Looks like this is going to get easier for the general public:

http://www.engadget.com/2007/06/28/wd-my-library-drives-aimed-at-dvr-owners/

Thanks for the link. Otherwise, I would have probably never known about WD's new consumer drives for the 8300 not being designed for "always on" use, like their OEM's are...

Best Regards,
Doug

Thanks for the link. Otherwise, I would have probably never known about WD's new consumer drives for the 8300 not being designed for "always on" use, like their OEM's are...I noticed that too and noted the lack of further explantion of just what those components are and what it means. Not sure who the author is, so who knows.

Oh yeah!! One month with the Apricorn/Samsung 500GB duo in service and no real problems. Installation and stress test went OK. I did see more glitches in playback than before, but mostly playback glitches, not recording ones (a few). We find the fan is kinda noisy, when just sitting in the living room with no music or TV on. I got the drive and enclosure from newegg, fast delivery. We even have had several power outages, with no bad effects on drive. Everything starts back up fine.

Entered into the database today.

cheers,
daloosh

Looks like this is going to get easier for the general public:

http://www.engadget.com/2007/06/28/wd-my-library-drives-aimed-at-dvr-owners/

Looks really good. $200 list, 500G, passive cooling, the same company that makes the internal, and a claim that its actually designed for the application!

can i un plug my sata hd and plug it into my comp so i can transfer the data so i can store more?

In theory, should this unit work with my SA8300HD?

250GB Value Drive External eSATA Hard Drive
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0257901


Thanks for starting this conversations. I popped over to MicroCenter last night and picked up this drive. I didn't think to use in-store pickup and the b&m price was $99.99 instead of $92.99 but still, quite a good deal for $60 after rebates. So far it's working great.

One question. If I decide I need more space in the future, can I clone the smaller drive to a larger one and have it work normally? Or is there something about how the drive is bound to the SA8300 that would prevent this?

No more hour glasses to deal with. WooHoo. :D

I have been using this Western Digital drive in an Apricorn case for about 3-4 months now with any problems.

Western Digital WD5000KS SE16

Then the other day the picture started to freeze. The audio would freeze also and then the audio would start again but the picture would not. After about a minute the picture would unfreeze. Only to play for a couple more minutes then repeat. This would happen when watching live TV or recorded.

I turned off the external drive and the picture is fine. I turn it back on and it starts freezing again. I tried opening the case and reseating the connections inside and outside with no difference.

Is there a way to reformat the drive? The 8300 see it is connected but something is causing it to lock up.

Anyone had this happen? Is it a bad drive? Any suggestions?

problem
Hope I'm posting this in the right place...

Several months ago, I successfully added an external e-sata hdd to my Scientific Atlanta 8300 (the 500gb Apricorn DVR Xpander). Due to lots of helpful posts in here, I was able to set it up pretty easily. I am in NYC using Time Warner.

A few days ago, my HD Plasma TV crapped out (I am pretty sure it's unrelated to my problem), so today I hooked up my old TV to watch some of the shows that got recorded in the meantime.

The DVR now claims it doesn't see my hard drive, however I see it in the "DIAG" screen. I have tried the following troubleshooting steps, none of which worked, so I'd appreciate some other suggestions.
- rebooted the cable box three times
- disconnected and reconnected the external drive
- disconnected external drive, rebooted cable box, reconnected drive
- unplugged the HDMI connector (not currently in use)

About my TV -- when I explained the problem (and steps I'd taken to troubleshoot it), pioneer said that the problem I'd experienced is not uncommon -- sometimes parts get shaken during shipping but it takes a few months for the problem to become evident. This is why I think the DVR problem is unrelated to the TV problem.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

can i un plug my sata hd and plug it into my comp so i can transfer the data so i can store more?No, the PC will not recognize the format, it will look like a non-formatted drive.

is there any way to transfer the shows to my pc?

is there any way to transfer the shows to my pc?
1) If the PC does not recognize the format, it can't transfer it.
2) Most importantly, the video data on the external hard drive (as well as the 8300 internal hard drive) is encoded with a key that is unique to the 8300 that recorded it. Therefore the recording can only be decoded (played) by the particular 8300 that recorded it.

Sorry bout that.

1) If the PC does not recognize the format, it can't transfer it.I assume he didn't see my response before he posted a second time. :)

One question. If I decide I need more space in the future, can I clone the smaller drive to a larger one and have it work normally?No. The 8300HD has no provision to transfer content directly from one hard drive to another. Further, since the 8300HD uses a proprietary and uniquely encoded file system, it's also not possible to move the drive to another device (like a Mac or PC) and transfer content via said device.

this sucks but they should have a burn to dvd. hey this might work hook it up to a stand alone dvd burner. but i dont have one

this sucks but they should have a burn to dvd. hey this might work hook it up to a stand alone dvd burner. but i dont have oneThere's nothing stopping you from recording the analog S-video or composite outputs to the video capture device of your choice (DVD recorder, VCR, camcorder, HTPC, etc.). In fact, the box has a "Record to VCR" option that lets you play back recorded material to the composite output in the background while you watch other material on the primary output.

What you can't do is directly copy digital data from the hard drive to another device, which was your original question.

There's nothing stopping you from recording the analog S-video or composite outputs to the video capture device of your choice (DVD recorder, VCR, camcorder, HTPC, etc.). In fact, the box has a "Record to VCR" option that lets you play back recorded material to the composite output in the background while you watch other material on the primary output. And to take this thought one step further - there is a method for SARA users to make anamorphic (widescreen) SD DVDs from HD recordings. See the method towards bottom of this post. (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=4682052&&#post4682052) It's still analog, but it is a step better than just the "Record to VCR" approach for HD programs.

I guess wherever someone asks that question we still assume they are talking about HD when all they may want is just some way to off-load content even if it's SD. I guess too that we might suggest folks once again read the first post, a lot of stuff is already in there. :)

I guess wherever someone asks that question we still assume they are talking about HD when all they may want is just some way to off-load content even if it's SD. I guess too that we might suggest folks once again read the first post, a lot of stuff is alrwady in there. :)

I am anxiously awaiting stand alone HD DVD recorders (at a decent price for both the set and media). Then all these issues with moving content, eSATA recorders, etc., will be rendered moot. Although in anticipation of this day, one could record all their wanted movies, etc. on multiple hard drives so that when they get the HD recorder they can immediately proceed with the burnings. With my luck though, the 8300 will crap out making all the recordings useless. That's why I am hesitant to bother getting an auxiliary external hard.

I guess wherever someone asks that question we still assume they are talking about HD when all they may want is just some way to off-load content even if it's SD. I guess too that we might suggest folks once again read the first post, a lot of stuff is already in there. :)
By the time one of us points a noob to the first page, we might as well just tell them. What is really needed is another step for a first time poster in this thread - a step that asks them if they've read the first post and if they've done a perfunctory search before posting. Only after they've said "yes" do they get to post. Most would probably annoyedly and indignantly click right through that, though, but at least a wee bit more of their time would be vaporized before they get to waste ours.

Hmmm, so much for sounding mature and reserved. ;)

By the time one of us points a noob to the first page, we might as well just tell them.In this case, it was the first post in the SARA thread though.

I am anxiously awaiting stand alone HD DVD recorders (at a decent price for both the set and media). Then all these issues with moving content, eSATA recorders, etc., will be rendered moot. Although in anticipation of this day, one could record all their wanted movies, etc. on multiple hard drives so that when they get the HD recorder they can immediately proceed with the burnings. With my luck though, the 8300 will crap out making all the recordings useless. That's why I am hesitant to bother getting an auxiliary external hard.The fly in that ointment will likely be the 5C copy flags. For programs marked as"copy once", the recording on the 8300 is the first copy, so you can't copy those (again). But, directly recording "live", I believe, will be permissible.

Folks, I have scanned the thread and still can't find a key combo that lets me see the main setup menu on my TWC unit. Can someone please either point me to some key combos or just tell me outright? Yes I am a noob, and TWC in NYC sucks.

Folks, I have scanned the thread and still can't find a key combo that lets me see the main setup menu on my TWC unit. Can someone please either point me to some key combos or just tell me outright? Yes I am a noob, and TWC in NYC sucks.
Press and hold - simultaneously - "EXIT" and "SELECT" on the 8300HD until you hear a "ding" through your sound system. "DIAG" will also appear on the 8300HD display. It will also display a channel number - write it down or memorize it. Release the two buttons and press "SELECT" (on the 8300HD). You should now be in the diagnostic pages. At this point, you can use the UP and DOWN buttons on the remote to navigate that various pages. To exit, enyter (or step to) a channel.

As long as your box is powered on, the channel number will take you back to the diag pages. After it's been turned off, you'll need to do the "two-fingered salute" and the channel number you saw on the box the first time to access them again.

Pls place this in your sig - Time Warner NYC - 8300HD DVR - Passport/ECHO v. 2.6.002.

Pls place this in your sig - Time Warner NYC - 8300HD DVR - Passport/ECHO v. 2.6.002.

Gosh, golly darn, where HAVE I seen that phrase?? You do know I copyrighted it, didn't you? I'm more than happy to license it's use, maybe THEN I can get one of those fancy MUCH Higher Definition TV's y'all seem to have!

Mmmm, shouldn't it be Passport/APTIV these days?

BTW, TWC-NYC's 8300 diagnostic page displays 1999 as a channel number. But you can NOT tune it directly. You CAN use Jump Back on it (at least it did the time I tried that trick) and you can visit the other tuner via the PIP function.

So I bought a DVR Xpander from apricorn about 4 months ago, and installed with no problems. I came back from vacation the other day and my 8300 was running through random numbers (power was off). I tried restarting it a bunch of times by pulling the power. Random numbers kept apearing and it would not boot up. I finally removed the Xpander and then it booted up ok. But now it says The External Drive is not functioning properly.

Any ideas?

Time Warner Cable NYC - 8300HD DVR - Passport/Echo

Sorry if this has been asked but i've searched through almost 175 pages of threads and couldnt find a definite answer.

I just bought a WD My Book 500gb eSATA drive. It has both USB&eSATA connections.
Will this work on my Comcast (Sara) 8300HD box?

Thanks.

So I bought a DVR Xpander from apricorn about 4 months ago, and installed with no problems. I came back from vacation the other day and my 8300 was running through random numbers (power was off). I tried restarting it a bunch of times by pulling the power. Random numbers kept apearing and it would not boot up. I finally removed the Xpander and then it booted up ok. But now it says The External Drive is not functioning properly.

Any ideas?

Time Warner Cable NYC - 8300HD DVR - Passport/Echo

I went through the same cycle with the Xpander. It started failing immediately after a very short power outage, which was not severe enough even to reset my digital clocks. After that, as long as the Xpander was powered up prior to, or at the same time as the 8300 the error would almost inevitably occur.

I found that if the Xpander was powered up only after the 8300 booted, I could avoid that deadly long hex number coundown error sequence, and it ran, sort of, but I would get 1-3 spontaneous errors like that each day, which was unnacceptable to me.

Your unit is in warranty. Rather than play around with it, I would just call them and get their support. They worked with me, and after a few days of trying stuff, they sent me a replacment unit. I have the new one, and the 8300 running on a small UPS, in the hope of avoiding a repeat of the problem.

Sorry if this has been asked but i've searched through almost 175 pages of threads and couldnt find a definite answer.

I just bought a WD My Book 500gb eSATA drive. It has both USB&eSATA connections.
Will this work on my Comcast (Sara) 8300HD box?

Thanks.

We understand not reading 175 pages of posts, but ALWAYS read the first post of a thread thoroughly before asking questions on AVS.

See the databases in my sig(or at the very TOP of the first post :) ) - so far two people have tried a MyBook and it did not work.

Note that WD is coming out with a new line called 'My Library' specifically for DVR applications.

xnappo

I went through the same cycle with the Xpander. It started failing immediately after a very short power outage, which was not severe enough even to reset my digital clocks. After that, as long as the Xpander was powered up prior to, or at the same time as the 8300 the error would almost inevitably occur.

I found that if the Xpander was powered up only after the 8300 booted, I could avoid that deadly long hex number coundown error sequence, and it ran, sort of, but I would get 1-3 spontaneous errors like that each day, which was unnacceptable to me.

Your unit is in warranty. Rather than play around with it, I would just call them and get their support. They worked with me, and after a few days of trying stuff, they sent me a replacment unit. I have the new one, and the 8300 running on a small UPS, in the hope of avoiding a repeat of the problem.


Ahhh....I had a feeling it might have had to do with power outages. My girlfriend was trying to get the smoke alarm to stop beeping by switching the breakers the day before I got home. I will bet that is what started it. Damn...just lost all 6 episodes of star wars in HD. Plus a bunch of other great movies. Oh well. Thanks for the help.

Ahhh....I had a feeling it might have had to do with power outages. My girlfriend was trying to get the smoke alarm to stop beeping by switching the breakers the day before I got home. I will bet that is what started it. Damn...just lost all 6 episodes of star wars in HD. Plus a bunch of other great movies. Oh well. Thanks for the help.

They may not be completely lost. You could try the power up on the Xpander after the 8300 is booted trick to get it going long enough to watch your recorded stuff. It probably won't be completely stable, but it may get you through them.

Ahhh....I had a feeling it might have had to do with power outages. My girlfriend was trying to get the smoke alarm to stop beeping by switching the breakers the day before I got home. I will bet that is what started it. Damn...just lost all 6 episodes of star wars in HD. Plus a bunch of other great movies. Oh well. Thanks for the help.

I can pretty much GUARENTEE you that they will all come around some day. Patience, my young grasshopper.

I can pretty much GUARENTEE you that they will all come around some day. Patience, my young grasshopper.
They are still being shown, but not in hi-def - at least not in July.

I have been using this Western Digital drive in an Apricorn case for about 3-4 months now with any problems.

Western Digital WD5000KS SE16

Then the other day the picture started to freeze. The audio would freeze also and then the audio would start again but the picture would not. After about a minute the picture would unfreeze. Only to play for a couple more minutes then repeat. This would happen when watching live TV or recorded.

I turned off the external drive and the picture is fine. I turn it back on and it starts freezing again. I tried opening the case and reseating the connections inside and outside with no difference.

Is there a way to reformat the drive? The 8300 see it is connected but something is causing it to lock up.

Anyone had this happen? Is it a bad drive? Any suggestions?

I can't get one responce to this? Nobody has had this problem? My 8300 box was also doing some kind out count down like others have seen recently. I thought it was downloading new software but maybe not?

Okay, here's a response: I haven't had this problem, and don't have anything to offer. Sorry.

Okay, here's a response: I haven't had this problem, and don't have anything to offer. Sorry.

Great response

Great response
It's a holiday.

If you don't mind losing everything on the drive, you could attach it to a PC and format it. When attaching it again to your 8300HD it would "look" new and give you a chance to reformat and s=reattach i to your 8300HD.

But that might be only fixing the symptoms and the problem might re-occur.

We understand not reading 175 pages of posts, but ALWAYS read the first post of a thread thoroughly before asking questions on AVS.

See the databases in my sig(or at the very TOP of the first post :) ) - so far two people have tried a MyBook and it did not work.

Note that WD is coming out with a new line called 'My Library' specifically for DVR applications.

xnappo

Thanks for the info. I did read the first post as well as the database and noticed the 2 that said "no" but i was referring to another thread where I noticed some others who say they are using a WD My Book with a 8300hd. Just wanted to see if there was an update to that list.

Thanks for the info. I did read the first post as well as the database and noticed the 2 that said "no" but i was referring to another thread where I noticed some others who say they are using a WD My Book with a 8300hd. Just wanted to see if there was an update to that list.I guess it would have been nice if that info had been included in your OP. :) Anyway, which other thread are you referring to?

I setup a 250GB Maxtor SATA in an Addonics enclosure using a SATA/eSATA cable to my SARA 8300HD very successfully in early Q2-2005. I apologize for only touching back to this thread intermittenly since. Well just this morning my drive/enclosure starting emitting a constant loud rumbling noise and was very warm to the touch. I immediately powered down the 8300H then the Maxtor and jumped on this thread.

Please let me summarize what I believe are the facts I've found. If the drive is dying, as always feared, all that's on it will be toast unless I can unload some via "copy to vcr" and for all my HD shows what then is even the point of it? These drives ALL eventually die within 1-7 years at which point you'll lose a lot of irreplaceable programs so are the great benefits worth that painful eventual fact?

Some last questions. How many people and drives have failed after a period of successful use so far? What was the MTBF for those? How many are now questioning the cost vs. benefit of losing a mainly full external drive's programming? Can anybody give me their opinion where I should go from here?

Thanks
CC :mad:

7 years is a long time, many hard drives last longer... The point of it all is that you have a lot more flexibility when recording shows, not that you will have those shows on tap for the rest of your life 100% guaranteed.

You do not seem to appreciate the whole point of my post. It certainly is not that I expect any or all individual recorded programs to stay recorded for eternity. The point is that it will always be the case at some point in time when every show I've recorded and not watched at the moment of drive failure is therefore lost forever. This could be dozens of shows and a hundred hours of recordings. Since that might just be the case with me at this moment I am starting to question the balance between the added flexibility of the drive and it's certain failure.

I do acknowledge the 8300HD drive can be thought of similarly, but adding the extra drive compounds the problem by an order of magnitude. So what I'd really like to know what is everybody's taping strategy regarding the fact of certain eventual drive failure? Example, every several years watch ALL your shows at some point emptying out the queue and replace the external drive with a new one. That does not sound like much fun, but was the best I could come up with on short notice.

PS: My appears to have lasted TWO years which is not a long time.

7 years is a long time, many hard drives last longer... The point of it all is that you have a lot more flexibility when recording shows, not that you will have those shows on tap for the rest of your life 100% guaranteed.

Please let me summarize what I believe are the facts I've found. If the drive is dying, as always feared, all that's on it will be toast unless I can unload some via "copy to vcr" and for all my HD shows what then is even the point of it? These drives ALL eventually die within 1-7 years at which point you'll lose a lot of irreplaceable programs so are the great benefits worth that painful eventual fact?

Some last questions. How many people and drives have failed after a period of successful use so far? What was the MTBF for those? How many are now questioning the cost vs. benefit of losing a mainly full external drive's programming? Can anybody give me their opinion where I should go from here?C'mon, man, get ahold of yourself. When all is said and done, we're still just talking about some TV shows.

Nothing in this world lasts forever. Not people, not hard drives. You suggest that perhaps it's not worth installing an external drive because of the "painful eventual fact" that it will die someday, and you'll suffer the loss of all those shows.

The analagous suggestion would be that you should not form any strong emotional attachment to any human being, because inevitably they will die someday, and you'll suffer from their loss.

Nonsense. You gotta enjoy things while they last, and be resilient enough to survive the losses. That's what life's all about.

So where should you go from here? I'd suggest here (http://baseportal.com/cgi-bin/baseportal.pl?htx=/xnappo/main) (or here (http://baseportal.com/cgi-bin/baseportal.pl?htx=/xnappo/passport)) and here (http://www.newegg.com/).

If you're looking for some strategy to "cheat (hard drive) death", there isn't a good one. You could religiously dump recorded shows to a standalone DVD recorder or other capture device, but I think the overhead and loss of quality (on HD shows) involved makes that a poor option. The only other thing you could do is watch your recorded programming immediately after you record it, so that you don't have a large stockpile of unwatched shows on your DVR. This comes with the added benefit of not requiring an external hard drive, because you'll never let the internal drive get too full. An elegant solution!

I do acknowledge the 8300HD drive can be thought of similarly, but adding the extra drive compounds the problem by an order of magnitude. So what I'd really like to know what is everybody's taping strategy regarding the fact of certain eventual drive failure? Example, every several years watch ALL your shows at some point emptying out the queue and replace the external drive with a new one. That does not sound like much fun, but was the best I could come up with on short notice.

PS: My appears to have lasted TWO years which is not a long time.

In my case, my external drive is connected to a second SA8300 which is dedicated to movies, concerts, and the like. My "primary" DVR is just used for time-shifting, and may have a number of TV series episodes on it at any given time and the occasional movie that we know we're going to watch within a week or so. So, if I lose the external drive, I've just lost a bunch of movies I'll probably have the chance to record again if I ever lose them. And then, I can lose them a second time and.....see how this works? :D

The short answer, I guess, is have 2 DVR's. It's just another $12/mo or so, and a lot of people have more than that in a Netflix subscription. The way I look at it, the movies I get at that price may not be a huge selection, but they're all HD. Works for me!

You do not seem to appreciate the whole point of my post. It certainly is not that I expect any or all individual recorded programs to stay recorded for eternity. The point is that it will always be the case at some point in time when every show I've recorded and not watched at the moment of drive failure is therefore lost forever. This could be dozens of shows and a hundred hours of recordings. Since that might just be the case with me at this moment I am starting to question the balance between the added flexibility of the drive and it's certain failure.

I do acknowledge the 8300HD drive can be thought of similarly, but adding the extra drive compounds the problem by an order of magnitude. So what I'd really like to know what is everybody's taping strategy regarding the fact of certain eventual drive failure? Example, every several years watch ALL your shows at some point emptying out the queue and replace the external drive with a new one. That does not sound like much fun, but was the best I could come up with on short notice.

PS: My appears to have lasted TWO years which is not a long time.

I think I understand what you are trying to say. I have been very hesitant to get an external drive for this reason. I suspect that either the external is going to have a hiccup or more likely the 8300 is going to have a problem rendering whatever is on the external lost. Thus I don't think the external should be used as a long-term archive. This is the same reason you shouldn't have all your computer data on a single hard drive that could fail.

So far I've just stuck to using the 8300 as a means of time-shifting. I use a DVD recorder to archive movies and sports events I want to keep forever. The unfortunate aspect of this is the recordings are not in HD.

Maybe we should hope for a HD DVD recorder to come along that will work or a hack of some kind that will allow us to back up the external hard drive to another hard drive to all but eliminate potential losses.

I think I understand what you are trying to say. I have been very hesitant to get an external drive for this reason. I suspect that either the external is going to have a hiccup or more likely the 8300 is going to have a problem rendering whatever is on the external lost. Thus I don't think the external should be used as a long-term archive. This is the same reason you shouldn't have all your computer data on a single hard drive that could fail.

So far I've just stuck to using the 8300 as a means of time-shifting. I use a DVD recorder to archive movies and sports events I want to keep forever. The unfortunate aspect of this is the recordings are not in HD.

Maybe we should hope for a HD DVD recorder to come along that will work or a hack of some kind that will allow us to back up the external hard drive to another hard drive to all but eliminate potential losses.

Just use the method in this thread:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=10907708#post10907708

and stream to your HDTV using the Tvix 4100SH as described in this section:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/forumdisplay.php?s=&daysprune=&f=39

Thank you so much! :D

Just use the method in this thread:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=10907708#post10907708

and stream to your HDTV using the Tvix 4100SH as described in this section:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/forumdisplay.php?s=&daysprune=&f=39


Hey, thanks for the tip. Haven't read everything yet, but sounds very promising!

Thank you everybody for your comments. They are appreciated.



"Jruhnke: I do have a hold of myself. I just time shift a lot with my external drive attached. I had several HD Planet Earth shows I really would have liked to watch and now I guess you're telling me I should just wait several years for the format wars to end and prices to come down on HD players. Yes, I guess that must be a satisfactory solution."

The only other thing you could do is watch your recorded programming immediately after you record it, so that you don't have a large stockpile of unwatched shows on your DVR. This comes with the added benefit of not requiring an external hard drive, because you'll never let the internal drive get too full. An elegant solution!

Ah, my "Plan B" strategy! For the way I use my TV, the infamous Passport trick play bug is something I do not want to deal with. So no external drive until that is solved. In the interim, it's record 'em, watch 'em fast, delete and have space for more. Would PREFER to keep stuff for months and months, absolutely. Plan B works just fine!

"Jruhnke: I do have a hold of myself. I just time shift a lot with my external drive attached. I had several HD Planet Earth shows I really would have liked to watch and now I guess you're telling me I should just wait several years for the format wars to end and prices to come down on HD players. Yes, I guess that must be a satisfactory solution."No, I'm telling you that on the spectrum of misfortune that can befall a person, losing some quality TV programs on your DVR is closer to the benign end than the catastrophic end.

Planet Earth episodes are not necessarily "irreplaceable", as your initial post implied. They have been rebroadcast many times since they first premiered, and it seems unlikely to me that you'll have to wait years or shell out big bucks to see them again. "Shallow Seas" and "Ocean Deep, Ocean Wide", for instance, will air several times over the next several days (http://dhd.discovery.com/tv-schedules/series.html?paid=66.12341.24384.4032.x).

Contrary to popular belief, DVRs are not, and probably never will be, an archival system. Therefore, many folks would benefit from recording stuff, viewing that stuff, and then deleting that stuff in a timely manner. To do otherwise is to invite disaster, as benign as it may be in the big scheme of things. If, however, you trust your viewing habits to fate, by all means buy the biggest drive you can and fill it up. But at some point you will find yourself no better off than if you just had the internal drive.

With the constant reruns available today, I've never understood the need/desire to continue archiving stuff and then worrying about whether or not it will survive a drive/box failure. I guess I'm fortunate that my weekly routine allows me time to view what I record and I understand that not everyone is in the same position. In those cases though, I'd submit that a more stable mechanism, like DVHS, HD-DVD/Blu-Ray, etc., would be in order, although the prices for external drives is attactive these days. I just have too hard of a time finding the time to watch more than what I reocrd now, so what good does more storage do me? Let me maybe get around to it someday? No, thanks. :)

Two Yankee games on YESHD stopped recording in mid-stream, two days in a row, on eSATA drive. Never had problems before. Any ideas?

Guys,

It has been a while since I contributed to this thread...

Rather than build my own drive/enclosure I opted for the 500 gig DVR Xpander by Apricorn. Last week (@ about 2 months old) the drive started cycling through the "Spin-Up-Spin-down" death dance. I know once drives have trouble initializing it's over.

I called tech support and Apricorn stepped up to the plate. They exchanged my XPander without any major hassle.

It was definately worth the extra couple of bucks for the turnkey solution.

Thought you should know.

BG


P.S. - They have a 750 gig now :)

While this is true in most cases... I wish I could get my hands on some original Fat Albert Cartoons or Our Gang / Little Rascals shows

Ya never know...

BG


With the constant reruns available today, I've never understood the need/desire to continue archiving stuff and then worrying about whether or not it will survive a drive/box failure.

While this is true in most cases... I wish I could get my hands on some original Fat Albert Cartoons or Our Gang / Little Rascals showsNow you're adding a whole different twist on things. I wish I could get my hands on a lot of things too, but all that stuff came long before DVRs, so they are a non-issue as far as this discussion goes. If they are even available, they will eventually find their way onto DVD and then will also be replayed often on "some" TV channel. However, even if that were not the case, the DVR makes a very poor archive system and if you want stuff like that, you simply have to find a more reliable system/format and nothing is foolproof. Even home-recorded DVDs only have a life-expectancy of something like 10-15 years. I've recently saw a report that suggests one copy their stuff to a new format every 8 years if they want to keep them useable.

DD,

Before I get to the point... I agree with you on a number of levels. DVR's make poor archives and anything with a hard drive is guaranteed to fail some time in the future... 6 months or 6 years... it will fail (particularly with the level of use the DVR drives get).

Now the point - your logic is flawed... you assume programming that is available today will be available and recycled in the future. There are no guarantees... Some old crotchidy rich guy could easily buy up a property and put it away just because he can (ehhem... Dolans).

DVDR is a great option... soon blue ray will replace. If anyone wants their content enough... they have to migrate the content over time or maintain software that can play the old stuff.

BG


Now you're adding a whole different twist on things. I wish I could get my hands on a lot of things too, but all that stuff came long before DVRs, so they are a non-issue as far as this discussion goes. If they are even available, they will eventually find their way onto DVD and then will also be replayed often on "some" TV channel. However, even if that were not the case, the DVR makes a very poor archive system and if you want stuff like that, you simply have to find a more reliable system/format and nothing is foolproof. Even home-recorded DVDs only have a life-expectancy of something like 10-15 years. I've recently saw a report that suggests one copy their stuff to a new format every 8 years if they want to keep them useable.

Okay. I've read through most of this thread, have done several searches, have looked at the compatability site, and keep getting more and more confused. Are there ANY external SATA drives for an 8300HD running Passport that when connected will allow the SAME FULL functionality of the DVR similar to if it did not have an external drive hooked to it (no bugs or loss of features)? If so, which drive models? Thank you for your time and help :)

Okay. I've read through most of this thread, have done several searches, have looked at the compatability site, and keep getting more and more confused. Are there ANY external SATA drives for an 8300HD running Passport that when connected will allow the SAME FULL functionality of the DVR similar to if it did not have an external drive hooked to it (no bugs or loss of features)?
No.

Thanks :) Which drive is the "best scenario"? (i.e. Which drive offers the fewest features lost and which features are lost?)

Thanks :) Which drive is the "best scenario"? (i.e. Which drive offers the fewest features lost and which features are lost?)Doesn't matter; it's not a drive-dependent thing. It's just how Passport works with *any* external drive. Sometimes the "trick-play" features work and sometimes they don't, depending on which drive has the most free space.

Check out Xnappo's Passport database (http://baseportal.com/cgi-bin/baseportal.pl?htx=/xnappo/passport) for information on what drive/enclosure combinations have worked well or poorly for other users.

Thanks :) Which drive is the "best scenario"? (i.e. Which drive offers the fewest features lost and which features are lost?)
jruhnke's nailed it; you only need to be concerned that the external drive pairs well with the 8300HD.

Now the point - your logic is flawed... you assume programming that is available today will be available and recycled in the future. There are no guarantees... Some old crotchidy rich guy could easily buy up a property and put it away just because he can (ehhem... Dolans). That's because you are applying it to TV channels vice all the other media out there.

Look, nothing is absolutely guaranteed to be available at any given time on TV, but archiving to DVR is certainly NOT an answer to that part of the problem. The bottomline will always be that if there is something available on TV that you want to archive, you had better archive it to something more permanent than a DVR and then you had better go the extra step to move that archive to the latest technology every so often. If you aren't willing to do that, then I submit there is absolutely no point to archiving in the first place. The people asking these questions are not just looking for a time-shift solution and that is all the current DVR is. Complaining that you just lost your HD copy of Seinfeld-Episode 1 because your DVR crapped out doesn't get ANY sympathy from me. :)

I recently came across this (http://westerndigital.com/en/products/Products.asp?DriveID=334) external drive from Western Digital. WD says it's optimized for use with the SA8300 / SA8300HD. The list price is more than you'd spend putting together a drive and enclosure yourself, but if it's meant specifically for the 8300, then it may well be worth the extra cost, especially for the non-techie DVR users out there.

I searched this thread and didn't find any previous discussion on this drive. If I missed it, please link me to it.

Jack

Thanks for starting this conversations. I popped over to MicroCenter last night and picked up this drive. I didn't think to use in-store pickup and the b&m price was $99.99 instead of $92.99 but still, quite a good deal for $60 after rebates. So far it's working great.

One question. If I decide I need more space in the future, can I clone the smaller drive to a larger one and have it work normally? Or is there something about how the drive is bound to the SA8300 that would prevent this?

No more hour glasses to deal with. WooHoo. :D

I also grabbed this drive over the weekend and hooked it up Saturday. It does appear to be working OK so far. I had some glitches with my box after I hooked it up, with the picture not syncing at all with HDMI and just blinking constantly. However, that seems to have gone away.

To the people who tried the regular WD Mybooks (not the new MyLibrary), did you get a version that had an external SATA port, or did you take the drive apart and put a cable directly to the SATA hard drive inside?

I have never seen an explanation of this.

Just curious.

Best Regards,
Doug

I recently came across this (http://westerndigital.com/en/products/Products.asp?DriveID=334) external drive from Western Digital. WD says it's optimized for use with the SA8300 / SA8300HD. The list price is more than you'd spend putting together a drive and enclosure yourself, but if it's meant specifically for the 8300, then it may well be worth the extra cost, especially for the non-techie DVR users out there.
I believe I've seen a few posts about this product, but it may have been in another, related thread. That it is advertised as being optimized for the 8300HD is good and it means that *someone* supports it for that application . . and will take it back or exchangfe it if it does not work properly. It's not unusual to spend more on an off-the-shelf solution compared to a DIY one, but some/many prefer the peace of mind of the complete and ready to go product. Others are handy with tools and unafraid to jump in take a chance.

You should go to this xnappo post (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=10883428&&#post10883428) and look for other entries. (You'll needd to know which software your box runs to go tothe correct database.) and then please post your results there for others to read.

I recently came across this (http://westerndigital.com/en/products/Products.asp?DriveID=334) external drive from Western Digital. WD says it's optimized for use with the SA8300 / SA8300HD.
<snip>
I searched this thread and didn't find any previous discussion on this drive. If I missed it, please link me to it.It was first mentioned here (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=10909077&&#post10909077).

I recently came across this (http://westerndigital.com/en/products/Products.asp?DriveID=334) external drive from Western Digital. WD says it's optimized for use with the SA8300 / SA8300HD. The list price is more than you'd spend putting together a drive and enclosure yourself, but if it's meant specifically for the 8300, then it may well be worth the extra cost, especially for the non-techie DVR users out there.

I searched this thread and didn't find any previous discussion on this drive. If I missed it, please link me to it.

Jack

I have a 250GB WD drive specifically designed for the 8300. At the time I purchased it, the price was about the same as building a solution and signifiacntly less than the Maxtor product designed for the 8300. If it is a lot more, I would not spend the extra bucks unless you are not adept enough to screw things in and plug a cable or 2 into a connector. There is nothing special about what WD is doing.

Ted

The last 2 F1 races on Fox HD have dropped pieces of the broadcast during playback on my 8300HD with a 250GB eSATA drive. At the beginning of playback, it shows 3 hours of recorded material, but partway in, the green bar shrinks to about 2:45. Also, there are portions of the broadcast which are skipped on playback. It is obvious where the data is missing since the lap counter decreases unexpectedly. I have not experienced this with any other recordings, so it may be related to length. Has anyone else experienced anything similar?

Thanks,
Ted

I have a 250GB WD drive specifically designed for the 8300.What drive is that? I don't think I'm familiar with any bare drives that were specifically designed for the 8300.

Amen Brother!

"Complaining that you just lost your HD copy of Seinfeld-Episode 1 because your DVR crapped out doesn't get ANY sympathy from me." :rolleyes:




That's because you are applying it to TV channels vice all the other media out there.

Look, nothing is absolutely guaranteed to be available at any given time on TV, but archiving to DVR is certainly NOT an answer to that part of the problem. The bottomline will always be that if there is something available on TV that you want to archive, you had better archive it to something more permanent than a DVR and then you had better go the extra step to move that archive to the latest technology every so often. If you aren't willing to do that, then I submit there is absolutely no point to archiving in the first place. The people asking these questions are not just looking for a time-shift solution and that is all the current DVR is. Complaining that you just lost your HD copy of Seinfeld-Episode 1 because your DVR crapped out doesn't get ANY sympathy from me. :)

this sucks but they should have a burn to dvd. hey this might work hook it up to a stand alone dvd burner. but i dont have one

Look at these threads it might be what your looking for.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=593271

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=8146474&&#post8146474

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=386740

What drive is that? I don't think I'm familiar with any bare drives that were specifically designed for the 8300.

It is an external eSATA drive, model number WDXS2500JS. It is no longer available.

Ted

It is an external eSATA drive, model number WDXS2500JS. It is no longer available.Very interesting. Somehow, that product (http://www.span.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=7784) completely escaped my radar.

I have been using the Maxtor Quickview 300 for about 18 months with no problems.
Location: Tampa, Florida
SA 8300 HD
SARA version: 1.87.16.a109
Hard Drive: Maxtor 4R160L0
Cable Co.: Brighthouse

All of a sudden I cannot access "some" of the recorded material. The screen that comes up is the same one you get when two shows are being recorded and you try and watch a "live" show. And no recording is in progress. Some shows are accessible. I've done the "hard" boot by unplugging the power from the back of the 8300HD for 30 minutes and then plugged it back in while holding the power button down. It did not help.

Any suggestions? How could I test if the recordings I cannot access are all in the DVR or external hard drive?

Doesn't matter; it's not a drive-dependent thing. It's just how Passport works with *any* external drive. Sometimes the "trick-play" features work and sometimes they don't, depending on which drive has the most free space.

Some extra explanation may be in order because some might conclude that certain drives can actually solve the trick play bug. It isn't near as "hit or miss" as you imply. Yes, if the larger percentage of space available is on the internal 160G drive, no trick play bug. But the chances of a 160G internal with a 3-500G external will generally make it virtually impossible to NOT see the bug.

Indeed it is fairly hit or miss with a drive working with the Passport software. Yes, it does seem that certain drives SEEM to work better than others, but there's NO guarentee because the issue is 1000% with the 8300 and it's software.

Here's my story.

Bought the Seagate Freeagent Pro 500GB external to use with 8300HD.

Then realized I needed eSATA cord. Ordered that.

Then found out the drive didn't seem to be recognized, and the Passport database seemed to back that up. However, whenever I disabled the drive, the 8300HD would give me an error message.

So, sent it back and ordered the cheaper, and somewhat less able Cavalry 500GB drive. This came with eSATA cable, so now I have two. Plugged it in. Didn't seem to be recognized. Oh crap. Looked on database. One user has it, said that it was only recognized after disconnecting the drive. So, just seconds before throwing the drive out the window, tried that. Got the error message, reconnected it, pushed A, and then restarted the 8300HD as requested. DRIVE RECOGNIZED. Currently formatting, I think.

Now my question is this - would this have worked with the Seagate Freeagent, had I reconnected it and restarted it, as I did with the Cavalry? Did I toss the Freeagent out with the bathwater? Or was this a fait accompli?

Got the error message, reconnected it, pushed A, and then restarted the 8300HD as requested. DRIVE RECOGNIZED. Currently formatting, I think.

Now my question is this - would this have worked with the Seagate Freeagent, had I reconnected it and restarted it, as I did with the Cavalry? Did I toss the Freeagent out with the bathwater? Or was this a fait accompli?
Can't address your drive compatibility question, buy FYI - formatting takes only mere seconds.

Can't address your drive compatibility question, buy FYI - formatting takes only mere seconds.

Awesome - thanks.

It does sort of stick in my craw that the Freeagent Pro might've worked if I had fiddled around more with it. The 8300HD evidently did recognize its presence, but didn't ask to format it, at least under conventional terms. Only when I disconnected it did I start getting messages. I just wonder if I had followed the same procedure that I did with the Cavalry would it have worked? I much prefer the Seagate to whatever's in the Cavalry, but who knows?

That said, the Freeagent hasn't done well on those Passport charts?

Has anybody else tried the Freeagent and managed to get it to work?

Originally Posted by CactusJack
I recently came across this external drive from Western Digital. WD says it's optimized for use with the SA8300 / SA8300HD. The list price is more than you'd spend putting together a drive and enclosure yourself, but if it's meant specifically for the 8300, then it may well be worth the extra cost, especially for the non-techie DVR users out there.


Weaknees is selling the drive. I purchase one from them and it worked flawlessly.

http://www.weaknees.com/maxtor-quickview-expander-qvx.php

Weaknees is selling the drive. I purchase one from them and it worked flawlessly.

http://www.weaknees.com/maxtor-quickview-expander-qvx.phpThanks for the report. Please also take a moment to record your experience in Xnappo's database: here (http://baseportal.com/cgi-bin/baseportal.pl?htx=/xnappo/main) for SARA, here (http://baseportal.com/cgi-bin/baseportal.pl?htx=/xnappo/passport) for Passport.

Awesome - thanks.

It does sort of stick in my craw that the Freeagent Pro might've worked if I had fiddled around more with it. The 8300HD evidently did recognize its presence, but didn't ask to format it, at least under conventional terms. Only when I disconnected it did I start getting messages. I just wonder if I had followed the same procedure that I did with the Cavalry would it have worked? I much prefer the Seagate to whatever's in the Cavalry, but who knows?

That said, the Freeagent hasn't done well on those Passport charts?

Has anybody else tried the Freeagent and managed to get it to work?
The members on this thread and the handful of other, related/semi-related threads are very diligent about asking anyone who wanders in and connects an external drive to post their results on xnappo's database. Possibly, some do not, especially when they fail, and I'd allow that many people who attach a drive do not ever show up here, but odds are that the best success is in using combos others have had success with.

Can't address your drive compatibility question, buy FYI - formatting takes only mere seconds.

A bit of explanation might be in order. Perhaps it comes from my affinity for accurate technical terms... there are 2 things that need to be done to a hard disk to prepare it to accept data.

The first is formatting it... also known as low-level format. This IS a slow process, the purpose of which is to put "markers" in front of every section (sector is the correct term), think of it as all the street signs. With no signs, nobody would be able to get anywhere.

Next is initialization (some call it high level formatting). This is the process of creating a directory structure... which is basically place to store filenames and physical locations. So if you are looking for pepar.good.guy, the OS asks the directory where to find it, after which it sends the heads to all the various location that file is stored in.

It's interesting to note that currently it's difficult to find software that does the low-level format. This is because a 500G drive might take 20 hours to do it... at least based on all the low-level formats I have done over the years.

As additional storage for 8300s, if in all instances the "format that I call initialization" takes seconds EVERY time then we have something interesting. That implies that it accepts the basic low-level formatting that was put in at the factory. Which means that it SHOULD be easier to crack than of they had a "format" that needed a low level one to get rolling. I had thought having a very different set of street signs was part of "hiding" the recorded HD content from prying eyes...

A bit of explanation might be in order. Perhaps it comes from my affinity for accurate technical terms... there are 2 things that need to be done to a hard disk to prepare it to accept data.

The first is formatting it... also known as low-level format. This IS a slow process, the purpose of which is to put "markers" in front of every section (sector is the correct term), think of it as all the street signs. With no signs, nobody would be able to get anywhere.

Next is initialization (some call it high level formatting). This is the process of creating a directory structure... which is basically place to store filenames and physical locations. So if you are looking for pepar.good.guy, the OS asks the directory where to find it, after which it sends the heads to all the various location that file is stored in.

It's interesting to note that currently it's difficult to find software that does the low-level format. This is because a 500G drive might take 20 hours to do it... at least based on all the low-level formats I have done over the years.
The last place I've found low-level formatting available has been via the adapter, but I was under the impression that it was no longer needed. I don't know why, but that's what I read. And, indeed, I haven't done a low-level format in a l-o-n-g time.

As additional storage for 8300s, if in all instances the "format that I call initialization" takes seconds EVERY time then we have something interesting. That implies that it accepts the basic low-level formatting that was put in at the factory.

Like others have reported, the formatting of my 500GB WD external drive by the 8300 took mere seconds. I kinda' thought that was awful quick, but didn't ask any questions, pleased by my good fortune. It worked. :)

Like others have reported, the formatting of my 500GB WD external drive by the 8300 took mere seconds. I kinda' thought that was awful quick, but didn't ask any questions, pleased by my good fortune.
Sticklers for technical accuracy aside - R_G ;) - I thing they call it "formatting" because that is commonplace enough to use with Mr. Cable Customer in this application. Any more or anything different would confuse. When talking in the context of the 8300HD, I use "formatting." If I were discussing arrays and volumes with R_G, I'd necessarily be more precise. :)

Sticklers for technical accuracy aside - R_G ;) - I thing they call it "formatting" because that is commonplace enough to use with Mr. Cable Customer in this application. Any more or anything different would confuse. When talking in the context of the 8300HD, I use "formatting." If I were discussing arrays and volumes with R_G, I'd necessarily be more precise. :)

Think you quoted the wrong post, pepar. Not that I'm not honored. ;)

Some extra explanation may be in order because some might conclude that certain drives can actually solve the trick play bug. It isn't near as "hit or miss" as you imply. Yes, if the larger percentage of space available is on the internal 160G drive, no trick play bug. But the chances of a 160G internal with a 3-500G external will generally make it virtually impossible to NOT see the bug.
As we discussed on another forum, it's not at all based upon the percentage of free drive space -- which drive the trick play is written to depends on pure free space -- which ever drive has the most bytes free will be the one that gets the buffer written to it. Which makes the whole thing simpler.

Actually, it's really easy to get your trick play working whenever you want it -- just record a whole lot of HD junk to fill up both drives. Then delete something from the internal drive, and "voila!" you have trick play buffer. Then, just remove stuff from your external drive as you need space for new stuff to record....Of course, you'll lose your trick play temporarily while the new stuff is recording, but once it fills up the external drive again, you'll get your trick play back!

Indeed it is fairly hit or miss with a drive working with the Passport software. Yes, it does seem that certain drives SEEM to work better than others, but there's NO guarentee because the issue is 1000% with the 8300 and it's software.
This is true. Interestingly enough, from my own experimentation I was very surprised to find that the drive that you're using really does make a difference!

My first external drive on the 8300HD was a Seagate Barracuda (320G -- my results are in the database), and it seemed to get enough glitches to make it a touch annoying but not overly annoying as to be unusable. Now I bought a 2nd drive (to record the 22 hour Live Earth concerts last weekend from UHD while I was out of town), powered everything down, opened the drive case, replaced the drive with a new Western Digital Caviar (also 320G), and it seems to work head and shoulders above the way the Seagate works. No glitches.....and all of the programs that I recorded on the old drive are still listed in my saved programs list. So when I want, I just have to pop the old drive back in.

Pretty cool, and a good experiment that shows me that the glitches weren't being caused by the drive casing or the DVR, but by the drive itself.....Hard to understand exactly why, but I have to guess it has something to do with the drive's performance, caching logic, or something?

Scott

As we discussed on another forum, it's not at all based upon the percentage of free drive space -- which drive the trick play is written to depends on pure free space -- which ever drive has the most bytes free will be the one that gets the buffer written to it. Which makes the whole thing simpler.

Actually, it's really easy to get your trick play working whenever you want it -- just record a whole lot of HD junk to fill up both drives. Then delete something from the internal drive, and "voila!" you have trick play buffer. Then, just remove stuff from your external drive as you need space for new stuff to record....Of course, you'll lose your trick play temporarily while the new stuff is recording, but once it fills up the external drive again, you'll get your trick play back!

Scott
Does anyone think the 8300 firmware will be (can be?) updated so that it doesn't matter which drive the buffer is using, so that trick play will work consistently without any additional "trick"?

Jack

Sticklers for technical accuracy aside - R_G ;) - I thing they call it "formatting" because that is commonplace enough to use with Mr. Cable Customer in this application. Any more or anything different would confuse. When talking in the context of the 8300HD, I use "formatting." If I were discussing arrays and volumes with R_G, I'd necessarily be more precise. :)

Oh I sort of agree with you to a degree. I'm sure there are tons who ignore my little explanations, but still feel SOMEONE has to at least make a note of what the right terminology actually is.

And may your b-tree catalog stay 100% accurate!

Scott I hear you... but I'm not as convinced that those glitches have as much impact on the issue of one drive vs. another. I have ONLY the internal drive and in the past year of HDness, I've seen glitches come and go. Be not so bad and so bad that it is 100% unwatchable. A long while back, I adopted your observations/suggestions about dealing with the two tuners and that did seem to lessen the problem. About a month ago, it seemed to come roaring back (I haven't watched ANYTHING from HDNet that hasn't had at least 2 per half hour in the past month). I contrast this with a pal from your head end who just got a HD display about a month ago, started watching more and has MANY issues/problems with glitching. He got a service tech out, wires/signal level/sn were fine. They played with some boxes the driver had on the truck, it made no difference. He was left essentially with a shrug.

I'm pretty convinced it had to do with the My9 and ESPN2 HD rollouts, there IS some logic to that!

Besides, it's all SOOOO moot because of 8300HDCs and Navigator are looming so close. We need someone in one of our hoods to get one and post regularly about it!

Scott I hear you... but I'm not as convinced that those glitches have as much impact on the issue of one drive vs. another. I have ONLY the internal drive and in the past year of HDness, I've seen glitches come and go. Be not so bad and so bad that it is 100% unwatchable. A long while back, I adopted your observations/suggestions about dealing with the two tuners and that did seem to lessen the problem. About a month ago, it seemed to come roaring back (I haven't watched ANYTHING from HDNet that hasn't had at least 2 per half hour in the past month). I contrast this with a pal from your head end who just got a HD display about a month ago, started watching more and has MANY issues/problems with glitching. He got a service tech out, wires/signal level/sn were fine. They played with some boxes the driver had on the truck, it made no difference. He was left essentially with a shrug.

I'm pretty convinced it had to do with the My9 and ESPN2 HD rollouts, there IS some logic to that!

Besides, it's all SOOOO moot because of 8300HDCs and Navigator are looming so close. We need someone in one of our hoods to get one and post regularly about it!
Well, I think that there are 2 (well, really 3) issues that cause glitches, and I'm not sure it's possible to distinguish between them --
1. Broadcast issues
1a - broadcast issues that originate from the cable company (whether it's in the transmission lines, or something related to compression in the "retransmission" of the full bandwidth satellite signal).
1b - broadcast issues that originate from the original satellite transmission

2. External Hard drive issues -- I have personally noticed many fewer glitches on programs that were saving on my internal drive vs. my external drive. But those issues have become less frequent with the new hard drive that I recently purchased vs. the old one that I have...Not sure what causes these, though. My suspicion is that some hard drives do have different caching algorithms/drive logic/error correction/throughput which may do better or worse with DVR data which is much more time critical than regular computer data (the drive can reread a sector that it was having trouble with during normal computer operation without the user noticing; but when you're streaming hi-def video, there's no time for that)....

Does anyone think the 8300 firmware will be (can be?) updated so that it doesn't matter which drive the buffer is using, so that trick play will work consistently without any additional "trick"?

JackYou must be on Passport. SARA users don't have this problem - so it IS POSSIBLE for the problem to be fixed in software. But, TW will be moving from Passport to Navigator (and who knows what works there).

BTW, You really ought to put your version of Software & cable company in your sig.

Scott I hear you... but I'm not as convinced that those glitches have as much impact on the issue of one drive vs. another. I

I am sorry, but how can you look at the database with Seagate 7200.10 having a 23% success rate and WD SE16 having an 82% success rate and come to that conclusion?

Just because other things cause glitches doesn't mean drive selection doesn't matter...

xnappo

So other than the database that users so wonderfully contributed to, the only other option is trial and error?

I'm planning on using similar setups as other people... Apricorn enclosure + Western Digital Caviar 500gb 16mb cache SATA 3.0gb/s.

So other than the database that users so wonderfully contributed to, the only other option is trial and error?Well, the way I see it, even if you use the database to guide your selection, it's still trial and error. You're just using other folks' experience to hopefully minimize the "error" part! :)

It all comes down to, "You pays yer nickel and you takes yer chance."

Good luck!

Does anyone think the 8300 firmware will be (can be?) updated so that it doesn't matter which drive the buffer is using, so that trick play will work consistently without any additional "trick"?Do I think it can be? Sure.

Do I think it will be? No.

Why? I suspect the number of 8300 Passport users who have added an external drive is tiny compared to the total number of 8300 Passport users. The external drive capability is not an advertised, officially supported function. This trick play behavior has persisted for a couple of years and several Passport software versions. According to TWC, their intent is to move away from Passport/SARA to Navigator as the 8300 user interface.

If the behavior hasn't been "fixed" yet, it just doesn't seem likely to me that it ever will be.

I started with an epower sata only enclosure and a western digital YS series 320GB drive and have a few problems such as droupouts and early termination of some recordings .

I switched to the AZIO enclosure with the same drive and the 8300HD would not even recognize it as I mentioned earler.

I then switched to the Apricorn enclosure
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16817362002
with the same drive and it recognized it but I still had the same amount of dropouts and some programs terminating early.

I Then upgraded the drive to a western digital 500GB drive
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16822136073
and still no difference.
This combination seems to be the least problematic according to the Database found in this thread.

I still have a few problems such as droupouts and early termination of some recordings but I think is due to a problem with my 8300HD because I've tried several different hard drive and enclosure combinations and the problems still exist.

I just want to give another update.

With my most recent setup which is the apricorn external and the WD 500GB HD I still have the same amount of dropout and early termination of programs.

I now am back to the epower enclosure and I just bought a WD 160GB WD1600JS drive.
My thinking on this is if I match the size of the internal drive within the 8300 to the external drive the 8300 will equally use the storage of both drives and thus distribute the recordings evenly across both drives. I am also courious to find out if a lower capacity drive will improve the performance. I suspect that larger capacity drives may be the cause of my problems.

If this does not solve my problem then I guess I'll Exchange the 8300HD for another because I can't think of anything else to try.

I am also courious to find out if a lower capacity drive will improve the performance. I suspect that larger capacity drives may be the cause of my problems.


Many people have had success with drives up to 500GB including myself. I'm running the exact same setup, vis a vis the drive and enclosure, that you are. So that's probably not it, but if you think a lower capacity drive might work for you, then go for it and see what happens. It's usually not the box at fault, but in your case, it just might be.

My thinking on this is if I match the size of the internal drive within the 8300 to the external drive the 8300 will equally use the storage of both drives and thus distribute the recordings evenly across both drives. I am also courious to find out if a lower capacity drive will improve the performance. I suspect that larger capacity drives may be the cause of my problems.
Many of us are having no problems with 500GB external drives. I'm happy with that size, so I haven't been motivated to try something larger. Besides, I have over forty-five hi-def movies on it, some there for 18 months.

If this does not solve my problem then I guess I'll Exchange the 8300HD for another because I can't think of anything else to try.
If you're having problems with the same combo that works perfectly for archiguy, then it could be the box.

If this does not solve my problem then I guess I'll Exchange the 8300HD for another because I can't think of anything else to try.

Normally I would say it is not the box, but you really have tried an awful lot of combinations, and right now you are running one of the most successful combos in the database. I really think it is time to swap out your box.

If you do do a swap, please write down the revision number and build date on the bottom of both boxes and report back...

xnappo

Many people have had success with drives up to 500GB including myself. I'm running the exact same setup, vis a vis the drive and enclosure, that you are. So that's probably not it, but if you think a lower capacity drive might work for you, then go for it and see what happens. It's usually not the box at fault, but in your case, it just might be.

Thank all of you guys for your input.

I noticed that I'm getting the problem even on SD programming. I had the cable company out to check the signal strangth and they say its perfect with no fluctuation. As I'm not a teckie I just have to take there word for it. I also noticed that if I just use the internal drive the 8300 functions almost perfectly giving only about 2 glitches an hour and programs don't terminate early. When I connect the external drive I get 8 -10 glitches an hour and 1 out of 3 programs terminate early. If I stress test it (watch 1 recorded program while recording 2) then I can be garunteed that at least one of the 2 recordings will terminate early.

I can live with the glitches but the early termination of programs is unacceptable.

It very well could be the 8300 because I notice if I reboot the box its better but then gets worst throughout the week. So I'm finding myself rebooting the box once a week.

I am sorry, but how can you look at the database with Seagate 7200.10 having a 23% success rate and WD SE16 having an 82% success rate and come to that conclusion?

Just because other things cause glitches doesn't mean drive selection doesn't matter...

xnappo

Because my discussion with Scott had to do with my contention that glitches may NOT be a 100% indicator of "drive failure." Plus I don't read your stats as any indication of "drive failure."

My difficulty is that "drive selection" and the stats in your DB lead of a conclusion that it's the drive that needs to somehow "change" to be "compatible." Horseshit, all of these drives function exactly the way they were meant to, they store and read back data. The "responsibility" to be compatible rests NOT with the drive makers, but the idiots at places like TWC who deploy half assed, broken, alpha quality level software.

To me, the hard work you have put into providing a place for folks to indicate what works very much seems to me to point to the 8300 as my quite extensive experience with hard discs for the past 20+ years sure as hell informs me that drives basically do exactly what they were designed to do, consistently and with damn few defects. Between what I have always had at home and what I was responsible for at the office, I have had remarkably few failures. I did have 2 failures due to bad design (early Barracudas ran way, way too hot, they fixed that issue fairly quickly), one "odd" one (some idiot tech put a ISO 9600 formatted drive in a Mac doing video capture and it essentially scrambled it's directory so bad we lost all the data) and recently, a drive I had in an array for 4 years of 24/7 got "marginal" with enough warning I had an easy time making a very current backup before retiring it.

That's it for over 20+ years and hundreds of drives.

FWIW, for the DIYers, good deal I just came across, Maxtor 500G drives for $99.99.

http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/summer

That's it for over 20+ years and hundreds of drives.
Right, but how many of those were optimized for streaming video? :p

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=11024180&&#post11024180

At $200.00, it is hard to see why we would bother trying DIY box?

I received an email today from WD stating that this is now available.

My DVR Expander™ WDG1S5000

This is the item on the wdc site:
/en/products/Products.asp?DriveID=334

I am about to order one, but thought that I would see if there are any comments to be posted here first. :rolleyes:

I don't have a HD unit (Cox cable with SA 8300), so I may not face the issues many have posted about here.

Geezer :D

Right, but how many of those were optimized for streaming video? :p

Well I only got into digital video about mid nineties. "Optimized for video" was a function of the SCSI interface, but not the ATA interface. So none were "optimized" but all functioned with no problem in video applications.

Matter of fact, one issue to video folks is uncompressed video, something FAR more demanding than what a DVR does. In this I do NOT have first hand experience, but folks I know seem to be doing OK even with 150Mb/s drives. They ARE stripping them, though (although I don't think they HAVE to).

As we know that plain old ATA drives (which typically run about 100Mb/sec seem to work fine in this application, I'll maintain "optimized for streaming video" is a bunch of marketing hooey bearing little to do with reality. If it DID have any basis in reality, the 2 or 3 folks I know editing uncompressed video (these guys are cost is no object professionals all of whom have worked on Oscar winning features, one having done a few years at ILM) would be on it like a fly on... well, you know the rest!

I'll maintain "optimized for streaming video" is a bunch of marketing hooey bearing little to do with reality. If it DID have any basis in reality, the 2 or 3 folks I know editing uncompressed video (these guys are cost is no object professionals all of whom have worked on Oscar winning features, one having done a few years at ILM) would be on it like a fly on... well, you know the rest!
Do you not make a distinction between streaming video from a DVR and editing video on a computer?

Do you not make a distinction between streaming video from a DVR and editing video on a computer?

Absolutely not. In many ways, especially when dealing with uncompressed video, the demands are far higher. I just do not in any way consider these kinds of issues to be laid at the drives themselves. In any way. Put some form on Unix underneath our DVRs and all the issues of this drive not working, that drive working will instantly go away. And yes I AM aware that will never happen... but that a WHOLE 'nother thread!

BTW, we seem to have some positive indications that Navigators does finally fix the Passport trick play bug, it's going to be interesting to see if it can better handle drives from different manufacturers. All depends (IMO) on what sort of rev has gone on in the RTOS/Aptiv stuff, which I think is where all i/o sits.

I just do not in any way consider these kinds of issues to be laid at the drives themselves.

I do not think there is a problem with the drives either.

I think there is a problem with the low level SATA driver in PowerTV, or poor performance in the SATA controller in the SA8300.

However, I do believe some drives are able to compensate for the SA8300/PowerTV deficiency better than others as is clearly shown by the database.

xnappo

I do not think there is a problem with the drives either.

I think there is a problem with the low level SATA driver in PowerTV, or poor performance in the SATA controller in the SA8300.

However, I do believe some drives are able to compensate for the SA8300/PowerTV deficiency better than others as is clearly shown by the database.

xnappo
The SATA controller in the 8300HD is o-l-d and probably a first generation design and the eSATA connector appeared well before any other devices had them. That some newer drives do not work properly doesn't surprise me. At some point, all the new firmware/software in the world won't improve compatibility.

I do not think there is a problem with the drives either.

I think there is a problem with the low level SATA driver in PowerTV, or poor performance in the SATA controller in the SA8300.

However, I do believe some drives are able to compensate for the SA8300/PowerTV deficiency better than others as is clearly shown by the database.

xnappo
Agreed.

[QUOTE=JohnAR]At $200.00, it is hard to see why we would bother trying DIY box?

I received an email today from WD stating that this is now available.

My DVR Expander™ WDG1S5000

This is the item on the wdc site:
/en/products/Products.asp?DriveID=334

I am about to order one, but thought that I would see if there are any comments to be posted here first. :rolleyes:

I don't have a HD unit (Cox cable with SA 8300), so I may not face the issues many have posted about here.

Geezer :D[/QUOTE

I ordered one and it should be here next week. I asked WD about returning it if it didn't work. They said I could return it in 30 days so I thought it would be worthwhile trying. I tried asking Comcast about it and only got an answer that they don't support external drives. My SA 8300 is HD with SARA software. I'll let you know how it works next week. Wookie.

I do not think there is a problem with the drives either.

I think there is a problem with the low level SATA driver in PowerTV, or poor performance in the SATA controller in the SA8300.

However, I do believe some drives are able to compensate for the SA8300/PowerTV deficiency better than others as is clearly shown by the database.

xnappo

Ah, you make excellent points here, I certainly mostly agree.! My only comment is that SATA controllers are pretty solid, methinks. So (pure speculation, but based on experience) I suspect the issue is as simple as the fact the OS (RTOS, or whatever it wants to be called) was never designed or meant to deal with multiple volumes i.e. I think the hardware isn't really the issue, but the underlying OS is.

Ah, you make excellent points here, I certainly mostly agree.! My only comment is that SATA controllers are pretty solid, methinks. So (pure speculation, but based on experience) I suspect the issue is as simple as the fact the OS (RTOS, or whatever it wants to be called) was never designed or meant to deal with multiple volumes i.e. I think the hardware isn't really the issue, but the underlying OS is.That's true about almost every piece of hardware, it's the driver. The whole point to the thread though is to point out those devices that work with the current driver and those that don't. The side discussion dealing with whether or not problems are the fault of the drive, etc., really don't mean much to those spending their money tyring to get a working combo.

The part about the OS not being designed for multiple volumes is open to discussion, but it doesn't appear to support "all" hardware, hence no cableco will offer support. There could also be something with the Maxtor Quickview Expander being fairly bulletproof and I believe that was the "recommended" unit when SATA capability was announced way back when.

Also, in the PC world, aren't there multiple drivers offered and doesn't the drive compatibilty still depend on those drivers being available, even if those drivers are now part of the OS, be it Windows or Mac?

The adapter worked fine! Afterr formatting and a reboot, I dropped from 37% full to something like 13% full.

Couple of notes on the unit. There is no fan, hopefully that won't matter too much. Also, according to the SARA screens, is a Western Digital Hard Drive inside. It is very quiet.

Well, looks like I am having some problems here.

As a reminder, here's the unit.
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0257901

I've been using it for a couple of weeks now and I'm trying to establish some patterns. Last night, we watched Little Miss Sunshine and everything worked PERFECTLY, not one error, for about an hour. After an hour, it was a glitch every 10 seconds or so. They were all recording glitches. With other programs, I've seen the same thing. Right at about an hour, many recording glitches appear. I did start recording Illusionist 1 hour in to Little Miss Sunchine last night on to the same external drive. Could that be related? I can't exactly recall if I've had this problem when only 1 thing was recording, but I'm pretty sure I have.

Could it also be heat related? The unit does get VERY hot and was sitting an my wood entertainment unit with glass doors (closed) next to the SA8300HD. I just moved the unit to be on top of the entertainment unit which should help with the air flow, but it's still going to get very hot there too, I'm sure.

Any thoughts/ideas?

EDIT: Now them I'm thinking about it more, it always seemed to happen right at around an hour in, which would make sense if it's the 2 things recording at once problem.

Right now, I'm recording 2 Voom Channels to the external drive and we'll see what happens.

I'm wondering if it's been tricky for me to pinpoint because it only happens when 2 things are recording on the external drive at the same time, but it definitely seems to happen fairly frequently, so I don't know if that would make sense.

Where did you guys get your cable?

Where did you guys get your cable?From an online seller who's no longer around.

Cables aren't that hard to find anymore. If you live in a metro area, you can probably find them at any decent electronics store. If not, a Google search will get you what you need.

You need an eSATA connector for the 8300 end, and either a SATA or eSATA connector for the drive end, whichever one matches your enclosure's connector.

Please Help! I live in the Reading, Pennsylvania area and have Comcast as my cable provider. I have one Motorola DCT6412 and one DCT3412 in the house. I am running Windows Vista Ultimate edition and I followed the instructions for using the IEEE1394to the letter. The device is installed properly however I receive error messages, i.e. cannot open output file or cannot connect sample grabber when attempting to record using CapDVHS. I looked under the d11 menu and it has the 5c implementation as:NO. Data Xmission is listed as active, and copy control is copy free. What could be occurring?
Thanks for any help!
Hi. Did you happen to notice that you posted in the "8300HD" thread? That is a Scientific Atlanta box and everyone here has that. You should look for the Motorola thread(s). Plus, you might want to look for the HTPC thread . . .

Where did you guys get your cable?

If you need esata to esata I recommend this cable.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812191016

If you need esata to sata then this cable.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812191018
They are expensive but always remember "you get what you pay for" So always go with a good quality cable.

Thanks for the cable suggestions. I think I will get a 6ft cable to make sure I have flexibility of placing the drive in a good spot in my EQ closet.

Thanks for the cable suggestions. I think I will get a 6ft cable to make sure I have flexibility of placing the drive in a good spot in my EQ closet.

I would not do that. This is a very high speed SERDES interface. The max spec for cable length for eSATA is two feet.

xnappo

Thanks for the cable suggestions. I think I will get a 6ft cable to make sure I have flexibility of placing the drive in a good spot in my EQ closet.
Just two things to keep in mind for a heat generating device with electronics inside: Airflow, airflow and airflow. OK, three things actually. :)

That's true about almost every piece of hardware, it's the driver. The whole point to the thread though is to point out those devices that work with the current driver and those that don't. The side discussion dealing with whether or not problems are the fault of the drive, etc., really don't mean much to those spending their money tyring to get a working combo.

The part about the OS not being designed for multiple volumes is open to discussion, but it doesn't appear to support "all" hardware, hence no cableco will offer support. There could also be something with the Maxtor Quickview Expander being fairly bulletproof and I believe that was the "recommended" unit when SATA capability was announced way back when.

Also, in the PC world, aren't there multiple drivers offered and doesn't the drive compatibilty still depend on those drivers being available, even if those drivers are now part of the OS, be it Windows or Mac?

While there certainly are driver issues, I'm just not sure they manifest themselves in the same way for hard disks as they do for other hardware. Back in the OS 9 days, one DID need to actually write a driver onto the hard disk... but these days (OS X) that is unnecessary. I've used drives from pretty much all the outfits that make drives (there no such thing as a La Cie drive, they are packagers not manufacturers of drives) without ever needing a driver to be installed.

Truth be told (O/T here) there were certain services (I used to be able to lock access at the driver level, no password, the drive will NOT mount) I used to like with needing drivers...those services can't exist currently!

And my old pal pepar, back in those days there was a driver tweak to better handle streaming. But I judge that unnecessary today; Macs play a far larger role in all these CGI movies today than their "market share" and if ANYONE needs max streaming speed, Macs running X do. Yet there is NO mechanism for "optimizing for streaming." Obviously none needed.

Yet there is NO mechanism for "optimizing for streaming." Obviously none needed.
In the context of a DVR, I really think that refers to turning error correction off. But I've been wrong before. :)

In the context of a DVR, I really think that refers to turning error correction off. But I've been wrong before. :)
I'm sure there are optimizations that could be made at the low-level software that controls the drive logic (especially in terms of cache-control and error *handling* [not just error *correction*]).

If a drive uses some sort of predictive logic in how it utilizes its memory cache, that logic would clearly be quite different between a DVR and normal computer usage, if you think about the way computer files are accessed versus how streamed video files are accessed.

In terms of error *handling*, there is a balance of retries versus just "throwing away the data" on error. If the drive is fast enough and had enough other data cached, it could easily retry a few times before giving up (even for streaming video). All depends upon the drive speed and how good the predictive caching is.

Scott

[QUOTE=JohnAR]At $200.00, it is hard to see why we would bother trying DIY box?

I received an email today from WD stating that this is now available.

My DVR Expander™ WDG1S5000

This is the item on the wdc site:
/en/products/Products.asp?DriveID=334

I am about to order one, but thought that I would see if there are any comments to be posted here first. :rolleyes:

I don't have a HD unit (Cox cable with SA 8300), so I may not face the issues many have posted about here.

Geezer :D

I received the WD My DVR Expander 2 days ago; it was immediately recognized and formatted by my 8300HD. After letting it format the drive, I had to power cycle the 8300HD for it to reflect the new capacity. I've recorded and watched several hours of HD programming with no problems so far.

I had the same experience with the WD Expander. My capacity went from 88% full to 19% full. It's very quiet. It feels slightly warm but not excessively. So far so Good. Sara software with Comcast.

Well, my replacement Apricorn DVR Xpander drive just failed completely after a couple of months of flawless operation. It started a couple of days ago with sudden very unstable operation, picture freezeups, long lag time delayed response on the remote, recording stops, etc. I removed it from the 8300, which then operated cleanly until I reinstalled the drive tonight. Now, with the drive attached, the 8300 errors during the reboot with the ominous long, hex countdown, and ultimately comes up with the message that the external drive is not operating properly. I went through the exercise of reseating all signal and power connections, but to no avail.

This failure seems worse than the one on my first drive, in that I can't even get it to connect successfully to the PC via the USB port, so I can't do much of anything with it.

I'll contact Apricorn tech support to ask for a replacement, again, but I'm very discouraged with the fragility of this setup. I've been installing my own drives in PC's since the mid 80's, and I've never experienced this kind of failure rate. Maybe I've just hit a period of bad luck. Sure glad I'm not emotionally attached to any of my recordings, although I did want to rewatch that series on Churchill.

I just want to give another update.

I started with an epower sata only enclosure and a western digital YS series 320GB drive and have a few problems such as droupouts and early termination of some recordings .

I switched to the AZIO enclosure with the same drive and the 8300HD would not even recognize it as I mentioned earler.

I then switched to the Apricorn enclosure
http://www.newegg.com/product/produ...N82E16817362002
with the same drive and it recognized it but I still had the same amount of dropouts and some programs terminating early.

I Then upgraded the drive to a western digital 500GB drive
http://www.newegg.com/product/produ...N82E16822136073
and still no difference.
This combination seems to be the least problematic according to the Database found in this thread.

I still have a few problems such as droupouts and early termination of some recordings but I think is due to a problem with my 8300HD because I've tried several different hard drive and enclosure combinations and the problems still exist.

With my most recent setup which is the apricorn external and the WD 500GB HD I still have the same amount of dropout and early termination of programs.

I now am back to the epower enclosure and I just bought a WD 160GB WD1600JS drive.
My thinking on this is if I match the size of the internal drive within the 8300 to the external drive the 8300 will equally use the storage of both drives and thus distribute the recordings evenly across both drives. I am also courious to find out if a lower capacity drive will improve the performance. I suspect that larger capacity drives may be the cause of my problems.

If this does not solve my problem then I guess I'll Exchange the 8300HD for another because I can't think of anything else to try.

Well the 160GB drive did'nt work I still have the same amount of glitching and early termination.

SO

About 10 days ago I bought the 8300 in for an exchange and the new box so far has been perfect. I've reinstalled the apricorn enclosure with the 500GB drive. I get about 1 glitch an hour and only on some programs. I have not had a single program terminate early. I've stress tested almost every night by recording 2 HD programs and watching one. I've recorded about 50 programs and movies so far and watched about 35. Out of the 35 movies only 10 or so had 1 or 2 glitches within the entire movie. The were recording and not playback gliches.

I think I've finally solved my problems and my faith is restored in this expanded system.

@XNAPPO

The MFG date of the old box you requested was 2/2007 the MFG of the new box is 4/2007.
I also want to thank you for all your help, guidance and suggestions. The information I received from you and all the other members here was invaluable.

I'll keep you updated on the continuing progress of the system.

Well, my replacement Apricorn DVR Xpander drive just failed completely after a couple of months of flawless operation. It started a couple of days ago with sudden very unstable operation, picture freezeups, long lag time delayed response on the remote, recording stops, etc. I removed it from the 8300, which then operated cleanly until I reinstalled the drive tonight. Now, with the drive attached, the 8300 errors during the reboot with the ominous long, hex countdown, and ultimately comes up with the message that the external drive is not operating properly. I went through the exercise of reseating all signal and power connections, but to no avail.

This failure seems worse than the one on my first drive, in that I can't even get it to connect successfully to the PC via the USB port, so I can't do much of anything with it.


My problem has been resolved, happily. Apricorn was very responsive to my emailed plea for help on Monday. Their Tech Support diagnosed it as a probable failure of the AC Adapter/Power Supply, and FedExed a replacement supply, which resolved the problem, so I still have my same Xpander, and all of my recordings are still available for viewing.

My problem has been resolved . . and all of my recordings are still available for viewing.
Thanks for the update. :)

Does anyone know any other place to buy the WD My DVR Expander? It's out of stock at the WD site. I googled but just found articles and no place actually selling it.

Thanks,
Harold

Does anyone know any other place to buy the WD My DVR Expander? It's out of stock at the WD site. I googled but just found articles and no place actually selling it.

Thanks,
Harold
I wonder if the MY DVR Expander (WDG1S5000) is really the same as the WDG1SU5000N that is available at Best Buy etc. I am thinking that it may be the same drive but without the eSata cable in the box. The price at BB is the same.

I sent an email to Western Digital asking this question 2 days ago, but no response! If it is the same, I would go but one locally and just add the cable. Any thoughts?

Yeah, that's a good idea. And if it doesn't work, just return it. No harm, no foul. Thanks for pointing that out.

H

I seemingly successfully installed a Seagate HD 500G|ST 7K 16M SATA2 ST3500630AS in a APRICORN EZ-BUS-DTS-EKIT R enclosure on a 8300HD Passport Echo ver. 2.6.002 (TWC/NYC).

The disk registered successfully and is recording. However, the "live" recording function is not working. In the Info show box, there is no green bar indicating recording. Rewind doesn't do anything. Pause stops the picture but when I resume I can't fast forward or go "live". The instant replay kicks it back a half hour. When I disconnect the external disk, everything works normally. Anyone have an idea??

David

I seemingly successfully installed a Seagate HD 500G|ST 7K 16M SATA2 ST3500630AS in a APRICORN EZ-BUS-DTS-EKIT R enclosure on a 8300HD Passport Echo ver. 2.6.002 (TWC/NYC).

The disk registered successfully and is recording. However, the "live" recording function is not working. In the Info show box, there is no green bar indicating recording. Rewind doesn't do anything. Pause stops the picture but when I resume I can't fast forward or go "live". The instant replay kicks it back a half hour. When I disconnect the external disk, everything works normally. Anyone have an idea??

David

Known issue with Passport. Any time it records to the external drive, you lose auto buffering.

xnappo

I seemingly successfully installed a Seagate HD 500G|ST 7K 16M SATA2 ST3500630AS in a APRICORN EZ-BUS-DTS-EKIT R enclosure on a 8300HD Passport Echo ver. 2.6.002 (TWC/NYC).

The disk registered successfully and is recording. However, the "live" recording function is not working. In the Info show box, there is no green bar indicating recording. Rewind doesn't do anything. Pause stops the picture but when I resume I can't fast forward or go "live". The instant replay kicks it back a half hour. When I disconnect the external disk, everything works normally. Anyone have an idea??

David

This is the infamous "trick play bug." It will NOT get fixed as we are all waiting for the new software (Navigator) to get uploaded; we have a single post that says this bug IS gone with Navigator. It SEEMS like this should be coming in the next 2-3 months (TWC NYC area), but as usual, TWC like to keep it's customers completely in the dark.

This is the infamous "trick play bug." It will NOT get fixed as we are all waiting for the new software (Navigator) to get uploaded; we have a single post that says this bug IS gone with Navigator. It SEEMS like this should be coming in the next 2-3 months (TWC NYC area), but as usual, TWC like to keep it's customers completely in the dark.

Thank you for the insight. I think I will disconnect the disk for the time being. I won't need the extra capacity until after the new season shows begin in September. Hopefully by then Navigator will be available. :(

... Hopefully by then Navigator will be available. :(Some have posted in NYC that the Navigator box is available. If you’re interested in it then go to your local TWC store and swap out the box. Then you can verify for all of us whether the trick play bug has been squashed. :cool:

Some have posted in NYC that the Navigator box is available. If you’re interested in it then go to your local TWC store and swap out the box. Then you can verify for all of us whether the trick play bug has been squashed. :cool:Sorry to nit-pick :rolleyes: but the "trick play bug" will not be squashed by Navigator. It just doesn't exist in Navigator nor in SARA either. Only Passport has the "trick play bug".

Anyway, I do believe that there have been reports that:
1) The external drive does work with Navigator
2) There are no particular external drive issues with Navigator.

the "trick play bug" will not be squashed by Navigator. It just doesn't exist in Navigator . :rolleyes:

I think you enjoy the nit pik. :)

Sorry to nit-pick :rolleyes: but the "trick play bug" will not be squashed by Navigator. It just doesn't exist in Navigator nor in SARA either. Only Passport has the "trick play bug".

Anyway, I do believe that there have been reports that:
1) The external drive does work with Navigator
2) There are no particular external drive issues with Navigator.

Someone did recently report they are seeing more glitching with the external drive and Navigator than they had with Passport...

xnappo

:rolleyes:

I think you enjoy the nit pik. :)Well, I just can't resist an opportunity to jab Passport. :D

Well, I just can't resist an opportunity to jab Passport. :D
ummm, and yes, and this is pretty much the only opening that you get. ;)

Upon searching and reading through several pages of this thread, I've come to the conclusion that there's no way to transfer recordings from an external or internal drive connected to the 8300HD. Is this still the case? I'm approaching 90% usage of my 160+500GB, so I was hoping the offload the recordings somewhere.

Upon searching and reading through several pages of this thread, I've come to the conclusion that there's no way to transfer recordings from an external or internal drive connected to the 8300HD. Is this still the case? I'm approaching 90% usage of my 160+500GB, so I was hoping the offload the recordings somewhere.
Transfers via s-video are possible. If you're referring to transferring hi-def content in all its glory, though, your conclusion is valid.

Upon searching and reading through several pages of this thread, I've come to the conclusion that there's no way to transfer recordings from an external or internal drive connected to the 8300HD. Is this still the case? I'm approaching 90% usage of my 160+500GB, so I was hoping the offload the recordings somewhere.

Quoting Danny...

-------
Look at these threads it might be what your looking for.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=593271

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=8146474&&#post8146474

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=386740
-----
xnappo

Transfers via s-video are possible. If you're referring to transferring hi-def content in all its glory, though, your conclusion is valid.There is one thing that can be done (if you have SARA :rolleyes: ) to make anamorphic DVDs. Still not High Def, but definitely a step above 4:3 SD.

Check about half way down on this post. (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=471859&page=1)

There is one thing that can be done (if you have SARA :rolleyes: ) to make anamorphic DVDs. Still not High Def, but definitely a step above 4:3 SD.

Check about half way down on this post. (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=471859&page=1)

There is a way to reference a specific post on any given AVS page but I don't how to do it. It's OT, but it would be nice if someone equally nice could explain how that's done. :o

First Post:
I've been following or have read most of this thread, and I'm ready to buy some equipment. Actually, I started with a Free Agent Pro eSATA 320GB ($100 at Fry's), but when it didn't work, I found this forum.
Now I'm looking at the WD DVR Expander. The Sales guy at WD said at least 6 to 8 weeks for these. I don't want to wait, so I'm going to try to find an external case in SD for the Caviar drives mentioned in "THE LIST".
Neither WD Tech support nor sales knows anything technical about the DVR EX drives, or what makes them different from their regular drives. I did find this note on the WD web site, in case I missed the solution to this problem earlier in the thread:

"Our Second Generation Serial ATA hard drives use autospeed negotiation. This enables our Second Generation Serial ATA hard drives to automatically detect the motherboard data transfer rate, making it backward compatible with First Generation Serial ATA data transfer rates. However, because this technology is so new, some older First Generation Serial ATA controllers are unable to support autospeed negotiation and cannot recognize the drive. This “drive not detected” condition occurs when a chipset is incapable of correctly negotiating the data transfer speed with a Second Generation Serial ATA hard drive."

Maybe some 8300's are first generation?

There is a way to reference a specific post on any given AVS page but I don't how to do it. It's OT, but it would be nice if someone equally nice could explain how that's done. :o
Open another browser (tab) and find the post. Click on the post number in the upper right corner of the post and copy the resulting URL from the browser's address line. Then you can use that URL in another post to refer directly to that post.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=11209247#post11209247

Open another browser (tab) and find the post. Click on the post number in the upper right corner of the post and copy the resulting URL from the browser's address line. Then you can use that URL in another post to refer directly to that post.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=11209247#post11209247

Hey, thanks pepar! I've always wondered how that was done. :)

or....... right click the post number and copy shortcut.

Someone did recently report they are seeing more glitching with the external drive and Navigator than they had with Passport...

xnappo

Having personally seen a major uptick in such glitching after the last HD channel got added, and not using an external drive, I dare say the cause of the glitching can come from MANY places.

Having personally seen a major uptick in such glitching after the last HD channel got added, and not using an external drive, I dare say the cause of the glitching can come from MANY places.

Yeah, I agree. We still need to wait and see what happens when more people get Navigatored. Are you going to try a drive when you get the update?

xnappo

Having personally seen a major uptick in such glitching after the last HD channel got added, and not using an external drive, I dare say the cause of the glitching can come from MANY places. Let me throw an additional potential cause: When they added HD channels they may have moved the QAM channels of some of the existing ones. This is normally hidden from cable box users as a new channel map is downloaded to the cable boxes. The new locations could be ones at higher frequencies (where it is more likely to have a lower signal level) or ones where there is ingress from OTA signals.

Quoting Danny...

-------
Look at these threads it might be what your looking for.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=593271

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=8146474&&#post8146474

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=386740
-----
xnappo

I tried Firewire recording myself this morning. It works! Basically you can record the stuff you would expect - basic cable and network shows. HBO and the like have the 5C copy protection turned on.

It takes a while to get all the drivers and software going - but it isn't too hard really.

xnappo

Okay everyone, I am with Comcast with an 8300 HDC. (Sara) I hooked my external drive up and it formatted and is recognized by the DVR. I actually see the usage percentage go down. However when I try to do either a manual or scheduled recording it will not save the recording. If I unplug the external sata drive it works fine. I am wondering if I am missing something simple or does it just not work ? I tried to search the thread but I didn't see anything similar. The drive is a wd 250 internal sata in a gear enclosure. Thanks in advance.

I tried Firewire recording myself this morning. It works! Basically you can record the stuff you would expect - basic cable and network shows. HBO and the like have the 5C copy protection turned on.

It takes a while to get all the drivers and software going - but it isn't too hard really.

xnappo

@XNAPPO

Did you set this up on a PC or a macintosh?

I didn't have to much luck with a PC but on the Macintosh it works great. On my cable system none of the channels are 5C protected so I'm able to record all HD as well as premium channels. I convert the HD capture to HD Divx at a resulation of 1280x720 and the results are almost undistungishable between the .ts and the HD DIVX. But the space savings are enormous I can take a 10GB .ts stream and reduce it to a 3500MB divx file. The drawback to HD Divx is not many standalone DVD/DIVX players can play it. I play it through my MVIX Media control center. I think the only options for playback right now are either a media control center like the MVIX 760HD or a windows media center PC.

I tried Firewire recording myself this morning. It works! Basically you can record the stuff you would expect - basic cable and network shows. HBO and the like have the 5C copy protection turned on.

It takes a while to get all the drivers and software going - but it isn't too hard really.

xnappo

Why do you think people trying to record from the 8300 to computer via firewire are having success (with non-5C restricted channels) but when we try to record to our D-VHS decks, we get nothing? I'm speaking only of those on SARA; those with Passport don't seem to have any success with either D-VHS or computer.

Why is this?

@XNAPPO

Did you set this up on a PC or a macintosh?

I didn't have to much luck with a PC but on the Macintosh it works great. On my cable system none of the channels are 5C protected so I'm able to record all HD as well as premium channels. I convert the HD capture to HD Divx at a resulation of 1280x720 and the results are almost undistungishable between the .ts and the HD DIVX. But the space savings are enormous I can take a 10GB .ts stream and reduce it to a 3500MB divx file. The drawback to HD Divx is not many standalone DVD/DIVX players can play it. I play it through my MVIX Media control center. I think the only options for playback right now are either a media control center like the MVIX 760HD or a windows media center PC.

I am using a PC - I had to follow all the suggestions in the thread to get rid of the drops. It still isn't perfect for HD. I think DIVX is a great option too - I play them through my original XBOX/XBMC.

xnappo

I am using a PC - I had to follow all the suggestions in the thread to get rid of the drops. It still isn't perfect for HD. I think DIVX is a great option too - I play them through my original XBOX/XBMC.

xnappo

@XNAPPO

That was my problem as well with a PC. Lots of dropped frames as well as studdering and stalling on HD content. Was not to bad with SD content.

It seems that microsoft in there infinent wisdom desided when implementing XP SP2 they locked the firewire port to 100mbs instead of 400 or 800 which is the firewire standard. If your captures are close to decent there are a few fixes to get the port to 400mbs. There is no sence in locking the port to 800 as the top speed of the 8300 is 400mbs. These links will go into detail about it.

The first link will explain about the firewire standards and microsofts implementation of it.

The second is microsofts fix for it.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/885222/en-us
http://www.rme-audio.com/english/techinfo/fw800sp2.htm

I didn't notice much of an improvement on HD content but did notice a difference on SD content when I implemented the fix. This could be because my PC was a pretty slow machine to begin with (AMD3200+ laptop).

OK, 181 pages is an awful lot to dig through to get the requirements for an overview summary. Lots of folks have taken the time to post some quick links, etc., but might it not be prudent to maybe start a new thread?

In any event, I got a Seagate 750Gb eSata external HD, a eSata to eSata cable (SataII to SataII) and plugged it in via the various directions in this thread. Of course, don't work.

My findings are that it's the internal guts of the Seagate HD, and not a true 'pass-through' that prohibit the drive from 'talking' to the Explorer 8300HD box. Or, is it the fact that it's over 500Gb, and not seen by the Explorer?

So, I took a small laptop hard disk (Seagate 60Gb Momentus) SATA, used my power connector & a SATA-I to SATA-II cable, plugged it in, and bingo, the Explorer saw it, formatted it, and increased my storage.

My point is that it works. I know the HD is small, and it's not for use but rather a test, to share and possibly assist and or contribute the fact that in Central NJ, Optimum Online's Explorer 8300HD box is not crippled, but works.

2 questions, without making me dig for the answers....please?

Maximum HD size that can be used?
'Preferred' HD to use (for A/V and not issues of dropouts, etc.)?
Preferred case that passes the SATA out to the eSata/Sata cable, with no routing through other circuitry?
And finally (maybe there is a totally different place to get this info??), if and when this is all achieved, can this HD/Data be read, copied, burned or even seen?

From what I hyper-scanned, it cannot. Others elude to it maybe being done, but info is sparse.

The 60Gb Momentus I tested with, is not recognized by a PC (XP/Vista) or Linux/OS X...
and I was curious as to what tools I'd need to mount/see the HD to play around, hack, etc.

I hope the test I did is of value to all to assist...bottom line is it works, just gotta make sure the right HD, case, etc., is used....and that's the base question here. :)

OK, 181 pages is an awful lot to dig through to get the requirements for an overview summary. Lots of folks have taken the time to post some quick links, etc., but might it not be prudent to maybe start a new thread?Then why don't you?

While you are at it, start 3 threads: 1 for SARA; 1 for Passport; 1 for Navigator.

Oh, while you are at it: why not tell us (in UserCP &/or signature) where you are located, what software & version. ;)

Maximum HD size that can be used? Check xnappo's list. ;)
'Preferred' HD to use (for A/V and not issues of dropouts, etc.)?
Preferred case that passes the SATA out to the eSata/Sata cable, with no routing through other circuitry?Check xnappo's list.

And finally (maybe there is a totally different place to get this info??), if and when this is all achieved, can this HD/Data be read, copied, burned or even seen? Some yes, some now - it depends............. Some limited success with Firewire (check elsewhere on AVS), digital bitstream is encoded, so you can't use it directly, can burn analog out SD, but no "real" HD.

Updated CP, will have other info soon...thanks so far....
I wish I could start the new thread, but I'm not qualified to do so, as I've just started this project, and not even clear on all of it, so my transcriptions would be worthless, and the point is, all the good stuff might be better in a one shot one stop location, instead of 181+ posts...just the goodies, a sticky, a FAQ, combined info?

Thanks again

Updated CP, will have other info soon...thanks so far....
I wish I could start the new thread, but I'm not qualified to do so, as I've just started this project, and not even clear on all of it, so my transcriptions would be worthless, and the point is, all the good stuff might be better in a one shot one stop location, instead of 181+ posts...just the goodies, a sticky, a FAQ, combined info?

Thanks againWhat you want would take a lot of work from someone - and ultimately would grow to 200 pages itself.

Updated CP, will have other info soon...thanks so far....
I wish I could start the new thread, but I'm not qualified to do so, as I've just started this project, and not even clear on all of it, so my transcriptions would be worthless, and the point is, all the good stuff might be better in a one shot one stop location, instead of 181+ posts...just the goodies, a sticky, a FAQ, combined info?If you look through this thread, you'll see that what you suggest was started and soon overcome by new hardware, software, etc. This ultimately led to xnappo's excellent databases.

The latest SA User's Guide adequately explains SATA for SARA users and the link to pepar's guide explains it for Passport users. Even with those though, folks still run into problems and that's what this thread is for. Unfortunately, folks still seem to want someone to tell them exactly what to buy and then guarantee that it will work.

One has to take some responsibility here, look through the appropriate database, and make a decision on what to try based on their desires, pocketbook, and current availability. No one, except maybe vegggas, can do that for you. He'd just tell you to get the Maxtor Quickview Expander Kit (or whatever it's called) because that is what he installs for clients and he's had near-perfect success.

Most of the posts in this thread are from folks who are trying to go the cheapest route by building their own even though complete kits are available for a higher price, and those are in the database too. No matter how you look at it though, it's a crapshoot. Just make sure you can return what you buy or at least have a fallback use for it if it doesn't work.

What you want would take a lot of work from someone - and ultimately would grow to 200 pages itself.IMHO, it's an impossible task. There are just too many variables for one person to weed through and so many posts contain incorrect or out-dated info. Heck, even the accepted procedures to install these things don't always work the first time and a series of reboots, etc., eventually gets things to working. How in the world do you summarize all that?

I remember the problems I had when I tried to summarize all the drives/cables that folks had tried. Fortunately, soon after that, xnappo designed the databases and that has been a tremendous help getting folks on the right track. I applaud the idea of a summary post, I just don't believe it's worth the effort, or even possible. I know first-hand just how much work is involved in maintaining a First Post Summary, and as you are quick to point out, add in all the differences for SARA, Passport, and now Navigator, and the task becomes daunting to say the least.

I know the thread is long, all AVS threads of any value are long, that's the way they want it, but if folks simply follow the unwritten rule to read the first post (and links) along with the last few pages, they should then be able to post intelligent questions and get intelligent answers. For this particular topic at this point in time, I just don't think we can do much better, but anyone is welcome to try. :)

guruuno - you need to learn how to use the search function. Especially with a 181 page thread.

By searching "freeagent" (your seagate external drive) in less than three minutes I found out that the seagate freeagent external enclosure is a no go. That if you remove the drive from the enclosure and connect the bare drive directly to the 8300 it works. The problem appears to be in the external enclosure. All of this in about three minutes. The thread could have been 1,181 pages long and it still would have taken about three minutes.

Use the search function to drill down into long threads. Very easy.

There are so, soooo many noob posters on this thread asking the same two or three questions - over and over and over. First posts are not read, the search function goes unused and combos that are pretty much guaranteed to NOT work are bought w/o first checking xnappo's valuable database. (I can even spell his screen name now w/o digging for one of his posts! :cool: ) Arrrggh, it is challenge, some times, to not get frustrated. But then I thought back to my own "technical difficulties" over the years and my procedure for troubleshooting, and it dawned on me why this might be happening.

I *do* search when I have a problem, but I search on Google. Since I discovered AVS, I come here for A/V-related issues, but for other things it's Google. And those unfamiliar with AVS google as well. Of course, it's pretty much impossible to google *anything* A/V-related WITHOUT getting AVS Forum hits. And where do those hits link to? Well, not AVS Forum policies, rules and etiquette. And certanly not the first post. They link directly to the threads themselves which contain discussions on the problem the person is trying to solve. These newbies pop into the middle of the thread and, even though they need to register to post, they are intent on finding a solution to their problem and immediately ask their question. How many first time posts do we see that begin with a reference to the number of pages and the daunting ordeal of searching? Some make a perfunctory apology, while others don't even do that. Again, they are intent on solving their problem.

Pardon me if everyone else here knew this and if it should have been obvious to me as well. But this is somewhat of a minor revelation for me; understanding how "they" got here will now be on my mind when I read noob posts and will make me more likely to help than to ignore (or insult ;) ).

OK, 181 pages is an awful lot to dig through to get the requirements for an overview summary. Lots of folks have taken the time to post some quick links, etc., but might it not be prudent to maybe start a new thread?

My point is that it works. I know the HD is small, and it's not for use but rather a test, to share and possibly assist and or contribute the fact that in Central NJ, Optimum Online's Explorer 8300HD box is not crippled, but works.


I'll make this simple for you.

You are on basically the same system I'm on. I'm on Optium online (Northern NJ)

This works the best

Hard drive:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822136073

Enclosure with cable included:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817362002


if and when this is all achieved, can this HD/Data be read, copied, burned or even seen?
and I was curious as to what tools I'd need to mount/see the HD to play around, hack, etc.


There are no tools that I'm aware of the give you direct access to the drive. I've done a lot of reading on this subject and never read of anyone successsfully accessing the drive.

There are a few good forums on capturing programming via firewire and you can see some references to it on this page just a few posts up which were made by me.

Look at these threads it might be what your looking for.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=593271

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/show...4&&#post8146474

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=386740

pepar
your description of how newbs get here is exactly how i found my way here. of course that was many moons ago. i wonder what percentage of newbies end up being permanant contributing posters and what percentage logon to get an answer for one question never to be heard from again.

I seemingly successfully installed a Seagate HD 500G|ST 7K 16M SATA2 ST3500630AS in a APRICORN EZ-BUS-DTS-EKIT R enclosure on a 8300HD Passport Echo ver. 2.6.002 (TWC/NYC).

The disk registered successfully and is recording. However, the "live" recording function is not working. In the Info show box, there is no green bar indicating recording. Rewind doesn't do anything. Pause stops the picture but when I resume I can't fast forward or go "live". The instant replay kicks it back a half hour. When I disconnect the external disk, everything works normally. Anyone have an idea??

David

Unless I'm crazy (which is possible) -- you can still hit 'record' and it will start recording the show (including what's in the buffer) so you can go into the list of programs and start watching it from there. Annoying, and an extra couple steps, but better than nothing I suppose.

pepar
your description of how newbs get here is exactly how i found my way here. of course that was many moons ago. i wonder what percentage of newbies end up being permanant contributing posters and what percentage logon to get an answer for one question never to be heard from again.

I have to put my 2 cents in. I must agree with strutter.

Pepar I was a newb not very long ago and you have helped me on more then one occassion.

I think that we sometimes forget that newbs have to start somewhere. No one remains a newb forever unless they get scared off and stop asking stupid questions:)

pepar
your description of how newbs get here is exactly how i found my way here. of course that was many moons ago. i wonder what percentage of newbies end up being permanant contributing posters and what percentage logon to get an answer for one question never to be heard from again.
Just a gut feeling - one or two out of ten turn into contributors and the rest, having solved their DVR problem, get on with life. But once someone discovers AVS Forum, they remember it and return when they need further assistance or to research an upcoming purchase. I'd further guess that out of those "ten" that discovered AVS Forum by the DVR thread(s), six or seven end up hanging out *somewhere* on the forum.

BTW, what is your sig quote from? :)

I have to put my 2 cents in. I must agree with strutter.

Pepar I was a newb not very long ago and you have helped me on more then one occassion.

I think that we sometimes forget that newbs have to start somewhere. No one remains a newb forever unless they get scared off and stop asking stupid questions:)
Glad to have helped. Contrary to the opinion of some here, I did not get my post count entirely from making smart-a22 remarks . . like this one . . . :D

And there you are several posts up, assisting someone. Pay it forward. :)

BTW, what is your sig quote from? :)

2001 a space odyssey

Let me throw an additional potential cause: When they added HD channels they may have moved the QAM channels of some of the existing ones. This is normally hidden from cable box users as a new channel map is downloaded to the cable boxes. The new locations could be ones at higher frequencies (where it is more likely to have a lower signal level) or ones where there is ingress from OTA signals.

Oh dear!

Actually, in the past week, I think I see the issues diminishing.

doubleDAZ mentioned signal strength in another thread... I haven't paid that close attention to that as it's been six months since techs fixed some building wiring all the way to the fiber/copper node so everything was up to spec. My s/n is fine (32-36 for each tuner) and I THINK my signal strength might be an issue. It's measured in dBmV right? If so, I have -10 and -12 for each tuner... which I THINK may be too low... anyone know if I have the right specs here... and is it on or off spec?

2001 a space odyssey

Great movie, great director. Saw it in HD recently, except don't remember where, either HDNet or UnHD...

Great movie, great director. Saw it in HD recently, except don't remember where, either HDNet or UnHD...
HDNet

Thanks...btw, when I had Comcast in Woodbridge, I did the firewire thingy, my issues with that is you gotta play the saved recording to copy via firewire, and with several hours of recordings, it's not an option, simple dump from HD, like with tools on TiVo boxes, would be nice.
I know it's not there yet, but maybe some day.....

Regarding all the people I'm seemingly upsetting by asking questions, not my intention. Been here for 2 years, read, but get overwhelmed when I look for a cut and dry, 1-2-3 simple roadmap, without having to dig, search, and find relevant data.....hence my initial suggestion....
Chill....I know how to search, the issues are many. Once you start reading blurb from Joe, and Sam says it's no good, and Paul says it works for him, then Jim tells us that nothing is good and it's to be done this way, but Bob argues his results, and everyone gets varied opinions as to what really is without a definitive authoritative roadmap.
That's my point.

I can search and read, but I have to read each and every post, to get some direction, with a few being honored as the master of solutions, others beings sissed at.

Get it now everyone? I'm not trying to piss off anybody, just to look for the 1-2-3 answers without spending gobs of time digesting all of 100's of pages.

Thanking all for the responses so far, ordered drive and enclosure, looking forward to participating further.

Chill....I know how to search, the issues are many. Once you start reading blurb from Joe, and Sam says it's no good, and Paul says it works for him, then Jim tells us that nothing is good and it's to be done this way, but Bob argues his results, and everyone gets varied opinions as to what really is without a definitive authoritative roadmap.
That's my point.



Yeah - this particular issue doesn't seem to have a 1-2-3 pattern that we can easily follow - there are too many variables it seems. I think you should be able to get an idea of what has a 90% chance of working from the database.

xnappo

Thanks...btw, when I had Comcast in Woodbridge, I did the firewire thingy, my issues with that is you gotta play the saved recording to copy via firewire, and with several hours of recordings, it's not an option, simple dump from HD, like with tools on TiVo boxes, would be nice.
I know it's not there yet, but maybe some day.....

Regarding all the people I'm seemingly upsetting by asking questions, not my intention. Been here for 2 years, read, but get overwhelmed when I look for a cut and dry, 1-2-3 simple roadmap, without having to dig, search, and find relevant data.....hence my initial suggestion....
Chill....I know how to search, the issues are many. Once you start reading blurb from Joe, and Sam says it's no good, and Paul says it works for him, then Jim tells us that nothing is good and it's to be done this way, but Bob argues his results, and everyone gets varied opinions as to what really is without a definitive authoritative roadmap.
That's my point.

I can search and read, but I have to read each and every post, to get some direction, with a few being honored as the master of solutions, others beings sissed at.

Get it now everyone? I'm not trying to piss off anybody, just to look for the 1-2-3 answers without spending gobs of time digesting all of 100's of pages.

Thanking all for the responses so far, ordered drive and enclosure, looking forward to participating further.
It's a tough love kind of thread. Here, you learn how to fish.

I had my drive up to 98% the other day and it kept working fine.. I even got the little message that the storage was almost full.. So there goes that theory about 500GB drives not working well past 300GB full. Check my enclosure and drive etc on the SARA database under name "BWX" http://baseportal.com/cgi-bin/baseportal.pl?htx=/xnappo/main

Now I wish I got a 750GB drive.

I had my drive up to 98% the other day and it kept working fine.. I even got the little message that the storage was almost full.. So there goes that theory about 500GB drives not working well past 300GB full. Check my enclosure and drive etc on the SARA database under name "BWX" http://baseportal.com/cgi-bin/baseportal.pl?htx=/xnappo/main
I have to be very close to that fill percentage on my 500GB external and also with no problems.

Thanks...btw, when I had Comcast in Woodbridge, I did the firewire thingy, my issues with that is you gotta play the saved recording to copy via firewire, and with several hours of recordings, it's not an option, simple dump from HD, like with tools on TiVo boxes, would be nice.
I know it's not there yet, but maybe some day.....


If you find anything on HD direct access please let us know. It's always been a big intrest of mine.

Regarding all the people I'm seemingly upsetting by asking questions, not my intention.

Point taken

Thanking all for the responses so far, ordered drive and enclosure, looking forward to participating further.

If its what I recommended it should work fine. After the drive is recognized by the 8300 and formatted remember to reboot the box so the additional hard drive space is registered and displays correctly on the used/remaining space information screen.

Regarding all the people I'm seemingly upsetting by asking questions, not my intention. Been here for 2 years, read, but get overwhelmed when I look for a cut and dry, 1-2-3 simple roadmap, without having to dig, search, and find relevant data.....hence my initial suggestion....I think you are misinterpretting some responses, I don't think your questions or suggestions have upset anyone. The problem is that there is no 1-2-3 solution, so we can't give you one.

There is a lot of discussion here though about why various combos don't work and that certainly muddies the waters. Also, the thread contains recommendations for SARA and Passport and now Navigator. It would be a lot easier to pinpoint possible solutions if the thread were divided by system. That has been suggested, but no one has taken the initiative to start a new thread for one system or the other. Even if they did, there would be a lot of duplication and I suspect the threads would have been merged by the Mods way back at the beginning anyway.

The best thing that has happened to help has been xnappo's databases separating experiences with various combos. People here shouldn't be faulted for pointing you in that direction to do the research and see if you can find something there to start with. It would be nice if you could simply ask what to buy and where, but I doubt anyone here is comfortable giving that kind of advice unless they happen to be in the same location using the same cable system, etc.

Yeah - this particular issue doesn't seem to have a 1-2-3 pattern that we can easily follow - there are too many variables it seems. I think you should be able to get an idea of what has a 90% chance of working from the database.

xnappo

Not only that, but spend more time reading and you'll get a pretty good idea who to really pay attention to...

I wonder if the MY DVR Expander (WDG1S5000) is really the same as the WDG1SU5000N that is available at Best Buy etc. I am thinking that it may be the same drive but without the eSata cable in the box. The price at BB is the same.

I sent an email to Western Digital asking this question 2 days ago, but no response! If it is the same, I would go but one locally and just add the cable. Any thoughts?

I just tried the WDG1SU5000N and could not get it to work. I am new at this, so maybe there is some other issue with my setup. I am thinking about trying the My DVR Expander since it appears to have success. I am running an SA8300HD DVR with TWC Passport software.

Has anyone successfully moved both their internal and external drives to a new 8300HD? I have one of the original boxes without firewire. I would like to move my recordings to a new 8300HD with firewire so I can archive some of the recordings to DVHS or PC. I don't know if there are any special security settings that link the drives to a specific 8300HD. I don't want to install the drives to the new box, boot up, and have it automatically start the formatting process because some IDs don't match.

Thanks in advance...

Has anyone successfully moved both their internal and external drives to a new 8300HD? I have one of the original boxes without firewire. I would like to move my recordings to a new 8300HD with firewire so I can archive some of the recordings to DVHS or PC. I don't know if there are any special security settings that link the drives to a specific 8300HD. I don't want to install the drives to the new box, boot up, and have it automatically start the formatting process because some IDs don't match.

Thanks in advance...
<sigh> Can't be done. No way. No how. You cannot transfer the recorded content, and the external drive will be reformatted if connected to a different 8300HD. I've never heard the question about moving the *internal* drive but I doubt it.

<sigh> Can't be done. No way. No how. You cannot transfer the recorded content, and the external drive will be reformatted if connected to a different 8300HD. I've never heard the question about moving the *internal* drive but I doubt it.Pepar's correct. The reason that one cannot move the drives is that the data is encoded with a key that matches only the device that recorded it. Thus the hard drive (internal or external) will only play on the 8300 that recorded it.

Sorry about that.

Besides, a lot of cable systems (not all) do not have the firewire port enabled right now.

Pepar's correct. The reason that one cannot move the drives is that the data is encoded with a key that matches only the device that recorded it. Thus the hard drive (internal or external) will only play on the 8300 that recorded it.

Sorry about that.

Besides, a lot of cable systems (not all) do not have the firewire port enabled right now.

Just FYI - my diagnostics pages say Firewire is 'Not Available' - but it is active and does work.

xnappo

Just FYI - my diagnostics pages say Firewire is 'Not Available' - but it is active and does work.

xnappoInteresting point. I wonder if some of the reports around about Firewire being disabled come from those diagnostic pages, and not from people actually trying?

Interesting point. I wonder if some of the reports around about Firewire being disabled come from those diagnostic pages, and not from people actually trying?

Not sure... In many places it didn't start working until 1.89.x.

xnappo

Just a note about Navigator and hard drives. I have a friend here in Raleigh that has the new 8300HDC with Navigator and replaced his internal drive with a 250gb IDE drive. He said it took several minutes and several reboots for it to work, but it works great. Anyone else tried this? He said there are just three screws on the back, no tamper sticker or anything.

He only had a 250gb, so not sure what size would work. It seems an easy upgrade to those having so much trouble with the external drive. I am sure TWC would not care for you doing this, but as long as you kept the old drive, you could always put it back.

Just a note about Navigator and hard drives. I have a friend here in Raleigh that has the new 8300HDC with Navigator and replaced his internal drive with a 250gb IDE drive. He said it took several minutes and several reboots for it to work, but it works great. Anyone else tried this? He said there are just three screws on the back, no tamper sticker or anything.

He only had a 250gb, so not sure what size would work. It seems an easy upgrade to those having so much trouble with the external drive. I am sure TWC would not care for you doing this, but as long as you kept the old drive, you could always put it back.Another reason to sell these through retails stores. Then you could tamper with them all you want without worrying about the cableco over-charging your for a replacement if something does go wrong. Others have done this in the past with SARA and Passport-based 8300's, so it's not a new idea. Most people just don't want to take the chance of messing something up with rented equipment.

Personally, I think Dish's approach with USB drives may be the way to go. I just read a blurb about it, so I don't know the specifics, but it looks like they will allow you to off-load recorded content to a USB drive while using the internal drive for the day-to-day recording. I don't know if the process applies to HD content or if the process meets DRM requirements, just offering it as food for thought.

Personally, I think Dish's approach with USB drives may be the way to go. I just read a blurb about it, so I don't know the specifics, but it looks like they will allow you to off-load recorded content to a USB drive while using the internal drive for the day-to-day recording. I don't know if the process applies to HD content or if the process meets DRM requirements, just offering it as food for thought.

I'm a bit courious and confused as to what you are talking about. You mention offloading to USB drive. Can you post a link to that blurb.

Not sure... In many places it didn't start working until 1.89.x.

xnappo

And from what I've read, it stopped working with Passport 2.6.002

I'm a bit courious and confused as to what you are talking about. You mention offloading to USB drive. Can you post a link to that blurb.

Check engadgethd.com

To me, the most interesting thing has to do with USB... a very slow i/o standard. It's going to be interesting to see this functioning... especially with all the issues with "optimized" and someone saying eSATA was faster than SATA (AND we know that they have used plain old IDE/ATA drives internally in some 8300s).

But it does point to a good trend, that of using more than one i/o standard. I really like them to open it to FW; there are more than one 2 drive FW box that have RAID ships in them so they present as a single volume that can transfer data much faster than any single drive (RAID 0). One box I know of can be had for 120 bucks, add to 99.99 500G drives and for under 350 you have a screaming fast 1T drive!

Would be nice eh?

Just a note about Navigator and hard drives. I have a friend here in Raleigh that has the new 8300HDC with Navigator and replaced his internal drive with a 250gb IDE drive. He said it took several minutes and several reboots for it to work, but it works great. Anyone else tried this? He said there are just three screws on the back, no tamper sticker or anything.

He only had a 250gb, so not sure what size would work. It seems an easy upgrade to those having so much trouble with the external drive. I am sure TWC would not care for you doing this, but as long as you kept the old drive, you could always put it back.

Oh this is VERY significant. Far as I know, nobody except for some folks in Canada have every been able to swap out a internal 8300 drive. Logic said that it was due to the fact that the entire software suite would not be dynamically downloaded (didn't TiVo drive swaps involve transferring some of the software to the new drive first??)..

So if someone really did this (forgive me for being skeptical), it HAS to mean that every piece of software one needs gets dynamically downloaded, installed and functional. We "need" more folks to give this a try and report back!!!

Oh this is VERY significant. Far as I know, nobody except for some folks in Canada have every been able to swap out a internal 8300 drive. Logic said that it was due to the fact that the entire software suite would not be dynamically downloaded (didn't TiVo drive swaps involve transferring some of the software to the new drive first??)..

So if someone really did this (forgive me for being skeptical), it HAS to mean that every piece of software one needs gets dynamically downloaded, installed and functional. We "need" more folks to give this a try and report back!!!This (replacing the internal drive) has been done before - in fact Popular Science had an article on this a year and a half ago (http://www.popsci.com/popsci/how20/0ad08278d3daa010vgnvcm1000004eecbccdrcrd.html)

I'm a bit courious and confused as to what you are talking about. You mention offloading to USB drive. Can you post a link to that blurb.This isn't my original source, but it's the same article:
http://www.afterdawn.com/news/archive/10681.cfm

This isn't my original source, but it's the same article:
http://www.afterdawn.com/news/archive/10681.cfm

Suuuuurrreee... And you read Playboy for the articles :D

xnappo

This (replacing the internal drive) has been done before - in fact Popular Science had an article on this a year and a half ago (http://www.popsci.com/popsci/how20/0ad08278d3daa010vgnvcm1000004eecbccdrcrd.html)

Agreed. People have been doing this way before eSATA(back on the 8000HD)...

xnappo

Suuuuurrreee... And you read Playboy for the articles :D

xnappoOh, oh, I must be missing something.

Seriously, I just did a google search for Dish + USB and that is what popped up. Guess I'm going to have to check out that site and see what your comment is all about. And, for the record, no, I don't read Playboy, for the articles or otherwise.

Oh, oh, I must be missing something.

Seriously, I just did a google search for Dish + USB and that is what popped up. Guess I'm going to have to check out that site and see what your comment is all about. And, for the record, no, I don't read Playboy, for the articles or otherwise.

Just messing with you - Afterdawn forums cross some legal 'grey' lines that are taboo on AVSforum.

I subscribe to their newsletter :)

xnappo

This (replacing the internal drive) has been done before - in fact Popular Science had an article on this a year and a half ago (http://www.popsci.com/popsci/how20/0ad08278d3daa010vgnvcm1000004eecbccdrcrd.html)

I kinda dismissed that article way back when as they say it's important which OS you have, but as I recall never said which one was the "right" one to use. I surmised it may have been SARA, which I don't run.

Kind of a moot thing though, this is about Navigator, something we all are going to be running at some point. The fact that one can swap out the internal drive and have the entire low, mid and high level software download IS significant.

Agreed. People have been doing this way before eSATA(back on the 8000HD)...

xnappo

I dunno, I DID some searching through AVS on this and found not one single person in the US who would even claim they had succeeded doing it on a 8300/Passport. I recall a few Canadians saying they did it, but the issue for them was they actually owned the box. And who know what kind of OS or head end they were operating from.

If YOU told me you did it, I'd definitely believe! Then again, it would be meaningless to me as I currently run Passport.

Still, can ya blame me for seeing something actually GOOD about Navigator?

Just messing with you - Afterdawn forums cross some legal 'grey' lines that are taboo on AVSforum.Thanks, thought I might have gotten into something more "kinky". :)

Seriously though, I couldn't tell from the article (or I missed it) if HD was included. I think off-loading a legit recording (meaning you still only have the one personal-use copy) might be the way to comply with DRM and still allow some long-term archiving. It also didn't say what keeps one from using the USB drive on other receivers, etc., so I think it will be interesting to see how it all shakes out. I know USB is slower, etc., than firewire/sata, but this seems like a different philosophy along file management lines vs recording directly to the USB drive and I, for one, like that idea, at least it sounds like I would.

I dunno, I DID some searching through AVS on this and found not one single person in the US who would even claim they had succeeded doing it on a 8300/Passport. I recall a few Canadians saying they did it, but the issue for them was they actually owned the box. And who know what kind of OS or head end they were operating from.

If YOU told me you did it, I'd definitely believe! Then again, it would be meaningless to me as I currently run Passport.

Still, can ya blame me for seeing something actually GOOD about Navigator?I'd tend to agree about Passport, I don't remember anyone off-hand either. AFAIK, our Canadian friends all use SARA, but I do know there were folks in the US using SARA that did this. Much of the discussion was cut off though by concerns regarding messing with equipment rented from the cableco and liability if things went wrong. I seem to remember a 500G drive being used in one. I also remember some of the discussion about using Unix to bit-copy a drive, but I believe that was with Tivo, perhaps the early DirecTV HD Tivo.

I personally think Navigator will turn out to be okay eventually, but being alpha/beta testing guinea pigs with no compensation seems wrong. I remember when we (SARA users) felt the same way when we got the first version of SARA onthe SA8000HD and had to find workarounds, etc., ourselves. The big difference was that DVRs were new for us, so we more or less accepted the problems and worked through them. Today though, one doesn't expect such problems because DVRs are no longer new. We expect something better than what we have. I think the least TWC could do is refund all DRV fees in Lincoln.

Still, can ya blame me for seeing something actually GOOD about Navigator?

Gotcha - I didn't realize the emphasis of your post was the difference from Passport.

xnappo

Hello, I'm a newbie here. I have a question that has probably been asked, and answered. I'm sorry if this is a repeat question, it's just that there's so many pages. It would be insane to try to go through all of them. So I thought I would ask, and someone would be kind enough to help me out. I'm a Time Warner cable Brooklyn, New York subscriber. I have the Scientific Atlanta Explorer 8300HD DVR. I want to buy western digital My DVR Expander to add more storage space to my dvr. It's compatible with Scientific Atlanta 8300 series DVRs. It would be connected via the SATA port. Is the SATA port active on the 8300HD DVR that time warner provides, or did time warner cable disable the port? If someone can help me out, I'd be really grateful. Thank you.

Damn, that has to be a set-up...

If not, gtsgts, it looks like you read enough to clarify location, provider, and equipment. If you read back to page 181 (30 ppp) post #5415 (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=11246433&&#post11246433) and subsequent discussions, you'll know (without any unnecessary underwear torsion...) why I started off the post in that manner.

But, eSATA generally works on all but the older PASSPORT (1.8.x) systems. So: You could take your chances and return it if it does not work.
- (you may want to verify return issues anyway, you could get a lemon...) You could check the forum's local thread (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/forumdisplay.php?f=45) for your location and ask there. You could go back to the first post for the compatibility database and look in there for someone on your cable system. You could search the thread for "Brooklyn".
- (upper right of top post on this page >= 3 hits) You could check your software type
- first post has pictures of PASSPORT & SARA, NAVIGATOR is the new one TWC is slowly moving to
- find the link for your cable company's software here (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=6211330&&#post6211330),
- and follow through to the software thread to examine the diagnostics for the version
- for reference and to verify software and version.
- (no guarantee the diagnostics information report on eSATA is accurate...)

v/r,
C-F

Just got the SA8300HD replaced (TWC San Diego) with a SA8300HDC OCAP unit.

That was the 2nd SA8300HD that failed.

Not Sara nor Passport. OCAP OS.

Installer said the eSata is not enabled.

Anyone know if the OCAP units work with eSata external hard disk?

If not, for that and other reasons, I'll have to exchange it for a Passport SA8300HD.

Just got the SA8300HD replaced (TWC San Diego) with a SA8300HDC OCAP unit.

...

Not Sara nor Passport. OCAP OS.???

I know what the acronym OCAP means, but what do you mean by (paraphrasing) "OCAP OS (not SARA or Passport)"?

I am familiar with SARA, Passport, and Navigator-based 8300HD's. I also know there are new Cablecard-enabled 8300HDCs running some or all of those interfaces.

But I don't know what an "8300HDC OCAP unit" is.

Just got the SA8300HD replaced (TWC San Diego) with a SA8300HDC OCAP unit.

That was the 2nd SA8300HD that failed.

Not Sara nor Passport. OCAP OS.

Installer said the eSata is not enabled.

Anyone know if the OCAP units work with eSata external hard disk?

If not, for that and other reasons, I'll have to exchange it for a Passport SA8300HD.

Some people have reported that Navigator does work with eSATA drives, but not many have tried. Go for it!

xnappo

Some people have reported that Navigator does work with eSATA drives, but not many have tried. Go for it!

xnappo

The TWC installer called it an OCAP unit.

When booting, the display on the unit says OCAP.

Is that Navigator software? I have not seen a reference to that name.

The TWC installer called it an OCAP unit.

When booting, the display on the unit says OCAP.

Is that Navigator software? I have not seen a reference to that name.

Here are some pics of each:

SARA:
http://gallery.avsforum.com/data/508/medium/sara_guide.JPG

Passport:
http://gallery.avsforum.com/data/508/medium/passport_guide.JPG

Navigator:
http://www.timewarnercable.com/MediaLibrary/4/57/assets/images/navigator/accessmenu1.jpg

xnappo

Oh this is VERY significant. Far as I know, nobody except for some folks in Canada have every been able to swap out a internal 8300 drive. Logic said that it was due to the fact that the entire software suite would not be dynamically downloaded (didn't TiVo drive swaps involve transferring some of the software to the new drive first??)..

So if someone really did this (forgive me for being skeptical), it HAS to mean that every piece of software one needs gets dynamically downloaded, installed and functional. We "need" more folks to give this a try and report back!!!

He now has a 500gb WD drive from Newegg in his 8300HDC. It took quite a few reboots to get it working, he thought it was working on the 3rd or so reboot, but it still did not recognize the drive. One more reboot and all is well. There does not seem to be any way to tell in diagnostics that it has a bigger drive, but filling it up takes much longer.

Also, he used a program to turn the acoustics (noise) down on the drive to its lowest setting and it will record two programs and watch another without artifacts or skips. Hope this helps someone else do it.

. . . he used a program to turn the acoustics (noise) down on the drive to its lowest setting and it will record two programs and watch another without artifacts or skips.
I've heard about that app. What, exactly, is being adjusted and how does it reduce noise level?

I've heard about that app. What, exactly, is being adjusted and how does it reduce noise level?

It reduces the speed the the head moves when it seeks. If your data is contiguous you will not see a speed difference, however if the data is framented the time to seek between the fragments is increases(though I have never noticed a difference).

Note that for patent reasons Seagate drives no longer support this (though strangely Maxtor drive do, and they own Maxtor??)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automatic_Acoustic_Management

xnappo

Here are some pics of each:

SARA:
http://gallery.avsforum.com/data/508/medium/sara_guide.JPG

Passport:
http://gallery.avsforum.com/data/508/medium/passport_guide.JPG

Navigator:
http://www.timewarnercable.com/MediaLibrary/4/57/assets/images/navigator/accessmenu1.jpg

xnappo
It looks like the Navigator pic only w/o the channel name on the right.

When booting it says "mystro" initializing.

The box says Explorer 8300HDC on the front.

It looks like the Navigator pic only w/o the channel name on the right.

When booting it says "mystro" initializing.

The box says Explorer 8300HDC on the front.

Yep. Mystro==Navigator.

xnappo

in the Syracuse, NY area the SATA port is NOT active. I just called them yesterday because of my desire to expand the HDD.

in the Syracuse, NY area the SATA port is NOT active. I just called them yesterday because of my desire to expand the HDD.
Are you going to accept that answer? :)

That is a common answer, but it is almost never true. (Allowing for my failing memory there.)

in the Syracuse, NY area the SATA port is NOT active. I just called them yesterday because of my desire to expand the HDD.I can assure you that it certainly is active - TW just won't let you know!

I can assure you that it certainly is active - TW just won't let you know!

I sure hope you're right. I'm going to purchase an enclosure and I believe it's a AIDE HD, correct?

I sure hope you're right. I'm going to purchase an enclosure and I believe it's a AIDE HD, correct?
SATA hard drive. You need to determine if your box uses SARA or Passport software and then check the appropriate xnappo database BEFORE purchasing. It lists drives and enclosures with success/failure comments.

Hi

I want to buy the Western Digital DVR Expander (500G) but it seems to be only available on WD's site, and they don't ship to Canada.

Would some of you know where else I can buy it (online or not)

Thanks

Anyone ever herd of the 8300HD multi room DVR http://www.scientificatlanta.com/products/consumers/new_explorer8300HDMR.htm

This thing looks awsome. It allows you to access and watch the recorded content from any standard set top box like the 4200HD. It supports up to 4 simultanious connections. I wonder if it supports external hard drives. This would be a fantastic idea for whole house multimedia streaming.

I got to check with my cable company to see if they have these. I got to get one.

Anyone ever herd of the 8300HD multi room DVR http://www.scientificatlanta.com/products/consumers/new_explorer8300HDMR.htm

This thing looks awsome. It allows you to access and watch the recorded content from any standard set top box like the 4200HD. It supports up to 4 simultanious connections. I wonder if it supports external hard drives. This would be a fantastic idea for whole house multimedia streaming.

I got to check with my cable company to see if they have these. I got to get one.

But can you watch HD on all the boxes. If not, it's a loser.

But can you watch HD on all the boxes. If not, it's a loser.
The last time I looked at this and wrote/read some posts on it over a year ago, hi-def material was not networkable and, perhaps more relevant, no one had yet implemented MR. My cable co at the time, Suscom, was said to be testing the feature internally. That was the last I heard and not long after that, Comcast bought them.

IIRC, it passed the signal around on the house's coaxial and did NOT utilize home networking.

It never happened and I might be wrong about some of this.

perhaps more relevant, no one had yet implemented MR.Pepar, I had posted a similar statement some time ago, and someone pointed out a cable system in Flordia (don't recall where exactly) that did offer it. This cable system did have statements about that on their web site (wish I had bookmarked the site).

Pepar, I had posted a similar statement some time ago, and someone pointed out a cable system in Flordia (don't recall where exactly) that did offer it. This cable system did have statements about that on their web site (wish I had bookmarked the site).I seem to remember someone mentioning that they did get an SA8300HD-MR, but I also thought they said it only worked as a regular DVR, there was no MR service, but I could be wrong.

Pepar, I had posted a similar statement some time ago, and someone pointed out a cable system in Flordia (don't recall where exactly) that did offer it. This cable system did have statements about that on their web site (wish I had bookmarked the site).Ah.......I found it! It was a post on our local RochesterHDTV forum. One of the regulars there had posted a link (
http://www.timewarnercable.com/swfla/products/dvr/multiroomdvr.html (http://www.timewarnercable.com/swfla/products/dvr/multiroomdvr.html)) to a TW system in SW Flordia that had it. That was in January, since then Comcast has taken over that system, and the link no longer works. So at ONE POINT there was a TW system that apparently had deployed the MR. But I don't know if there are others, or if Comcast continues to support it in the system that they took over from TW.

Ah.......I found it! It was a post on our local RochesterHDTV forum. One of the regulars there had posted a link to a TW system in SW Flordia that had it. That was in January, since then Comcast has taken over that system, and the link no longer works. So at ONE POINT there was a TW system that apparently had deployed the MR. But I don't know if there are others, or if Comcast continues to support it in the system that they took over from TW.
Good memory, Dave, and good dig!

I seem to remember someone mentioning that they did get an SA8300HD-MR, but I also thought they said it only worked as a regular DVR, there was no MR service, but I could be wrong.
Well, my 8300HD got a "MR-DVR" page in diag quite a while ago, but that's all - just a diag page

I called my cable company and they don't offer the service so I guess its worthless for me to investigate any further. This would have been a great solution to the situations where my wife and or kids wanted to watch one thing while I wanted to watch somthing else. Because we have a standard cablebox in almost every room they could have watched there recorded programs anywhere.

Not sure why MR never got off the ground, it sounded like a useful system (though HD challenged) when it was announced. Cableco's would lose very little (only those leasing multiple DVRs) since it still requires a box in every room. Perhaps it wasn't really ready (surprise) or it didn't fit with future plans for interactive services, especially VOD. I know Cox is working on standardizing VOD nationwide and that diminishes the need for a DVR (and SATA expansion) somewhat (quite a bit for many I suspect).

I thought I had read previously that if you use an external drive, you can no longer pause live tv. Is this true, or is there any other downside of using an external drive? Thanks in advance.

I think the cable cos are preoccupied with, and getting fat from, "triple play" and either don't have the resources or need to play in the home entertainment/networking space. MS has a foothold, but for the most part only the truly high-end custom homes have whole house systems with media servers. Many companies (and individual homeowners) are dabbling in it and cobbling things together, and some real success stories involve people who write custom programming to make all of the gear play nice together and allow Mr Homeowner press one button for this and another one for that, without having a clue as to what the gear is doing.

It seems that cable must become active and play a roll in home entertainment/networking as "TV" is a major part of home entertainment. Just how that will play out remains to be seen.

Just my $.02.

I thought I had read previously that if you use an external drive, you can no longer pause live tv. Is this true, or is there any other downside of using an external drive? Thanks in advance.
With Passport, adding an external drive "breaks" what many refer to as "trick play" features when watching live TV. Recorded content playback functions normally.

Just installed the western digital DVR expander - 500gig drive in a fan free enclosure, "designed" to work with the 8300HD. Only glitch was that after restart and saying yes to the format request, the drive was seen (in diag) but there was no free space. A reboot fixed that. Can't report yet on how well it works.

AFAIK this is only available from western digital right now, at $199. And its often shown as out of stock.

Just installed the western digital DVR expander - 500gig drive in a fan free enclosure, "designed" to work with the 8300HD. Only glitch was that after restart and saying yes to the format request, the drive was seen (in diag) but there was no free space. A reboot fixed that. Can't report yet on how well it works.

AFAIK this is only available from western digital right now, at $199. And its often shown as out of stock.
The basic stress test is to record a hi-def program (my preference is a movie), and then WATCH that program WHILE simultaneously recording TWO hi-def channels. This represents the max load on the hard drive and it's interface in terms of read/write operations and data rate. Next, watch each of the two just-recorded programs. Look for glitches. If you have (next to) none, then you are good to go. :)

Not sure why MR never got off the ground, it sounded like a useful system (though HD challenged) when it was announced. Cableco's would lose very little (only those leasing multiple DVRs) since it still requires a box in every room. Perhaps it wasn't really ready (surprise) or it didn't fit with future plans for interactive services, especially VOD. I know Cox is working on standardizing VOD nationwide and that diminishes the need for a DVR (and SATA expansion) somewhat (quite a bit for many I suspect).

I don't think the cableco's would loose a thing. In fact they would charge an extra $9.99 a month for the added service and they would make money on all the standard boxes they would be renting to people that found MR appealing. I know myself I would rent additional boxes and pay the extra service fee to have this added functionallity.

I think the cable cos are preoccupied with, and getting fat from, "triple play" and either don't have the resources or need to play in the home entertainment/networking space. MS has a foothold, but for the most part only the truly high-end custom homes have whole house systems with media servers. Many companies (and individual homeowners) are dabbling in it and cobbling things together, and some real success stories involve people who write custom programming to make all of the gear play nice together and allow Mr Homeowner press one button for this and another one for that, without having a clue as to what the gear is doing.

It seems that cable must become active and play a roll in home entertainment/networking as "TV" is a major part of home entertainment. Just how that will play out remains to be seen.

Just my $.02.

I totally agree but you would think that the average joe looking for simplicity at a reasonable price would have cableco's jumping all over this. The CableCo's should realize that most people can't setup or maintain a PC based Home media system. With PC based home networking and content delivery quickly approching the knowledge level of a rocket scientist to implement the MR system gives the average joe a decent content delivery system at a very affordable price.

With Passport, adding an external drive "breaks" what many refer to as "trick play" features when watching live TV. Recorded content playback functions normally.

Never understood why it took on the "trick play" nomenclature, to me it's basic functionality. But it's a major bug nevertheless.

Has to do with content played from the buffer... i.e paused "live" TV. One loses the ability to FF or RW such content. One issue with that is you pause something for a 10 minute conversation and can NOT FF through commercials where you'd have a chance to catch up to "real time."

Pepar records everything and never watches live, so it's NBD for him. There are other tricks and work arounds, but they involve a LOT more "intervention." I do this pausing a LOT, and want to "watch" live ESPECIALLY given such a tiny amount of recording space. My "solution" is to be very aggressive about watching recorded stuff.