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

[WhickedWhich]

If I understand what you mean by bridge, you won't like the results.

If you take a hard drive from one receiver, and plug it into a different receiver, the first thing it does is check the receiver ID number on the drive/receiver. If it doesn't match, it formats it.

Basically, every time you move it the drive is wiped clean.

No, sorry, wasn't clear. Not moving any physical hard drives.

The process I was describing was where someone had documented copying all of their existing recordings from the internal to the external via a Linux OS connected to the two units, eliminating the need to reset back and forth between the two should there be some recordings on the HR that you want to preserve. That one's relatively safe - if I screw up the copy to the Xtreme, I go reformat the drive and try again, my source recordings aren't lost.

In the scenario I'm describing - switching HR21s between the two rooms, and moving the HR21-700 with the functional e-SATA port into the living room - the steps would be these:

1. Copy the Model 700 hard drive to the Xtreme.
2. Write down or print the directory listing of these files for the copying back to the Model 100.
3. Copy the model 100 hard drive to the Xtreme. This may be the show-stopper right here because of the questionable state of the e-SATA port, though I did get this box to boot to/"see" the Xtreme twice (out of about 50 tries).
4. Plug the model 100 back in, fire it up, and delete the recordings off of the internal drive to free up space.
5. Bring the model 100 back to the Linux PC, and again assuming I can access the model 100's internal drive via the e-SATA port, here comes the questionable/scary part - copy the files (recordings) that were originally on the model 700 from the Xtreme to the model 100
6. I can then plug the Xtreme into the e-SATA port on the model 700, move it into the living room, and our work here is done, Tonto.

Obviously, the enormous exposure here is that if things get messed up on the model 100's internal drive by trying to write to it, I have no way to recover.

So I guess what I'm asking after all of that verbiage is if anybody has tried (via Linux) to copy a recording TO an internal drive on an HR rather than FROM one.

 

[hdtvtechno]

Hey you alll
what brand of External Hard drives do you guys have hooked up to your HR21 DVR that is working with no problems ?

Im getting fed up with my external HD.. it keeps on shutting down and deleteing shows off it..

 

[schneid]

I don't think the drive is as much as an issue as is the enclosure (controller board and connectors therein). My Antec MX-1 is rock-solid.

 

[jcrandall]

I saw a 1.5TB internal drive for $149.
eCOST.com - Online Discount Superstore home electronics, computers, laptops, mp3 players)

Now it's got me thinking about selling my 750gb Free Agents (worth about $125 used) and upgrading. The more I've had my HR20 (two years now) they've been pretty reliable. I'm starting to feel more comfortable about possibly just replacing the internal drive.

If I ever had to return it to D*, I could put the 300gb back in and just hope they don't mind the broken seal too much.

I hate wasting the space on my shelf with the external drive - and keep thinking about the wasted power and extra heat by running two drives (the internal is still powered up).

The times are a changing - 1,500 GB for $150. 10c per GB!

 

[hdtvtechno]

wow thanks jason great price

 

[jcrandall]

Man, that 1.5TB drive is down to $119, shipped.

I'm getting real close to pressing the button to order 2.

Newegg.com - Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 ST31500341AS 1.5TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive (bare drive) - Internal Hard Drives

 

[jcrandall]

Well, I broke down and ordered 2 of the 1.5TB Seagate drives.

I'm going to install them into the HR20 and replace the original drive. I've used them two years now with no problems, I'm not too woried about having to switch back in the event a HR20 needs to be replaced. I think the two I have are and will continue to run very solid.

The tricky part is going to be copying everything from my existing 750gb FreeAgent Pro's to the new drives.

There are details on how to do it in this thread at DBStalk:
How To: Copy and Replace Internal Hard Drive - DBSTalk.Com

I'll be giving it a shot sometime, perhaps Thursday. Wish me luck, I have ZERO experience in Linux. Anyone done something like this before?

Just to make everyone feel a little better - it's not a big deal if it fails, nothing on my DVR is essential, I'd just hate to lose the stuff if I don't have to.

PS - Anyone looking to buy a 750gb e-sata drive anytime soon PM me

 

[jcrandall]

I ordered a few days ago, the drives went up today to $129, but still $129 for 1.5TB with free ship is a great price.

 

[jcrandall]

So I recevied the two 1.5TB drives, and went through several hours of work to copy the data from my 750gb drives to the 1.5TB using the linux partition software referenced in this thread at dbstalk:
How To: Copy and Replace Internal Hard Drive - DBSTalk.Com

It worked, all the data moved, the partition was resized, everything was great.

Until I started using it, playback of anything previously recorded or newly recorded was subject to bad stuttering and lots of audio loss. Essentailly, the content was there, but unwatchable.

Letting the drives copy over 7 hours each, I wasn't willing to try again. There wasn't that much important stuff on my drives - so I did the handy "reset everything" and the HR20's formatted the drive.

Everything is running fine now. I have two manual timers setup to record 12 hours a day mostly overnight to try and fill the drives up. I want to get it full, and make sure it plays fine throughout the drive.

That will take a little while - with 300 hours of HD recording space, it'll be a week or so.

As for installing the drives, it wasn't bad. I did have to remove the front cover to access two screws holding the drive bay, and the plastic clamps on the inside holding the drive bay were a bit tricky - mostly in putting them back on, not removing them. The process is fairly self-explantory and not difficult. No more than 20 minutes per box, and that is working slow and careful.

Obviously I'm keeping the 300gb drives stored in case I ever need to return the box to D*. But for the foresable future - I don't see that happening.

Everything is working good - 600 hours of HD storage.

Still have one of my 750gb drives in the classified area if anyone is interested in a 150 hour HD storage solution.

 

[Smith P.]

Well, there was reports about problem with big HDD, when size of recording spill over 1 or 1.2 TB for 2 TB RAIDs.
Will wait for your results.

One thing I'm thinking ( but I need both disks for detail analysis ) - fragmentation.

 

[jcrandall]

Well I hope that isn't the case. The problems I experienced were with only 40 - 60% of the drive full, so I don't think an upper-limit is the problem.

I think fragementation may be on track. It wasn't a big deal, I was mostly curious if I could actually do the transfer successfully.

 

[Smith P.]

Then we have a request to prevent fragmentation during transfer from small to big HDD.

 

[jcrandall]

Man oh man, my stuttering problem is back, even after a clean format.

It was NOT a problem with the copy job (now that all my data is gone )

Check this link out, it is a problem with the drive:
Re: Problems with 1.5TB drive and Ubuntu Hardy - Internal (ATA and Serial ATA) drives - Seagate Community Forums

Seagate has two different firmware updates for this line of drive depending on the serial number that fixes - get this:

"pausing" specifically in RAID or "video streaming" applications across all operating systems, Windows, Mac, Linux.

Guess that is my stuttering problem killing the audio and making video very choppy.

I'll call Seagate in the morning and try to get the new firmware in.

Give me a few days and I'll report back

1.5TB for $119 is a great deal, but man - it is tough being "cutting edge" sometimes.

 

[Smith P.]

Sure.
That price look good - I bought recently 1TB for $99, now just $20 more for additional 0.5 TB.

 

[jcrandall]

Well, it took two weeks, but I have my 1.5TB internal drives working solid. I filled them completely with 24 hour / day dual MPEG4 HD recordings, and ended up with 338 hours of HD when finally reaching 0% free.

Here is a seperate thread where I've cataloged the expereince in detail:

http://www.satelliteguys.us/directv...s-terabyting-my-seagate-1-5tb-hr20-quest.html

 

[hdtvtechno]

WOW jason.. lol

 

[darrencp22]

I just hooked up a new 1TB Sata drive. Everthing seems to work great.

2 questions:

1. Is there a way to confirm the space used (beyond percentages)?
2. Anyone have a rough idea how much MPEG4 HD a 1TB drive will hold -- out out curiosity

 

[gadgtfreek]

Well, now that the AM21 is hooked up to my HR22 and Ive got 20 OTA series links per week, might be time for a ext hdd upgrade.

Here's what Im thinking:

Thermaltake MAX 4 Hard Drive Enclosure - 3.5" SATA USB 2.0 N0012US at TigerDirect.com
$49.99

Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB Hard Drive - 7200, 32MB, SATA-300, OEM WD1001FALS at TigerDirect.com
$109.99

Not bad for $163 shipped.

 

[Higgins09]

just moving files/shows between receivers

I just moved, and had my HR21's upgraded to 22's (I still have the 21's with tons of programing in them and they're still hot) and a swim system. I have a wireless G system that is encrypted for my PS3. I am looking for a way to transfer files/shows that I have paid for between receivers so that I don't have to disconnect them from the sat and move them. Any suggestions? Can I do this with a flash drive or portable SATA or any other type of drive?

Higgins

 

[Maui]

I have a Maxtor 300 gig drive that I picked up a year or so ago. It only has usb jack. Can I buy an esata cord and adapter to use this as an external drive for DVR? My DVR does not have a usb jack.