External Hard Drive Archive Bug Thread

On my VIP211, Last week a timer for Bachlorette(my wife's recording) said failed to record error 04. The next week it recorded all of it and this week it recorded 27 minutes of it and ended the program early. . All were set to record with a timer for all new programs. ie: season pass.
Now, it is recording partials of some shows and none of others and all of some shows. All are listed in the list of recorded shows as recorded without errors. Is this a hard drive problem or a 211 problem. Anyone else have this problem? Help!!!
 
I have the same external hard drive. The Seagate Free agent defaults with a sleep timer. Once the drive goes to sleep, the USB connection is compromised. Connect to the drive through a PC and change that setting to "not go to sleep" and the USB connection will be maintained.

Hope this helps-
 
It is hard drive problem - see discussion above.


Thanks a lot Smith, P. I bought a new hard drive and it works fine. I hooked the old hard drive up to my 722 and it formatted and works fine also. You should not tell people something is a hard drive problem, when you are obviously guessiing. See this thread:

http://www.satelliteguys.us/dish-ne...ng-cut-short-but-shows-full-length-timer.html

Obviously many other people are having the same problem as me, but they did not buy new hard drives.
 
You know, I've seen a lot of posts here with similar symptoms and 99.99% of them had a cause of HDD failure.

So, next time please post SMART values off the disk to obtain precise answer.

[Do you know why doctors waiting for visits not making phone diagnoses ? :D]
 
We need to be careful here. We seem to be talking about two different things... The External HDD that turns a 211 into a PVR vs the External HDD used for archival on a 621/622/722.

I don't believe these discussions should be mixed in the same thread. I don't believe the issues are the same.

This thread started out as a discussion for the archival variety. It should stick to that.
 
Thanks wearmg!! I followed the steps in your EHD repair guide and successfully repaired the bad superblock in my EHD. My wife and kids are eternally grateful that we did not have to reformat the EHD.

Smith, P you helped me as well. Your advice about using MHDD stopped me from throwing out the EHD and starting with a fresh drive.
 
The title, "External Hard Drive Archive Bug Thread " does not say anything about the 722, 622 or 211. Maybe you need to start a new thread with a title that suits you.
 
The title, "External Hard Drive Archive Bug Thread " does not say anything about the 722, 622 or 211. Maybe you need to start a new thread with a title that suits you.

Perhaps, but I think "Archive" implies the use of the external drive to act as overflow space for the internal PVR HDD (which is what this thread was originally used to talk about). This is different then using the external HDD to turn a 211 into a PVR.

I'm not trying to start an agrument here (and will not respond again in this reguard), but I don't think the problems and solutions for these two different hard drive uses are the same.
 
Im using a My DVR Expander 500gig right now, but Im tired of waiting on a 1TB version and need the space for fall and spring (record a lot of OTA). Love the drive (had the eSATA version with my Tivo) so I wanna stick with WD.

I searched and could not find anything, just wondering if anyone is using the My Book Essential 1TB?

[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Western-Digital-Essential-External-WDH1U10000N/dp/B000VZCEUI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1250119614&sr=8-1"]Amazon.com: Western Digital My Book Essential Edition 1 TB Hard Drive:?@@AMEPARAM@@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/31Ga98t4j4L.@@AMEPARAM@@31Ga98t4j4L[/ame]

Great deal and I was gonna pull the trigger soon. Guess I could always get a second 500GB DVR Expander, but I figured Id just sell it here.

TIA
 
I have to vent..............

I have 2 original 722's. I have a 750 GB WD My Book on one of my 722''s. Works fine. Wanted to get another EHD for the other 722. Thought I would spring for the 1TB version of the WD. Bought it at BB. Tried to hook it up and got nothing. No recognizing of the drive from the 722. It didn't go through the "format" windows. Called E* and had the most uneventful time talking to them I have ever had. 1 hour for the first call. They said that I would have to talk to Western Digital to find out what the problem was. I read that if a person formats the drive to the NTSF format on their computer the reciever recognizes the drive. I have a MAC and can't do that. Only MAC versions. Called again. (E* CSR's are getting worse than ever) This one finally told me after more than an hour of useless work trying to get the drive recognized that the original 722 reciever can not recognize more than the 750 GB drives. I gave up trying to find out why and hung up the phone. I'm taking the drive back if this is true. Is a person that only uses Macintosh computers just SOL? And am I truly prohibited from using only 750 GB drives?
I'm really frustrated and would like some input as to the reason that I never heard this thing before about not my 722's not being able to handle more that 750 GB drives. Did I miss this in this thread?

Thanks for the responses"

Lyle
 
Lyle, unless I've missed something more up to date E* only certified 500GB EHD would work as they didn't test anything bigger. Obviously, bigger drives do work, but it seems to be hit and miss as to reciever and/or drive brand.

As to having to first format it to NTSF, that seems to be pure baloney to me. Whether it has been formated before or not would not be an issue; if your reciever can see it, it will format.

You might try formating it on your other 722 and then moving it. If that doesn't work, try a different brand. It seems to be a crap shoot.
 
I just hooked my 500gb right up to the 722. It is m understanding that most people have excellent luck will all kinds of sizes of the WD's, so maybe you have a bad drive?
 
Thanks for the responses. I was searching the E* website and found that "Seagate" Showcase DVR Expander @ 1TB.
I then did a search of that hard drive and noticed that it supports Dish DVR's, for real. I don't know what to think about the information that is being spread around.
I ordered a 750GB WD "My Book" from Amazon. Just like the one I have for the other 722 DVR. At least I know that I can get that drive to work. I think that I will download those apps to format future hard drives to NTFS. I do some DVD from VHS recordings and need as much space as I can get, so all is not wasted on more hard drives.
If anyone knows how these 1TB Seagate drives work, I'd like to know. With all I found out from E* that the 722's don't recognize anything larger than 750GB, it would be interesting to know at least, that the Seagate drive debunks that information.
Thanks again:

Lyle
 
I'm pulling programs off of a Maxtor 500 gig and moving to a Seagate 1.5 TB as the Maxtor is frequently not recognized by the 622...(going to use the Maxtor with this pc)... I have to do power button boots or use a Western Digital Drive for awhile before the 622 will recognize it... no problems with any other drives.
 
I did tests of 1 TB, 1.5 TB and 2 TB disks for 622/722 and 211/411 models. You could find my posts here and at dbstalk.

Is it possible to link to your test posts? Is there a way to get to them that I am not aware of? It would be interesting to view them at this stage of my game. Thank you.

Lyle
 

Multiple Hoppers and timers

OTA module troubles