Newb Dumb Equipment Questions

[AriesGodofWar]

I am a Dish to DirecTV convert and have some dumb newb questions just for my own knowledge. My installer was a nice guy, but new himself, and it was apparent he knew little more than I did. 2 Questions:

1. I have an HR-24 and 2 H-24s. Does either the DVR, or HD boxes support an external hard drive? I have a 500Gb Hard drive I used with my former VIP622. Any use for that with DirecTV, or should I just add to my desktop for extra storage space?

2. What does the /xxx after the model mean? Like HR-24/xxx and H-24/xxx? I am not sure what version my HR is, but I think my H-24s are H-24/200s. Is there a guide anywhere that details the differences for my own curiosity? I noticed that it looks like from the CE program that different versions get different firmware releases, even if the same model?

 

[mdram]

the drive can be attached to the hr24, it will be used instead of the internal
the xxx is who made the device, iirc

 

[AriesGodofWar]

the drive can be attached to the hr24, it will be used instead of the internal
the xxx is who made the device, iirc

Great, thanks. About the hard drive, what do I need to do to use it? It is still formatted from when I used it on my Dish VIP622. Is it something I can just plug in and it will detect, or do I need to take some other steps? Instructions anywhere?


Added: Nevermind, found this: http://www.directv.com/DTVAPP/global/article.jsp?assetId=P5980155 Will give it a try. Thanks!

 

[wildbill129]

No dumb questions here...welcome to DirecTV!

1. DirecTV requires eSata drives. So if the drive you used with your VIP622 was eSata it will work. No reason to use it though. The internal drive is 500gb on the HR24 and one replaces the other, they don't combine to make more space.

2. There isn't any difference in the HR25-500 vs. 200 that I can remember. Just different manufacturers.

 

[mdram]

i think the hr24 has a 500gb, so you wont be gaining anything
i havent connected to mine so i am not sure how it works
might be something on the diretv site

 

[AriesGodofWar]

Great, thanks. About the hard drive, what do I need to do to use it? It is still formatted from when I used it on my Dish VIP622. Is it something I can just plug in and it will detect, or do I need to take some other steps? Instructions anywhere?


Added: Nevermind, found this: DIRECTV: Tips & Tricks: Connect an External Hard Drive Will give it a try. Thanks!

Next dumb question, the DirecTV site references eSATA. Shall I assume that a USB 2.0 drive such as the Seagate Free Agent 500GB USB 2.0 (Amazon.com: Seagate FreeAgent 500 GB 3.5-Inch USB 2.0 Hard Drive ST305004FDA1E1-RK: Electronics) will not work? Can you use a USB 2.0 to eSATA adapter and have it work?

 

[mdram]

i would suggest getting a hd and case seperate
the external case i bought for the pc has esata, usb, and firewire
Newegg.com - VANTEC 360UFS-BK Aluminum 3.5" Black USB 2.0/eSATA/FireWire 400(1394a) External Enclosure

put your hd of choice in and go

 

[JerseyMatt]

There are adapters for eSATA to USB, but they are actually the reverse of what you need. They are designed to plug an eSATA hard drive into a USB port. They will not work the other way around. As mdram said, the best thing is to get an external hard drive enclosure that has an eSATA port, and then get a huge hard drive to put into it. You can go up to 2TB. The 2.5 and 3TB drives are out now, but you can not use them because they require special configuration which the HR24 won't support. Go as big as you can afford, because the external drive REPLACES the internal drive - it doesn't add to it. So adding a 1TB drive will double your capacity, not triple as you would expect.

Oh and just a couple other tidbits.. Either put the external drive out of sight, or cut the wire to the activity LED when you are assembling it. It blinks constantly even when watching live TV (using the buffer), and it's obnoxious if it's anywhere in your field of vision. Also, if you can go physically look at the enclosure at best buy or micro center, check to see that the power connector locks in place. If the power gets cut off while the drive is being accessed, you can lose data or corrupt the drive. You don't want to lose your whole drive because you were reaching behind for some reason and knocked the power connector out.