This is due to an Apricorn power supply going bad. MANY people have had it go out. Call them and they will send you a new one even if you are well past your warranty.

xnappo

Thanks again xnappo .... I just got off the phone with Apricorn and they confirmed the issue with power supplies and they are sending me one gratis.

Actually, all the HDCs for the past year or two (in my market) have come with ODN/Navigator. FWIW, there is another version (MDN) that seems only aimed at 8300HD boxes that DOES seem to work more than not with external drives.

Complicating things, the "latest" DVR TWC is using (Samsung 3090) only runs ODN AND we've had several filed swaps for 320G drives be successful. Not to mention every now and then, customers get a 320G 3090 right from TWC.

The key to your statement is 'in my market'. My statement wasn't clear - I meant to say that external drives do not work with the latest version of Navigator for HDC boxes.

xnappo

That's strange because they gave me this receiver last week... I am in a very small market in Upstate NY, so maybe they don't have the newest equipment yet. If I hold the pause button and get to the Status Summary page and it says that I'm running SARA, that is, in fact, the program that the DVR is running on correct?

The SARA information page(Pg 11/63) means that is the program my 8300HDC is running right? Also pg14/63 says the SARA Version It's running is 1.90.5.116

Thanks for the help guys!

Yes, add you location to you profile and signature so we know. I'm in Central NY and the Time Warner division here covers most of upstate. I might be able to provide you with info.

BenJF3,

I am also in CNY. I live in Groton and Time Warner lumps all of Tomkins County together for channels and services. If you need any more info let me know

Thanks!

Ok, you fall under the Syracuse DMA then? Tompkins splits between Elmira and Syracuse. Are your locals WSYR, WSTM, WTVH etc? Anyhow, if you can get your hands on an 8300HD without CableCard you'd be better off. I have an 8300HD with a 1TB Seagate drive in an Antec MX-1 and it performs beautifully.

Now, that said, keep in mind they are testing Navigator and it is most likely that once deployed eSATA support will be history and so will my Time Warner DVR. With any luck, they will allow for eSATA support at some time. Personally, I'm hoping Tivo releases a Series 4 before Navigator deploys so I'll have an option.

Note, see my sig.

Yes I have Syracuse locals...Sounds like my HDC will not work even before the Navigator comes out then right? Can I just call up Time Warner and tell them I want an 8300?

Yes I have Syracuse locals...Sounds like my HDC will not work even before the Navigator comes out then right? Can I just call up Time Warner and tell them I want an 8300?

I have not attempted to install an eSATA drive on an HDC with that software. I would call TW or visit a local office and see if you can change it for one. They are required to distribute "C" model boxes, but if you specifically request a non "C" set top and they have one, they will likely give it to you. It can't hurt to check into it. I'm glad I hung onto mine. That or the box is picky about what you are hooking to it. The other option is to get a Western Digital "My DVR Expander" as these are tested and know to work with SA set tops as long as the cable company hasn't blocked that functionality.

I just bought the Western Digital 1tb earlier today at Amazon...so I'll see if that works. If not I'll try asking for the non "c" receiver... Thanks for the help! Holy **** do I miss my Dish Network DVR!

If the drive doesn't work, and the local office will not exchange it, do you know if I can buy an 8300HD from eBay and just have it activated or not? Thanks!

The key to your statement is 'in my market'. My statement wasn't clear - I meant to say that external drives do not work with the latest version of Navigator for HDC boxes.

xnappo

Indeed I have learned to always add in some "weasel words" because I DO know not everything is the same in every market, even if all logic says they should be. There WERE 8300HD/Passport (same version as I) set-ups seemingly identical to me that actually had different features.

Besides, it also seems that there's always someone posting they CAN do what nobody else seems able to do. Sometimes I doubt them, but then again, the words "only 3% bulletproof software" and TWC don't belong in the same galaxy!

If the drive doesn't work, and the local office will not exchange it, do you know if I can buy an 8300HD from eBay and just have it activated or not? Thanks!An eBay purchase would not be activated by the cable company. If from the US 99% chance considered stolen or comes from Canada where they do own them. /Dan

Well, mainly I was just making sure the drive actually worked... It wouldn't hurt to format it, but at this point I am thinking you 8300HD has a bad eSATA port. Over the last 2-3 years there has been at least one case of this that I know of...

xnappo

sorry for the late reply, i plugged the hard drive externally using the esata port and it formatted fine and works fine, so now im back to the same issue, it doesnt work with my pvr, unless i try model WD5000AAKS

I would like to join the external drive club here.

Here's what I have: SA Explorer 8240 HDC (TWC Lincoln Ne.).

I need a list of exactly what I should purchase, Please point/link me to the right equipment to order so I can join the club.

How much HD fits on a 500G?

Also, would like a simple step by step procedure for hooking it up and getting it to work.

Thank-U

HH

I would like to join the external drive club here.

Here's what I have: SA Explorer 8240 HDC (TWC Lincoln Ne.).

I need a list of exactly what I should purchase, Please point/link me to the right equipment to order so I can join the club.

How much HD fits on a 500G?

Also, would like a simple step by step procedure for hooking it up and getting it to work.

Thank-U

HH

This is going to require some work on your part. First off you need to determine whether your box is running SARA, Passport or Navigator. Go to this link to make that determination:

http://baseportal.com/cgi-bin/baseportal.pl?htx=/xnappo/main

Then you will need to browse thru the various entries for your SW type to determine which drive setups seem to work best for your HW / SW configuration.

I have a 750 GB external drive on my DVR and I record a lot of stuff in HD and haven't come close to filling it up. If you extrapolate the record capacities that TWC gives you for your 160GB drive you should be able to guesstimate the capacity for the drive you select.

I happened to select an Apricorn drive when it was on sale at Newwegg and it was very simple to setup.

Good luck.

this is going to require some work on your part. First off you need to determine whether your box is running sara, passport or navigator. Go to this link to make that determination:

navigator

http://baseportal.com/cgi-bin/baseportal.pl?htx=/xnappo/main

then you will need to browse thru the various entries for your sw type to determine which drive setups seem to work best for your hw / sw configuration.

hh

hh

Navigator on an HDC box - don't bother, it's not going to work. If you want eSATA now, see if you can get 83000HD (not HDC) instead. Else wait for a newer version of Navigator that may fix the eSATA issue introduced in 3* versions of Navigator.

Navigator on an HDC box - don't bother, it's not going to work. If you want eSATA now, see if you can get 83000HD (not HDC) instead. Else wait for a newer version of Navigator that may fix the eSATA issue introduced in 3* versions of Navigator.

Thanks for the info.

I'll check Monday to see if they have a 83000HD (is it 8300 or 83000?)

HH

Thanks for the info.

I'll check Monday to see if they have a 83000HD (is it 8300 or 83000?)

HH
8300, that was a typo

Write-up of my issue for the information base. No replies needed and does not seem to be the "sleep" issue, which would hit after 3 hours of no use:

Navigator MDN 2.4.4-16
SA 8300HD
Apricorn ADVRE-1000 1TB DVR Expander

Hook up was fast and easy and works great (while connected). First night was fine, then second night disconnected and needed to reboot 8300HD to get back external drive. Same disconnect next night. If I rebooted in the morning and left unused (no recordings) all day (8+ hours) no problems. So, I found a nightly show at 3AM and set that to record and it did not disconnect until Monday morning when I see the show was not on that night and nothing was recorded. Added a show that night too.

So, seems to be some kind of activity that happens in the early morning that disconnects the external drive. Don't know if the 3AM show was just a good guess of when the problem arises or anything around that time (say 1-5AM) would work. I have had Tonight Show being recorded until 12:30 AM, but it would disconnect by morning with that. Whenever the 3AM show recorded, no disconnects for over a week now.

/Dan

Write-up of my issue for the information base. No replies needed and does not seem to be the "sleep" issue, which would hit after 3 hours of no use:

Navigator MDN 2.4.4-16
SA 8300HD
Apricorn ADVRE-1000 1TB DVR Expander

Hook up was fast and easy and works great (while connected). First night was fine, then second night disconnected and needed to reboot 8300HD to get back external drive. Same disconnect next night. If I rebooted in the morning and left unused (no recordings) all day (8+ hours) no problems. So, I found a nightly show at 3AM and set that to record and it did not disconnect until Monday morning when I see the show was not on that night and nothing was recorded. Added a show that night too.

So, seems to be some kind of activity that happens in the early morning that disconnects the external drive. Don't know if the 3AM show was just a good guess of when the problem arises or anything around that time (say 1-5AM) would work. I have had Tonight Show being recorded until 12:30 AM, but it would disconnect by morning with that. Whenever the 3AM show recorded, no disconnects for over a week now.

/Dan

I record SD ESPNNEWS constantly keeping only one episode as the title every half hour is mostly the same. I don't see how 3 a.m. would be important. Anyone know if this the for all sa8300hd's anywhere?

Don't know if this would affect it or not but some cable companies send out software upgrades in the early morning hour.

Don't know if this would affect it or not but some cable companies send out software upgrades in the early morning hour.

It's the Program Guide that they update nightly. I think that they do it more than once per night, just to be sure that you get it.

So do most leave their STB on 24/7?

So do most leave their STB on 24/7?

FWIW, power draw seems identical whether the box is ON or OFF. It seems that when OFF, one indicator light goes off and no signal is sent to the TV... otherwise everything seems to be the same.

I record SD ESPNNEWS constantly keeping only one episode as the title every half hour is mostly the same. I don't see how 3 a.m. would be important. Anyone know if this the for all sa8300hd's anywhere?
I have been paying attention the last few days since my note. I am recording "Poker After Dark" which starts at 2:05 AM 6 days a week (SD NBC) and I think runs 1 hour. Was fine with a 3:05 AM show but that was not on as many nights. Has been fine now until Sunday night (Monday early morning) when that show was not on and my external drive lost connection. I added a series Sunday night (Monday AM) now to see how it goes next week. So, recording a show between 2-3 AM has been working. I don't like the idea of recording one channle all the time because of the second tuner being tied up and leaving on all the time would take some family training.

Also, with Passport you could set the internal drive to shutoff when box off, but not with Navigator, so I think the power draw is nearly the same on or off. I need to get the Kill-A-Watt out and check.

/Dan

FWIW, power draw seems identical whether the box is ON or OFF. It seems that when OFF, one indicator light goes off and no signal is sent to the TV... otherwise everything seems to be the same.
It may be similar but cannot be identical. You can tell that there is a difference as the PVR is hotter when it is on compared to when it is off. Heat equates to power usage.

My choice is to turn the unit on when watching something, and turn it off after with no adverse effects.

Also, with Passport you could set the internal drive to shutoff when box off, but not with Navigator, so I think the power draw is nearly the same on or off. I need to get the Kill-A-Watt out and check.

/Dan

Actually that is an example of the same hardware/software/version having different capabilities depending on division. For 3+ years in NYC, we did NOT have the ability to shut the drive down w/Passport because it lacked any choice. The ONLY way we had was to tune to a non-buffering channel on each tuner before shut off.

MDN appears to automatically spin the drive down when "OFF." BUT that also means that the "ability" Passport DID have to be buffering WHILE off. Kinda almost like start-over... I would tune to my favorite news channel and even if I missed the exact start of it, it was being buffered, so I could go back and watch from the start.

As for power draw, I would think it might be less if the drive spun down. I've had a Kill-a-Watt on my system for quite a while now and I see virtually NO different power draw under ANY circumstances. I se the exact same wattage use with Passport & MDN, with the box on or off, with a video playing or not, recording or not. Wellll, it did sometimes show a single watt difference, but I could never see any pattern at all.

All,

FYI - I am probably not going to be keeping up with this thread much anymore . I went TivoHD over the weekend (with an internal 1TB drive).

If there is serious maintenance of the DB needed, feel free to PM me.

xnappo

All,

FYI - I am probably not going to be keeping up with this thread much anymore . I went TivoHD over the weekend (with an internal 1TB drive).

If there is serious maintenance of the DB needed, feel free to PM me.

xnappo

If you haven't left yet, do you like your Tivo? I'm not sure about how I like mine. It has a lot of good features, but I miss some of the Navigator features that it doesn't have.

-barry

If you haven't left yet, do you like your Tivo? I'm not sure about how I like mine. It has a lot of good features, but I miss some of the Navigator features that it doesn't have.

-barry

So far:

Likes:
- Can transfer/archive shows on my PC(very easy)
- Customizable guide
- 30 second skip
- Series manager with priority
- Netflix
- Search

Dislikes:
- Guide is slow(bearable though)
- No conflict manager
- No clock
- Guide doesn't clearly show things setup to record
- Tuning adapter is a hacky solution

For the record, the installer who came out knew what he was doing - cable card and tuning adapter seem to be working fine.

xnappo

So far:

Likes:
- Can transfer/archive shows on my PC(very easy)
- Customizable guide
- 30 second skip
- Series manager with priority
- Netflix
- Search

Dislikes:
- Guide is slow(bearable though)
- No conflict manager
- No clock
- Guide doesn't clearly show things setup to record
- Tuning adapter is a hacky solution

For the record, the installer who came out knew what he was doing - cable card and tuning adapter seem to be working fine.

xnappo

I agree with all your likes, except I haven't really explored customizing the guide. The Netflix thing I already had via Roku, so that's not a biggie for me. I've been trying to find out if Netflix will support two separate devices on one account, but I guess I have to try it myself.

As to the dislikes: I strongly agree with the no clock one (also no channel display). I also don't like the fact that to do anything with the Tivo functionality (check the list of recorded shows, check the series, adjust priorities, etc.) you have to stop watching anything. On my 8300HD, I can watch a show (in a quarter screen) while I tend to DVR housekeeping.

I, too, had a good installer who knew what he was doing. I didn't need a tuning adapter here in NYC.

-barry

I also don't like the fact that to do anything with the Tivo functionality (check the list of recorded shows, check the series, adjust priorities, etc.) you have to stop watching anything. On my 8300HD, I can watch a show (in a quarter screen) while I tend to DVR housekeeping.

Indeed that would drive me nuts... then again, I am VERY unhappy there's not one director mentioned in my guide data... something I USED to have but that I hear TiVO does have.

I also don't like the fact that to do anything with the Tivo functionality (check the list of recorded shows, check the series, adjust priorities, etc.) you have to stop watching anything. On my 8300HD, I can watch a show (in a quarter screen) while I tend to DVR housekeeping.
-barry

Have you tried the web interface to do this? It is actually *very* cool. I don't know about you, but I have a laptop by my TV and the web interface is way faster to find shows and setup series recordings... It makes up for the inability to watch while scheduling.

Sorry for the OT discussion...

xnappo

What an excellent idea! I have my Tivo in the 'office', so my PC is right there. I'll give it a try this evening.

Thanks for the suggestion.

-barry

PS: I also apologize for the OT comments.

Indeed that would drive me nuts... then again, I am VERY unhappy there's not one director mentioned in my guide data... something I USED to have but that I hear TiVO does have.

Yes, Tivo has way more meta-data than any other DVR I've seen.

-barry

Yes, Tivo has way more meta-data than any other DVR I've seen.

-barry

I thought you had a 8300HD/MDN? Or is that in addition to the TiVO?

FWFW, they pushed MDN 2.4.6.21 down to us last night... shocked the hell pout of me because it always seems we were the last to get revs... last vrsion I read about seemed to be 2.4.6.19.

Yes, right now I have an 8300HD (living room, primary unit), a Tivo HD (home-office / backup unit), and a 3090 (testing). I plan on getting rid of the 3090 soon. After more than a month, of having all three, the 8300HD is still my favorite with the Tivo in second.

I know you've been through hell with your 8300HD; hopefully, this new (minor?) fix will solve some of your problems. For me, this House debacle was my first real problem with MDN, and it seems to be a problem with all boxes. I'm trying to learn from your issues, though, and I am setting the Tivo up to record a backup of all my Fox shows in SD from channel 5.

-barry

I'm on Comcast (Albuquerque) with a SA 8300HD (SARA). I just added a Western Digital My DVR 500GB Wednesday and it formatted correctly per the instructions here. My recodring space went from 68% to 15%. The problem is several scheduled recording tonight only recorded 14-15 minutes of an hour-long program. During the last one which was to record for 2 hours, I watched the record light and it was on for the entire two hour program (9-11 PM), but when I just checked the recording length it only showed about 20 minutes of it was recorded. Up to now my 8300HD has been working well, and I only wanted to get a greater recording capacity for it. What gives? What can I do? Thanks in advance for any help you may all give me.

Yes, right now I have an 8300HD (living room, primary unit), a Tivo HD (home-office / backup unit), and a 3090 (testing). I plan on getting rid of the 3090 soon. After more than a month, of having all three, the 8300HD is still my favorite with the Tivo in second.

I know you've been through hell with your 8300HD; hopefully, this new (minor?) fix will solve some of your problems. For me, this House debacle was my first real problem with MDN, and it seems to be a problem with all boxes. I'm trying to learn from your issues, though, and I am setting the Tivo up to record a backup of all my Fox shows in SD from channel 5.

-barry

Check my post in the NYC thread, I had the same issue with Bones & Fringe last night... I followed my own advice and watched both live so I could switch to 05 and see the last quarter of each show. Yes, I am making an educated guess I wasn't alone, it wasn't just me that saw House issues AND we have a good year of "system wide" issues with Fox HD (705 in NYC).

Very interesting, your opinion is! I sure did have a few annoyances or things that COULD have been better in Passport, but can now say from experience, the gulf is far more than what I could infer from simply reading about issues with ODN/MDN. There are simply hundreds of minor-ish downgrades from what I was used to... like when using the guide to find where I wanted to go, with MDN it will NOT switch to a 10:00 PM show until it was a good 30 seconds PAST 10:00 PM; before it would switch oif one was within 2 minutes. Yes, not a major issue, but there are way too many of these "smallish" issues. Like no longer being able to see the time when the box is off like I could under Passport.

So far I have noticed NO changes in overall behavior under ...21. One of my 60+ series recordings got deleted as a series recording and one that remained in the series manager failed to mark a non conflicting show as needing to be recorded, so I'm still muddling through... next week the Ken Burns thing will be over, except for the software update, it has worked fine. Next week I'll give a shot at getting a 3090. I take it the 3090 won't be replaced by anything else... that you are evaluating it as a replacement for the HD?

NB: whoops, right after I posted this I realized this ain't the thread for these issues, I was just responding!

So do most leave their STB on 24/7?

I never turn my SA-8300 (non HD model) off. It does go off by itself sometimes in the middle of the night which means I have to turn it back on when I want to use it plus turn it's volume all the way up again. Wish there was a fix for both of these minor issues!! I'm in the Houston area on Comcast & the DVR has Sara software. Oh & the WD 500 GB My DVR Expander still works great after about 18 months of use.

Question: Is there a way to clone (that is copy) the contents of a 500 GB WD My DVR Expander drive to the 1 TB version WD has & the drive works fine after that with the 8300? I'd like to keep the shows I've got & have the extra hard drive space as well.

I bought a Cavalry 1TB (CAXM3701T0) but when I connect it, the 8300HD refuses to see it. I've turned on the DVR first, then plugged in the drive as well as vice versa, but I still never get the message about formatting the drive.

I've seen others in this forum and on the eSATA database who have at least had success getting the drive recognized, but at this point I'm out of ideas. The only possibility is that the eSATA port on the SA8300HD is malfunctioning.

Anyone experience similar issues?

Thanks in advance for your help.

I never turn my SA-8300 (non HD model) off. It does go off by itself sometimes in the middle of the night which means I have to turn it back on when I want to use it plus turn it's volume all the way up again. Wish there was a fix for both of these minor issues!! I'm in the Houston area on Comcast & the DVR has Sara software. Oh & the WD 500 GB My DVR Expander still works great after about 18 months of use.

The DVR seems to draw the same wattage either on or off. BUT, when "off" the drive spins down and the unit gets quiet... as it's in my bedroom, this is a good thing so I turn it off.

Question: Is there a way to clone (that is copy) the contents of a 500 GB WD My DVR Expander drive to the 1 TB version WD has & the drive works fine after that with the 8300? I'd like to keep the shows I've got & have the extra hard drive space as well.
Yes. Search this forum for "clone AND jruhnke", or see the extensive Canadian forum
http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?p=856903#post856903

Hi All,

Just out of curiosity, has anyone managed to break the encryption used by these 8300HDs so that your eSATA-connected "content archive" can be used with another 8300HD unit in the event one would need to replace the original unit?

Thank you!

I've been searching threads here for a while but haven't yet found what I'm looking for:

Has anyone figured out a way to use an Apricorn DVR expander drive with an 8300HDC on Manhattan TWC (w 72nd st area) under current software? I've got a 1GB Apricorn I've been unable to use for many months now. Sure would be nice to get it back.

Any tips would be greatly appreciated.

I've been searching threads here for a while but haven't yet found what I'm looking for:

Has anyone figured out a way to use an Apricorn DVR expander drive with an 8300HDC on Manhattan TWC (w 72nd st area) under current software? I've got a 1GB Apricorn I've been unable to use for many months now. Sure would be nice to get it back.

Any tips would be greatly appreciated.You didn't state what software your box is using. The latest version of Navigator software for the 8300HDC (also called ODN) broke external drive capability. (It seems to happen every other release.) Since TWC doesn't explicitly support external drives on their system, those of us with the 8300HDC are just praying that the next version fixes it.

You didn't state what software your box is using. The latest version of Navigator software for the 8300HDC (also called ODN) broke external drive capability. (It seems to happen every other release.) Since TWC doesn't explicitly support external drives on their system, those of us with the 8300HDC are just praying that the next version fixes it.

It's the latest version, whatever the number is (I think it's the same as the one in your sig). It worked when I first got it, early this year, for about 2 months, then got disabled by TWC's remote update process.

Someone else has suggested that the Samsung 3090 box might work with the Apricorn. Anyone else tried it on TWC in Manhattan?

New to TWC with a 8300HDC box with ODN 3.1.3_2

Looking around the thread I'm guessing I shouldn't even waste the 130 bucks or so for the WD My DVR expander? Anyone having luck with version 3.1.3_2 or is this the version that broke eSATA?

I cant get over how ancient this box is. Man was I spoiled with Dish.

Don't bother ... yet. They broke ODN with version 3.x.x_x. Since I've had the 8300HDC, TWC has fixed and broken esata twice. Perhaps the next release??

New to TWC with a 8300HDC box with ODN 3.1.3_2

Looking around the thread I'm guessing I shouldn't even waste the 130 bucks or so for the WD My DVR expander?

Got mine new on ebay for $85. 500GB which more than doubled the SA box. Just wished the 8300HD would turn the WD HD off.

I was hoping for advice - there's so much information here (261 pages?!?), and the info changes so much, that I was hoping someone could help me with some advice for my specific setup.

I want to add an external drive to my time warner NYC 8300HD, running mystro. I am hoping someone has accomplished this under the same parameters and can report on a setup that is confirmed to work.

thanks very much!

sorry - also... I have a couple of 2.5" laptop drives sitting around, and was thinking I could get an esata enclosure and use that. just wondering if if anyone has experience with a setup like this. (drives are 5400rpm - does this cause issues?)

again, thanks for any info - it seems there are SO many variables, and that the process is SO touchy - I dont want to just start making blind stabs at this.

I was hoping for advice - there's so much information here (261 pages?!?), and the info changes so much, that I was hoping someone could help me with some advice for my specific setup.

I want to add an external drive to my time warner NYC 8300HD, running mystro. I am hoping someone has accomplished this under the same parameters and can report on a setup that is confirmed to work.

thanks very much!
The version of Mystro might help someone (some work better than others) and Google search "xnappo navigator database" for what has worked with others. It is touchy and very version specific on what your results will be even with the same external drive. /Dan

I recently spent 100 bucks on a Seagate HDD (500g) with an SATA connection following the instructions in the SA 8300HDC manual. It is running TW Passport and won't recognize the drive at all. $100 down the drain? is there any way to force recognition - this really sucks. thanks. Bill

I recently spent 100 bucks on a Seagate HDD (500g) with an SATA connection following the instructions in the SA 8300HDC manual. It is running TW Passport and won't recognize the drive at all. $100 down the drain? is there any way to force recognition - this really sucks. thanks. Bill

The HDC boxes do not recognize external drives. You need to find an 8300HD box. I have 2 of them, and the drives work fine.

The HDC boxes do not recognize external drives. You need to find an 8300HD box. I have 2 of them, and the drives work fine.

Only true for Navigator!! He has Passport. Probably an incompatible drive. Check the databases in my sig.

xnappo

The HDC boxes do not recognize external drives. You need to find an 8300HD box. I have 2 of them, and the drives work fine.

I'm also from Erie, and also just bought an eSATA drive to expand my SA8300HDC, with no joy. Are the 8300HD boxes available at the local Cablevision office, do you know? As it's now the weekend, I can't find out from them until next week.

I'm also from Erie, and also just bought an eSATA drive to expand my SA8300HDC, with no joy. Are the 8300HD boxes available at the local Cablevision office, do you know? As it's now the weekend, I can't find out from them until next week.

I got both of mine about 6 months ago. I had to go to the Millcreek office by the mall and to the office in Erie to get them. I don't now if they still have them, but if you tell them you really want that model maybe they can find them for you.

I am trying to help my brother add a Western Digital 500Gb My DVR Expander to a 8300HD (I believe it is SARA). The cable system provider is Videotron. He plugged the drive in. The 8300HD recognized the drive and asked him to format it. No errors were generated. When he looks at the space remaining, it still says 97% which was the space remaining on the interal hard drive.

What test can I have him run to make sure the drive is functioning correctly?

Is the remaining space statistic supposed to reflect the added drive space or does it only show the space remaining on the original drive?

Appreicate any help. Take Care

On mine it showed the total used space for both drives. It could be that since he only had a small amount used on the DVR drive, the added space didn't affect the total, like rounding error. Just a thought.

I am trying to help my brother add a Western Digital 500Gb My DVR Expander to a 8300HD (I believe it is SARA). The cable system provider is Videotron. He plugged the drive in. The 8300HD recognized the drive and asked him to format it. No errors were generated. When he looks at the space remaining, it still says 97% which was the space remaining on the interal hard drive.

What test can I have him run to make sure the drive is functioning correctly?

Is the remaining space statistic supposed to reflect the added drive space or does it only show the space remaining on the original drive?

Appreicate any help. Take Care
If the external is working, it will record next since it has the most space left. Record a 3-4 hour HD football game (or the like) this weekend. If it drops 10-13% the external is probably not there. If it drops 0-3% it is. 0% would be if you are being reported the internal only and all recording went to external. I do not know SARA at all. Big test would be to pull the plug on the external and see if you can play back the show, then you know if it was recorded internal (plays back) or external (not available now). /Dan

Thanks for the comments. The free space showed up correctly when the 8300HD was rebooted so he is off to the race.

Been lurking on this thread for a long time. Finally got around to buying a case and drive. Looks like it's fine so far, but I need to wait and see how the play back goes.

Had a bit of trouble getting it going, kept getting a check connection message. Finally got to the format, but then got a bad connection message again. Several tries and no luck. I finally pushed hard on the esata cable plug and voila. I'm kinda concerned about whether the plug will stay seated. I read a long time ago about the plugs not fitting far enough into the socket and this seems like it may be the case here. Anyway, kinda cool to drop from 75% full to 9% (1 terabyte external drive).