand the partition that stores the music files when coping a cd from the car???

[@vintagemrwhite]

me too.. i get the 483 request failed due to fatal device hardware error.. and even though it says records in and out I'm still unable to copy it into a new drive because it cant even find the data that was pulled. Probably not able to pull the data off?

[@guomondur9248]

The 2016 Q5 only get up to Sirius channel 188. Would swapping out the drive let me access channels beyond 188 ?

[@breakallthethings]

Unlikely -- this won't alter the firmware or the satellite receiver.

[@rahalb]

Thank you for this awesome video! What were the symptoms that lead you to replace the drive in the first place? I have a 2013 A5 that gets stuck on the initializing screen for the navigation. The only thing that works on the MMI is the radio, not even Bluetooth audio. I do hear a hard drive clicking noise coming from the head unit. Is this similar to the symptoms you had? Thanks again!

[@breakallthethings]

Rahal B Yes! Occasional clicking and mechanical noises, and random freezes turning into reboots. Figured it was worth trying this before finding a whole new unit.

[@rahalb]

I finally had a chance to open up my head unit but the clicking is too severe on my hard drive, its not even being read by my computer. By any chance would anyone be able to send an image they created from their unit? Audi wants >$2000 to replace the head unit. Mine is a 2013 A5. Any help would be appreciated!

[@tonycanela1261]

hi Im having the same issue with audi q5 navigation wont load , were you able to fix your issue?

[@eros143]

I acquire my 2015 allroad as pre-owned back in 2018. excellent condition, but I was experiencing the MMI failed to boot up a couple of times. Being new to the MMi System, I wasnt sure what to do so first couple of visits were to the dealer, although they were "able" to reset the system, I will need to replace the 5f module = $2200.00. No thank you. Upon reading on different forums, found common problem w/ these MMI was the failing harddrives. I then found the vides on how to and with a help of a friend as IT tech, I purchased a new HDD and he copied the files onto the new drive and replaced the old one. I've had one "fail to reboot incident after that, but I now think i was being impatient for the MMI to boot up and start pressing buttons, i suppose confusing the system. I found that pulling out the mmi, disconnect power and reconnect, will reboot. takes 10seconds for the boot screen. I havent had any issues since then. I was able to also update the MMI software/firmware from vendor in europe for the SD card package to update the MMI.. not really needed, but its good to have updated NAV info and latest firmware. I do have a Carplay module installed and I mostly use that for nav.

[@placerda78]

Hello and thank you for this video. When you disconnect the radio and put it back on, does it ask for a code ? From the video it looks like you won't need it.. (the seller didn't provide me with any code) . I need to remove/disconnect it because the cheap radio pullers are stuck and I don't wanna mess up (lol)

[@breakallthethings]

Nope, no code. It's locked in with the CAN gateway to your VIN, so if you're getting a new used one, you'll have to visit your local Audi dealership to get component protection removed.

[@placerda78]

@@breakallthethings ah great to know, thank you for your quick response!

[@simuxz13]

And also can faulty hdd can be the reason that bluetooth doesnt turn on in the car?

[@breakallthethings]

While that could happen, it's unlikely. The symptoms of a failing drive usually come up as long delays to initialize certain components that rely on storage. This can be your directory, but not a surefire thing if you aren't noticing issues with media playback or settings being saved.

[@daranclarke4818]

Which version of DD did you use? I am about to attempt this on my MMI?

[@breakallthethings]

I just grabbed dd for Windows in this demonstration. www.chrysocome.net/dd

[@daranclarke4818]

@@breakallthethings Hey perfect, thanks for getting back to me!

[@talhamalkawi4185]

Hello @breakallthethings Am having the same problem now, but mine is a 2014 Q7. You mentioned something about updating software, can you please provide a link to that if you have one. Also, if I buy a new hard disk do I need to format it or partition it in some kind of way that matches the old hard disk so it can be read properly? My hard disk is making that loud clicking noise and Navigation is stuck on initializing and same goes for my multimedia, but everything else works. Thank you so much

[@breakallthethings]

I don't have a link to updated software, unfortunately. There are a couple of people around the forums offering software and map updates for various fees, and that was the route I took. Audi was incredibly unhelpful in that regard. As for formatting/partitioning, the copying method used in the video recreates the partitions and content appropriately. If the hard disk itself is unreadable, that's where things get complicated -- but dd/ddrescue can help recover as much as possible.

[@talhamalkawi4185]

@@breakallthethings great, thank you so much. Last question, if I do end up buying a hard disk and just put instead of the old one and take it to the dealer, would you know if they can download or install the software on it? And will it work?

[@Coulinator13124]

Hi, Have you keep an image of the hdd ? ... Mine is dead ....

[@jrmauto2593]

I have 3g as well as 3gp immage

[@user-dq5ns7io6f]

​@@jrmauto2593 can i get one?

[@changounchained2648]

Does anyone know if the HDD in 3G+ is SATA or still IDE? TYVM! :D

[@breakallthethings]

It is IDE.

[@jamesalvarado284]

It's IDE

[@Pawson1Anton2]

Hi... i have disk on bench and connected to PC. How can i read it on Windows? What kind od application do i must to use?

[@breakallthethings]

Hi! On Windows, we won't actually read the contents of the filesystem, as it's a QNX disk, and requires a VM to access it. In the video above, I use dd for Windows to do a byte-by-byte copy of the disk to another.

[@Pawson1Anton2]

@@breakallthethings Yes I know. Now I backup 1:1 on my pendrive but I want to access this and find few file which I want to change...

[@breakallthethings]

Adaxus Adaxus Gotcha. For that, you'll need a QNX VM and to attach the image to that VM.

[@spencert.jordan9221]

Can someone please share a full image of the drive? Mine is corrupt and won't show any partitions.... Thank you!!

[@jasonmartin5374]

Any chance you found somewhere to get the image? I'm having the same issue it looks like you did

[@kinshukantil4477]

Does q7 2014 have same process?

[@breakallthethings]

Yep, the 2014 would have the same-ish unit and the same process.

[@jpmorris1640]

How did you determine your HDD was failing?

[@breakallthethings]

Mine would randomly pause at certain events, long enough that the system protection would kick in and reboot. Sometimes, when holding my ear up to the unit, I could hear it clicking.

[@jamesalvarado284]

Mine took a dump from driving in tucson too much, oh not to mention 4 Tires unrepairable 😢 from all the craters I've ran into. The hard hits from driving through them eventually blacked my mmi out and now the rust disk spin inside the hdd casing and you can hearthe reader arms smacking the surface of the disks that info is wrote to.😢😢

[@spider14081]

what are the symptoms of a damaged disk?

[@breakallthethings]

For me, it was random long pauses while changing activities. There's also a self-heal within the Audi MMI that causes the device to reboot if a process freezes too long, which meant that in certain cases, it would hang and then reboot. I figured trying this was cheaper than buying a new unit.

[@timothymurad8647]

Great Video and very helpful. I decided to give this s try since I've been having issues with my Bluetooth, NAV and Media loading on my 3g+ MMI in my 2013 allroad. I've pulled the drive and connected to my Windows 10 PC. I've followed the instructions in this video and the DD command works to creating the video to just about completion, then I get the following error "54,404,480k Error reading file: 483 The request failed due to a fatal device hardware error" This is the second time I've created the image. I don't remember the error the 1st time thought. After writing the 1st image to my new disk it only created 4 partitions, and when I put that new drive in the car, Nav or Media would sit at Initializing. I'm guessing now that I've seen this error that my disk is corrupt and definitely needs replacement. Do you know if I can find an image that I can use to create a new disk?

[@andreiiftene7892]

@breakallthethings i got one problem with my audi Mmi issue found hard disk fault in mmi control unit req new control unit and coding it can be solved that the cost for a new one is £ 3500

[@frazerhill7864]

Did you get this fixed? Had the same issue in my a7 and looking for a cheaper alternative than £4000

[@jorgear56ify]

Do yo know why my radio doesn't have HardDrive?...

[@breakallthethings]

Some of Audi's infotainment systems were MMI, and some were not MMI. Non-MMI still had a display, but had control buttons in the center stack, and didn't have a hard disk.

[@Jayu0]

Have you mayby hard disk image? 🤔🤔

[@jrmauto2593]

I have 3G as well as 3GP immage

[@silverify]

why did you replaced it?

[@breakallthethings]

My unit would occasionally pause for a long time and then reboot, usually while using the map or attempting to play music off the hard disk, but sometimes for no reason at all. I haven't had problems since.

[@kjhayman1994]

Dumb question….why are you reimaging the HDD? What, exactly, forced you to have to do this?

[@breakallthethings]

A dying hard drive, with a symptom of occasionally hard freezing and then rebooting.

[@kingjez2903]

ssd compatible? :D

[@breakallthethings]

Theoretically yes, but I've read in forums that people have had trouble with it. Haven't tried myself.

[@Gozbite_na_MuTaKa]

Mmi 3g basic remote optic haul

[@zipper41]

Жаль что прошивку не выложили.

[@gamedivisionuk]

corrupt hard drive any other way of getting a disk image

[@jrmauto2593]

I have the immage

[@dhavalmakwana5777]

@@jrmauto2593 can you provide the immage ? I have a corrupt hard drive

[@jamesalvarado284]

​@@jrmauto2593 can you dm me the image, this is for US RIGHT?

[@jamesalvarado284]

​@@dhavalmakwana5777 did you ever get the image and was it for USA

[@claustile5122]

JUST an idea i found online ide hdd ( ssd hdd) if i can ghet to copy all the data or clone the hdd to the ssd il be beter more faster and lifetime quarante no more hdd fail

[@tonycanela1261]

Where did you find this ? Can you share pls

[@claustile5122]

@@tonycanela1261 search on ebay ide 2.5 ssd . Brand kingspec and others 60gb 80gb 120gb 250gb. My problem its if i clone the hdd to ssd i need the same size like 60 gb or i can use a big ide ssd 250gb i want also to increase the storage

[@dougkenyon381]

IDE is disappointing. If it was SATA it'd be great to replace the drive with an SSD.

[@rua.001]

An IDE drive? Ugh...how outdated can it be?

[@marcolin10002]

that doesnt look like an ide, should be sata

[@breakallthethings]

This revision of MMI was developed over a decade ago, so while outdated, still functional, and far more cost effective for the time.

[@breakallthethings]

@@marcolin10002 It absolutely is IDE, just in a 2.5" form factor.