I'm new to this forum and new to HD. I just received my new HD DVR last week. Can anyone tell me how to check my SA8300 HD DVR to see if the usb, firewire, and eSATA ports are active? Is there a menu in settings, etc... to check? My cable provider is WOW in the Detroit area.

Hey cwyman,
I have a SA8300DVR which I wanted to add additional storage to via a Western Digital "DVR Expander" (eSATA). I have Comcast cable. I called tech support three different times, spoke to three different techs, and got 3 different answers: 1. Yes, Use USB2.0 (wrong), 2. Don't know, but you can download video to your computer, 3. Major attitude, no idea. I purchased WD expander, powered DVR down, powered expander up, plugged in via eSata, repowered DVR, all worked. Now have 660GB of storage(about 80 hours of hi-def recording). Bottom line, call your cable company, several times, speak to different techs. Some are more knowledgeable than others. Hope this helps!

there is a thread on the forum about just that topic. use the search feature to find it.