Congratulations! Try recording a hi-def show and then watch it noting any glitches while recording TWO hi-def shows. (That's when the "system" is working the hardest.) And then watch each of those noting any glitches. For further - accelerated - testing, record hi-def content on it filling it as quickly as possible. When it's nearly full, repeat the previous test I mentioned. If it's gonna fail, it would do it on one of the tests.

Methinks the hardest stress is recording 2 HD at the same time WHILE playing back a third HD show. I've actually done that; it's supposed to work that way and it does!

I'd be cautious about the glitches though. Those interruptions sure as hell happen when no external drive is attached. In the past 6 months, I recall 2 times where it was so bad and frequent, I couldn't watch it at all. And I recall numerous times I see very minor and momentary glitches, ones that don't obscure any dialog (and ones that might "hide" half a line).

Not sure anything has changed in the past 6 months, but I did read some comparisons regarding SATA I and SATA II (150 vs. 300). The benchmarking seemed to demonstrate that the II drives achieved their top speeds (which was NOT double a I system) only in short bursts. Over the course of time, they averaged almost identical I/O times to the I drives.

If you think about writing HD video to disk, you'll see that it needs steady far more than it needs burst speeds.

Ahhhh. That why your post flummoxed me a bit... it sounded like the bug got fixed. Indeed I am aware of that "theory" AND find that it makes actual sense, despite the fact that "sense" and "cable company" shouldn't be used together in the same sentence!
SA giveth and SA taketh away. After a few more movies being recorded (on the internal drive), live TV trick play is once again gone . . .

Rosewill RX353S enclosure using a Seagate 7200.10 ST3500630AS 500GB HD w/ 16MB Cache. I added it to the database.
I've noticed some people didn't get it to work. I did, but only after many tries. The first time I tried, it crashed the whole PVR with an ERROR and it counted down from 255 to 0 in binary, it was quite scary. I hard booted it and it came back to life.
Here's the trick to getting this drive to work:
This drive comes in SATA-I mode with a jumper to limit the speed to 1.5 MBps. Remove the jumper, then connect it to your PC and initialize (not format) the drive.
Then you can hard-boot the PVR with the hard drive and it will format, then hard boot again and it recognizes it. Tested by recording 2 HD programs and playing back a third, no glitches, but we'll see as time goes on.

UForgotten, the part where you initialize the drive on a PC, do you need to use a Sata 2 controller, or did you just use Sata? I have a 7200.10 that I *hoped* to replace this weekend, but the bad weather out west has delayed my new drive...got a bit of time to play with and your "fix" intrigues me.

Thanks,

germar

UForgotten, the part where you initialize the drive on a PC, do you need to use a Sata 2 controller, or did you just use Sata? I have a 7200.10 that I *hoped* to replace this weekend, but the bad weather out west has delayed my new drive...got a bit of time to play with and your "fix" intrigues me.
A SATA300 drive should automatically drop back to SATA150 data rate when connected to a SATA150 controller. If not, you can force SATA150 with a jumper.

UForgotten, the part where you initialize the drive on a PC, do you need to use a Sata 2 controller, or did you just use Sata? I have a 7200.10 that I *hoped* to replace this weekend, but the bad weather out west has delayed my new drive...got a bit of time to play with and your "fix" intrigues me.


The enclosure I bought has a dual esata/usb backplane. To make things faster I just used the USB port to my PC, just to make sure the drive was alive.
It might not _need_ to be initialized, but it didn't partition the drive until I did.
I think the SATA 2 jumper may have helped.

Edit: The box still crashes mid-recording. Just took longer for it to do it this time. :mad: If it was glitching, I could live with it. But it takes the whole PVR down with an error and then it counts down from 255 to 0. Had to unplug it twice to resurrect it.

Has anybody had luck with eSATA external drives with TW San Diego 8300HD devices? I have searched this very long thread and can't seem to find any reference. And if so, could someone reccomend an enclosure and drive that is "known " to work. I can't wait to get started if it's working with TW SD and passport 2.5.066. Any help would greatly be appreciated. Thanks!

Has anybody had luck with eSATA external drives with TW San Diego 8300HD devices? I have searched this very long thread and can't seem to find any reference. And if so, could someone reccomend an enclosure and drive that is "known " to work. I can't wait to get started if it's working with TW SD and passport 2.5.066. Any help would greatly be appreciated. Thanks!So far, the SA8300 external drive capability is only dependent on the software. All SARA supports it, and newer versions of Passport (yours included) support it with some limitations. So check out what works for the Passport users here - no matter where they are. ;)

So far, the SA8300 external drive capability is only dependent on the software. All SARA supports it, and newer versions of Passport (yours included) support it with some limitations. So check out what works for the Passport users here - no matter where they are. ;)
Ha ha!

lane87: It's all good. Pretty much any drive works with Passport. I can't recall any Passporters having compatibility issues. I do have a recommendation that you get an external enclosure with no circuitry between the drive and the 8300HD. That is an oblique way of saying: No other outputs than eSATA, though I've seen posts from members who'd been told by vendors that the USB circuitry . . in an enclosure they were selling . . "didn't affect the SATA datastream" - in essence "in parallel" My second recommendation, and one that I am less exercised about, is that it have active cooling, i.e. a fan.

It would behoove you (always wanted to say that :D) to read the first post and all the links you find there. The more you know, the better.

lane87 I certainly don't disagree with pepar's advice about enclosures. But it's distinctly possible that TW and its software could some day disable the use of external drives, in which event you might want to be able to put your drive and enclosure to another use. If that would involve hooking them up to a PC and your PC doesn't support SATA drives, having an enclosure with both eSTATA and USB ports would be a good thing. I'm using two eSATA/USB Apricorn enclosures with my external drives and haven't had any problems.

lane87 I certainly don't disagree with pepar's advice about enclosures. But it's distinctly possible that TW and its software could some day disable the use of external drives, in which event you might want to be able to put your drive and enclosure to another use. If that would involve hooking them up to a PC and your PC doesn't support SATA drives, having an enclosure with both eSTATA and USB ports would be a good thing. I'm using two eSATA/USB Apricorn enclosures with my external drives and haven't had any problems.
lane87: That's also good advice to consider. There are no guarantees that the drive will work "forever" or even . . now. Having a ready Plan B is not a bad idea.

If you have a recently purchased/built PC, there's a good chance you have a (spare) SATA port onboard. Unless you have a packed case, there's a good chance you have physical space as well. If that is the case, then an enclosure with USB output is not necessary.

Read a lot, specifically enclosure specs, and ask any question that comes to mind.

Check out this link, $.40/G:

http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6404745.html?display=Breaking+News

Check out this link, $.40/G:

http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6404745.html?display=Breaking+News
Good stuff! Thanks. :)

Thanks for the quick reply and great info guys! I'm a CS guy and work for HP and have built many of a PC. If I can ever help anyone on thier HP stuff just ask and I'll try my best.

Since I have several enclosures sitting around but they are all usb/firewire combos it's no sweat getting one more dedicated to eSATA just to have some extra storage (for X amount of time) for the DVR. So I guess I'll drop a $138 and go for it. Based on the first post, I had this sitting in my basket at newegg and it should do fine considering the performance of perpendicular drives and a nice 16MB buffer.

AZiO ENC311SU31 3.5" eSATA + USB 2.0 External Enclosure - Retail
Model #: ENC311SU31

Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3320620AS (Perpendicular Recording Technology) 320GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM

If that's not a good decision please advise. Off to CES 2007 in the morning and would like to get this ordered before I go. Love having packages at the door when I get home from trips. :-) I'll be sure to check out that Hitachi drive while I'm there as well.

Thanks again guys.

Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3320620AS (Perpendicular Recording Technology) 320GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM

Being in the PC biz, you should be familiar with the expression YMMV. My mileage has been very varied with the same drive in the 500GB version. Reading this thread it has been abundantly clear that some people have had successes with the same drives/enclosures where others have failed. So the best I can say is good luck.

Based on the first post, I had this sitting in my basket at newegg and it should do fine considering the performance of perpendicular drives and a nice 16MB buffer.

AZiO ENC311SU31 3.5" eSATA + USB 2.0 External Enclosure - Retail
Model #: ENC311SU31

Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3320620AS (Perpendicular Recording Technology) 320GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
No SARA user has had success with PRT drives. And you will be, I think, the first Passport user to try. Or at least the first to post his intentions to use a 7200.10 drive. Please keep us "posted!"

(Personally, I'm betting you'll have success.)

Being in the PC biz, you should be familiar with the expression YMMV. My mileage has been very varied with the same drive in the 500GB version. Reading this thread it has been abundantly clear that some people have had successes with the same drives/enclosures where others have failed. So the best I can say is good luck.
Remember, he's on Passport, and that (seems) to make all the difference in the world.

No SARA user has had success with PRT drives. And you will be, I think, the first Passport user to try. Or at least the first to post his intentions to use a 7200.10 drive. Please keep us "posted!"

(Personally, I'm betting you'll have success.)

He probably will -- that's the same drive (the Seagate ST3320620AS) that I've been using successfully under Passport. But I bought it before learning of the PRT/7200.10 issues under SARA. Since we don't yet know what incompatibility problems Mystro/Navigator will introduce, I don't think that I'd repeat that purchase today.

A SATA300 drive should automatically drop back to SATA150 data rate when connected to a SATA150 controller. If not, you can force SATA150 with a jumper.

Arghhh, I actually had the chance to demonstrate this a long while back when I got 2 300 drives to use with a system that didn't support 3.0G at the controller point. I just jumpered them for 150 from the git go instead of seeing for sure that it would drop to 150. I HAD read some stories about 300 drives not being recognized by a 150 controller.

Check out this link, $.40/G:

http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6404745.html?display=Breaking+News

I too noted that the value (cost/MB) seemed quite good. I'n actually hoping that all of them get T drives on the market, because that might move the best value/sweet spot point (lowest cost/MB) from the current 300-320 to 500.

Speaking of $/gigabyte, Best Buy's new ad this morning has the 500 gb Western Digital Sata drive for only $0.30/gb (or $0.27/gb if you have one of their 10% off coupons and you get there quick - expire today!). This is the external hard drive I now have and after 1 week it seems to work great. My only problem is with the eSata - eSata cable provided with my Vantec enclosure. I get an error message if I move the external HD or STB even slightly ("external hard drive is not functioning properly . . . "). This has been solved rather easily each time with a reboot.

Anyone know if SARA version 1.87.16.1 on a Cox SA 8300HD PVR, will allow the use of the Seagate ST3500601XS-RK 500GB eSATA External Hard Drive to be added successfully ?

Dan,

I see you took "part" of my advice. :) There is a database of drive experiences linked in the first post in this thread. It may already have what you are looking for. Otherwise, I'm sure someone here will chime in with some comments.

I don't have time to read through 135 pages, so forgive me if this has been asked. Does anyone know how the new Mystro software will effect those that have external drives installed? Thanks.

I understand that the external drive is running 24/7.

How long will it last?

Thanks.

Pierre

I understand that the external drive is running 24/7.

How long will it last?

Thanks.

Pierre
You need to look at each drive's specs for MTBF (Mean Time Before Failure) and even that is "mean time" (average) which is essentially meaningless in predicting how long any individual drive will last.

So I guess the answer is "nobody knows." :)

Just keep it cool.

I understand that the external drive is running 24/7.


The internal drive, too. I understand that on some SARA systems, it's possibile to configure the DVR to spin-down the drives late at night. On Passport systems, it's been reported that the same effect can be achieved by switching both tuners to a non-recordable channel (like VOD) before going to bed.

The internal drive, too. I understand that on some SARA systems, it's possibile to configure the DVR to spin-down the drives late at night. On Passport systems, it's been reported that the same effect can be achieved by switching both tuners to a non-recordable channel (like VOD) before going to bed.
My internal drive stops after a while, but the external drive never stops.

I hope it'll last a few years.

Pierre

I understand that the external drive is running 24/7.

How long will it last?

Thanks.

PierreI have had two Western Digital internal drives fail, each within 6 months of the build date for the 8300HD. Both of my Seagate external drives have been running for over a year without issue. My external drives are cooled by fans inside the enclosures. I have no idea whether the internal drives are cooled by fans or otherwise.

There is no definitive answer to your question.

Scarlett

I don't have time to read through 135 pages, so forgive me if this has been asked. Does anyone know how the new Mystro software will effect those that have external drives installed? Thanks.There was a (just one) report in last couple of weeks that the external drive did work with the TW Digital Navigator.

The internal drive, too. I understand that on some SARA systems, it's possibile to configure the DVR to spin-down the drives late at night. On Passport systems, it's been reported that the same effect can be achieved by switching both tuners to a non-recordable channel (like VOD) before going to bed.

Indeed that is the case with Passport (well, with my current rev AND location). I actually tried it out for a few nights; but it's a bit of a bother to deal with both tuners and by the time I'm ready for sleep, I'm in no mood for a tons of button presses. Then again, all my equipment is very well ventilated.

Indeed that is the case with Passport (well, with my current rev AND location). I actually tried it out for a few nights; but it's a bit of a bother to deal with both tuners and by the time I'm ready for sleep, I'm in no mood for a tons of button presses. Then again, all my equipment is very well ventilated.I agree, it’s easier to suggest than to do (for me at least). :)

I very rarely remember to do the tuner swap out and get both tuners on a VOD. However, I believe the gurgling sounds are reduced just by setting the start up channel as a VOD.

Indeed that is the case with Passport (well, with my current rev AND location). I actually tried it out for a few nights; but it's a bit of a bother to deal with both tuners and by the time I'm ready for sleep, I'm in no mood for a tons of button presses. Then again, all my equipment is very well ventilated.

I put a macro on my universal remote (MX-500) that does this, and turns off the TV and tuner at the same time with one button press!

There was a (just one) report in last couple of weeks that the external drive did work with the TW Digital Navigator.

Whew!

PRT drive and dual mode (usb/eSATA) enclosure working with Passport 2.5.066! Well, the drive formatted at least and diag screen shows all my new capacity. Wont know for sure until I fill up the internal drive right? I know it looks like I ignored your advice pepar, but I wanted a solution that I could use with any PC if things didn't work out. Anyhow, this was a dirt cheap solution and although the encloser lacks active cooling it is all aluminum, very well ventilated, great asthetics and almost acts like a heatsink due to it's very thin profile. Also, this new PRT drive has some great performance specs, is very quiet and so far has felt nice and cool during operation. I am currently runing it in 1.5G mode. Thanks for all the help gang!

AZiO ENC311SU31 3.5" eSATA + USB 2.0 External Enclosure - Retail
Model #: ENC311SU31

Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3320620AS (Perpendicular Recording Technology) 320GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM

Wont know for sure until I fill up the internal drive right?

No. The 8300HD records programs on whichever drive has the most free space. You will probably not resume recording on the internal drive until the external is pretty full and you've deleted some stuff that you recorded before adding the external drive. You'll know that's happening when "trick play" features start working again, however briefly.

PRT drive and dual mode (usb/eSATA) enclosure working with Passport 2.5.066! Well, the drive formatted at least and diag screen shows all my new capacity. Wont know for sure until I fill up the internal drive right? I know it looks like I ignored your advive pepar but I wanted a solution that I could use with any PC if things didn't work out. Anyhow, this was a dirt cheap solution and although the encloser lacks active cooling it is all aluminum, very well ventilated, great asthetics and almost acts like a heatsink due to it's very thin profile. Also, this new PRT drive has some great performance specs, is very quiet and so far has felt nice and cool during operation. I am currently runing it in 1.5G mode. Thanks for all the help gang!

AZiO ENC311SU31 3.5" eSATA + USB 2.0 External Enclosure - Retail
Model #: ENC311SU31

Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3320620AS (Perpendicular Recording Technology) 320GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM

Have you tried the stress test? Recording 2 HD shows while playing one back?

xnappo

PRT drive and dual mode (usb/eSATA) enclosure working with Passport 2.5.066! Well, the drive formatted at least and diag screen shows all my new capacity. Wont know for sure until I fill up the internal drive right? I know it looks like I ignored your advive pepar but I wanted a solution that I could use with any PC if things didn't work out.
Cool, glad it's working! We were just making you aware of the issues to consider. You did, and arrived at your own decision based on your needs.

I am on Rogers Cable (SARA Firmware) and I have had success with Hard-drive Encloser from "Vantec: NexStar 3 NST-360SU-BK" coupled with a "Western Digital / WD3200KS Western Digital Caviar 320GB SATA (WD3200KS) 7200RPM 16MB Buffer (OEM)" hard-drive.

I am on Rogers Cable (SARA Firmware) and I have had success with Hard-drive Encloser from "Vantec: NexStar 3 NST-360SU-BK" coupled with a "Western Digital / WD3200KS Western Digital Caviar 320GB SATA (WD3200KS) 7200RPM 16MB Buffer (OEM)" hard-drive.
netsan,

How about putting an entry in the database found here (http://baseportal.com/baseportal/xnappo/main). :)

This happened to me a few days ago AND it wasn't the first time. Now I do not have an external drive (yet). But I HAVE done what I read about as the "solution" to the trick play bug. Which was to use the "record" button.

Here's the scenario, I'm watching something, the phone rings. I usually hit "pause" and resume when the conversation is over, while also FFing through commercials. I realize that this particular conversation may very well last more than an hour, so I hit the record button and answer yes to the "record show" dialog.

A long time later, I decide I want to watch it so I start it from my recorded shows list. Guess what? The ONLY content recorded was from the start of that show to the point I hit "record!" All I can do is re-watch the first 5-10 minutes. I look, closer at the listing and see the box "knew" it didn't record the whole thing at it said "8:00 to 8:12" for the time.

I then remember that this exact scenario has happened to me before. Not terribly frequently, maybe 2-3 times in 8 months. Of course, it also kinda "strengthens" my decision to forgo the drive and instead modify behavior to stay on top of running the recorded shows quicker than I used to. As in a "resolve" to not pileup content. It's working so far, I'm not losing anything. But I'd still "PREFER" to have the ability to pile up things, but not enough that I "risk" having things like what I described above happen to me.

I then remember that this exact scenario has happened to me before. Not terribly frequently, maybe 2-3 times in 8 months. Of course, it also kinda "strengthens" my decision to forgo the drive and instead modify behavior to stay on top of running the recorded shows quicker than I used to. As in a "resolve" to not pileup content. It's working so far, I'm not losing anything. But I'd still "PREFER" to have the ability to pile up things, but not enough that I "risk" having things like what I described above happen to me.
Seems like it's happening to you anyway. Might as well add the capacity. :)

I'm kind of cracked up and also a little perterbed (at myself). I should have checked AVS first, but I actually had TW come out today and replace my 8300HD. Now there were other things going on with it as well, but one of the main reasons was that the live DVR functionality didn't work. Little did I know this was a known issue with Passport and external drives. Well hopefully the new Navigator won't have the same issue.

I just set up a Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD5000KS 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard with an AZiO ENC311SU31 3.5" eSATA + USB 2.0 External Enclosure as an external drive on my Comcast 8300HD box. Seems to work fine, I recorded 2 hd broadcasts simultaneously with no problems. Then was able to watch one show while recording another. The Comcast box is SARA OS Home Server 1.4 firmware 1.87.23.1.

I just set up a Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD5000KS 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard with an AZiO ENC311SU31 3.5" eSATA + USB 2.0 External Enclosure as an external drive on my Comcast 8300HD box. Seems to work fine, I recorded 2 hd broadcasts simultaneously with no problems. Then was able to watch one show while recording another. The Comcast box is SARA OS Home Server 1.4 firmware 1.87.23.1.

Congrats and thanks for the database entry!

xnappo

Confirmed working

Seagate 500GB 7200.10 SATA drive
NexStar 360SU enclosure. The enclosure has an eSata connector and so does the 8300HD. So the supplied cable works fine.

It took a couple of reboots but it finally recognized it.

Confirmed working

Seagate 500GB 7200.10 SATA drive
NexStar 360SU enclosure

It took a couple of reboots but it finally recognized it.

Passport or Sara? Did you try stress test?

xnappo

It was SARA. I haven't gotten a chance to stress test but it appeared to record 2 shows at once without any problems.

Success!

I I just set up a Maxtor 500GB Quickview 3H500FO SATA 3drive with a Rosewill RX353-S enclosure to my 8300HD.

Box is from Charter running SARA in Fairfield County Connecticut

Recording space went from 99% down to 22%

OK it's been a while since I've chimed in.

Today, (it seemed to take me a little longer than others) I finally figured out what everyone was talking about 'trick play'. I had thought I was not affected by it, but I guess I have the same status as everyone else. hehee

I completely understand this trick play thing and yes, I miss it. I really didn't think it mattered that much but it really is a nice feature and I miss it.

I guess from the reading it (trick play) will return after I fill up the external drive, which I had believe it or not. New Year's Eve/Day, I recorded every episode of The Twilight Zone which SCI-FI was running their yearly marathon of the show, and I still had some room for more than a few movies. But I did have the feature back until I decided to deleted the shows I didn't care about anymore. I tend to do a lot of housekeeping.

And yes, I've read some of the work arounds but you have to be active about it.

I am curious as to the drive spin down thing of programming the box to tune to VOD channels on both tuners. Is that really worth the trouble. Doesn't the DVR do housekeeping at the wee hours of the morning like defrag or something like that? I had assumed it did with all the noise the internal drive had made (this was prior to installing the external drive). And yes, I have a drive light on the external and it's almost always flashing.

Oh yes, I'd also like to report that so far I have a total of 7 fans running (not including the one inside the external drive enclosure) 4 of them are exhausting the hot air as described in my past mention of the TV cabinet cool down project. The remaining 3 are just moving the air around inside, their not pulling outside air into the cabinet. I have two more holes drilled that I will be installing 2 remaining fans.

I get the air about 10 degrees cooler when operating, and when they are off and I'm using the equipment, it goes to about 87 degrees.

And to answer some advance question about the noise, well, I have tendintous (spelling? ringing in the ears) and I need some white noise to block that so it doesn't bother me too much. But I do have it turned off when I sleep (this is all in my bedroom).

Funny thing also (off topic, sorry) yesterday, I just lost my computer's external drive with all my media files on it (pictures, music, videos). The power supply burned up. Having the unit replaced (still under warranty from IOGear). I am totally bummed out. My only back up of the stuff was from Sept. I probably should have purchased two SATA drives when doing the DVR project!

Rob

I am curious as to the drive spin down thing of programming the box to tune to VOD channels on both tuners. Is that really worth the trouble. Doesn't the DVR do housekeeping at the wee hours of the morning like defrag or something like that? I had assumed it did with all the noise the internal drive had made (this was prior to installing the external drive). And yes, I have a drive light on the external and it's almost always flashing.That's a tough question. I'm still on my one and only 8300 and I've had it for over 2 years now without ever tuning either tuner to a non-buffering channel. I think most of the folks doing that were bothered by the disk noise while trying to sleep.

Tried searching for a solution to my problem but could not find anything.

For the last week, if I cut the DVR off, when I turn the DVR on I get sound but a black screen on my tv. I actually have to unplug the dvr and let it boot to fix this. Any ideas?

Hello, all....

As a follow up to my original post a couple of weeks ago (see quote below) I replaced the unstable Seagate 7200.10 320 gig drive with a Western Digital Caviar SE16 320 gig drive. Same housing, a KINGWIN 350 SE external case.

After about a week, I can report that the WD drive is an improvement. It's not perfect, with a small glitch (less than 10 frames of melt) every 10-15 minutes. But it's a vast improvement over the Seagate, which proved so unstable that scheduled recordings would fail after 3-5 minutes.

So... while the WD drive is not rock-solid perfect, it seemingly provides reliable recordings at this point (about 10-12 scheduled recordings w/o failure).

Looking at the database, it seems almost every one has some glitching. Is glitching then just something we all live with as external SATA users, or is it reasonable to expect perfection from this system?

Thanks to all on this forum for the guidance. And yes, I've posted my results in the database!

Cheers

germar


Greetings, all....

I'm new to this forum and I've spent a couple of hours reading this thread regarding a problem I'm having with scheduled recordings stopping abruptly.

Please forgive me if this has been covered elsewhere, if it has a link would be appreciated.

I have a new Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3320620AS and a Kingwin KH-350SE-BK enclosure attached to my 8300HD. Installation was straightforward and without issue.

Material recorded to the outboard drive will sometimes fail, with the listed recording being only a few minutes long. There is no pattern to this intermittant failure, it sometimes happenes when other channels are being viewed or in the middle of the night when the box is powered off. There is no error message associated with the shortened recording, other than the duration timeline is mostly red. The video that does get recorded looks fine, it simply stops long before it was supposed to.

I can isolate the failed recordings exclusively to the external drive...stuff going to the internal drive always seem to finish properly.

Anyone see this issue? Any known conflicts with either this drive or enclosure and the 8300HD? I'm willing to buy another drive/enclosure if that's the best course of action.

Thanks in advance for your advice.

Germar
Time Warner Cable, Austin Texas

Funny thing also (off topic, sorry) yesterday, I just lost my computer's external drive with all my media files on it (pictures, music, videos). The power supply burned up. Having the unit replaced (still under warranty from IOGear). I am totally bummed out. My only back up of the stuff was from Sept. I probably should have purchased two SATA drives when doing the DVR project!

Rob

While it kinda sounds like you went a tad overboard, glad to hear you're happy about cooling the whole equipment cabinet down. I really think this is the way to go; typically if someone has external drives connected to a DVR, they will have a lot of heat generating equipment in confined spaces.

As for the computer, if it was just the power supply, chances are excellent all your data is intact. If the power supply failed at the time data was being written, the directory might be munged, but there are utilities to deal with that (what to use is dependant on what OS you are running).

Yes it really does work despite what the cable jerks say. After trying a couple of external chassis, I found one available locally here in Houston, TX that works.

Details: I am on what was Time-Warner but is now Comcast. My DVR is a standard 8300HD running SARA v1.88.22.1 (page 3 of setup info).

Go to Fry's (I45 and West Rd.) and purchase the NexStar 3 eSATA2 chassis (Model NST-360SU-xx <xx=color>) and the Maxtor SATAII/300 300 Gbyte drive. The chassis includes the eSATA2 cable. Total cost about $210,

The chassis selection is important. A chassis that has a regular SATA1 connector will not work even if you use an eSATA to SATA1 cable. That was my first mis-step. This chassis is also good in case you ever end up with a different cable box because it has a USB2 interface also, so you can reformat the drive and use it on your computer.

Also important is the sequence of events you follow when hooking up the drive. Some instructions say to "turn off the DVR" before connecting the drive. It is very important to UNPLUG the DVR before connecting the drive:

1) Unplug the DVR
2) Connect the drive
3) plug in the DVR
4) let it boot
5) turn on the DVR
6) Wait for the format message to appear and press the A button for yes
7) Give it an hour
8) Hold the front panel select button until the mail icon appears
9) Press the INFO button
10) use the VOL- button to go to page 33 of 35
11) Verify that drive 2 is now present
12) use the VOL+ button to go to page 35
13) Verify that Drive 2 AVFS partition has been created (bigger than 0)
14) If not, unplug the DVR again and repeat steps 3 to 13

By now you should have about 4 times the space you originally had.

One additional detail - I changed the jumper on the drive to the FORCE150 setting while I was testing it on my PC to make sure it worked (see the Maxtor manual), and forgot to change it back. If you have trouble, try this.

It appears that the IEEE 1394 ports are also active. I plugged in a FireWire drive and got an "External drive not functioning properly" error! This was before I figured out that it was necessary to UNPLUG the DVR before connecting the drive.

Also, I am not sure whether the thing about the disk being 300 Gb or less is myth or reality. I didn't take a chance. If anyone has the cajones to buy a bigger drive and try it, let me thru this forum if SARA will recognize it.

In summary, it appears that the ports are active despite what the jerks at the cable company say.

Also, I am not sure whether the thing about the disk being 300 Gb or less is myth or reality. I didn't take a chance. If anyone has the cajones to buy a bigger drive and try it, let me thru this forum if SARA will recognize it.



Some of us have 500gb and larger.
I have a 500gb Maxtor quickview with SARA.

Hello, all....
Thanks to all on this forum for the guidance. And yes, I've posted my results in the database!

Cheers

germar

Thanks for the entry, and for really taking the time to evaluate the new drive. With my Maxtor 300 gig, I get may one glitch per two hours, but I don't think that is worse than what I got before.

I really think the a100 version of Sara we have in Austin might be worse than other versions - but I guess we still need more data. There was someone reporting a working 7200.10 with Sara, which I know did not work at ALL (regardless of jumper, formatting on a PC etc) with a100.

Regards,
xnappo

Hi,

I just installed a Seagate ST3500630AS 500gb 7200.10 PRT into a Vantec 360SU enclosure to use with my SA8300HD w/ Passport 2.5.066. The 8300HD recognizes the drive but when I check diagnostics, it gives me a "FORMAT ERROR" message and the drive it not usable. I have tried everything including creating a partition on it with Windows, setting it active, deleting the partition and setting the drive to ATA150/300. Everytime I power the DVR on, it sees the drive and stops the formatting process after about 20 seconds to a minute and the format never completes. Any ideas!? Could it be the hard drive? I've read as many posts in this thread as I can and tried everything I could think of. Thanks in advance.

nizz

Long time lurker, first time poster.

I used all of the info in this thread (actually read most of it) to successfully install a Maxtor Quickview Expander PLUS 300 GB drive. This drive contains the full kit with all of the required cables.

My 8300HD box is from Comcast (Monmouth County - New Jersey) and the version is SARA 1.88.22.1. Followed these instructions:

-Checked the recording space available on the 8300HD.
-Unplugged the 8300HD.
-Connected the External Drive to the 8300HD.
-Plugged in the External Drive.
-Plugged in the 8300HD.
-Allowed the 8300HD to boot.
-Turned on the 8300HD.
-Waited for the format message to appear and pressed the A button for yes.
-The drive formatted quickly, but the percentage used on the drive did not change.
-Unplugged the 8300HD and the External Drive.
-Powered up the External Drive first, then the 8300HD.
-Percent used went from 38% to 12%.
-Diagnostic screen showed 152 GB defined for Drive 1 and 279 GB for Drive 2.
-Stress tested the drive by recording 2 programs simultaneously while watching a third.


Thanks for all of the tips!!
Marie


:)

[QUOTE=nizz]Hi,

I just installed a Seagate ST3500630AS 500gb 7200.10 PRT into a Vantec 360SU enclosure to use with my SA8300HD w/ Passport 2.5.066. The 8300HD recognizes the drive but when I check diagnostics, it gives me a "FORMAT ERROR" message and the drive it not usable. I have tried everything including creating a partition on it with Windows, setting it active, deleting the partition and setting the drive to ATA150/300. Everytime I power the DVR on, it sees the drive and stops the formatting process after about 20 seconds to a minute and the format never completes. Any ideas!? Could it be the hard drive? I've read as many posts in this thread as I can and tried everything I could think of. Thanks in advance.

I just installed a Seagate ST3400633AS-RK 400gb 7200.10 PRT into a Vantec 360SU enclosure to use with my SA8300HD w/ Passport 2.5.066.
Everything works find except ff,rew on live buffer. I had to play with it 2 or 3 times before it ask me to format. Took hard drive out of box plug it in Vantec enclousure
and 8300 HD picked up on the 3rd try. Could be bad Hard Drive try wiping it clean.
I did nothing to mine. Changed no jumpers, just plug N play. I do need help with
trickplay function. Any suggestions Please!!

PRT drive and dual mode (usb/eSATA) enclosure working with Passport 2.5.066! Well, the drive formatted at least and diag screen shows all my new capacity. Wont know for sure until I fill up the internal drive right? I know it looks like I ignored your advice pepar, but I wanted a solution that I could use with any PC if things didn't work out. Anyhow, this was a dirt cheap solution and although the encloser lacks active cooling it is all aluminum, very well ventilated, great asthetics and almost acts like a heatsink due to it's very thin profile. Also, this new PRT drive has some great performance specs, is very quiet and so far has felt nice and cool during operation. I am currently runing it in 1.5G mode. Thanks for all the help gang!

AZiO ENC311SU31 3.5" eSATA + USB 2.0 External Enclosure - Retail
Model #: ENC311SU31

Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3320620AS (Perpendicular Recording Technology) 320GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM


FOLLOW UP:
Stress test passed: Recorded 2 HD channels while watching 3rd HD program. No problems at all.

I seem to have a trick play work around that works great for me anyway. Didn't see this mentioned in the last 10 pages or so.

I was watching an HD movie for about 20min. and thought it would have been nice to record it (using trick play to go back and grab the first 20 min.) Could not RW but what I did was hit record. When I went into list view it showed it had started the recording from the beginning. SO I thought, well that's great whats the problem then? When I went to try and play it from the beginning I could only play real time and could not FF as only a little slice of green bar was in the timeline when there should have been 25 minutes or so by now. So I'm stuck at the beginning of the movie again. That was fixed when I changed channels and then went back to the movie channel and was able to continue watching where I left off before hitting record. 10 minutes or so goes by and I decide to look at the movie in list view again. This time the green bar on the time line had grown and I could FF up to about through the first 10 minutes or so. 25 min. later the whole movie was there and I could navigate all the way to live.

My guess on what was happening is the DVR only buffers to the internal drive and when I hit record it had to transfer what was buffered (first 25 min. of the HD movie) to the external drive while keeping up with the current recording. This just took some time but in the end I was able to get the whole movie.

As longs as that works reliably, I wont be missing trick play at all.

Hi all, I just wanted to thank you for your help and to share my fairly inexpensive setup. I'm in Houston, by the way.

$60 ($120 - $60 rebate): 250GB WD drive from CompUSA
$25: Enclosure from MicroCenter
Total: $85 + taxes.

The Enclosure includes the cables required.
So far so good after 3 days.

Regards,
Chris

As longs as that works reliably, I wont be missing trick play at all.

By my experience, that might have difficulties. While I don't have an external drive, twice in recent memory (4 months) I have been 5-20 minutes into something and got a phone call I knew would outlast the buffer, so I did the same as you, hit the record button. Both times, all I ended up with was from the beginning of the show to the point I hit the record button! Not only that, but the time hacks in the recorded list were correct (as in it showed "10:00 PM to 10:12 PM" something like that).

Hi all, I just wanted to thank you for your help and to share my fairly inexpensive setup. I'm in Houston, by the way.

$60 ($120 - $60 rebate): 250GB WD drive from CompUSA
$25: Enclosure from MicroCenter
Total: $85 + taxes.

The Enclosure includes the cables required.
So far so good after 3 days.

Regards,
Chris

Good deal on the drive, but just as a FYI, 250G drives should run about 80 to 85 bucks. The best "every day" pricing I have found on drives is newegg.com. I recently need a pair of 320 ATAs (to fit into a specific box I already had) so I ordered them around 3 one day ($88 each) and they were here by 11:30 the next morning (probably because they came from a NJ warehouse).

BTW, if you want to look for a good deal like Chris got, check dealnews.com frequently.

My new Maxtor drive was found and worked immediately after I installed it. [Turned off power. Plugged in interconnect between external HD and cable box. Turned on external drive box and then plugged in cable box. After boot was complete it asked to format external drive. All worked to perfection].

Then I needed to record a currently playing football game for my son. I unplugged the hardware, disconnected the external drive and rebooted. This too worked to perfection. I was able to record the game live. After that I reinstalled the external harddrive, it was found but would not add the extra time. TW told me to swap out to a new cable box. This fixed everything.

But yesterday we lost power [ice storm, etc.]. I unplugged the hardware until the power came back on. I no longer detected the extra capacity, even though it again asked to reformat the external drive. I have tried the reinstall procedure many times, each time it detects the external drive, asks to do a reformat, and each time fails to add in the extra drive capacity. [Yes I have a house surge suppressor, and a quality individual surge suppressor into which the components are plugged]. Any suggestions?

Richard.

My new Maxtor drive was found and worked immediately after I installed it. [Turned on external drive box, plugged in interconnect to cable box, and then plugged in cable box. After boot it asked to format external drive. All worked to perfection].

Then I needed to record a currently playing football game for my son. I unplugged the hardware, disconnected the external drive and rebooted. This too worked to perfection. I was able to record the game live. After that I reinstalled the external harddrive, it was found but would not add the extra time. TW told me to swap out to a new cable box. This fixed everything.

But yesterday we lost power [ice storm, etc.]. I unplugged the hardware until the power came back on. I no longer detected the extra capacity, even though it again asked to reformat the external drive. I have tried the reinstall procedure many times, each time it detects the external drive, asks to do a reformat, and each time fails to add in the extra drive capacity. Any suggestions?

Richard.
Try an extra reboot

My new Maxtor drive was found and worked immediately after I installed it. [Turned off power. Plugged in interconnect between external HD and cable box. Turned on external drive box and then plugged in cable box. After boot was complete it asked to format external drive. All worked to perfection].

Then I needed to record a currently playing football game for my son. I unplugged the hardware, disconnected the external drive and rebooted. This too worked to perfection. I was able to record the game live. After that I reinstalled the external harddrive, it was found but would not add the extra time. TW told me to swap out to a new cable box. This fixed everything.

But yesterday we lost power [ice storm, etc.]. I unplugged the hardware until the power came back on. I no longer detected the extra capacity, even though it again asked to reformat the external drive. I have tried the reinstall procedure many times, each time it detects the external drive, asks to do a reformat, and each time fails to add in the extra drive capacity. [Yes I have a house surge suppressor, and a quality individual surge suppressor into which the components are plugged]. Any suggestions?

Richard.
I swear I don't think there's a certifiable or consistent way to get an eSATA drive back online after some problem befalls the DVR. The other day I came into my office/media room only to find a message displayed on my panel that my external drive was no longer recognized. WTF! We were in the midst of the NE ice-storm too, but I hadn't noticed any power fluctuations. [Note to self. Buy that UPS at Sam's this weekend. :cool:]

I went through the entire documented power down, reboot process, etc, only to find after everything restarted that the drive was still not showing up under the SARA diagnostics screens. :confused: My solution... with the 8300 still plugged in and powered on, I simply turned off the external drive, let the HD spin down and then turned the drive back on. Voila! I went into preferences and the usage bar was back down where it should have been. I double checked the diagnostics screens and the external drive was there. Go figure. :eek: YMMV.

Perhaps a bit of work on the software is in order. This is why TW tells everyone that they do not support this use of their box. I'll hang some garlic from my neck and give some of these tips a try when I get home.

Richard.

Perhaps a bit of work on the software is in order. This is why TW tells everyone that they do not support this use of their box. I'll hang some garlic from my neck and give some of these tips a try when I get home.

Richard.
BTW, FWIW I'm using a 500GB WD 7200rpm 16MB cache HD in an Apricorn(eSATA and USB) enclosure. 99% of the time it purrs along just fine. Any blips or pixelations I notice, happen as a results of the TWC signal as it's being recorded! I don't think it's a result of the external drive.

Perhaps a bit of work on the software is in order. This is why TW tells everyone that they do not support this use of their box. I'll hang some garlic from my neck and give some of these tips a try when I get home.

Richard.
Another point.... I'll bet 999 out of 1,000 8300 users, don't ever even think about adding an external drive. They're happy enough to have 160GB for their HD/SD recordings! So why should the cablecos even care? The numbers are just not there for them to offer support for eSATAs drives. Plus, sense most eSATA drives are DIY anyway, there's just no feasible way their CS services could manage it. Us 'bleeding edge' types OTOH..... have to figure things out for ourselves - thanks to forums like AVS! :D

$60 ($120 - $60 rebate): 250GB WD drive from CompUSA
$25: Enclosure from MicroCenter
Total: $85 + taxes.

So far so good after 3 days.


Anyone with a working system, could you post specific part / model numbers for what does work, along with the web site?

I go to newegg and see hundreds of HDs and enclosures... The database does not have that much detail in it, and available products change all the time.

Another point.... I'll bet 999 out of 1,000 8300 users, don't ever even think about adding an external drive. They're happy enough to have 160GB for their HD/SD recordings! So why should the cablecos even care? The numbers are just not there for them to offer support for eSATAs drives. Plus, sense most eSATA drives are DIY anyway, there's just no feasible way their CS services could manage it. Us 'bleeding edge' types OTOH..... have to figure things out for ourselves - thanks to forums like AVS! :D

Mmmm, I'm not so sure. Seems that TWC may be by far SA's biggest customer for these boxes. Which would indicate they can get them with no hole for the connector, or a hole with no connector (my SA8000 DVR had a marked FW port, but no connector inside), or with some heavy tape over it. They don't do any of that AND they have "allowed" pre alpha level software to be included in their "release" software, both for SARA and Passport.

they have "allowed" pre alpha level software to be included in their "release" software, both for SARA and Passport.I believe that all releases of SARA software that supported the external drive have not been "pre-alpha" and have worked quite well with compatible external drives. The accusations of "pre-alpha" SW may apply to Passport.

Also, keep in mind that some Canadian cable companies DO support the external drive and have even sold the Maxtor Quickview Expanders to their customers (who own their own cable boxes).

Anyone with a working system, could you post specific part / model numbers for what does work, along with the web site?

I go to newegg and see hundreds of HDs and enclosures... The database does not have that much detail in it, and available products change all the time.
gatzke,

This Apricorn is the preferred enclosure for many because it includes a fan and works well with the 8300HD DVR. I personally have the model that includes the USB port as well and have no problems whatsoever. I believe it comes with an eSATA type cable too! Find it here;

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817362002

The hard drive I'm using is the Western Digital 500GB 7200 16MB Cache SATA 3.0. Again, it works well with my "less than stressful" recording demands. However, most of what I record is HD content.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822136014

Obviously, both of these can be found at your friendly online etailer, Newegg.

Good luck.

I believe that all releases of SARA software that supported the external drive have not been "pre-alpha" and have worked quite well with compatible external drives. The accusations of "pre-alpha" SW may apply to Passport.


I don't think I would say 'worked quite well'. Have you seen the database?? Lots of failures on drives and enclosures that work just fine on a PC. Maybe 'works well when used with a compatible drive'.

xnappo

I don't think I would say 'worked quite well'. Have you seen the database?? Lots of failures on drives and enclosures that work just fine on a PC. Maybe 'works well when used with a compatible drive'.

xnappo
That's what I meant by "compatible drive" - it appears that a lot of them these days are not (compatible). But those of us who got drives early on in this thread seem to have ones that work pretty well.

As this is a thread that relates to the external drive, I was pointing out that it seems pretty clear that what we SARA users have had since this thread started has not appeared to be "pre-alpha".

I have an 8300 that is SARA, so I believe I should be all set, but I have a Maxtor Diamond Max 9 250 GB *IDE* drive - I tried putting it into a eSata case that has an IDE cable inside, and my 8300 does not recognize it. Today I tried reformatting it with maxtor tools in case there was anything strange on it, and I will also try a different SATA cable, but has anyone out there tried an IDE drive inside an SATA case?

I guess my dilemma is that I dont know if the problem is the IDE to SATA conversion, or if it is the external SATA case, which is a no-name brand, it just says USB 2.0/SATA/IDE Combe Enclosure.

Any thoughts?

I have an 8300 that is SARA, so I believe I should be all set, but I have a Maxtor Diamond Max 9 250 GB *IDE* drive - I tried putting it into a eSata case that has an IDE cable inside, and my 8300 does not recognize it. Today I tried reformatting it with maxtor tools in case there was anything strange on it, and I will also try a different SATA cable, but has anyone out there tried an IDE drive inside an SATA case?

I guess my dilemma is that I dont know if the problem is the IDE to SATA conversion, or if it is the external SATA case, which is a no-name brand, it just says USB 2.0/SATA/IDE Combe Enclosure.

Any thoughts?
I don't believe an IDE based drive will work - at all, even though the external case connection is eSATA. It must be a SATA drive! It's the IDE-to-SATA interface in your enclosure that's likely causing the problem. Get another 'pure' SATA enclosure and SATA drive.

I don't believe an IDE based drive will work - at all, even though the external case connection is eSATA. It must be a SATA drive! It's the IDE-to-SATA interface in your enclosure that's likely causing the problem. Get another 'pure' SATA enclosure and SATA drive.
Not true!
The only approved (and available) enclosure (by SA) at the time of the announcement at CES a few years back was the Maxtor Quickview Expander kit. This is the complete Maxtor external eSATA solution (drive in maxtor's sealed enclosure). After warranty terms had been expired, myself and others have cracked the case and discovered that the internal drive is actually an IDE drive. For the record, I sucessfully installed dozens of the approved drive combo kits that still work without a single failure except for a tweaked cable connection fixed by zip ties. They are all still in use it today, many, after years of use.

My best guess is that the enclosure is the problem.

vegggas

Not true!
The only approved (and available) enclosure (by SA) at the time of the announcement at CES a few years back was the Maxtor Quickview Expander kit. This is the complete Maxtor external eSATA solution (drive in maxtor's sealed enclosure). After warranty terms had been expired, myself and others have cracked the case and discovered that the internal drive is actually an IDE drive. For the record, I sucessfully installed dozens of the approved drive combo kits that still work without a single failure except for a tweaked cable connection fixed by zip ties. They are all still in use it today, many, after years of use.

I've never understood how a Parallel ATA drive could be used on a Serial ATA bus. Is it simply a matter of a physical adapter, or is there electronics involved?

I believe that all releases of SARA software that supported the external drive have not been "pre-alpha" and have worked quite well with compatible external drives. The accusations of "pre-alpha" SW may apply to Passport.

Also, keep in mind that some Canadian cable companies DO support the external drive and have even sold the Maxtor Quickview Expanders to their customers (who own their own cable boxes).

As you probably already know, my "standard" may be a tad higher than most folks here. "Seems to work with drive x but not drive y" or as you say "compatible drive" to me puts it in an alpha state by definition. Example, I have not heard one single issue with any computer having any issues whether a drive does horizontal or vertical recording. Yet there seems to be a lot of folks who seem to think "vertical recording drives" don't work in this application. Well, the drives DO work, they do what you'd expect a drive to do. Neither m$ nor the wormy fruit seemed to need to rev their OSes to support such drives.

I know I took a lot of heat for making that point, but I never, ever would apologize for trying to get people to adopt a more stringent standard for software.

BTW, I do not buy into the whole "specially engineered for DVR use" marketing Maxtor does, even IF I have 6 of their drives performing perfectly as 3 stripped arrays. I mean someone opened up one of those drives and found it was a standard IDE drive! Besdies, it doesn't surprise me that a Canadian company is more adverturous than the typical American company; I find my northern cousins that way as well.

I've never understood how a Parallel ATA drive could be used on a Serial ATA bus. Is it simply a matter of a physical adapter, or is there electronics involved?

Damn good question! Logically there would have to be, think about what parallel and serial as interfaces mean. Still, the "converters" are damn small.

The most interesting thing to me is that we are not talking about burst i/o. Much like "peak" and "rms" when talking about amplifiers. Remember all the initial benchmarks about the SATA II drives? Seems they all only delivered faster speeds in bursts, when streaming, they seemed to achieve similar rates to SATA I drives.

Damn good question! Logically there would have to be, think about what parallel and serial as interfaces mean. Still, the "converters" are damn small.

The most interesting thing to me is that we are not talking about burst i/o. Much like "peak" and "rms" when talking about amplifiers. Remember all the initial benchmarks about the SATA II drives? Seems they all only delivered faster speeds in bursts, when streaming, they seemed to achieve similar rates to SATA I drives.
A bit OT for here (and I'm *sure* you know this), but RAID arrays can get closer to saturation.

I've never understood how a Parallel ATA drive could be used on a Serial ATA bus. Is it simply a matter of a physical adapter, or is there electronics involved?
There's electronics involved - hence why they 'might' be incompatible in many situations with external drives working with the 8300.

Not true!
The only approved (and available) enclosure (by SA) at the time of the announcement at CES a few years back was the Maxtor Quickview Expander kit. This is the complete Maxtor external eSATA solution (drive in maxtor's sealed enclosure). After warranty terms had been expired, myself and others have cracked the case and discovered that the internal drive is actually an IDE drive. For the record, I sucessfully installed dozens of the approved drive combo kits that still work without a single failure except for a tweaked cable connection fixed by zip ties. They are all still in use it today, many, after years of use.

My best guess is that the enclosure is the problem.

vegggas
I never claimed they were the only 'approved' solution. ;) A few years back SATA drives were not near as popular, or plentiful as they are today. Evidently Maxtor fine-tuned the interface to work with an IDE drive. I'm glad you 'cracked' one open. Now we know. But reading back over this thread, it's pretty clear what has been generally recommended for a DIY solution. Why mess with the additional electronics involved in an interface when you don't have to, risk something else going wrong along the data chain, when you can easily use a SATA drive and eSATA enclosure for way less $$ then the 'approved' Maxtor solution? If we all wanted 'approved' store-bought solutions there would be no need for this thread! :D

Ok, good, so is there a list or do you know of an 'approved' esata case that allows an internal IDE type drive to be put inside?

I just want to clarify my post about approved expansion drives.
It was at CES Jan 2005 when SA announced two approved solutions for external drive expansion. The Maxtor Quickview Expansion kit and the Seagate expansion solution. The Maxtor Expansion kit became available at retail, but the Seagate never really made it to store shelves. There has never been any other documentation about any other approved devices and anything else is a homemade attempt to get the same functionality. Sure you want to save money, but at what expense?
The Maxtor Quickview Expander kit has been used by many people, with nearly perfect results since the start of this thread. Opening those kits (after warranty expired) revealed that there was indeed an interface that went from eSATA to an IDE drive. This matches exactly with what the internal drives on 8300's that I have seen (internal Maxtor's with IDE interface). Newer 8300's are using Seagate drives, and have noted compatibility issues between Maxtor and Seagate external bare drives. My guess is that SA approved the original Seagate solution as they were getting producing 8300's with internal Seagates, and of course the Maxtor solution with Maxtor internals.

vegggas

I just want to clarify my post about approved expansion drives.
It was at CES Jan 2005 when SA announced two approved solutions for external drive expansion. The Maxtor Quickview Expansion kit and the Seagate expansion solution. The Maxtor Expansion kit became available at retail, but the Seagate never really made it to store shelves. There has never been any other documentation about any other approved devices and anything else is a homemade attempt to get the same functionality. Sure you want to save money, but at what expense?
The Maxtor Quickview Expander kit has been used by many people, with nearly perfect results since the start of this thread. Opening those kits (after warranty expired) revealed that there was indeed an interface that went from eSATA to an IDE drive. This matches exactly with what the internal drives on 8300's that I have seen (internal Maxtor's with IDE interface). Newer 8300's are using Seagate drives, and have noted compatibility issues between Maxtor and Seagate external bare drives. My guess is that SA approved the original Seagate solution as they were getting producing 8300's with internal Seagates, and of course the Maxtor solution with Maxtor internals.

vegggas
I understand your point and I guess for perfect archive-type recordings, the Maxtor QE would be the best solution. While I get 'less-than-absolutely-perfect' recordings with my eSATA Apricorn enclosure and 500GB WD drive, it's been my experience that video problems I notice during recording are a direct result of the transmission long before it even enters my house! Even the 'bestest' external drive combo won't help in that situation. And, I find this situation more common than not with my cableco(TWC) in Upstate, NY. :( So, yes, my DIY solution comes at a slight price of a blip here and there, which are perfectly acceptable to me - transmission related issues not withstanding. :)

Has anyone here heard of anyone having success copying, backup, playing, etc.... video recorded from an SA8300HD DVR on an external hard-drive, by hooking the external drive up to a computer?

Has anyone here heard of anyone having success copying, backup, playing, etc.... video recorded from an SA8300HD DVR on an external hard-drive, by hooking the external drive up to a computer?
We all wish, but it ain't going to happen until someone hacks the SARA/Passport OS, and even then the file structure is probably very different than a typical PC/Mac structure, heavily encrypted (HDCP) and likely married to the 'BIOS' of the 8300 at the lowest level. The content providers(read Hollywood) have insured that the distributors (cable/satellite companies) do not provide an easy path to copy material - within the digital domain. The one exception is the 1394(Firewire) port which may be active on some HD STBs. But even this method is not as easy as it seems! :eek:

The first time I connected the drive, it was recognized, formatted and appeared to be working. Then the SA 8300 HD started to have problems, slow to respond to the remote control, not allowing pause, ff and reverse. So I rebooted the 8300 HD and it reformated the external hard drive. Now when the 8300 reformats the hard drive, I get a format error 0xffff. I have tried reformating the drive several times, and each time I get the error. It is installed in a Sata to e-Sata HDD enclosure and was recognized by the 8300 HD when I turned on the 8300.

Does anyone have a suggestion on how to reformat the drive so it will work with the 8300.

Specifics
External Drive - Seagate 320 GB serial ATA hard drive
External Drive enclosure - 3.5" SATA to e-SATA HDD enclosure with SATA to e-SATA cable adapter
SA 8300 HD running Passport Echo 2.5.066 software
Connected to Time Warner Cable in Chapel Hill, NC

This is a repost from another thread as recommended by another user.

The first time I connected the drive, it was recognized, formatted and appeared to be working. Then the SA 8300 HD started to have problems, slow to respond to the remote control, not allowing pause, ff and reverse. So I rebooted the 8300 HD and it reformated the external hard drive. Now when the 8300 reformats the hard drive, I get a format error 0xffff. I have tried reformating the drive several times, and each time I get the error. It is installed in a Sata to e-Sata HDD enclosure and was recognized by the 8300 HD when I turned on the 8300.

Does anyone have a suggestion on how to reformat the drive so it will work with the 8300.

Specifics
External Drive - Seagate 320 GB serial ATA hard drive
External Drive enclosure - 3.5" SATA to e-SATA HDD enclosure with SATA to e-SATA cable adapter
SA 8300 HD running Passport Echo 2.5.066 software
Connected to Time Warner Cable in Chapel Hill, NC

This is a repost from another thread as recommended by another user.

Very interesting. Is the Seagate a 7200.9 or 7200.10? If you look at the database in my sig, you will see that Sara users have had a lot of trouble with those models.

You are the second Passport user to report 'format error' with Seagate drives(link_to_other_post (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=9475530&highlight=format+error#post9475530)) .

People in the Tivo and Replay forums *also* report trouble with 7200.9 and 7200.10 drives.

Regards,
xnappo

Many thanks to everyone that contributed to this excellent thread. I jumped in and purchased the Apricorn EZ Bus DTS enclosure and a Maxtor 7h500fo 500GB drive. I have Sara version 1.87.16.1, the set-top recognized the drive after power-up and successfully formated. I was impressed because I received a message that my external device was ready for use after the format!

Time to torture test, record two HD channels at once. Wait, I'm I seeing breakup? Sure enough every 10 seconds or so pixilation, stuttering. Oh well, I was hoping since this wasn't a Seagate 7200.10 drive it would work. Well, I'm back to Fry's today, going to go the safe route with a 320 GB drive WD drive. I'll post my results later - thanks everyone for the excellent info especially Xnappo setting up the database!

I've posted the results of my first combo in Xnappo's database

So I am hoping to be able to use my Maxtor Diamond Max 9 250gb "IDE" drive, can anyone recommend an external enclosure that will work to plug an IDE into it, and esata to the 8300? I couldnt seem to find the Maxtor QVX enclosure anywhere (without a drive)...

A bit OT for here (and I'm *sure* you know this), but RAID arrays can get closer to saturation.

Indeed. What could be cool is when we get dual enclosures (like the ones you have, I have 3 of them, 2 SATA based and one FW) with SATA AND a RAID chip. MY FW drive has one, so it presents to any connected equipment as a single drive. Who knows, but think about a 2 drive array with a pair of 500s that looks to the 8300 as a T drive? I know, wishful thinking... but once they can REALLY address a second volume properly, this should work.

So I am hoping to be able to use my Maxtor Diamond Max 9 250gb "IDE" drive, can anyone recommend an external enclosure that will work to plug an IDE into it, and esata to the 8300? I couldnt seem to find the Maxtor QVX enclosure anywhere (without a drive)...

Like I said, I've seen images of fairly small gizmo's that plug into a IDE drive and have a SATA connection on the other side. If you had a spacious enough SATA enclosure, that might work. It would 100% work in most any computer this way, but who knows hooked to a 8300.

Very interesting. Is the Seagate a 7200.9 or 7200.10? If you look at the database in my sig, you will see that Sara users have had a lot of trouble with those models.

You are the second Passport user to report 'format error' with Seagate drives.

People in the Tivo and Replay forums *also* report trouble with 7200.9 and 7200.10 drives.

Regards,
xnappo

Thanks for your comments, in fact it is a Barracuda 7200.10 Seagate Hard Drive. If I can figure out how to connect this SATA drive to my computer that doesn't have an SATA connection, then I will just use it as an external hard drive.

Thanks for your comments, in fact it is a Barracuda 7200.10 Seagate Hard Drive. If I can figure out how to connect this SATA drive to my computer that doesn't have an SATA connection, then I will just use it as an external hard drive.

You can either get a case that does SATA->USB or get a PCI SATA card. You can get a PCI SATA card cheap - ~$20.

Good luck!
xnappo

Thanks for your comments, in fact it is a Barracuda 7200.10 Seagate Hard Drive. If I can figure out how to connect this SATA drive to my computer that doesn't have an SATA connection, then I will just use it as an external hard drive.

nctraveler

I replaced my 320 GB Seagate external SATA drive (the same model you have, I believe) with a larger drive and am now using it successfully in an older PC, after installing a PCI-SATA II controller card (Silicon Image PCI-X SATA II NCQ Host). I chose that instead of an external SATA-USB enclosure because the backup software used on that PC will not work with removable drives.

Like I said, I've seen images of fairly small gizmo's that plug into a IDE drive and have a SATA connection on the other side. If you had a spacious enough SATA enclosure, that might work. It would 100% work in most any computer this way, but who knows hooked to a 8300.


But I already have an enclosure that is has an IDE connector inside and provides an eSATA outside, how can I know for sure that this adapter you describe would actually work?

Hi,

I just installed a Seagate ST3500630AS 500gb 7200.10 PRT into a Vantec 360SU enclosure to use with my SA8300HD w/ Passport 2.5.066. The 8300HD recognizes the drive but when I check diagnostics, it gives me a "FORMAT ERROR" message and the drive it not usable. I have tried everything including creating a partition on it with Windows, setting it active, deleting the partition and setting the drive to ATA150/300. Everytime I power the DVR on, it sees the drive and stops the formatting process after about 20 seconds to a minute and the format never completes. Any ideas!? Could it be the hard drive? I've read as many posts in this thread as I can and tried everything I could think of. Thanks in advance.

nizz

Just an update on the situation. I gave up trying to get the Seagate to with the 8300. I had another 500gb Maxtor L01F500 drive that I was using with my computer. It was in the same Nexstar 360SU enclosure but I noticed the ports on the back of the enclosure were rearranged (possibly different manufacturer or revision). The Maxtor wasn't recognized right away but with a little bit of fiddling, it was recognized and instantly formatted. I cannot speculate if the Seagate would have worked with the older revision SATA enclosure but it seems that only certain 500gb drives work with the 8300HD with Passport.

nizz

But I already have an enclosure that is has an IDE connector inside and provides an eSATA outside, how can I know for sure that this adapter you describe would actually work?

Oh, I didn't understand that, so forget the bit about an adapter.

On the face of it, they DO specify SATA drives, which are a tad faster than IDE/ATA drives. But we also "know" that some of the "total package" Maxtor units DO use a ATA drive inside of a case like you seem to have. However, given the seriously flaky nature of this beast, it may work, it may not work. AND there is absolutely NO WAY to tell WHY it doesn't work.

Read all the posts and you'll see that more than one person had issues with drives using vertical recording... so many assume such drives have some inherent failing. Poppycock, there are ZERO issues with such drives when used with any computer application that has known for 25+ years how to deal with more than one volume.

Bottom line, give it a shot and see what happens.

Read all the posts and you'll see that more than one person had issues with drives using vertical recording... so many assume such drives have some inherent failing. Poppycock, there are ZERO issues with such drives when used with any computer application that has known for 25+ years how to deal with more than one volume.

Bottom line, give it a shot and see what happens.

I don't think anyone thinks it is perpendicular recording causing the problem. Everyone was just using that as an identifier of Seagate 7200.9/7200.10 drives early on. Obviously the 8300 has no idea it is talking to a perpendicular drive.

It is clearly something with the SATA interface or firmware of those Seagate drives that is incompatible with the Explorer8300 - note I am not saying the Seagate firmware is wrong - just different! It is likely the 8300 firmware that is not fully SATA compliant.

xnappo

I'm trying to hook up a Seagate eSATA 500gb drive to my 8300HD. I've tried about every possible combination of turning them on, but it never sees the external drive. I'm running Passport, not SARA. The version is PASSPORT Echo 2.5.046, with OS version "PowerTV 6.14.69.1sp.

Most I see here that have it working are running Passport 2.5.066. Do I need an update? If so, will Time Warner do it if I call them and ask?

Thanks in advance.

- Geoff in Charlotte, NC.

Many thanks to everyone that contributed to this excellent thread. I jumped in and purchased the Apricorn EZ Bus DTS enclosure and a Maxtor 7h500fo 500GB drive. I have Sara version 1.87.16.1, the set-top recognized the drive after power-up and successfully formated. I was impressed because I received a message that my external device was ready for use after the format!



I have the quickview version of the Maxtor 500GB drive.
It passes the torture test of two HD recordings while watching a third.
It is more costly ~$250 but it really does work well.
I'm approaching 60% full already without any playback problems.

I don't think anyone thinks it is perpendicular recording causing the problem. Everyone was just using that as an identifier of Seagate 7200.9/7200.10 drives early on. Obviously the 8300 has no idea it is talking to a perpendicular drive.

It is clearly something with the SATA interface or firmware of those Seagate drives that is incompatible with the Explorer8300 - note I am not saying the Seagate firmware is wrong - just different! It is likely the 8300 firmware that is not fully SATA compliant.

xnappo

Maybe it's the "between the lines" stuff I see, I got an impression a lot of folks thought the recording method was the issue. I don't see that the interface or firmware is incompatible, it's 100% a weakness in the software on the 8300. It's only a guess on my part, but I suspect the real issue is not the interface (SATA) but in something more basic, dealing with multiple volumes. The know exactly how to deal with the interface, the internal drive is SATA.

Actually, I should probably STFU as we are going to see a big change as they start rolling out MDN.

Maybe it's the "between the lines" stuff I see, I got an impression a lot of folks thought the recording method was the issue. I don't see that the interface or firmware is incompatible, it's 100% a weakness in the software on the 8300. It's only a guess on my part, but I suspect the real issue is not the interface (SATA) but in something more basic, dealing with multiple volumes. The know exactly how to deal with the interface, the internal drive is SATA.

Actually, I should probably STFU as we are going to see a big change as they start rolling out MDN.

Why would some drives work better than others if that problem were dealing with multiple volumes? There have now been 3 reports of Passport failures with Seagate 7200.10 drives too. Personally I suspect that the problem is at a pretty low level - like the 8300's SATA controller itself. We may never know :)

xnappo

I'm trying to hook up a Seagate eSATA 500gb drive to my 8300HD. I've tried about every possible combination of turning them on, but it never sees the external drive. I'm running Passport, not SARA. The version is PASSPORT Echo 2.5.046, with OS version "PowerTV 6.14.69.1sp.

Most I see here that have it working are running Passport 2.5.066. Do I need an update? If so, will Time Warner do it if I call them and ask?

Thanks in advance.

- Geoff in Charlotte, NC.

You are the third person with Passport to report such a problem, and many people with SARA have had problems with Seagate drives.

What is the model #?

xnappo

At this point I'd like to re-introduce an older concept that was around here about a year or so - the impact of error correction in the drives/interfaces. There was conjecture before (and that's all it was - conjecture, but still worthy of consideration) that some error correction methods could interrupt the bitstream when an error was detected. Yes, we want error correction with data storage and No, we don't want to interrupt the bitstream for DVR usage.

At this point I'd like to re-introduce an older concept that was around here about a year or so - the impact of error correction in the drives/interfaces. There was conjecture before (and that's all it was - conjecture, but still worthy of consideration) that some error correction methods could interrupt the bitstream when an error was detected. Yes, we want error correction with data storage and No, we don't want to interrupt the bitstream for DVR usage.
Out of all of our conjectures, that one makes the most sense. :)

Out of all of our conjectures, that one makes the most sense. :)

Definitely possible error correction has an impact. I find it interesting though that Passport is behaving like the Replay TV with Seagate 7200.10 drives - not even formatting them. Pepar - maybe you have some ideas for them to try?

xnappo

is there anyway to get whatever you recorded from the sata to the computer???

is there anyway to get whatever you recorded from the sata to the computer???
No.

...The[sic] know exactly how to deal with the interface, the internal drive is SATA...I could have swore that mine had an IDE internal hard-drive, did I (peeking through the vents) miss an IDE-SATA adapter?...

v/r,
C-F

http://www.vividlogic.com/default.html

FWIW, someone (I no longer have his User ID) PM'd me a couple of months ago that he is able to use the above software to record any and all 8300 content via Firewire; all channels, all recordings. The only drawback is that he has to view what is being recorded, so he does his recording when not watching TV. I don't monitor the Recording To PC thread, but I suggested he post his experience there. I don't know if he ever did. I also don't know if he had a SATA drive (I doubt it) or if his cableco has implemented 5C controls.

I'm trying to hook up a Seagate eSATA 500gb drive to my 8300HD. I've tried about every possible combination of turning them on, but it never sees the external drive. I'm running Passport, not SARA. The version is PASSPORT Echo 2.5.046, with OS version "PowerTV 6.14.69.1sp.

Most I see here that have it working are running Passport 2.5.066. Do I need an update? If so, will Time Warner do it if I call them and ask?

Thanks in advance.

- Geoff in Charlotte, NC.

I'd like to jump in and ask something.

With all this trouble you are having, did you trying using a different eSATA cable, it just might be that you have a bad cable.

Wiggle it a little and it works a little, but then stops, get my drift.

Try a different cable, you just might have a bad cable and nothing is wrong with the drives themselves.

Hope I've suggested something different.

Rob

I could have swore that mine had an IDE internal hard-drive, did I (peeking through the vents) miss an IDE-SATA adapter?...

v/r,
C-F

Is definitely IDE, at least on mine, the proof is by going to DIAG page and jot down the drive model number and then do a Google search.

http://www.vividlogic.com/default.html

FWIW, someone (I no longer have his User ID) PM'd me a couple of months ago that he is able to use the above software to record any and all 8300 content via Firewire; all channels, all recordings. The only drawback is that he has to view what is being recorded, so he does his recording when not watching TV. I don't monitor the Recording To PC thread, but I suggested he post his experience there. I don't know if he ever did. I also don't know if he had a SATA drive (I doubt it) or if his cableco has implemented 5C controls.

There is a 30 day free trial so we should at least check it out for the copy freely stuff

Why would some drives work better than others if that problem were dealing with multiple volumes? There have now been 3 reports of Passport failures with Seagate 7200.10 drives too. Personally I suspect that the problem is at a pretty low level - like the 8300's SATA controller itself. We may never know :)

xnappo

A "SATA controller" is a piece of hardware (actually, one could say "silicon on a chip"). SATA needs a separate chip for each drive you hook up (whereas ATA did not). While I suppose it's possible they used a "bad" one, I find it very hard to believe they've been putting in defective controllers for the past few years. I THINK that one doesn't need to get so "low-level" to address that chip. Keep in mind there are at least 2 "layers" of hardware involved, the electronics on the drive itself and the SATA controller chip in the 8300.

Understand that I'm not saying I have any specific engineering knowledge here, I'm only speculating based on stuff I do know. I also "know" that many folks could care less about the why, it doesn't work, something is at fault and that something needs fixing. There's nothing wrong with that; that very much would be my approach to TWC. It's my issue that I want to get at what causes it to happen! AND I welcome anyone to poke holes in my "deductions." I actually DO remember learning about the "scientific method" back in the dark ages, make a hypothesis and test the hell out of it to verify it.

At this point I'd like to re-introduce an older concept that was around here about a year or so - the impact of error correction in the drives/interfaces. There was conjecture before (and that's all it was - conjecture, but still worthy of consideration) that some error correction methods could interrupt the bitstream when an error was detected. Yes, we want error correction with data storage and No, we don't want to interrupt the bitstream for DVR usage.

Ah, very interesting point!

What I (think) I know is that this very much was an issue back in the SCSI days. There were various "driver tweaks" necessary at times to insure "better data streaming." But my general impression was that in today's mostly SATA world, it was all about overall I/O, not so much issues with ec getting in the way. I'm talking video, import, editing, etc.

It seems the holy grail in that world is working with uncompressed video. I'd assume that this may be far more demanding than what we are asking our DVRs to deal with. What I know is that there are some issues peripheral to the storage device that come into play; what I see is more than one method to reduce those "peripheral issues, from stripping to the ultimate, fiber-channel.

Still, as I said some is based on assumptions and also from a somewhat different world. But I'm not so sure the same issues aren't at the heart of things.

Oh boy, over in the Passport thread, someone from NC posted he got a NEW REV today, a 2.6.002 of Passport.

Could it be they actually fixed the trick play bug? Everyone has their opinion, but I think that's the single most significant bug in 066.

I find it interesting though that Passport is behaving like the Replay TV with Seagate 7200.10 drives - not even formatting them.
Whoaa, I missed that. Passport is now not working with 7200.10 drives? I thought I saw posts from Passporters reporting success.

Could it be they actually fixed the trick play bug? Everyone has their opinion, but I think that's the single most significant bug in 066.

I'm not sure it's a "bug". Like you say, everyone's got their opinion, and I'm certainly not a computer expert, but my theory is that the software simply can't create buffers on an external drive because they've already got one for each tuner on the internal drive. If two more buffers are created, then you've got four, and how does the machine manage those? Seems like it might create conflicts. I've posted this view before, but never have seen any of the computer experts on the forum respond to it, nor have we ever seen any of the software guys at Aptiv (if any of them are members) post on just how the software formats the drive (boy, it sure is unbelievably quick!) and how the buffers are created. Maybe my theory is just too dumb to bother with. :p

At any rate, it doesn't really matter to me as all my time-shifting occurs on my "original" 8300. My second one, with the external drive, is just dedicated to HD movies, so I don't need trick-play on that one.

That happened to me recently but the drive itself blew up totally dead even plugged into a pc. did you just reformat and continue or did u "lose"the drive too.

any thoughts to putting the external drive on a simple ups to prevent this down the road?

I have run my 8300HD and external drive on a UPS for quite some time. So far as I am aware the UPS has not caused any problems. More importantly, at least to me, is that both are protected from occasional hickups in the electric supply. It is an added benefit that the 8300HD will keep recording if the power goes out for a good length of time if there is an actual power outage. If the outage is not too long, things will continue and I will not even notice it when I get home, except for the microwave flashing. :-)

I strongly recommend using a UPS on everything you can. You probably will not have been aware of the number of times that the power fluctuates until you get the "chirp" from the UPS that it is on battery. If possible, get one that provides "conditioned" power. That is one that not only limits overvoltage, but bumps up undervoltage which can be very damaging to electronics.

Cheers

First post, I've been lurking for quite a while. Have read and followed this thread from beginning to the present.

I bought a Seagate 500G 7200.10 series drive and got a 250G 7200.9 series drive for "free" from Newegg back in Dec. just before all the talk of problems with the 7200.10 problems surfaced. I'm using the Venus DS3 enclosures with both drives and sata to e-sata cables.

I've installed and used both drives on my Sa8300hd . Had no problems installing or swapping between the 2 drives. I'm surprised to hear about install problems now occurring.

Using the 500G 7200.10, I've experienced problems with annoying macroblocking and sound stuttering(like the sound on a bad CD). The video is tolerable but the sound break-up is just too annoying.

The 250G 7200.9 drive is the one I'm using now(hope to record the full season of "24" and watch the whole thing marathon style.) Anyhow this drive is virtually problem free, very little break-up, just what you would normally experience with HD.

Won't do any more experimenting till the end of the TV season, maybe I'll try the new Hitachi Cinema series or other "optimized" drive then.

Just speaking from the gut, but I feel the main cause of the break-up problem is the error correction feature on these drives.

Using the 500G 7200.10, I've experienced problems with annoying macroblocking and sound stuttering(like the sound on a bad CD). The video is tolerable but the sound break-up is just too annoying.


Allright - that makes four Passport users with failures on 400GB+ 7200.10s. That bring it up close to the total of Sara reports with that drive. Anyone have Passport working with a 7200.10 400GB+ drive?

Riverside - just look for links in my recent posts, I referenced the other complaints over the last week or so - that is why I am thinking the code or problem is lower level than the OS now.

xnappo

...not so much issues with ec getting in the way. I'm talking video, import, editing, etc. ... uncompressed video. I'd assume that this may be far more demanding than what we are asking our DVRs to deal with ... But I'm not so sure the same issues aren't at the heart of things.During one of the error correction discussions, I scratched out ~7 EC failures per hour of HDTV [#1766 (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=6181474&&#post6181474) -- given the error rate two posts above it].

If that was a good number for EC "hits", it did not seem to be in the ball-park of the current [blip reports].

Of course there may be more EC in the path (does the eSATA interface itself have any EC routines?).

v/r,
C-F

I'm not sure it's a "bug". Like you say, everyone's got their opinion, and I'm certainly not a computer expert, but my theory is that the software simply can't create buffers on an external drive because they've already got one for each tuner on the internal drive. If two more buffers are created, then you've got four, and how does the machine manage those? Seems like it might create conflicts. I've posted this view before, but never have seen any of the computer experts on the forum respond to it, nor have we ever seen any of the software guys at Aptiv (if any of them are members) post on just how the software formats the drive (boy, it sure is unbelievably quick!) and how the buffers are created. Maybe my theory is just too dumb to bother with. :p

At any rate, it doesn't really matter to me as all my time-shifting occurs on my "original" 8300. My second one, with the external drive, is just dedicated to HD movies, so I don't need trick-play on that one.

Oh I think your point about the buffers could very well be a part of the issue; but it very much does play into my "multiple volume" point. In no way is it "dumb," the whole issue of the buffers sure as hell was a big part of my conclusion as to the point I made. "Losing track" of where the buffer is sure is a symptom of not dealing with multiple volumes correctly (I think from a design standpoint, the two buffers should be strictly limited to the primary drive). Then again, I doubt they'd want to listen to me tell them how software should be designed, even though it seems I might do a better job of it!

As for "time shifting only on the internal drive" from everything I've seen I'm not so sure we can actually control that! The prevailing wisdom seems to indicate it will record to wish drive reports the most free space, which seems reasonable and logical (and I believe stated in some of the SA documentation).

I am successful using the following setup,

QuickSwap eSATA (QSB35KS1) Enclosure by CoolDrives.com (http://www.cooldrives.com/sibayesandus.html) $99 including the "correct" eSATA cable.

Maxtor 7H500F0 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive from Newegg.com $139

I simultaneously recorded two HD programs while viewing a third pre-recorded HD program. In all three programs there was only one very brief artifact which occurred while viewing the third pre-recorded show at the exact start time when the second program started recording. I have been using it in regular service for everal weeks and noticed very few artifacts, no more than when watching live digital TV.

This particular enclosure is cool because you can swap out the hard drive in seconds with no tools. I actually have 2 different hard drives devoted to my 8300 but you can only use one at a time, and you have to reboot the 8300 whenever you switch the drives. But Hey! that’s an additional terabyte of storage!!!!

...As for "time shifting only on the internal drive" from everything I've seen I'm not so sure we can actually control that!...I think archiguy has two STB: an 8300HD (w/o eSATA) for watching live TV with FF/RW, and a separate 8300HD w/eSATA for archiving/watching HD movies that does not need live FF/RW.

v/r,
C-F

I've now had my external hard drive (WD 500gb) set up and running good since Jan. 1. My only concern has been with the Vantec enclosure. It's never run hot to the touch, but I noticed on the database that few if any others have had success with it. Am I running a risk of hard drive meltdown by not using an enclosure with a built-in fan? I ask this because I only a few days left to return it if needed. Also, if I disconnect it and take it back, will I lose all the contents on the WD hard drive? (I'd hoped to watch all of 24 season 6 during one week this May!)

Thanks!

I've now had my external hard drive (WD 500gb) set up and running good since Jan. 1. My only concern has been with the Vantec enclosure. It's never run hot to the touch, but I noticed on the database that few if any others have had success with it. Am I running a risk of hard drive meltdown by not using an enclosure with a built-in fan? I ask this because I only a few days left to return it if needed. Also, if I disconnect it and take it back, will I lose all the contents on the WD hard drive? (I'd hoped to watch all of 24 season 6 during one week this May!)

Thanks!

Wayne, I noticed that too (the database vs. you) - but lots of the Vantec failures are with Seagate 7200.9/7200.10 which we know is bad. I would be very curious if your internal drive is WD and what 'Curly7733' has internally since you both have the same enclosure/drive with different results. Your OS version is newer though...

Still not enough data in the database to say for sure, but it it starting to look like the best recommendation for a drive and case currently in production is WD SE16 and Apricorn enclosure.

xnappo

Thanks xnappo. So what would you do if you were me? Also, would I potentially lose any of my recordings if I switched out the box?

I purchased a 250GB SATA hard drive and hooked it up to my SA8300HD. It seems to work just fine, and the remaining space increased drastically, so I do appear to have the additional capacity. However, is there a screen somewhere that will tell me how much total capacity I have? My Tivo has such a screeen, but I cannot find this data for the DVR.

I think archiguy has two STB: an 8300HD (w/o eSATA) for watching live TV with FF/RW, and a separate 8300HD w/eSATA for archiving/watching HD movies that does not need live FF/RW.

v/r,
C-F

Yep, that's right. Working out real swell for me, too. Since they've taken away firewire capability by neutering the 1394 ports (deliberately, I'm convinced), it's the only way to "archive" HD movies.

This was taken from Scarlett's Post #3620: "Yes, you should be able to format a new drive, make new recordings to it, disconnect it, reconnect your old drive and play those recordings on it, as long as you do NOT delete from the internal drive the references to those recordings on your old drive. "

So in regards to simply disconnecting my external hard drive, putting it in a different enclosure (with a fan) and reconnecting it, I'm thinking that I wouldn't lose any programs recorded onto the hard drive. Are there any flaws with my theory?

So in regards to simply disconnecting my external hard drive, putting it in a different enclosure (with a fan) and reconnecting it, I'm thinking that I wouldn't lose any programs recorded onto the hard drive. Are there any flaws with my theory?

Yes, as long as you don't drop it or accidentally put it in the oven with the pot roast, all should be fine.

Do you notice that it is warm though? If there is plenty of air around it it should be okay. After all - the drive in the 8300 itself doesn't have a fan.

xnappo

I purchased a 250GB SATA hard drive and hooked it up to my SA8300HD. It seems to work just fine, and the remaining space increased drastically, so I do appear to have the additional capacity. However, is there a screen somewhere that will tell me how much total capacity I have? My Tivo has such a screeen, but I cannot find this data for the DVR.Please post the version of SW that you have in your signature like the rest of us do. The answer to your question depends on the software.

I think archiguy has two STB: an 8300HD (w/o eSATA) for watching live TV with FF/RW, and a separate 8300HD w/eSATA for archiving/watching HD movies that does not need live FF/RW.

v/r,
C-F

Ah, that makes sense.

Using the temperature probe from my smoker I measured the temperature of both the DVR and the Vantec enclosure. The Vantec box measured 73 degrees while the DVR measured 77 degrees. BTW - the room temp was 65 degrees (basement). Both units were "on" but not in use although I don't believe either box runs much warmer at all after actual usage.

Due to the near constant year round temperature of my basement, I'm thinking maybe I'm okay "as is" with the Vantec and if it does get much warmer later on, I can always place a small plastic fan behind these units. There is several inches above, below and on all sides of both units.

xnappo - thanks again for all the advice!

I've now had my external hard drive (WD 500gb) set up and running good since Jan. 1. My only concern has been with the Vantec enclosure. It's never run hot to the touch, but I noticed on the database that few if any others have had success with it. Am I running a risk of hard drive meltdown by not using an enclosure with a built-in fan? I ask this because I only a few days left to return it if needed. Also, if I disconnect it and take it back, will I lose all the contents on the WD hard drive? (I'd hoped to watch all of 24 season 6 during one week this May!)

Thanks!

Risk of meltdown is very low. The typical upper operational limit is way beyond "warm." I'd make sure you had it in a location where nothing adds heat to it and is well enough ventilated that it gets a moderate amount of airflow.

Thanks Riverside_Guy. I think my next post beat yours by a matter of seconds. At 73 degrees and sufficient air space, I now think I'm okay with the Vantec box.

Due to the near constant year round temperature of my basement, I'm thinking maybe I'm okay "as is" with the Vantec and if it does get much warmer later on, I can always place a small plastic fan behind these units. There is several inches above, below and on all sides of both units.


Hey, that's a great idea! I've got the 500GB WD drive that so many are using in an Apricorn enclosure, but the sound from the nifty built-in fan is driving me nuts. If I can somehow figure out how to disconnect the fan wy/out affecting the rest of the electronics in the enclosure, then maybe I can find a super-quiet little fan that I could place directly behind the enclosure. The fan would then draw air though the enclosure, but hopefully the overall sound level would decrease.

Well, it sounds good in theory. What is probably going to happen is I won't be able to find another fan that's more quiet than the Apricorn built-in, so I'll just end up disconnecting its fan and hoping the drive is built well enough to function well without a fan. Too bad Apricorn doesn't give you the option of turning off the fan while still providing power to the drive.

But the larger question is: does an enclosure really need a fan in the first place? I know our boy pepar has said "the fan is your friend", but in a computer, isn't the fan really there to dissipate heat from the processor, not the hard drive? I guess what I'm looking for is assurance that if I have a fan-free enclosure, I won't end up "frying" the drive.

Most new drives, in its own passively cooled enclosurer, are designed to live a long life with typical heat generated by the drive. It is the stacking of several HD's on top of each other in a case with limited forced cooling which can drive temperatures to a point that drive life is compromised. But this too has improved over the years. Still, if I had a 15,000 rpm drive I would want some assisted cooling, a typical 7,200 rpm drive should be just fine, IMO.

Richard.

Well, does anyone have a recommendation for the "best" non-fan enclosure available? I'm assuming that it would have a metal case, probably aluminum, which would dissipate the heat more effectively than plastic. Suggestions...?

Well, does anyone have a recommendation for the "best" non-fan enclosure available? I'm assuming that it would have a metal case, probably aluminum, which would dissipate the heat more effectively than plastic. Suggestions...?

It is really easy to disable the fan in the Apricorn, just cut the two wires going to the fan. The case is metal with decent vents, I don't think another case would be much better. Looking at the database, it is hard to recommend anything other than Apricorn so far.

xnappo

It is really easy to disable the fan in the Apricorn, just cut the two wires going to the fan. The case is metal with decent vents, I don't think another case would be much better. Looking at the database, it is hard to recommend anything other than Apricorn so far.

xnappo

You.....you're recommending I give my Apricorn a vasectomy!? :eek:

Quick question: I just got a new SATA drive, and I am trying to do the "stress test." How long should this test last exactly? I just recorded two HD shows while watching a third for about 10 minutes. Is this long enough or is there a certain recommended amount of time? In 10 minutes, the picture on all 3 recordings was flawless (which is much better than my last SATA drive would have been), but should I go longer? 30 minutes, an hour? Thanks.

Quick question: I just got a new SATA drive, and I am trying to do the "stress test." How long should this test last exactly? I just recorded two HD shows while watching a third for about 10 minutes. Is this long enough or is there a certain recommended amount of time? In 10 minutes, the picture on all 3 recordings was flawless (which is much better than my last SATA drive would have been), but should I go longer? 30 minutes, an hour? Thanks.

I is probably all good now - at least from my experience, if there is going to be serious glitching you will see it within 10 minutes when doing the stress test.

Congrats!

xnappo

I is probably all good now - at least from my experience, if there is going to be serious glitching you will see it within 10 minutes when doing the stress test.

Congrats!

xnappo
Well that's good news. I will most likely submit a review to the database after Monday, when I will be doing some heavy recording. If all is still looking as good as it has been so far, this drive is perfect. For reference, it is the Seagate DB35 7200.3 SATA drive. I believe the DB35 is the same drive used in the Series 3 TiVOs and is also the successor to the Maxtor Quickview. So far tonight, not a single noticeable glitch...and that's a HUGE improvement over my previous Seagate SATA drive. Thumbs up so far.

I is probably all good now - at least from my experience, if there is going to be serious glitching you will see it within 10 minutes when doing the stress test.I thought it also could depend on how full the external drive was. I seem to recall seeing a few posts where there was early success, but then things got worse as the SATA drive filled. Perhaps I read wrong or recall incorrectly.

I thought it also could depend on how full the external drive was. I seem to recall seeing a few posts where there was early success, but then things got worse as the SATA drive filled. Perhaps I read wrong or recall incorrectly.
Drives fill from the outside inward. Constant angular rotation (RPM) means that the platters' surface, and therefore the bits, passes by the head faster at the outside of the patter than at the inside. Sooo, filling the drive to the inner tracks and running The Test is the ultimate challenge for the drive.

Drives fill from the outside inward. Constant angular rotation (RPM) means that the platters' surface, and therefore the bits, passes by the head faster at the outside of the patter than at the inside. Sooo, filling the drive to the inner tracks and running The Test is the ultimate challenge for the drive.

Sure, it is possible there may be some *occasional* glitches/performance changes as the drive fills - but not the massive glitching caused by a really incompatible combo.

xnappo

Well that's good news. I will most likely submit a review to the database after Monday, when I will be doing some heavy recording. If all is still looking as good as it has been so far, this drive is perfect. For reference, it is the Seagate DB35 7200.3 SATA drive. I believe the DB35 is the same drive used in the Series 3 TiVOs and is also the successor to the Maxtor Quickview. So far tonight, not a single noticeable glitch...and that's a HUGE improvement over my previous Seagate SATA drive. Thumbs up so far.I take it you resolved your rebooting problem?

I take it you resolved your rebooting problem?
Yeah, apparently the box was not the issue I initially thought it was. I had a tech scheduled to come out tomorrow after exhausting every possible reason I could think of for the box not rebooting, but this afternoon, just out of the blue, the clock came back up and the box was working again. I still regret swapping out my first box, but other than that, no problems so far and the external SATA drive I have is working better than can be hoped.

Well, if it's any consolation, I just had one box upgraded to 1.88 for someone and it took 6 hours. Since all other upgrades have taken only a few minutes, I would assume there might have been some kind of communication problem and it had to keep retrying until it was finally able to finish.

I should add that if you had your box disconnected from cable for quite some time, I believe it takes awhile to reauthorize itself.

Just thought I'd add my experience to this thread. Here was my installation procedure:

1. Turn off everything, and unplug the 8300HD

2. Connect enclosure to the 8300HD with the supplied eSATA cable (came with enclosure)

3. Power on the enclosure

4. Plug the 8300HD in, but don't turn on the power via the button.

5. Wait until you get the time display back on the front of the 8300HD, then turn it on.

6. There should be an error message about the drive not being recognized. This is normal.

7. Press "exit" on the remote, and turn off the 8300HD with the power button.

9. Unplug the 8300HD

10. Plug it back in and wait for the time to display on the front of the 8300HD.

11. Turn on the 8300HD. A new message should display recognizing the external SATA drive and prompt for a format.

12. Accept the format, and wait about 5 minutes (there will be no indication that it finished).

13. Turn off the 8300HD with the power button, then unplug the 8300HD.

14. Plug the 8300HD back in and wait for the time to display.

15. Turn on the 8300HD. A final message should confirm that the external drive will be used for storage. Your % used should drop dramatically. If not, repeat steps #9 and #10 until the message appears. It took me two attempts at that stage.

16. Enjoy!

Also, here are the exact items I bought at Canada Computers:

1. Western Digital (WD3200KS) Caviar 320GB SATAII 7200 RPM 16MB Buffer @ $113.99 (cc Part #HDW000322)

2. Vantec NexStar3 NST-360SU-BK 3.5" Aluminum External eSATA+USB2.0 Enclosure @ $44.99 (cc Part #ACVT000304)

Hope that helps. Good luck.

Ryan

Hope that helps. Good luck.

Ryan

Ryan, these are good SARA 8300HD instructions - can you please edit your post to reflect the instructions are for SARA (Passport is different). Having both types of software in this thread, it causes confusion when the version isn't specified.

Also - please make an entry in the database in my sig!

Thanks,
xnappo

Ryan, these are good SARA 8300HD instructions - can you please edit your post to reflect the instructions are for SARA (Passport is different). Having both types of software in this thread, it causes confusion when the version isn't specified. Better yet, why not add the SARA version to your sig (it will show in the past posts as well) and your location to your profile ;)

And welcome besides!

Just setup a Seagate 300GB eSATA drive to my 8300HD, so far so good.

SARA 1.88.23.1, Cablevision, Nassau County, Long Island.
Seagate eSATA 300GB Hard Drive - Link on CompUSA (http://www.compusa.com/products/product_info.asp?pfp=SEARCH&Ntt=seagate+esata&N=0&Dx=mode+matchall&Nty=1&D=seagate+esata&Ntk=All&product_code=341416&Pn=eSATA_300GB_Hard_Drive)

I think it is safe to say my Seagate DB35 SATA drive is a success. After my initial 10 minute "stress test" yesterday, I followed up with another "stress test," this time for 30 minutes. My 10 minute test was flawless, with not a single case of macroblocking or any kind of video distortion. My 30 minute test was nearly as flawless, with only a split second case of macroblocking on HD recording #2, however, I believe this may have been the channel itself, as it was having signal issues earlier in the day. Today, I did one more 30 minute "stress test," and the results could not be more perfect. I watched all three streams closely and entirely, and there was not one video glitch in the 90 minutes of video! So after three "stress tests," one for 10 minutes and two for 30 minutes, there was only one small sign of a glitch in test #2, but as I said, I am almost positive the glitch was in the original live stream, as that channel did have signal problems just hours earlier. I spent a good deal of money trying to find the perfect SATA drive, and thank God it wasn't all for nothing. So, for me anyway, the Seagate DB35 ST3500830SCE 7200.3 SATA drive is the ideal drive. Also, thanks to Scarlett, as she was the one who brought this drive to my attention in the first place.

Drives fill from the outside inward. Constant angular rotation (RPM) means that the platters' surface, and therefore the bits, passes by the head faster at the outside of the patter than at the inside. Sooo, filling the drive to the inner tracks and running The Test is the ultimate challenge for the drive.

Then one could also say that drives using vertical rather than perpendicular technology record top to bottom <g>!

Then one could also say that drives using vertical rather than perpendicular technology record top to bottom <g>!
<bfg>

bad power = external drive resets.

I have had a break through with my 8300HD and external drive. I havn't been following the thread latley but I thought I would share my 2 cnts. My setup has been continually evolving with different drives and enclosures. at first I thought I had a bad drive, then I thought I was running the drive to hot. No mater what I did I would still loose access to the drive requiring a reboot at least 2 twice a week. I finally bought a battery back up UPS and I havn't had to reset my ESATA drive and 8300HD once.
I live in Hawaii and our power is not the best out here. it regularly fluctuates 5-10 volts and surges and brownouts are not uncommon.

I think the brownouts were causing my 8300HD and external drive to loose power and then almost immediatly start again. since the startup sequence was not followed the external drive was not detected by the 8300.

It's been over a month and my setup is working flawlessly I am using a WD cavier drive and a cool gear aluminum external enclosure (the one with the noisy fan)

sorry about the spelling guys but hey you get my drift.

Sorry if I'm asking any dumb questions, I hope you guys can help me out.

I got the following equipment:

Enclosure: Sabrent Sata -> eSata

Hard Drive: Western Digital Caviar WD3200KS 320GB Sata II 7200RPM w/16MB Buffer

DVR: Sci Atl 8300HD, Time Warner Cable, Albany-NY, SARA 1.89.17.1

I pretty much followed the instructions: mounted the HD in the enclosure, it seems to be working fine, but I tried to connect it to the 8300HD and the DVR never recognized the external drive.

I think I rebooted the DVR at least 15 times.

The questions are:

1. Am I supposed to disconnect the TWC coaxial cable?
2. When does the question to format the drive appears? Right after the boot?
3. Am I supposed to press the power button on the DVR or the prompt will appear on the TV if it's not ON? (like what happens when you check the SARA version

I'm getting frustrated, I was all excited to expand my DVR. Am I doing something wrong?

Thanks in advance for any help.
Ebrire

Im about to order a drive and enclosure to give this a try, but I just wanted to ask, will a 250GB drive make all that big a dent when it comes to HD content, or should I just bit the bullet and buy a 400 or 500GB drive?

Also, I found a couple of posts relating to the AMS Venus DS3 enclosure here. Newegg show's it with a great rating (5 star). But just to be sure, I wanted to ask if there are any other's I should look at, or will that one work fine?

Im about to order a drive and enclosure to give this a try, but I just wanted to ask, will a 250GB drive make all that big a dent when it comes to HD content, or should I just bit the bullet and buy a 400 or 500GB drive?

Also, I found a couple of posts relating to the AMS Venus DS3 enclosure here. Newegg show's it with a great rating (5 star). But just to be sure, I wanted to ask if there are any other's I should look at, or will that one work fine?

I wouldn't judge a case by the NewEgg reviews - because most likely they are being used with computers. I would look for a combination from the compatibility database in my sig (even if you have Passport - which BTW you should add to your sig) that works well.

From the database, I think I would recommend an Apricorn enclosure.

Drives are a bit more sticky - just DON'T get a Seagate 7200.9 or 7200.10 series drive.

xnappo

The questions are:

1. Am I supposed to disconnect the TWC coaxial cable?
2. When does the question to format the drive appears? Right after the boot?
3. Am I supposed to press the power button on the DVR or the prompt will appear on the TV if

it's not ON? (like what happens when you check the SARA version

I'm getting frustrated, I was all excited to expand my DVR. Am I doing something wrong?

Thanks in advance for any help.
Ebrire

I have Passport and this is what I do and I've been doing this for over 5 months and with the understanding ESATA is hot pluggable.
1- first with a new hard drive I use WD diagnostics in my PC and I quick test the drive and quick format, it'll work with any brand of HD :

http://img161.imageshack.us/img161/2152/quickfym4.th.jpg (http://img161.imageshack.us/my.php?image=quickfym4.jpg)



2- I tune a VOD channel (HBO on Demand in my case) press SWAP in the remote control and tune again the same VOD channel doing this prevents hard drive buffering and possible data corruption, confirm VOD is in both pressing again swap. Make sure is not schedule recordings.

3- With the 8300HD ON Plug Esata and power to the drive, hit the power switch in the ext drive, 20 seconds later a popup window inform to format now the drive:

http://img257.imageshack.us/img257/1609/img1184bp1.th.jpg (http://img257.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img1184bp1.jpg)

press format now, another window popup to confirm:

http://img246.imageshack.us/img246/5953/img1186nl7.th.jpg (http://img246.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img1186nl7.jpg)

and one more at the end of the process:

http://img401.imageshack.us/img401/979/img1188je9.th.jpg (http://img401.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img1188je9.jpg)

If you see the above is a good indication the drive will work fine and it's recognized and in working condition


4-Go to DIAG and confirm the space was increased from the orig. 160gb.

5-If you don't see the added hard drive in DIAG, POWER down the ext drive, a popup will tell you the drive has been disconnected:

http://img147.imageshack.us/img147/9125/img1168yi3.th.jpg (http://img147.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img1168yi3.jpg)

Accept, wait a few seconds and POWER the ext. drive back ON, 20 secs later another popup window will tell the box needs to be rebooted:

http://img401.imageshack.us/img401/9121/img1169sq1.th.jpg (http://img401.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img1169sq1.jpg)

follow the window and in about 2 min the unit will reboot and this time you should see the new hard drive.

Diag Page:

http://img128.imageshack.us/img128/4797/img1194so8.th.jpg (http://img128.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img1194so8.jpg)

I've been swapping two Vantec enclosures with a WD320gb and a WD500gb all this time and I never had any problem, make sure you tune the VOD channel, this safe procedure it's like releasing a USB device from a PC

Great tutorial! I have passport so this is quite helpfull to me.

When you swap things back and forth, do you have to format each time? What about just disconnecting and reconnecting the drive?

Say I wanted to unplug it from the DVR and hook it up to my PC (even though the data is encrypted probably) and then hook it back up to my DVR, would I lose all the shows I had saved on the ext drive?

Great tutorial! I have passport so this is quite helpfull to me.

When you swap things back and forth, do you have to format each time? What about just disconnecting and reconnecting the drive?

No as long you don't use it in another 8300 or a PC.
Same step 5, power down, accept, power back on, the 8300hd will reboot in 2 min.

Say I wanted to unplug it from the DVR and hook it up to my PC (even though the data is encrypted probably) and then hook it back up to my DVR, would I lose all the shows I had saved on the ext drive?

You can't read it, it's an unknown format and encrypted, if you use it as I do sometimes in my laptop I have to start from step 1.

Im about to order a drive and enclosure to give this a try, but I just wanted to ask, will a 250GB drive make all that big a dent when it comes to HD content, or should I just bit the bullet and buy a 400 or 500GB drive?

Also, I found a couple of posts relating to the AMS Venus DS3 enclosure here. Newegg show's it with a great rating (5 star). But just to be sure, I wanted to ask if there are any other's I should look at, or will that one work fine?
Goanna,

Since you can only connect a single drive, the bigger the better. I'm using an Apricorn enclosure(SATA/USB) with a 500GB WD 7200 16MB cache drive. I don't normally operate it under the rigorous 'stress-test' environment(record 2, playback 1), and it works just fine. Remember, HD sucks up disc space at a good clip, so if you're into recording a lot of HD content, than a large capacity drive makes the most sense - IMHO.

Im about to order a drive and enclosure to give this a try, but I just wanted to ask, will a 250GB drive make all that big a dent when it comes to HD content, or should I just bit the bullet and buy a 400 or 500GB drive? Certainly your call. A 250G will add about 30 hours of HD recording capacity, a 500G will double that. So, if you expect to routinely need more than 50 hours of recorded HD material on hand, then you should go for the larger drives. I watch what I record fairly quickly and I don't record/save series for summer or anything like that, so the internal 160G has served me well.

I just added a Segate 500 gb drive with a Apricorn enclosure with fan to my 8300 from Cox. the storage space increased by 4 times, but I am getting the occasional recording freezing and only recording anywhere from 5 to 30 mins. It seems to random, but annoying when it happens.

I happened before without the drive, but seems more frequent. I also get blocking and audio disruption as well.

Anyone experience the same thing or any thoughts?

EDIT: Sorry, I am pouring through the tips threads and will try all the diagnostics up to HDD reformat to see what I can do.

I have another problem that I hope goes away. When I output 720p and 1080i the box freezes, mostly on ESPN at 720p when my provider Cox plays a SD commercial at 480i. When the resolution switches back and forth on the same channel, it locks up. It seems OK when box is at 1080i only.

I just added a Segate 500 gb drive with a Apricorn enclosure with fan to my 8300 from Cox. the storage space increased by 4 times, but I am getting the occasional recording freezing and only recording anywhere from 5 to 30 mins. It seems to random, but annoying when it happens.

I happened before without the drive, but seems more frequent. I also get blocking and audio disruption as well.

Anyone experience the same thing or any thoughts?

EDIT: Sorry, I am pouring through the tips threads and will try all the diagnostics up to HDD reformat to see what I can do.

I have another problem that I hope goes away. When I output 720p and 1080i the box freezes, mostly on ESPN at 720p when my provider Cox plays a SD commercial at 480i. When the resolution switches back and forth on the same channel, it locks up. It seems OK when box is at 1080i only.

Is it a Seagate 7200.9 or 7200.10? If so you will see from the database in my sig that success with those drives is very limited. Have you tried a stress test to see if it gets worse? Record two HD shows, after 1 or 2 minutes start playing one of them back from the beginning while it records.

xnappo

I have Passport and this is what I do . .
And it does NOT work for SARA. So why reply with it to a SARA user?

Is it a Seagate 7200.9 or 7200.10? If so you will see from the database in my sig that success with those drives is very limited. Have you tried a stress test to see if it gets worse? Record two HD shows, after 1 or 2 minutes start playing one of them back from the beginning while it records.

xnappo


It's a Seagate 7200.10. I just checked and I am running 1.87.16.1 on the 8300. I tried a hard reboot and could not get the box to hard reboot. Starting to be at a loss??

I will stress test now and see what happens. When I tried to record a program in progress it failed, so I suspect the stress will fail. Will report back and fill in the database

OK, I recorded two programs at the same time. One on MTVHD and one on ESPNHD. Both recorded and I could watch both while recording, but they both had glitches every couple of minutes. It's like a skipping CD or record. Pretty annoying actually. I guess that would rate a fail. I will try one last thing. I have two 8300 HD boxes. I am going to switch them and see what happens. After that I guess, Seagates are not the best match with the 8300.

I wouldn't judge a case by the NewEgg reviews - because most likely they are being used with computers. I would look for a combination from the compatibility database in my sig (even if you have Passport - which BTW you should add to your sig) that works well.

From the database, I think I would recommend an Apricorn enclosure.

Drives are a bit more sticky - just DON'T get a Seagate 7200.9 or 7200.10 series drive.

xnappo
Yeah, I read about the Seagate problems while skimming through this thread. I will definitly avoid them.

I figure I'll wind up with a Samsung Spinpoint, or a Western Digital Caviar. The product description on the caviar's even states that they are perfect for use in DVR's, so ill probably lean in that direction.

OK, I recorded two programs at the same time. One on MTVHD and one on ESPNHD. Both recorded and I could watch both while recording, but they both had glitches every couple of minutes. It's like a skipping CD or record. Pretty annoying actually. I guess that would rate a fail. I will try one last thing. I have two 8300 HD boxes. I am going to switch them and see what happens. After that I guess, Seagates are not the best match with the 8300.

Yep - that is what happened when I tried a 7200.10 :)

If you *do* see a difference between your two 8300s, please let us know the hardware versions (printed on the bottom of the box).

Regards,
xnappo

FWIW, I am using a seagate external sata 500gb 3.0 ST3500601XS-RK and have tiling. How do I find which sara firmware version my box has. (explorer 8300)


Edit: I just found the compatibility database. Wow, whoever contributed and posted it thank you very much! Please add mine. Its tiling very much, hard to quantify but >1 glitch @ 10 min intervals

And it does NOT work for SARA.

So you won't have a problem to provide a link were it says SARA failed to recognize the external drive by tuning two VOD channels and hot-plugging.

So you won't have a problem to provide a link were it says SARA failed to recognize the external drive by tuning two VOD channels and hot-plugging.
It's the hot-plugging that doesn't work with SARA. And tuning two VOD channels has nothing to do with either software recognizing an external drive.

Look just above your post at turkeyfoot. He's got a total of one post and he's been looking around and has already found a reference provided by a few hard working members. Try searching a bit yourself instead of blaming the messenger.

FWIW, I am using a seagate external sata 500gb 3.0 ST3500601XS-RK and have tiling. How do I find which sara firmware version my box has. (explorer 8300)


Edit: I just found the compatibility database. Wow, whoever contributed and posted it thank you very much! Please add mine. Its tiling very much, hard to quantify but >1 glitch @ 10 min intervals

Hi Turkeyfoot - the data in the database is contributed by users - please add your own experience by using the 'New' button.

Glad you find it useful - sorry you didn't find it earlier!

xnappo

EDIT - I see you figured that out already! Thanks for the entry.

I am going to buy a wd drive from the data base that is matched up with my version of sara. Anyone have an idea wether a newer version of sara is going to have an adverse effect on my choice of drive or is it a crap shoot?

I am going to buy a wd drive from the data base that is matched up with my version of sara. Anyone have an idea wether a newer version of sara is going to have an adverse effect on my choice of drive or is it a crap shoot?
:D

I am going to buy a wd drive from the data base that is matched up with my version of sara. Anyone have an idea wether a newer version of sara is going to have an adverse effect on my choice of drive or is it a crap shoot?They don't intentionally do anything to break things, but it's still a crap shoot. I don't know about Passport, but if you do not have SARA version 1.89.x.x yet, expect an upgrade to it in the next few weeks before DST kicks in Mar 11. I don't recall reading that a software upgrade has actually caused a particular working combo to fail, but I could be wrong.

Yep - that is what happened when I tried a 7200.10 :)

If you *do* see a difference between your two 8300s, please let us know the hardware versions (printed on the bottom of the box).

Regards,
xnappo

Switched boxes and with first stress test, show on DiscHD and basketball game on ABC, the results are better. Only a glitch every 10 mins or so. I will try a few shows this week and report. Too soon to tell. Too soon to start shopping for another HDD

Thanks for the database and compiling all of this helpful info. I only wish I found this before I bought the Seagate :(

OK, I recorded two programs at the same time. One on MTVHD and one on ESPNHD. Both recorded and I could watch both while recording, but they both had glitches every couple of minutes. It's like a skipping CD or record. Pretty annoying actually. I guess that would rate a fail. I will try one last thing. I have two 8300 HD boxes. I am going to switch them and see what happens. After that I guess, Seagates are not the best match with the 8300.This is not entirely true! I wouldn't trade my Seagate drives for any other brand available. If you want a 500GB external drive, I don't think you can find a better one than the Seagate ST3500830SCE which is from the new DB35 series--the replacement for the highly regarded Maxtor QuickView drive. If you want only a 300GB drive, the Seagate ST3300831AS has performed flawlessly for me, on three different SARA firmware versions, for over a year. As long as you avoid the 7200.9 and 7200.10 Seagate models, you should be fine--and you can't get a 5-year warranty with any other brand, if that is important to you.

Additionally, the Apricorn enclosures have been excellent choices to combine with the Seagate SATA drives. They have fans that keep the drives running cool, and I have not found them to be as noisy as others have reported. For myself, I would not consider a fanless enclosure, but others here disagree. It just seems to make sense to me that a fan would be necessary for a drive that is running 24/7.

I have had three 8300HD's with Western Digital internal drives, each of which failed within 6 months of installation! I finally was able to get an 8300HD from TWC that was manufactured in Dec. 2006 and has a Maxtor internal drive--I was so excited! Personally, I would never buy a WD hard drive, but ultimately it is a matter of personal choice, and others swear by them.

Good luck with your project--just don't be too quick to write Seagate drives off! :)

Scarlett

I was waiting for someone to comment on that statement. :)

I was waiting for someone to comment on that statement. :)Well, you did know it would be me--didn't you? :)

Scarlett

I am going to buy a wd drive from the data base that is matched up with my version of sara. Anyone have an idea wether a newer version of sara is going to have an adverse effect on my choice of drive or is it a crap shoot?Everything about the 8300HD's and external drives is a crap shoot! :) However, before you run out and buy a WD SATA drive, read my post above about Seagate drives. I started with your version of SARA and now have the newer 1.89.17.1 version. My Seagate external drives are working just as well with this version as they did with the two earlier versions I had--even under the extreme "stress test." Just as soon as I can justify the expense to my husband, I am going to buy the Seagate 500GB DB35 Series, model ST3500830SCE, for at least one of my 8300HD's. They are expensive and hard to find, but I am convinced they are the best SATA drives to use with this DVR.

Good luck to you!

Scarlett

This is not entirely true! I wouldn't trade my Seagate drives for any other brand available. If you want a 500GB external drive, I don't think you can find a better one than the Seagate ST3500830SCE which is from the new DB35 series--the replacement for the highly regarded Maxtor QuickView drive. If you want only a 300GB drive, the Seagate ST3300831AS has performed flawlessly for me, on three different SARA firmware versions, for over a year. As long as you avoid the 7200.9 and 7200.10 Seagate models, you should be fine--and you can't get a 5-year warranty with any other brand, if that is important to you.

Additionally, the Apricorn enclosures have been excellent choices to combine with the Seagate SATA drives. They have fans that keep the drives running cool, and I have not found them to be as noisy as others have reported. For myself, I would not consider a fanless enclosure, but others here disagree. It just seems to make sense to me that a fan would be necessary for a drive that is running 24/7.

I have had three 8300HD's with Western Digital internal drives, each of which failed within 6 months of installation! I finally was able to get an 8300HD from TWC that was manufactured in Dec. 2006 and has a Maxtor internal drive--I was so excited! Personally, I would never buy a WD hard drive, but ultimately it is a matter of personal choice, and others swear by them.

Good luck with your project--just don't be too quick to write Seagate drives off! :)

Scarlett

Just my luck. I picked Seagate since they are widely regarded as one of the best drives for PCs. Well if all else fails and I need a new drive, I will have another 500 GB of storage for my PC :p

Any experience or recommendation on these:

500GB Maxtor QuickView 500 SATA II 3.0Gb Hard Drive - Enterprise class, 16MB Buffer, 7200RPM, 5yr Warranty. (MAX3H500F0)

Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD5000AAKS 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive

Well, youve got to go with what works. Have you tried a pass through connector for the 2 300gb hds to get 600 or is that not a possibility?
Is it "standard procedure" to buy an internal and an enclosure due to I guess the higher pricing of an external?
Thanks for passing it along!
Geoff

How do you determine 7200.9 and 7200.10 ? Should I be seeing it on a spec sheet?

Id be interested to hear opinions on whether using a ide drive with ide to sata intfc enclosure would be unworthy. Ive got a few of those ready to go and would just have to spend $35 or so.

Just my luck. I picked Seagate since they are widely regarded as one of the best drives for PCs. Well if all else fails and I need a new drive, I will have another 500 GB of storage for my PC :p

Any experience or recommendation on these:

500GB Maxtor QuickView 500 SATA II 3.0Gb Hard Drive - Enterprise class, 16MB Buffer, 7200RPM, 5yr Warranty. (MAX3H500F0)

Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD5000AAKS 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard DriveThis is the "highly regarded Maxtor QuickView" to which I referred in my previous post! I have not used this particular drive, but I would not hesitate to buy it. I was unaware that these were still available, but a quick Google search found one for $145. It was my understanding that the Seagate DB35 series was replacing the Maxtor QuickView series since Seagate purchased Maxtor last summer. Apparently, Seagate has decided to keep the QuickView name, as well as offering its 5-yr. warranty. This is the drive I would buy--and I may try one of them at that price! It's less than half what you pay for the Seagate DB35 ($350), and it wouldn't surprise me to find that it is essentially the same drive! In any event, it would be my preference to the WD drive, but again, that's just my opinion.

Let us know what you decide.

Scarlett

I'm now suspecting that the enclosure may be defective, so I went ahead and decided to spend some extra bucks and buy another enclosure, this time I bought the Apricorn EZ-BUS-DTS-EKIT. This one comes with an USB 2.0 port and it'll let me check if the HD would work with my PC. And if I don't succeed with the DVR, at least I'll have one more external hard drive.

I'll receive it by Tuesday and I'll let you guys know if it worked.


Sorry if I'm asking any dumb questions, I hope you guys can help me out.

I got the following equipment:

Enclosure: Sabrent Sata -> eSata

Hard Drive: Western Digital Caviar WD3200KS 320GB Sata II 7200RPM w/16MB Buffer

DVR: Sci Atl 8300HD, Time Warner Cable, Albany-NY, SARA 1.89.17.1

I pretty much followed the instructions: mounted the HD in the enclosure, it seems to be working fine, but I tried to connect it to the 8300HD and the DVR never recognized the external drive.

I think I rebooted the DVR at least 15 times.

The questions are:

1. Am I supposed to disconnect the TWC coaxial cable?
2. When does the question to format the drive appears? Right after the boot?
3. Am I supposed to press the power button on the DVR or the prompt will appear on the TV if it's not ON? (like what happens when you check the SARA version

I'm getting frustrated, I was all excited to expand my DVR. Am I doing something wrong?

Thanks in advance for any help.
Ebrire

I'm now suspecting that the enclosure may be defective, so I went ahead and decided to spend some extra bucks and buy another enclosure, this time I bought the Apricorn EZ-BUS-DTS-EKIT. This one comes with an USB 2.0 port and it'll let me check if the HD would work with my PC. And if I don't succeed with the DVR, at least I'll have one more external hard drive.

I'll receive it by Tuesday and I'll let you guys know if it worked.I applaud your selection of the Apricorn enclosure! However, before you give up completely on your original enclosure, you might want to check to be sure that the SATA cable connections are tight and secure, both on the DVR and the enclosure. I had similar problems with my first external drive, and I found that the cable connection to the enclosure was slipping. I tied it up with a wire tie, and the external drive was recognized and formatted with no further problems. It's worth a try.

Scarlett

This is the "highly regarded Maxtor QuickView" to which I referred in my previous post! I have not used this particular drive, but I would not hesitate to buy it. I was unaware that these were still available, but a quick Google search found one for $145. It was my understanding that the Seagate DB35 series was replacing the Maxtor QuickView series since Seagate purchased Maxtor last summer. Apparently, Seagate has decided to keep the QuickView name, as well as offering its 5-yr. warranty. This is the drive I would buy--and I may try one of them at that price! It's less than half what you pay for the Seagate DB35 ($350), and it wouldn't surprise me to find that it is essentially the same drive! In any event, it would be my preference to the WD drive, but again, that's just my opinion.

Let us know what you decide.

Scarlett

I found a site named weakness that will give a 6 month warranty specifically for the explorer 8300. These are maxtor, Im guessing quick view models. Plug and play with enclosures. I'll contact them to see if they can bundle a 500 gb.
.
NEW 200GB QVX Expander External Hard Drive
We take the revolutionary QVX external drive technology and install a 200GB 7200RPM hard drive. SATA external hard drive for use in Scientific Atlanta Explorer 8300 High Definition Cable boxes (Scientific-Atlanta Explorer 8300 series (8300 HD, 8300 MR, and 8300 HD-MR Digital Video Recorders)). This drive is a "plug and play" external drive and works only with the SA8300. Includes a full 6 month warranty from weaKnees. FREE SHIPPING. See below for FAQ and details.
$149.00

NEW 300GB QVX Expander External Hard Drive
We take the revolutionary QVX external drive technology and install a 300GB 7200RPM hard drive. SATA external hard drive for use in Scientific Atlanta Explorer 8300 High Definition Cable boxes (Scientific-Atlanta Explorer 8300 series (8300 HD, 8300 MR, and 8300 HD-MR Digital Video Recorders)). This drive is a "plug and play" external drive and works only with the SA8300. Includes a full 6 month warranty from weaKnees. FREE SHIPPING. See below for FAQ and details.
$199.00
http://www.weaknees.com/tivo-dvr-hard-drive.php
Sounds like they think the maxtor quick view does pretty well.

turkeyfoot,

There is nothing new about this drive. This has been out for better than a year and is the one that has been found very successful for the 8300 (at least the SARA versions).

New members make old "discoveries" every day it seems!

I found a site named weakness.
It is refreshing to see new members hitting the ground with their wheels running. You are certainly doing that. Way to go!

How do you determine 7200.9 and 7200.10 ? Should I be seeing it on a spec sheet?Not always on a spec sheet--but nearly always on the box and the hard drive itself. Most of the online retailers will tell you which "series" the hard drive belongs to, and it is the Series 7200.9 and Series 7200.10 you want to avoid. There may be others, but those two nearly always give us problems. I have a 400GB Seagate Series 7200.10 that I "retired" in favor of a 300GB Series 7200.8, and I haven't had any problems with it.

I have found a 500GB Seagate DB35 Series 7200.2 for a reasonable price here:

http://www.pcsuperdeals.com/ProductView.asp?ProductID=93a0144c-9ed9-460b-9a68-9cea250b1600&Refer=11

Also, I found an even better price on the favored 500GB Maxtor QuickView here:

http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Maxtor/3H500F0/

I believe that both hard drives have 5-year warranties, and I would feel comfortable buying either of them, especially since I believe that Seagate is the manufacturer of both drives. :)

Scarlett

It is refreshing to see new members hitting the ground with their wheels running. You are certainly doing that. Way to go!

Heres a quote from weakness in regard to the 500 gb

Sorry - it's not stable in sizes larger than 300.

Thanks,

WeaKnees.com
http://www.weaknees.com

Since the 300 includes an enclosure and is only 199 with a 6 month warranty for use in my specific 8300, no disclaimer on the sara version, I will go that route. Whether this answers definitively the question on the St db25 or the Maxtor quick view, I dont know. Im tired of fighting this and want a plug and play answer at this point, after spending $276 on a sata 500 gb seagate and noticing the problem then. Its been a long strange trip through the internet but it has been very exciting to find this forum.

Thanks!
Geoff

.................. Im tired of fighting this and want a plug and play answer at this point...............

Here's another plug and play option for you. With 500 gig available:

http://discountechnology.com/Products/Audio-Video

BOB

Heres a quote from weakness in regard to the 500 gb

Sorry - it's not stable in sizes larger than 300.

Thanks,

WeaKnees.com
http://www.weaknees.com

Since the 300 includes an enclosure and is only 199 with a 6 month warranty for use in my specific 8300, no disclaimer on the sara version, I will go that route. Whether this answers definitively the question on the St db25 or the Maxtor quick view, I dont know. Im tired of fighting this and want a plug and play answer at this point, after spending $276 on a sata 500 gb seagate and noticing the problem then. Its been a long strange trip through the internet but it has been very exciting to find this forum.

Thanks!
GeoffI'm just sorry you didn't find this forum before you spent $276 on a Seagate drive that doesn't work with the 8300! It's a great drive for your computer, though, so it isn't a total loss.

I really hate to see you spend $199 for a 300GB external setup when you could have the same drive in a 500GB capacity and an Apricorn enclosure for around $181. I guess I can understand your frustration and your desire to have a plug and play solution that comes with a warranty, but you could have a do-it-yourself 300GB external setup for quite a bit less than the WeaKnees price, and it probably would be just as stable. Most of the 300GB setups have been successful with SARA firmware--the three that I have installed work flawlessly. This may be the reason that WeaKnees feels that they can warranty those units.

In the final analysis, it definitely is your call, and if you have reached the limit of your endurance going the DIY route, then good luck with the WeaKnees solution!

Scarlett

Here's another plug and play option for you. With 500 gig available:

http://discountechnology.com/Products/Audio-Video

BOB

Thanks, size and convenience do come at a price.
Imho the weeknees solution provides a decent price point when considering the cost of an enclosure. I dont see any reason why the drive couldnt be returned under the maxtor general policy.

I wonder if the pass through itfc and 2 drives has been tried? 2 for less than the price of one.....

Id be interested to hear opinions on whether using a ide drive with ide to sata intfc enclosure would be unworthy. Ive got a few of those ready to go and would just have to spend $35 or so.

I believe one of those Maxtor "engineered for use with the 8300" all-in-one solutions actually uses an IDE/ATA drive (ATA to SATA adapters are available)! The issue is that this whole function is such a crap-shoot. I've gone through a LOT of hard drives in a variety of interfaces over many, many years and the ONLY ones that EVER failed me were the original Barracuda's from 15+ years ago that ran hot enough to fry eggs. Right now I have 11 drives for my computer and have never, ever had a lick of trouble with any of them (8 of them are 2 drive arrays, one of which is inside the box, one stacked right on top of the other, running 24/7/365 with zero issues).

I have an 8300HD with a lot of content recorded to it that I can't afford to lose. I've been slowly getting the content off by recording it into my computer through an ATI TV card over S-Video, but now I have to leave town for an extended period and I'm running out of time. I need a shortcut method of preserving the content on the DVR so that I can come back to it later. I'm wondering if it's possible to ghost the the drive that's inside the DVR. This is the method I'm considering:

1. Go out and buy a 160 GB hard disk, bring it home.
2. Open up the 8300HD and remove its hard drive.
3. Plug both disks into a computer running Windows XP.
4. Use Symantec Norton Ghost to ghost the DVR drive onto the new drive.
5. Plug either drive back into the PVR, delete all the recorded content from it to free up all the space on the DVR.
6. Later be able to put the ghosted drive back into the PVR to make the content available again.

Will this work? I'm concerned about several things.

1. Is it possible to open the DVR and extract the hard drive?
2. Will I be able to plug it into my Windows machine?
3. Will the ghosting software be able to ghost it, or will it not recognize the data on the drive since the drive won't be formatted for Windows?
4. If I take a drive out of the DVR, will I be able to put it back in without losing all the data on it?

Any advice appreciated! Thanks.

Not always on a spec sheet--but nearly always on the box and the hard drive itself.

One thing that is really annoying is that Seagate doesn't change the part number on their external drives (which is what Turkeyfoot first tried) when they change in drive internal model.

The ST3500601XS-RK series has been known to have 7200.8, 7200.9 and 7200.10 drives inside. Soon the may have the new DB35 7200.3s in them.

xnappo

I have an 8300HD with a lot of content recorded to it that I can't afford to lose. I've been slowly getting the content off by recording it into my computer through an ATI TV card over S-Video, but now I have to leave town for an extended period and I'm running out of time. I need a shortcut method of preserving the content on the DVR so that I can come back to it later. I'm wondering if it's possible to ghost the the drive that's inside the DVR. This is the method I'm considering:

1. Go out and buy a 160 GB hard disk, bring it home.
2. Open up the 8300HD and remove its hard drive.
3. Plug both disks into a computer running Windows XP.
4. Use Symantec Norton Ghost to ghost the DVR drive onto the new drive.
5. Plug either drive back into the PVR, delete all the recorded content from it to free up all the space on the DVR.
6. Later be able to put the ghosted drive back into the PVR to make the content available again.

Will this work? I'm concerned about several things.

1. Is it possible to open the DVR and extract the hard drive?
2. Will I be able to plug it into my Windows machine?
3. Will the ghosting software be able to ghost it, or will it not recognize the data on the drive since the drive won't be formatted for Windows?
4. If I take a drive out of the DVR, will I be able to put it back in without losing all the data on it?

Any advice appreciated! Thanks.
You can do what you've been doing with s-video, or watch the recorded content on the box that recorded it. That's it.

To a computer the drive will look unformatted.

Why can you not "come back to it later" and use the DVR? The content will wait for you.

hey all.

I have connected a 750gb esata external drive and loving life. Only one problem though, with the drive connected and recording going on while watching a program I get a lot of digital stutter. When the drive is disconnected most of it goes away. Seems like the buffer is not working properly more than the drive. Any ideas or suggestions.

hey all.

I have connected a 750gb esata external drive and loving life. Only one problem though, with the drive connected and recording going on while watching a program I get a lot of digital stutter. When the drive is disconnected most of it goes away. Seems like the buffer is not working properly more than the drive. Any ideas or suggestions.

What kind of drive (specific model number)
What software (Passport or Sara)?

My guess if your answer is going to be Seagate 7200.10 and Sara - in which case you are out of luck and need to choose another drive.

xnappo

http://www.amazon.com/Cavalry-CAXM37750-3-5-Inch-750GB-External/dp/B000HPW286

this is the drive I bought. I have Bright House Networks in Orlando FL and using the passport system

http://www.amazon.com/Cavalry-CAXM37750-3-5-Inch-750GB-External/dp/B000HPW286

this is the drive I bought. I have Bright House Networks in Orlando FL and using the passport system

You would have to pop open the case to see what drive it is. Not much else you do other than making sure your cables are secure.

xnappo

Just purchased the Maxtor Quickview drive from here: https://eshop.macsales.com/item/Maxtor/3H500F0/

and the apricorn enclosure here: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817362002

Looking forward to their fast arrival. I'll post results once I build!!

I'm just sorry you didn't find this forum before you spent $276 on a Seagate drive that doesn't work with the 8300! It's a great drive for your computer, though, so it isn't a total loss.

Scarlett
My situation is similar, but on the other extreme. I tried to save some bucks and spend around $120 on a 320GB setup. So far, a waste of time and patience. Now I'm going to return the cheap enclosure and spend some extra bucks buying an Apricorn unit. I wish I could have found this forum earlier. :(

One thing that is really annoying is that Seagate doesn't change the part number on their external drives (which is what Turkeyfoot first tried) when they change in drive internal model.Never having bought a retail external hard drive, I have no idea whether the series of the drive being used in the enclosure is listed on the outside of the box, but it definitely would be listed on the drive's label--which, of course, you couldn't read unless you opened the enclosure! Can anyone who has bought one of the external Seagates confirm whether the drive's series was listed on the outside of the box--as it is with the internal drives?

The ST3500601XS-RK series has been known to have 7200.8, 7200.9 and 7200.10 drives inside. Soon they may have the new DB35 7200.3s in them.

xnappoHow did you learn that the different series drives were used in the external units? I can't think of anything greater than to have the new DB35's in an external enclosure--either Seagate's or mine! The original DB35's were series 7200.2, and I know that Cuzzin got one that is a series 7200.3. I just hope that Seagate doesn't plan to use perpendicular recording technology in the future DB35's. :)

BTW, xnappo, did you know that we have a new SARA version here in Austin? And also, we can get the external drive information again! I think it's on page 35 of the diagnostic screens. I've been gone for 3 weeks and just discovered the new version a couple of days ago. Diagnostics screens indicate that we got it in December, but I didn't notice anything different until I started reading the Cable Group postings and saw them discussing the "New" designation on the Info pages. Further, I read that this new version is supposed to resolve the new DST issue. I thought that's what "Navigator" was going to do. Typically, no clarification is forthcoming from TWC. Any ideas?

Scarlett

How did you learn that the different series drives were used in the external units? I can't think of anything greater than to have the new DB35's in an external enclosure--either Seagate's or mine! The original DB35's were series 7200.2, and I know that Cuzzin got one that is a series 7200.3.


If you read various reviews around the web you will see the same model referenced with different internal drives.


I just hope that Seagate doesn't plan to use perpendicular recording technology in the future DB35's. :)


I know you put a smiley - but that is a joke right - the smiley could be taken two ways... I had just about convinced RiversideGuy that everyone knew it wasn't the perpendicular recording but rather some other coincidental aspect of 7200.9/7200.10! The 7200.3 does also use perpendicular in case you aren't joking .


BTW, xnappo, did you know that we have a new SARA version here in Austin? And also, we can get the external drive information again! I think it's on page 35 of the diagnostic screens. I've been gone for 3 weeks and just discovered the new version a couple of days ago. Diagnostics screens indicate that we got it in December, but I didn't notice anything different until I started reading the Cable Group postings and saw them discussing the "New" designation on the Info pages. Further, I read that this new version is supposed to resolve the new DST issue. I thought that's what "Navigator" was going to do. Typically, no clarification is forthcoming from TWC. Any ideas?


Yeah, actually over in the Yahoo group I mentioned this to you (the diag screens) but that was while you were out I guess.

So what kind of naughtiness did you get into between the beginning and end of December that you didn't get a DB35 yourself?

Regarding other things, see PM.

xnappo

All,

I have been reading through the various forums online here and have found quite a bit of very useful information. I recently picked up a WD 500GB SATA drive with the Vantec enclosure. I have Passport 2.5.066 on my 8300HD (TWC - Kansas City). I hooked it all up, rebooted and it asked me to format the drive, I did and everything worked great...sort of...

While most of the primary DVR functions worked...I have 650GB of recordable space there, there is an odd quirk to how the "Pausing Live TV" portion works now. I can hit pause during a program and it will pause and continue recording but instead of allowing me to fast-forward/rewind through that recorded portion, it will only let me watch it from where I hit pause at 1x speed or press the "Live" button to go to the current moment. This is quite frustrating as I like to normally hit pause during a TV show, go in and get something to eat, come back and watch the part that had been recorded and be able to fast forward through any commercials I encountered. I removed the external drive and my DVR will work as normal, just not when the external drive is connected. Has anyone else experienced this quirk?

Thanks for any help/suggestions!

Mike

While most of the primary DVR functions worked...I have 650GB of recordable space there, there is an odd quirk to how the "Pausing Live TV" portion works now. I can hit pause during a program and it will pause and continue recording but instead of allowing me to fast-forward/rewind through that recorded portion, it will only let me watch it from where I hit pause at 1x speed or press the "Live" button to go to the current moment. This is quite frustrating
With Passport, that's what you give up to use an external drive. Perhaps it will be fixed in a future firmware revision, but no one is holding their breath.

Further, I read that this new version is supposed to resolve the new DST issue. I thought that's what "Navigator" was going to do. Typically, no clarification is forthcoming from TWC.SARA 1.89 is supposed to deal with DST, but won;t know for sure until Mar 11. I believe Navigator is mainly for SDV and other TWC initiatives. There is a post in another TWC thread that a new version of Navigator with address many issues, but it won't be released until late March. That would seem to rule out DST concerns and that could be when all Passport markets get it.

No luck with the Seagate 7200.10 on either of my 8300s. Just disconnected it. I may wait until someone with the Maxtor Quickview reports on how it works. I didn't really need to add 500GB to my PC. I certainly don't need to add another one.

I have an 8300HD with a lot of content recorded to it that I can't afford to lose. I've been slowly getting the content off by recording it into my computer through an ATI TV card over S-Video, but now I have to leave town for an extended period and I'm running out of time. I need a shortcut method of preserving the content on the DVR so that I can come back to it later. I'm wondering if it's possible to ghost the the drive that's inside the DVR. This is the method I'm considering:

1. Go out and buy a 160 GB hard disk, bring it home.
2. Open up the 8300HD and remove its hard drive.
3. Plug both disks into a computer running Windows XP.
4. Use Symantec Norton Ghost to ghost the DVR drive onto the new drive.
5. Plug either drive back into the PVR, delete all the recorded content from it to free up all the space on the DVR.
6. Later be able to put the ghosted drive back into the PVR to make the content available again.

Will this work? I'm concerned about several things.

1. Is it possible to open the DVR and extract the hard drive?
2. Will I be able to plug it into my Windows machine?
3. Will the ghosting software be able to ghost it, or will it not recognize the data on the drive since the drive won't be formatted for Windows?
4. If I take a drive out of the DVR, will I be able to put it back in without losing all the data on it?

Any advice appreciated! Thanks.As Pepar has already told you, you cannot Ghost the DVR internal drive. You didn't mention an external SATA drive. Do you have one? If not, why don't you add one? If so, you can remove the external drive, being careful not to delete any references to recorded programs, add and format a new external SATA drive that will record programs in your absence, then when you return, you can remove the second drive, reinstall the first drive, watch and/or record the programs on it, then remove that drive, reinstall the second drive, and watch and/or record the programs on that drive.

All of this is predicated on the assumption that you have SARA firmware. I have no idea whether it works with Passport. Pepar may be able to tell you.

Scarlett

If you read various reviews around the web you will see the same model referenced with different internal drives.That makes sense. Also, I checked my 7200.10 box, and it wasn't listed on the box label--only on the drive itself.

I know you put a smiley - but that is a joke right - the smiley could be taken two ways... I had just about convinced RiversideGuy that everyone knew it wasn't the perpendicular recording but rather some other coincidental aspect of 7200.9/7200.10! The 7200.3 does also use perpendicular in case you aren't joking.Yes, it was a joke. I just explained to someone else that the conventional wisdom is that it is not the PRT, per se, that creates the problems with those particular drives. Since cuzzin appears to have a working DB35 Series 7200.3, that would seem to validate the coincidental aspect of which you speak.

Yeah, actually over in the Yahoo group I mentioned this to you (the diag screens) but that was while you were out I guess.When I get a few more minutes, I will visit the Cable Group and try to get caught up there. I am still working through several thousand emails that arrived in my absence, most of which is spam or expired notices but it still takes time to wade through them.

So what kind of naughtiness did you get into between the beginning and end of December that you didn't get a DB35 yourself?Well, actually my husband thought that the Sony 1080p LCD he bought me was quite enough, so he advised Santa to give my DB35 to someone who needed it worse than I do! After all, I do have an external drive that works. But with hi-def programming, it tends to fill up very quickly, and just as soon as I am able to educate him to that fact, as well as justify the expense, I'm sure that he will relent. I really, really want one! :)

Regarding other things, see PM.Got it, read it, replied to it--thanks!

Scarlett

You can do what you've been doing with s-video, or watch the recorded content on the box that recorded it. That's it.

To a computer the drive will look unformatted.

Why can you not "come back to it later" and use the DVR? The content will wait for you.

Not sure where the supporting software is these days, but I recall utilities that will do a blind bit copy from one drive to another. I DO recall drives didn't need to be "mounted," actually they HAD to be ummounted for it to work.

Not sure where the supporting software is these days, but I recall utilities that will do a blind bit copy from one drive to another. I DO recall drives didn't need to be "mounted," actually they HAD to be ummounted for it to work.
I'm sure Porter Goss has software like that, but I wouldn't know where to find it for personal use.

I had just about convinced RiversideGuy that everyone knew it wasn't the perpendicular recording but rather some other coincidental aspect of 7200.9/7200.10!

xnappo

Ah my friend, you make me smile!

I'm sure Porter Goss has software like that, but I wouldn't know where to find it for personal use.

Oh my goodness gracious; I wouldn't trust those guys with much to do with computing, just look at what OS they typically use!

Actually, it's more about how friends of mine rag me about my attraction to "what used to be." O/T, but I lament the ability to have a driver level password for my physical drives, far as I know no such things exists today. BTW, when blind bit copying was around, the CIA was probably 100% pepar... er paper based!

...All of this is predicated on the assumption that you have SARA firmware. I have no idea whether it works with Passport. Pepar may be able to tell you.

How can I confirm that my SA8300HD has SARA firmware? Also, is there a howto page for this procedure? I need to know exactly what kind of drive/enclosure/cable to buy and the steps to install it.

Thanks for the helpful replies, Pepar & Scarlett.

I haven't seen this specific combo posted as successful, so I'll add my setup.

Provider: Atlantic Broadband

Firmware: SARA v1.87.16.a11

Drive: 500GB Maxtor QuickView 500 7200RPM SATA I/II w/16MB from: OWC (https://eshop.macsales.com/item/Maxtor/3H500F0S2/) $133.99

Enclosure: AZIO Aluminum eSATA+USB HD-ENC311SU41 from: Directron (http://www.directron.com/enc311su41.html) $23.99

Installation was a breeze. I powered everything down. Unplugged the AC from the 8300HD. Plugged in eSATA cable and powered on the external enclosure and let the drive spin up a bit. Plugged the AC for the 8300HD back in, let it go through nornal boot up (about 15 secs). Then I pressed power (button) on the 8300HD. After it loaded the EPG I got the "The external drive works with the receiver" "Press A to format drive". That was it.

I've only had it connected and running for about an hour now so I can't provide any info bugs or issues yet. So far so good (crosses fingers).

I've read through 10 or so pages here.. my eyes are glazing over!

It looks like these externals can do a great job of adding to these DVRS. My question is this: I am moving to Comcastt and I am wondering if the port to attach these drives to needs to be "enabled" beforehand or if it will "just work?" The CSR I spoke with didn't know anything about it at all-- which is no surprise, of course!

I've read through 10 or so pages here.. my eyes are glazing over!

It looks like these externals can do a great job of adding to these DVRS. My question is this: I am moving to Comcastt and I am wondering if the port to attach these drives to needs to be "enabled" beforehand or if it will "just work?" The CSR I spoke with didn't know anything about it at all-- which is no surprise, of course!

If the software supports the SATA port, it will work as soon as you plug something in. Just make sure the 8300 (assuming that's what the DVR is; you didn't say) is unplugged (completely powered off) before you plug in the SATA cable.

Is there any way to know this (if the software supports SATA) before I purchase the drive, cables, etc? Thanks!

I'm also on Comcast and will be getting the 8300 in the next week. I was wondering if anyone knows about what software the 8300 is running in that area? The Comcast rep I spoke to didn't know anything (which as we all know isn't surprising). I'd love to be able to add a drive for extra recording!

Thanks everyone, in advance.

EDIT: I neglected to mention that I'm asking about the Washington, DC metro area.

I just wanted to let you guys know that I made it! I got my new Apricorn enclosure and everything now works like a charm! Thanks, this forum was really helpful!

My 750gb cavalry drive is going back. I am convinced anything over 500gb is just not gonna work right now. Anyone have a confirmed 500gb model that works with NO STUTTERING

thanks

incidentally it says upon boot up that is is Aptiv software??

http://www.pioneerdigital.com/

I just wanted to let you guys know that I made it! I got my new Apricorn enclosure and everything now works like a charm! Thanks, this forum was really helpful!

Congrats!

When you get a chance, can you please add both the passing and failing combo to the database?

Thanks,
xnappo

Does someone have a link to a list of external drives to do work and do not have the stutter issue? Thank you very much

Does someone have a link to a list of external drives to do work and do not have the stutter issue? Thank you very much
Happen to notice the link in the sig of the post JUST ABOVE YOURS?

"SA8300 SARA eSATA Compatibility Database"

Any of those that work on SARA boxes will work on Passport boxes. Nearly anything will work on Passport boxes.

My 750gb cavalry drive is going back. I am convinced anything over 500gb is just not gonna work right now. Anyone have a confirmed 500gb model that works with NO STUTTERING*I* am convinced that nothing over 300GB works without stuttering.

I have had long conversations with Glyph (for whom I am a beta-test site), who had even l o n g e r conversations with Scientific Atlanta, as well as a certain company who sells the 300GB Maxtor QuickView drives here on AVS.

The concensus is that, for whatever reason - SARA cannot handle all the bits, data compression and HDCP properly when communicating with eSATA drives over 300GB.

Until this issue is addressed at the root OS level, it appears that no amount of hard drive tweaking will solve the problem, nor is one drive manufacturer's >300Gb unit any better than anothers.

-gil

My 750gb cavalry drive is going back. I am convinced anything over 500gb is just not gonna work right now. Anyone have a confirmed 500gb model that works with NO STUTTERING

thanks
I have the 500GB Maxtor Quickview 500 (nearly full) and it works flawlessly. There are random glitches in many movies, but there are also a few with zero glitches. There are occasional glitches in "live" movies as well, so it's possible that some of them are from the source. I'm not sure if this drive has worked on SARA boxes; check the database. SARAistas seem to be pretty much limited to 300GB.

Happen to notice the link in the sig of the post JUST ABOVE YOURS?

"SA8300 SARA eSATA Compatibility Database"

Any of those that work on SARA boxes will work on Passport boxes. Nearly anything will work on Passport boxes.


ACK !!!!!!! FORGIVE MY laziness as its out of sheer frustration :(

ACK !!!!!!! FORGIVE MY laziness as its out of sheer frustration :(
There are some here - me included - who swear by drives that are optimized for streaming video. I would recommend sticking with one of those.

*I* am convinced that nothing over 300GB works without stuttering.
This is only true of SARA. :)

ok here is what I have for a version. Passport Echo 2.5.066
PS is Powertv 6.14.74.1

Dont see a mention of Sara anywhere. I am on Bright House Networks in Central Florida.

So I dont see anything in the harddrive compatibility for this version? Any help?

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8188052&st=esata&type=product&id=1164155963918

is this an option?

ok here is what I have for a version. Passport Echo 2.5.066
PS is Powertv 6.14.74.1

Dont see a mention of Sara anywhere. I am on Bright House Networks in Central Florida.

So I dont see anything in the harddrive compatibility for this version? Any help?
You are good to go with nearly any quality drive. Again, I strongly recommend using one that is optimized for streaming video. I also like enclosures with fans, though there's argument on that issue.

Yes, sure!

The one that failed: Sabrent Black 3.5 SATA to eSATA Aluminum Hard Drive Enclosure. Cost: $24 (including shipping)

Not sure about the reason, it just didn't work.

I then bought an Apricorn EZ-BUS-DTS-EKIT Drive Case SATA. Cost: $50, including shipping. It's a great product, it has a quiet fan, solid construction, easy to assemble, it's beautiful and matches the 8300HD colors (this last comment will make sense to those who are married with women who are not into technical stuff :) ).

HDD: Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD3200KS 320GB Serial ATA II 7200RPM Hard Drive w/16MB Buffer. Total cost: $96, including shipping. I didn't suspect the HDD had any problems and I happened to be right.

DVR: Scientific Atlanta, SARA 1.89.17.1, Time Warner, Albany NY.

Now I have some extra 40 hours of HD recording. And so far, no flaws, no slowness or anything unusual. :D

What I learned from experience: don't waste your time trying to save a few bucks with cheap stuff, buy what really works, unless it's not critical and you just want to play around or give it a try.

Last, but not least: I bought an HDMI cable for $19. Extremely convenient, one single cable does it all: audio and video with improved quality.


Congrats!

When you get a chance, can you please add both the passing and failing combo to the database?

Thanks,
xnappo

ok here is what I have for a version. Passport Echo 2.5.066
PS is Powertv 6.14.74.1

Dont see a mention of Sara anywhere. I am on Bright House Networks in Central Florida.

So I dont see anything in the harddrive compatibility for this version? Any help?You have Passport--that's why you don't see SARA mentioned. :)

The SARA Compatibility Database will not help you since you are on Passport. As Pepar has already told you, any quality hard drive will work on Passport, and I am a SARA user who definitely believes in "optimized for streaming video" drives, as well as enclosures with fans.

I wouldn't buy a Western Digital product unless it was the last and only one on earth! I believe the best hard drives are made by Seagate and Maxtor--who are now one and the same. Get either a Seagate DB35 7200.3 Series or a Maxtor QuickView 500GB SATA drive and put it in an Apricorn enclosure. And be glad and grateful that you have Passport, rather than SARA, firmware! :)

Scarlett