I would assume that would be the case. I am going to put all my recordings back on the internal drive (overnight run of ~5 hours), drop the FreeAgent back onto my XP machine and try the tool out.
External Hard Drive Archive Bug Thread
- Thread starter dfergie
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Now that I had play the external storage for awhile, here are few things that I have found:
I did a transfer with 80 recorded programs (each with 175MB), no problem from 622 to USB (WD MyBook 500GB). Watched from USB, no problem either.
Then, I made a restore from USB to 622, it stopped at third program ans indicated there is an error on USB. I skip this program, and re-selected the rest of programs, transfer completed without problem. The one didn't transferred, still play back without any problem from USB.
Few things that could improved: a) USB should have the same sorting function as DVR; b) the program list does not show the date/time of the recorfing, if you have many same named program, you have to select the program to find when was recorded, as on DVR, when you scroll through the programs, it will show you the date/time.
Other than those little things, so far so good.
I did a transfer with 80 recorded programs (each with 175MB), no problem from 622 to USB (WD MyBook 500GB). Watched from USB, no problem either.
Then, I made a restore from USB to 622, it stopped at third program ans indicated there is an error on USB. I skip this program, and re-selected the rest of programs, transfer completed without problem. The one didn't transferred, still play back without any problem from USB.
Few things that could improved: a) USB should have the same sorting function as DVR; b) the program list does not show the date/time of the recorfing, if you have many same named program, you have to select the program to find when was recorded, as on DVR, when you scroll through the programs, it will show you the date/time.
Other than those little things, so far so good.
Are you having...
Are you having any of the problems accessing the drive (WD) after it spins down into standby mode (after about ten minutes) as the folks with the Seagates are having?
Thanks, Gerry
Are you having any of the problems accessing the drive (WD) after it spins down into standby mode (after about ten minutes) as the folks with the Seagates are having?
Thanks, Gerry
I tested out a 2.5 inch drive with an enclosure that uses USB power only for the drive and electronics. The drive is a Seagate Momentum 120GB 5400rpm drive. Results: It seems there is barely sufficient power from the USB port to engage the drive properly. My 622 had difficulty keeping a firm grasp on the drive. I successfully got it formatted by the 622 into the two partitions but the 622 kept losing contact and subsequently kept asking if i wanted to again format the drive and manage it. After about 10 minutes, I abandoned trying to use the drive. Back on my PC, the Drive Management MMC did show the two partitions and I went ahead and deleted them and rebuilt it as a pc drive.
I'm glad to hear that at least one person has been able to tweak their FreeAgent drive and now they are seemingly problem free!
I'm glad to hear that at least one person has been able to tweak their FreeAgent drive and now they are seemingly problem free!
The only problem I see here is that there was a bad assumption made on someone's part that enclosure solutions designed to be used as data backups for personal computers would be fine for a DVR archival system.
The bare drives that have not been tweaked at the factory for use as an external backup will all work. Its the configuration that these turnkey solutions default to that are the problem. Not a big problem for the Seagates. Just run the utility. Don't use the wizard that wants to help you setup your drive for desktop use. cancel that and just find the section that lets you change the Sleep Interval.
no luck
well my theory about leaving the 622 on all night did not work when I checked the ext dr this morning it was blank,so I tried about 3 or4 times to send a movie to it and it wouldn't ,but then I pulled it up again and now it shows my archive. it will also allow me to restore but not send anything to it. something weird did happen, the first movie I restored to the 622, I tried to send back to archive and it worked and I can play it from there. but it left the name and that hollow logo that looks like a old camera on the 622 list but it will not play and the pop up says you can't play a movie that is being transfered. I sent another movie back to the 622 and that went but now it shows up on both the 622 and the ext hd,--- and also plays from both
I am still not able to send anything to the ext hd so I guess I will have to turn power on and off on the seagate to get it back to normal.
at this point I guess I'm officialy a beta tester
I forgot to add thet when I sent that movie to archive it did it without showing a progress bar
well my theory about leaving the 622 on all night did not work when I checked the ext dr this morning it was blank,so I tried about 3 or4 times to send a movie to it and it wouldn't ,but then I pulled it up again and now it shows my archive. it will also allow me to restore but not send anything to it. something weird did happen, the first movie I restored to the 622, I tried to send back to archive and it worked and I can play it from there. but it left the name and that hollow logo that looks like a old camera on the 622 list but it will not play and the pop up says you can't play a movie that is being transfered. I sent another movie back to the 622 and that went but now it shows up on both the 622 and the ext hd,--- and also plays from both
I am still not able to send anything to the ext hd so I guess I will have to turn power on and off on the seagate to get it back to normal.at this point I guess I'm officialy a beta tester
I forgot to add thet when I sent that movie to archive it did it without showing a progress bar
Good... Mine does the same thing. I need to turnoff the sleep time as well. But now I have too much archive.
No, you just need to turn off the Sleep Interval on your drive and then you will be fine. Otherwise, your drive will only work by plugging and unplugging, AT BEST.
Personally now that we think the cause to the issue is found... I will leave my Seagate alone and let it spin down as I know the work around now and am just happy to have this feature...
You should be able to adjust the Sleep Interval without formatting your drive and losing your archive.
I've read that Hitachi's Feature Tools works with many brands of drives other than just Hitachi drives although I haven't tried it myself. Apparently Seagate's application is specific for Seagate drives only. Just something worth noting for those with other brands of drives.
Add me to the list of people having problems with the Seagate FreeAgent Pro drive. In my case it's the 750 gig version.
My initial connection, format and transfer went without a hitch. I was able to play back movies from the USB drive even at 300x fast forward. Nice!
I had a minor problem yesterday morning. I tried to manage the drive and I got the message telling me to call Dish and activate my service. On second attempt I was able to connect and play movies on the USB drive. I do wish that the same sorting and grouping options that are on the main drive were available to the external drive.
This morning my problems became much more serious. My DVR lights were on with the current recording but there was no picture on the TV. The DVR didn't respond to any buttons from the remote control so I held the power button to force a reboot. The system rebooted but it took longer than usual to start up. I tried to play back my recording from the DVR and the box displayed a bright green screen. After waiting a few moments with no change I skipped 30 seconds and the video started to play and then it turned black again. Fast forward didn't fix it this time. Reboot again and I tried to play a different recorded program. This time I got a few minutes of the video followed by a black screen followed by some video followed by a green screen. My wife is not going to be happy because this was the finale of "So you think you can dance".
Do you think the USB drive sleeping problem could affect recordings on the main DVR?
My initial connection, format and transfer went without a hitch. I was able to play back movies from the USB drive even at 300x fast forward. Nice!
I had a minor problem yesterday morning. I tried to manage the drive and I got the message telling me to call Dish and activate my service. On second attempt I was able to connect and play movies on the USB drive. I do wish that the same sorting and grouping options that are on the main drive were available to the external drive.
This morning my problems became much more serious. My DVR lights were on with the current recording but there was no picture on the TV. The DVR didn't respond to any buttons from the remote control so I held the power button to force a reboot. The system rebooted but it took longer than usual to start up. I tried to play back my recording from the DVR and the box displayed a bright green screen. After waiting a few moments with no change I skipped 30 seconds and the video started to play and then it turned black again. Fast forward didn't fix it this time. Reboot again and I tried to play a different recorded program. This time I got a few minutes of the video followed by a black screen followed by some video followed by a green screen. My wife is not going to be happy because this was the finale of "So you think you can dance".
Do you think the USB drive sleeping problem could affect recordings on the main DVR?
WD Essential 500
I can offer that I have 2 of the WD MyBook Essential Edition 500Gbs on 2 622s and I have had none of the problems discussed. I know it was stated here that it spins down but it appears to me that it doesn't or else it just handles it better. I left both HDs on all day yesterday while I went to work (one TV was completely untouched, the other TV was watched but the Ext HD was not accessed). On both of them I came home, went to the USB storage screen, and was able to access the drive and watch from the drive no problem. There was perhaps a slight delay accessing it the 1st time, but it was barely noticeable.
I also have hit the stop key, paused, rewinded, deleted from the drive etc and I can't cause any of the issues.
Anybody else with a WD drive that can offer an opinion? I was a little worried here because the WD apparently doesn't have means to manage spin down. I bought both new so can return in 30 days, but as long as I'm not having any problems...guess I will keep them.
I can offer that I have 2 of the WD MyBook Essential Edition 500Gbs on 2 622s and I have had none of the problems discussed. I know it was stated here that it spins down but it appears to me that it doesn't or else it just handles it better. I left both HDs on all day yesterday while I went to work (one TV was completely untouched, the other TV was watched but the Ext HD was not accessed). On both of them I came home, went to the USB storage screen, and was able to access the drive and watch from the drive no problem. There was perhaps a slight delay accessing it the 1st time, but it was barely noticeable.
I also have hit the stop key, paused, rewinded, deleted from the drive etc and I can't cause any of the issues.
Anybody else with a WD drive that can offer an opinion? I was a little worried here because the WD apparently doesn't have means to manage spin down. I bought both new so can return in 30 days, but as long as I'm not having any problems...guess I will keep them.
I'm concerned for the Seagate people who fix the sleep problem. Be careful and try not to leave them on 24/7. Without the sleep function, they are going to generate more heat and could cause drive failure. So, take precautions.
Thanks!
It would appear then that the WDs are better at "waking up" and then receiving commands/data. The slight hestitation that you see would seem to be the time it takes for the disc to spin up..
Again, Thanks and it looks like i'm glad I bought the 500GB WD. Gerry
It would appear then that the WDs are better at "waking up" and then receiving commands/data. The slight hestitation that you see would seem to be the time it takes for the disc to spin up..
Again, Thanks and it looks like i'm glad I bought the 500GB WD
. Gerry
I'm concerned for the Seagate people who fix the sleep problem. Be careful and try not to leave them on 24/7. Without the sleep function, they are going to generate more heat and could cause drive failure. So, take precautions.
I'm hoping that the only real problem with the sleep mode is a few retries while the drive wakes up. I could live with that.
I plan on using the drive for archive purposes anyway so it will be off unless I'm doing a batch archive or watching an archived program.
Are there known problems with turning the external drive off while it is connected to the 622? (While the external drive is idle, of course.)
None for me. I'm using a WD5000AAKS with enclosure. Have had no problems of any kind.
