How do I connect external hard drive to HMC DVR?

[Goldenrhino]

I just switched over from Dish, & several DirecTV guys who I talked to about my installation assured me I'd have no problems connecting my external hard drive to the HMC HD DVR. Well I've now had 2 different installation guys at my house & talked to several people with technical customer service & still no luck. Every time I've tried to connect it, I get this blue screen with an error message saying it detected the device but it wasn't connected properly...then instructs me to reboot. I get this message every time I reboot. Then I have to disconnect the hard drive to get my satellite connection back.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[charper1]

what is the make and model of said drive?

 

[Goldenrhino]

what is the make and model of said drive?

Verbatim model #USB2TB

 

[raoul5788]

It must be an esata drive, not usb.

 

[Goldenrhino]

It must be an esata drive, not usb.

You're probably right. One of the techs I talked to told me I needed to plug it into the port labeled "SATA", but the plug I have on my Verbatim wouldn't fit. So does that mean I'm screwed if I had a bunch of stuff on there that I wanted to keep & be able to watch on my DirecTV DVR?

 

[caseyf57]

You're probably right. One of the techs I talked to told me I needed to plug it into the port labeled "SATA", but the plug I have on my Verbatim wouldn't fit. So does that mean I'm screwed if I had a bunch of stuff on there that I wanted to keep & be able to watch on my DirecTV DVR?

Hello Goldenrhino,

Welcome to Satellite Guys. The answer to your question is both yes and no. When you use an external SATA (eSATA) you loose the ability to see what is on the internal hard drive but if you reboot the DVR without the eSATA attached the internal hard drive will be seen and the programs on it are available again. To sum it up only the internal or external hard drive can be seen by the DVR and not both simultaneously. Some people have hope that in the future the DVR can access both the internal and external hard drives at the same time. The eSATA hard drive must be powered up and ready to be accessed before resetting the DVR for use with the eSATA unit. When it is used for the first time the DVR will format the hard drive for use automatically. If you want to take the external hard drive to another DVR it will not be used by a second DVR without being reformatted to be used by the new DVR. This limitation of usage by only one DVR exclusively may change in the future but as of now it is a faithful to the one it was formatted on. As to enclosures two of the most popular are the Antec MX-1 Antec - MX-1 and the Thermaltake BlacX Docking Station Thermaltakeusa » Storage » Docking Station . The eSATA and all other necessary cables and power supply are shipped with each enclosure/docking station from these companies. A simple rule with external enclosures/docking stations is never use both interfaces (eSATA and USB) at the same time as the electronics will be damaged inside the external enclosure/docking station. The hard drive can be up to 2TB (larger than that can be a problem and might not work at all).

 

[lparsons21]

You're probably right. One of the techs I talked to told me I needed to plug it into the port labeled "SATA", but the plug I have on my Verbatim wouldn't fit. So does that mean I'm screwed if I had a bunch of stuff on there that I wanted to keep & be able to watch on my DirecTV DVR?

Even if it would plug in and work, that data you have on the drive from Dish wouldn't be useable with the DirecTV system at all.

 

[charper1]

Even if it would plug in and work, that data you have on the drive from Dish wouldn't be useable with the DirecTV system at all.

I totally missed that part; DUH!! Great catch. I assumed it was a connectivity or large size issue..

 

[raoul5788]

It didn't occur to me that he was talking about a hard drive that had been used on his Dish setup. Right over my head too!

 

[lparsons21]

Yeah, I read it as two problems. One was a USB drive since e* doesn't support seats and the second that he inferred from other conversations, that the data would be useable. Although for the life of me, I can't figure out why supposed experienced users would lead him down that path.

 

[Goldenrhino]

Thanks for the replies. It probably wouldn't have been a deal breaker anyway, but it is disappointing that the sales rep who signed me up just flat out lied. I asked him at least 3 different times specifically "now the external hard drive I've used with Dish will work with my DirecTV DVR, correct? And it won't erase my programs that I recorded off Dish to re-format them?" He assured me I'd have no problems. He also assured me we could pause live TV in ANY of the 5 rooms connected to the HMC DVR. Then I find out that in the other 4 rooms you can only pause "recorded programs". We'll adjust..I just don't like being lied to.

 

[charper1]

where was and who was this sales rep?

 

[raoul5788]

Thanks for the replies. It probably wouldn't have been a deal breaker anyway, but it is disappointing that the sales rep who signed me up just flat out lied. I asked him at least 3 different times specifically "now the external hard drive I've used with Dish will work with my DirecTV DVR, correct? And it won't erase my programs that I recorded off Dish to re-format them?" He assured me I'd have no problems. He also assured me we could pause live TV in ANY of the 5 rooms connected to the HMC DVR. Then I find out that in the other 4 rooms you can only pause "recorded programs". We'll adjust..I just don't like being lied to.

He may not have lied. Unfortunately, many of the csrs are poorly trained and don't know the correct answers. I'm not excusing them giving you bad information, but I don't think you should assume they were lying.

 

[Goldenrhino]

where was and who was this sales rep?

His name was Albert & he was just the sales guy I got when I called the phone# I got off the internet. Not sure where he was (Arizona maybe?).

I actually only called to get info. Then the deal just kept sounding better & better...$50 per month cheaper than Dish, free NFL Sunday ticket, free movie channels for 3 months, record 5 shows at once, etc... So I ended up scheduling the installation that night. Another red flag with Albert was that he took my credit card info & told me they would only charge $1 against it (to hold the order or something) until the installation was complete. On the day they installed everything, I was to pay $99 plus tax for the HMC DVR. However, my card was charged $107 the very next day after I talked to Albert. Again, not really a huge deal since I ended up getting it installed, just the principle of it.

 

[Goldenrhino]

He may not have lied. Unfortunately, many of the csrs are poorly trained and don't know the correct answers. I'm not excusing them giving you bad information, but I don't think you should assume they were lying.

That could be. He really seemed like a super nice guy. I guess that's why I put so much trust in his answers.

 

[TG2]

a month away from yours.. and the answers (lies) haven't changed.

I called 6 times to get the system issue ironed out.

1st call, guy gave the same lie about the 1 dollar ... pressed me for ..."if you had to choose an install date, what would that be" ... when I said.. I don't want to set an install date, I don't want to pick one because this is just a "hold" remember?

the guy set me up for 7/21 install date.

Lie2: you'll get a dvr that can do 5 recordings at once (that's the HMC HR34), and 2 hd receivers
the order was setup with a single standard hddvr that can record two channels, and two hd receivers.

Lie3: your monthly payment will be 66.99 for the first 12 monhts, and then go up to 109.99 for month 13 thru 24, and when you fill out the rebate, you'll get the first three months at 22.99 because you will get 40 dollars off for the free 3 months of hbo, show, max ...etc.

in reality 66.99 is the discounted rate for the first three months, 101 for month 4 thru 12 and 121 for month 13 thru 24 (if I keep the premier package after month 12)

Half Truth 1: you can pause live tv - reality - Only on the hr34 itself ... you can't pause live tv from any of the HD Receivers, unless you're actually playing back a recording.

Still holding finger on the cancel button for both Dish and Directv. One of them will be in my house ... I'm hoping for AMC either way.