But I didn't have to reactivate when I moved it between my two boxes (I assume this didn't update the counter).
Perhaps dish reset all the 622 on an account so they use the same (new) external HDD code. That's why both my boxes required HDD reactivation. But, now I can move the drives between boxes.
I see what you're saying now. Seems to make sense. If that's what they did, then that's an improvement and perhaps the "3 hd moves" limit has been eliminated.
My household code is also non-zero.
BTW: I tried connecting my other harddrives, and I get the same message (788).