Hard Drive Upgrade - nitty gritty

[deepdishchad]

Hey all. I can't take the time to wade through 14 pages of info in the sticky above, so I'm hoping for the Reader's Digest version here:

What size is the hard drive in the H20?
Can I dig into the guts of the H20 and replace the internal drive with a larger one? Is it a standard SATA drive? Any size limitations?

I'd prefer to work internal, but I see some have had some success with the ESATA external drives. Can I use a USB2.0 or Firewire external drive instead?
Any traps to keep an eye out for?

Thanks.

 

[Jimbo]

Hey all. I can't take the time to wade through 14 pages of info in the sticky above, so I'm hoping for the Reader's Digest version here:

What size is the hard drive in the H20?
Can I dig into the guts of the H20 and replace the internal drive with a larger one? Is it a standard SATA drive? Any size limitations?

I'd prefer to work internal, but I see some have had some success with the ESATA external drives. Can I use a USB2.0 or Firewire external drive instead?
Any traps to keep an eye out for?

Thanks.

First off, the H20 has no Hard Drive, the HR20/21 does, I presume this is what your talking about.
HR20 300 or 320 GB
Can you change out your own, not with out penalty for voiding the warranty of the LEASED unit that IS owned by D* not you.

99% of the people adding HD's use Externals, 99 % work great.
USB or Firewire ?
USB , yes you could use I suppose, but I would not advise it,as it is WAY to slow.
Firewire ? There is no input/output for firewire on any of the D* units.

My suggestion, get a 750 GB External Seagate for about $200 or larger if you want.
The majority of people have been using Seagate, they seem to work very well, other brands will work as well, but I cannot verify which ones.

jimbo

 

[gadgtfreek]

I 2nd the seagate. working fine for a few mo's for me.

 

[jcrandall]

3rd for the 750gb Seagate.

Don't do internal - if your unit ever dies you'll have major trouble.

 

[shibby191]

2 easy steps:
1) Buy largest eSata drive you can afford (not USB, eSata only)
2) Plug it in the HR20/21
3) Reboot HR20/21. Done.

Ok, 3 steps.

 

[deepdishchad]

I appreciate the straight talk. Thank you.

I know this is a sentiment echoed elsewhere, but it is absolutely ludicrous that there isn't a way for the DVR to continue to use the internal drive if an external drive is added. I know that's bitching into the wind since this is a user's forum and not a designer's forum, but that's a major oops that little bit of code could have solved.

 

[Jimbo]

I appreciate the straight talk. Thank you.

I know this is a sentiment echoed elsewhere, but it is absolutely ludicrous that there isn't a way for the DVR to continue to use the internal drive if an external drive is added. I know that's bitching into the wind since this is a user's forum and not a designer's forum, but that's a major oops that little bit of code could have solved.

Little bit of code :
And I bet it will be addressed WHEN D* actually supports the External drives, as of now, people have been using externals since shortly after the HR's came out, but they are not supported by D*, strictly a "Use at your own risk" situation.

Jimbo

 

[4492011]

Hi has anyone tried the 1TB external my book with esata from western digital for this purpose? I found one at costco for 279.00

 

[Jimbo]

Hi has anyone tried the 1TB external my book with esata from western digital for this purpose? I found one at costco for 279.00

I saw that too when I bought my Seagate 750, I got the Seagate for $ 199 so thought for the difference, I would go with the 750.

Jimbo

 

[Larry]

Hi has anyone tried the 1TB external my book with esata from western digital for this purpose? I found one at costco for 279.00

Maybe it's just me, but I wouldn't put any data I valued on a WD drive. Go with the Seagate.

 

[photodan]

Hard Drive Size of HR21?

Hi! Can anyone tell me the size of the HDrive in the HR21? Someone once said that it was 360, but in Walmart today I saw a Hard Drive recorder that stated it recorded 50 hrs of HD Programming (same as HR21) but its hard drive was only 160Gb.
Just trying to figure out so I know how big an external to get to even be bigger! I realize a TB would be, but hope to spend less. Thanks in advance.

 

[1nonly]

Hi! Can anyone tell me the size of the HDrive in the HR21? Someone once said that it was 360, but in Walmart today I saw a Hard Drive recorder that stated it recorded 50 hrs of HD Programming (same as HR21) but its hard drive was only 160Gb.
Just trying to figure out so I know how big an external to get to even be bigger! I realize a TB would be, but hope to spend less. Thanks in advance.

Excellent question that I too wonder about.

 

[photodan]

Guess

I guess no one really knows because you'd break the lease agreement to open it up to find out!! ha ha

 

[Slick]

I am going to search around but Would some one mind telling me how to hook it up external hard drive to my HR21? Cya Slick

 

[vurbano]

I didnt know the drives would work connected by USB????

 

[photodan70]

eSATA

No, I do know the USB doesnt work for external drives. You have to find a eSATA drive that connects to the DVR through its own connector. There are alot of discussion that different brands are recognized at differenet times depending on whether you have a HR20 or HR21.
But my ? is what size the internal is so I know how big I have to get externally to even make a difference in available recording time.

 

[skinnyJM]

No, I do know the USB doesnt work for external drives. You have to find a eSATA drive that connects to the DVR through its own connector. There are alot of discussion that different brands are recognized at differenet times depending on whether you have a HR20 or HR21.
But my ? is what size the internal is so I know how big I have to get externally to even make a difference in available recording time.

The HR21 has a 320GB internal HD.
The initial batches use a Western Digital WD3200AVJS.

 

[treader]

So what happens to the content on the internal hard drive once an external is connected? Is it still accessible or just the content on the external?

 

[joed32]

So what happens to the content on the internal hard drive once an external is connected? Is it still accessible or just the content on the external?

You can only access the external drive. If you disconnect the external and reboot then you can access the internal drive again. Only one at a time for now.

 

[Slick]

The HR21 has a 320GB internal HD.
The initial batches use a Western Digital WD3200AVJS.

if that is true then I evetually will get a external hard drive because I can fill the one I got real easy just havent made the jump yet, will be soon because if I am going to go external I want 1TB of storage..Cya Slick