HR2x / HR34 External Hard Drive FYI/Support (eSATA)

[Smith P.]

Because Autoinstall ie AutoRun is Windows feature, not the EHD.
Disk/controller (if there's any) always RESPOND to host's ie PC/MAC/LINUX[DVR] requests.

 

[hypervista]

Hypervista,

I can assure you from my own personal experience that the Seagate will not run any kind of autoinstall when connected to the DVR. I have connected a Seagate FAP 750 to my iMac, and no autoinstall ran, no dialog box popped up, just an empty hard drive mounted. Same thing will happen with the DVR (except the DVR will format the drive). The only time any kind of autoinstall will run is if you connect the drive to a windoze peecee.

Thanks sd-hdtv-fan. The Seagate 1TB FreeAgent Pro is different from their FAP 750 drive. There is an autoplay utilities installation program on the image for the MAC and linux.

I'm afraid I've sidetracked my question with my theory on why it's not working for me. So let me restate my question outside the context of my theory, which I admit may be wholely whacked ...

Has anyone successfully installed a 1TB Seagate FreeAgent Pro EHD with a HR21-700 DVR. If so, did you have to do any preparation, formatting, etc. of the EHD to get it to work?

 

[vurbano]

anyone tried this 1TB solution?
Newegg.com - APRICORN DVR Xpander DVR/PVR Upgrade Hard drive Instantly add up to 562 hours of your favorite programs The perfect companion for the Scientific Atlanta 8300 series DVR Compatible with any DVR that has an active eSATA port Ultra-coo - Ex

 

[hypervista]

anyone tried this 1TB solution?
Newegg.com - APRICORN DVR Xpander DVR/PVR Upgrade Hard drive Instantly add up to 562 hours of your favorite programs The perfect companion for the Scientific Atlanta 8300 series DVR Compatible with any DVR that has an active eSATA port Ultra-coo - Ex

vurbano - thanks for the tip. I just ordered one and will let you know. Fyi, Newegg is currently out of stock, but the the manufacturer APRICORN has them in stock and ships.

I spent a little time over the weekend trying to get the Seagate 1TB FreeAgent Pro working with no luck. I tried deleting the install programs for the Windows, Mac, and Linux OSes that are on the drive; I used the eSATA cable recommended by Masterdeals, to no avail. I'm thinking there must be something about this EHD geometry that precludes it's use as a DVR extender. I'll use the FreeAgent Pro as a backup drive. Fingers crossed that the APRICORN works ... Thanks again!

 

[schneid]

$360 plus shipping seems like a lot of $ when you can get a Cavalry 1TB at buy.com for $232.00 including the eSATA cable and shipping.

 

[hypervista]

vurbano - The APRICORN worked like a charm! Thanks!!

 

[vurbano]

vurbano - The APRICORN worked like a charm! Thanks!!

It should at that price. LOL. I like that it has a fan. Is it quiet?

 

[hypervista]

It should at that price. LOL. I like that it has a fan. Is it quiet?

Yep. It's very quiet! I have this one in my bedroom and I can't hear it at all, even when I get very close to it (If I stick my ear up to it I can hear a faint whirrr, but other than that, you can't hear it). It does have a fairly bright red light on the front, but I've hidden it behind the T.V so it isn't lighting the room up at night ... <grin>

Thanks again for the tip!

 

[bookwalk]

Had my Seagate FAPro for almost 2 weeks on my HR20-100. Twice--when I tried to power on the HR-20 using the remote--it wouldn't. So I unpluggedd it & that powered down the Seagate. Unplugged eSATA from back of HR20 and then plugged it back in.

It rebooted and now I have the internal drive back.

What is causing this problem with turning on the HR20 when the ext HD is attached? It doesn't happen with the internal drive in use?

Is it the way I hook it up or what?

Should I just not be powering it off with the remote?
__________________

 

[schneid]

Had my Seagate FAPro for almost 2 weeks on my HR20-100. Twice--when I tried to power on the HR-20 using the remote--it wouldn't. So I unpluggedd it & that powered down the Seagate. Unplugged eSATA from back of HR20 and then plugged it back in.

It rebooted and now I have the internal drive back.

What is causing this problem with turning on the HR20 when the ext HD is attached? It doesn't happen with the internal drive in use?

Is it the way I hook it up or what?

Should I just not be powering it off with the remote?
__________________

If the eSATA is plugged into the receiver and powered up, the receiver should boot to the external drive. If it doesn't, then there is a problem with the receiver, the cable, the drive, or the drive power source.

Adding the eSATA is pretty fool-proof but then fools are pretty clever. Others here have had problems with Seagates, so if it plugged into the receiver and powered up, I'd bet it is the Seagate.

Your HR20 is always plugged into the wall and the eSATA is ALWAYS on, plugged into the wall, and the cable into the receiver? Right?

 

[bookwalk]

If the eSATA is plugged into the receiver and powered up, the receiver should boot to the external drive. If it doesn't, then there is a problem with the receiver, the cable, the drive, or the drive power source.

Adding the eSATA is pretty fool-proof but then fools are pretty clever. Others here have had problems with Seagates, so if it plugged into the receiver and powered up, I'd bet it is the Seagate.

Your HR20 is always plugged into the wall and the eSATA is ALWAYS on, plugged into the wall, and the cable into the receiver? Right?

Everything boots ok to the proper drive depending if the Seagate is attached or not and HR20 IS always plugged into the wall (but is not always "on") and the eSATA is ALWAYS plugged in and cabled and always lit up running even when the HR 20 is "off".

It is possible that, even when the HR20 was always "on", it would shut itself down and then also could not turn it "on" until I did a reset, unplugged from the wall and unplugged the Seagate.

Is there a proper way to revert back to the internal drive--as to sequence of unplugging what from where and when????

I just don't like unplugging the HR20 so much just to get it to go "on"! If I can reproduce most of what I have archived on the internal drive by re-recording, I will delete that from the internal and just use the external to backup movies I want to keep but not watch right now.

 

[schneid]

I am using a Cavalry w/o problem. To go back and forth I just use the Cavalry on/off switch after pressing the red reset switch on the D* HR-20. If the Cavalry is on, it boots, if off, the internal drive boots. Nothing is ever unplugged. That said, I am not booting back and forth but using the Cavalry 1TB as a full-time replacement drive. 1TB holds a lot of programming.

 

[darrencp22]

Any hint on whether EHD support will be offered as an add-on rather than replacement?

 

[jdaustin]

I recently added a Maxtor 1TB esata drive onto my HR21-100. It was working fine but somehow the power cable was disconnected while the DVR was on. As a result it appears that all recordings on the esata drive was lost and the drive was reformatted once I rebooted the dvr.

Is this to be expected whenver the drive happens to be disconnected?

 

[Ramy]

No it should not have reformatted,

 

[raoul5788]

I finally got around to installing the 1tb Cavalry hd drive I got a couple of weeks ago. It installed with no issues and is working nicely!

 

[satellite_crazy_bob]

Has anyone tried or heard of someone trying the following:

Seagate 1 TB USB 2.0/eSATA/FireWire FreeAgent Pro External Hard Drive

Part # : ST310005FPA1E3-RK

 

[schneid]

I finally got around to installing the 1tb Cavalry hd drive I got a couple of weeks ago. It installed with no issues and is working nicely!

My Cavalry's have been lousy. Been through three RMAs and requested a fourth. As I can't seem to get a good one, I removed the drive from the last one, eSATA to SATA cabled it, and hooked it up to a PC power supply. Ugly, but no more problems.

As best I figure number one actually failed per Partition Commander, number two had a bad board as the LEDs went out, and number three had a loose eSATA connector so the cable wiggled. Barely nudging it would lock up my box. It was obviously a used piece of gear. Taped over serial number, rubber banded cables, sloppy packing, beat up box, and missing "warranty void if removed" sticker.

Cavalry's seem great if you get a good one but if you don't it's awful. Slow RMA process and you get to pay the shipping even for a brand new drive.

The safest best I read is a 1TB Western Digital, SIIG cable, and an Antec MX-1 which i could have had for less money than the Cavalry.

 

[kenf]

Has anyone tried or heard of someone trying the following:
Seagate 1 TB USB 2.0/eSATA/FireWire FreeAgent Pro External Hard Drive

I tried a 1TB FreeAgent Pro on my HR21-200 and it did NOT work. I also tried it on a PC (eSATA), with terrible results (REALLY slow!) In the end, I bought Antec MX-1 cases for the HR21 and the PC, and am very happy.

 

[schneid]

My Cavalry's have been lousy. Been through three RMAs and requested a fourth. As I can't seem to get a good one, I removed the drive from the last one, eSATA to SATA cabled it, and hooked it up to a PC power supply. Ugly, but no more problems.

As best I figure number one actually failed per Partition Commander, number two had a bad board as the LEDs went out, and number three had a loose eSATA connector so the cable wiggled. Barely nudging it would lock up my box. It was obviously a used piece of gear. Taped over serial number, rubber banded cables, sloppy packing, beat up box, and missing "warranty void if removed" sticker.

Cavalry's seem great if you get a good one but if you don't it's awful. Slow RMA process and you get to pay the shipping even for a brand new drive.

The safest bet I've read is a 1TB Western Digital, SIIG cable, and an Antec MX-1 which I could have had for less money than the Cavalry.

UPDATE: For grins I just pealed off the new serial number sticker sloppily pasted over the original one. It states, "CAXM37750, 750GB USB 2.0/SATA", so I think it is pretty clear they sent me an old case they had laying around.

The drive itself is a 1TB WD Green 10EACS. From what I have read these are good drives. I see eBay has Antec's for $47 so I'll spring for one of them.