Pop-up message: “The EHD will need to be formatted and all information will be lost”

[Paradox-SJ]

Current Setup>
STB: VIP622
Switch: DPP44
SAT: 119/110/61.5
EHD: Seagate FreeAgent 500GB

When I arrived home last night I tried to tune into one of the new HD channel for the first time and the follow is what occurred:

• The screen went black
• Then the searching for sat screen came up
• It stayed on this screen for 5-8 min never completing
• Then the box was locked up
• I did a hard rest (pulled the plug)
• The box rebooted fine
• I was then able to access the new HD channels

Now when I go to access my EHD FreeAgent I get the popup screen that says “the drive will need to be formatted and all information will be lost”.

• I have been using my EHD since it became available and I have not had any issue with it

As you can imagine I do not want to lose all the achieved events that I have stored on my EHD. So my questions is:

• Has anyone else seen this issue?
• Is there away around it so that I don’t lose all my achieved events?


Thanks in advance!

 

[8bitbytes]

Power down the EHD, remove power cord.
Unplug the EHD from the receiver.
Reboot the receiver.
Power up the EHD.
Plug it back into the receiver and see what happens.

FreeAgent drives go to sleep and can have problems. There is a utility to turn off the sleep mode.

 

[Paradox-SJ]

Power down the EHD, remove power cord.
Unplug the EHD from the receiver.
Reboot the receiver.
Power up the EHD.
Plug it back into the receiver and see what happens.

FreeAgent drives go to sleep and can have problems. There is a utility to turn off the sleep mode.

I turned off the sleep mode on the EHD before I put it into service.

 

[8bitbytes]

I turned off the sleep mode on the EHD before I put it into service.

Ouch!
Did your DVR ever ask to update the drive with the new account key?

Hopefully the lockup didn't mess up the receiver data on the EHD.

Did you try the steps I listed?

 

[Paradox-SJ]

Ouch!
Did your DVR ever ask to update the drive with the new account key?

Hopefully the lockup didn't mess up the receiver data on the EHD.

Did you try the steps I listed?

No, it was working fine up to the point of not being able to access the new HD channels.

It has never asked to update the account key.

 

[Jim5506]

Call Dish and have the Tech send an EHD hit to your receiver. It's not in their scripts, but I've read several posts where it has revived a cranky EHD.

 

[David_Levin]

Did your household key change before/after the crash ?

Yes, ask for a rehit of your receiver.

 

[Paradox-SJ]

Did your household key change before/after the crash ?

Yes, ask for a rehit of your receiver.

What is a household key and how would I know if it changed?

To the best of my knowledge it has not changed.

I spoke with tech-supp and the said there is nothing that they can do. They also went on to say that I am not the only one to have this problem.

They said if the DVR does not recognize the formating on the drive then it will do exactly what it is doing. They can not explain why from one min to the next it no longer recognizes the drive as being formated properly.

I connected the EHD to my PC and took at look at it with Partition Magic and there are two Linux ext2 encrypted partitions on the device.

Does anyone know if they can be mounted and copied / cloned to another recognizable EHD device?

I really do not one to loose what is on there!

 

[Jim5506]

REPEAT - INSIST that they re-authorize EHD on your receiver.

Don't take no for an answer.

 

[Jim5506]

BTY - where does on see his household key?

 

[David_Levin]

Household Key - This has been covered...

You have to go to the diagnostics screen and look at the "counters". It's down a few screens.

The key is sent with the satellite stream. All boxes in your house should have the same key. It's used to mate the drive. If the key on the 622/722 changes or is lost the external drive will not communicate.

 

[RandallA]

What is a household key and how would I know if it changed?

To the best of my knowledge it has not changed.

I spoke with tech-supp and the said there is nothing that they can do. They also went on to say that I am not the only one to have this problem.

They said if the DVR does not recognize the formating on the drive then it will do exactly what it is doing. They can not explain why from one min to the next it no longer recognizes the drive as being formated properly.

I connected the EHD to my PC and took at look at it with Partition Magic and there are two Linux ext2 encrypted partitions on the device.

Does anyone know if they can be mounted and copied / cloned to another recognizable EHD device?

I really do not one to loose what is on there!

As Smith, P. would say: search is your friend.

I wrote a step by step procedure to copy your recordings using an Ubuntu box.

http://www.satelliteguys.us/dish-ne...-how-transfer-recordings-one-ehd-another.html

You could then let the receiver re-format the drive and copy back your recordings.

 

[charlesrshell]

Did your household key change before/after the crash ?

Yes, ask for a rehit of your receiver.

My EHD is connected to a 722 and is working good. No problems since I installed it 8 months ago. I checked all my 722's household key numbers. Two of them have the same key number. The third one which has the EHD connected is different. I have never tried moving the EHD to the other DVRs. I am thinking of installing another EHD on another 722. Two questions. How come all my 722s do not have the same key number? If I move the present EHD to another 722 will I have trouble with it because of the different key numbers? Thank you for this good info you have shared with us. I wish there was someplace that explained what all the counters met.

 

[ralfyguy]

My household key numbers are all zero's. What does yall's say?

 

[charlesrshell]

My household key numbers are all zero's. What does yall's say?

722s
0X208A1864
0X208A1866 2 ea

625
0X00000000

 

[KAB]

722s
0X208A1864
0X208A1866 2 ea

625
0X00000000

Well your 722s look fine. But you do know the 625 is not EHD capable, right?

 

[charlesrshell]

Well your 722s look fine. But you do know the 625 is not EHD capable, right?

Yes, I know that the 625 is not EHD capable. Shouldn't all my 722 key numbers be the same?

 

[KAB]

Yes, I know that the 625 is not EHD capable. Shouldn't all my 722 key numbers be the same?

Yeh, I missed the top number. Like has been said before, call tech support and tell them to re-hit all three receivers.

 

[charlesrshell]

Yeh, I missed the top number. Like has been said before, call tech support and tell them to re-hit all three receivers.

OK, thanks KAB. Do I tell them I want an EHD hit? Is there different kinds of hits they can send? Are these key numbers only important for the EHD? They said the other nite on Tech Forum that you only have to pay the one time $39.99 fee for your home account. I guess you can get as many EHDs you want for all the DVRs that can work them in your home. Is this what the key number thing is all about? Sorry for all the questions. Just trying to learn all this satellite stuff and I/we appreciate all your help.

 

[KAB]

OK, thanks KAB. Do I tell them I want an EHD hit? Is there different kinds of hits they can send? Are these key numbers only important for the EHD? They said the other nite on Tech Forum that you only have to pay the one time $39.99 fee for your home account. I guess you can get as many EHDs you want for all the DVRs that can work them in your home. Is this what the key number thing is all about? Sorry for all the questions. Just trying to learn all this satellite stuff and I/we appreciate all your help.

Just explain to them that one of the three receivers has a different household key. And yes, that is what the household key is about. Right now, the one with the odd number is reporting it's not in your household. Make sure you have those numbers handy when you call.