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

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Umbra_Vipera said:
I'm a little late in responding, but at this point I would recommend avoiding that model of Seagate drive at all cost for that configuration. There is a thread on DBSTALK.com (here) specifically about that drive. I purchased one with the MX-1 enclosure and it does not work correctly.

There are also several reviews on Newegg that indicate a potential QA issue with that model. Those can be found here.
Click to expand...


Wow, thanks for the info!

I'm glad I went with the cheapest stuff I read would work with the HR21...I ordered a WD 1TB drive (WD10EACS) and a Rosewill (RX353-S) enclosure with Esata cable for $180. Should get them tomorrow and I'll report my results...
 
DJ Rob said:
Wow, thanks for the info!

I'm glad I went with the cheapest stuff I read would work with the HR21...I ordered a WD 1TB drive (WD10EACS) and a Rosewill (RX353-S) enclosure with Esata cable for $180. Should get them tomorrow and I'll report my results...
Click to expand...
I ordered a WD10EVCS which should arrive tomorrow so hopefully in a few days I'll have an update as well.
 
Umbra_Vipera said:
I'm a little late in responding, but at this point I would recommend avoiding that model of Seagate drive at all cost for that configuration. There is a thread on DBSTALK.com (here) specifically about that drive. I purchased one with the MX-1 enclosure and it does not work correctly.

There are also several reviews on Newegg that indicate a potential QA issue with that model. Those can be found here.
Click to expand...

I've read through that thread and several others about that and if you read that thread it is a compatability jumper problem Seagates come set to SATA1 you need to pull the jumper off the drive to make it SATA2. I've also read the threads on NewEgg before this post and the few problems people have had could be in the allowed error limit or just accoutable to people that don't know what they are doing, I seen too many drives come back that a customer says is bad but guess what the drive was fine.

That Seagate is a good drive I would go with the NS version instead of the AS but Seagate is a much better drive then WD in price and performance I've dealt with thousands of drives in servers and notebook/PC's.

I don't personally think the HDD is the problem it is the eSATA contoller that is the issue. You could put that Seagate, jumpered for SATA2 (NO JUMPER), in the HR20/21 internally and it would work fine. But if you want to pay more for less knock yourself out it is a free world and WD needs the business.
 
Western Digital 1TB drive (WD10EACS) and Rosewill (RX353-S) enclosure work great with a HR21-100. The enclosure was $40 shipped and comes with a esata cable. The hard drive was $140 and I got both at New Egg.
 
I have an HR21 and am hoping to get an affordable RAID box working with it.
Going by what others say can be confusing because posters don't always specify whether they're working with an HR20 or an HR21.

Here's what I've gathered so far:
  • As best I can tell, those who reported success with the RS-M2TS and the NST-400MX-SR RAID enclosures had HR20's, not HR21's.
  • I can find one report of HR21 success with the DS3RPRO but multiple reports that it doesn't work.
  • Via PM's, I have heard of HR-21 success with each of the following 2 RAID boxes (1 report for each one).
    • Cavalry 2TB (presumably the CADA002SA2, but I'm not certain).
    • San Digital MS2UT (with two 750gb WD's installed within).
    Can anyone (other than the good folks who PM'd me already) confirm or deny?
Does anyone have any other kind of RAID box that works with an HR21?
 
Umbra_Vipera said:
I'm a little late in responding, but at this point I would recommend avoiding that model of Seagate drive at all cost for that configuration. There is a thread on DBSTALK.com (here) specifically about that drive. I purchased one with the MX-1 enclosure and it does not work correctly.

There are also several reviews on Newegg that indicate a potential QA issue with that model. Those can be found here.
Click to expand...

I wonder what the issues are with the HR21's, I have used a Seagate FA 750 for over a year with my HR20-700 and it worked right out of the box and worked great.

Jimbo
 
FWIW...

We know that FreeAgent Pro's don't work with HR21's.
Seagate is just now coming out with a new line of externals, the FreeAgent Xtreme.
They now have a link up. Because of my low post count, I am prevented from linking to it here.
If I could llink to it, the link would look something like this: freeagent.seagate DOT com/en-us/hard-drive/external-hard-drive/Free-Agent.html#

I've seen a report where 1 guy said he had one of these working with an HR21, but there's been no follow up to that report, so who knows? (Not me.)

This line includes various configurations, one of which has eSATA and a couple that do not.
In addition, this line not only has 500GB, 640GB, and 1TB units, it also includes 1.5TB units.
AFAIK, no vendors actually have these yet, so you can't get one yet.

For me, 1.5 TB at a tad less than $300 sounds pretty good.
Of course, what nobody really knows yet is whether these things will work with the HR21.
However, we'll probably be hearing reports before too long.
 
Confirmed: Seagate Xtreme Works With HR21!

OK, with the new tv season starting Monday...I could no longer wait for confirmation on this board that the new Seagate Xtreme would work with the HR21. I called my local Best Buy yesterday and they had two. I was quoted $229.99for the 1TB. The best price I saw online was $219 on Newegg.com so I was happy to just pick this one up. They tried charging me $259.99 at the register but I made them honor the price I was told over the phone.

I am absolutely no tech geek...but have always just followed the directions that somebody has posted. I had the FreeAgent Pro 750G with an HR20 before.
I was thrown for a little while with the Xtreme. At first...just plugging it in would not seem to make it come "alive". I felt it turn on but then it seemed to just go to sleep right away and the light never came on. I retried this a few times with the same "no results".

I then figured out that it also need to be connected to something "live". When I plugged it in, and connected it to my laptop with the USB cable...it came right on. I did this after going to Seagate.com and reading that it is supposed to go to sleep after 15 minutes and that you could use the Seagate Tools to set it not to go to sleep. I have no idea if you really need to do this or not...but that's what I did.

It then took about 3 tries of connecting it to my DVR and rebooting the thing before I got it to work. I knew from the FreeAgent that I should have the Xtreme "on" first...before plugging it into the DVR.

For awhile It wasn't turning on first. I just kept rebooting the dvr hoping it (Xtreme) would turn on before the DVR needed to recognize it (I had the DVR plugged in already). After a few minutes of this not working...I uplugged the DVR and saw that now, the Xtreme was still "on" (I don't know why it was suddenly staying on...and didn't care).

It was then that I plugged the DVR back in and then rebooted it. IT BOOTED RIGHT TO THE XTREME! It's working flawlessly and I recorded 21.5 hours of HD and 3.5 hours of SD overnight...and am at 85% still available.

I would have jumped on the 1.5TB but no one at Seagate could tell me when in October it would be available...and I couldn't wait. Hopefully, they'll have a 2 or 3 TB version available for next tv season...and I'll be done upgrading.

Hope this helps...the Xtreme definitely is a Plug 'n Play solution for the HR21 (with a few learning experiences for me).
 
New season starting Monday! It already started :D



Glad you like it. My 640gig WD will come in handy, I currently have 24 hours/week scheduled right now to record hehe.
 
Aztecs said:
[stuff deleted]

Hope this helps...the Xtreme definitely is a Plug 'n Play solution for the HR21 (with a few learning experiences for me).
Click to expand...
Thanks for the info. It would be great if you could give a follow-up report after a week or two.

For others who might be unclear about how to connect an external eSATA drive, this appears to be the most reliable sequence:
  • Disconnect power to HR21 (or HR20)
  • Connect eSATA drive to the HR via eSATA cable. (Don't force the cable: there is a top and a bottom to each end of the eSATA cable. It should fit in easily. If it doesn't, it's probably upside-down.)
  • Power up the external drive and give it a few seconds to get up to speed.
  • Once the external drive has had a chance to get going, then restore power to the HR box.
Once everything is connected properly, if you wish to go back and forth between using the internal drive and the external drive:
  • There is no need to disconnect the external drive's eSATA cable.
  • Instead, simply disconnect power from the HR and, while the HR is off, use the on/off switch on the external drive, depending on whether you want to use the internal or external drive.
  • Once the external drive is either on or off (depending on which drive you want to use), then restore power to the HR.
  • The rule-of-thumb is:
    • The HR will use the external drive *if* it's on and up-to-speed when the HR is powered up;
    • The HR will use its internal drive *if* the external drive is not on and/or not up-to-speed when the HR powers up.
Thus, you can alternate between the 2 drives by using the external drive's on/off switch without risking wear to the eSATA connection by repeatedly connecting and disconnecting that cable.
 
The rule-of-thumb is:
  • The HR will use the external drive *if* it's on and up-to-speed when the HR is powered up;
  • The HR will use its internal drive *if* the external drive is not on and/or not up-to-speed when the HR powers up.
russdog,

Thanks for the comments and info. There's one big difference between this new Xtreme and the FreeAgent Pro I had with the HR20...The FAP came on and stayed on, under it's own power and the Xtreme doesn't like to do that (it likes to also be plugged into something that is on).

Just as when I first installed the Xtreme...it took about 5 tries again to do what you posted to "swap" hard drives. It seems to take several tries before suddenly the Xtreme is "staying on" before the HR needs to recognize it.

Granted...everything works fine and still no problems at all with the Xtreme...but it would be nice if it came on...and stayed on (under it's sole power) like the FAP.

I'll guess we'll have to wait for someone else to get this setup and either confirm what I'm saying...or hopefully show me something I can do differenty.

I understand what you're saying...because I did it all that way when I had the FAP and the HR20. There are a few hiccups now...but it does still work just like the old setup.

Thanks again.
 
Last edited:
Update, Two Things:

1. My Xtreme 1TB is still working flawlessly.

2. Best Buy is holding the new Xtreme 1.5 TB for me. That's right...I noticed at the Seagate.com store that it was now available. I called my Best Buy and they had one in the back room and pulled it out for me. I'm picking it up today and will be returning the 1TB on Monday.

I currently have 6 hours of HD shows on the 1TB and it shows 97% free. That means the 1TB should hold between 170-200 hours of HD shows. So the 1.5TB should hold 250-300 hours...and be all I'll ever need (I guess until they come out with full 1080P).
 
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