The Official AVS Dish DTVPal DVR Topic! - Page 521

If you search this thread, you will find a number of people have used the, Western Digital WD10EARX 1TB. I recently setup both my Pal DVR's with external docks running the WD10EARX. They are working great, virtually silent, cool running.

I got mine at Newegg http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136939 for $70/each with free shipping. At this writing, they are $80 but if you are not in a hurry they will likely drop again. You can setup a price alert, that's what I did.

I saw them as low as $63 ( buy.com ) but I have had good experience with newegg and was willing to pay a few bucks more.

Hope this helps, Good Luck!

One more potential cure for your CM-7000 PAL when it suddenly, randomly blanks and gets a zero signal strength on all channels. My channels went dead, and so I picked the unit up, and gently rotated it slowly, flatly, in the air, keeping it level, in a slow circular motion. While I was doing that, the Channel Master magically was able to suddenly receive a signal on the channel I was tuned to. I very, very carefully placed it back down and it has been working for a few days without incident.

I have also elevated it to provide ventilation. It sits elevated on two piles of DVDs, about six inches off the floor, with empty space under the center of the unit for air circulation. I also have a fan blowing on it constantly. Mysteriously Channel Master did not build a cooling fan into this unit. It's a surprisingly boneheaded decision in that the unit is otherwise, as best as I can tell, perfect. It is the best thing I've ever bought except for the incredibly frustrating antenna loss situation, which I am wondering is perhaps caused by overheating maybe? A previous poster speculated that there is perhaps some kind of defect in the way the antenna input is seated inside the unit, so maybe it's a combination of defects that cause the sudden signal loss. Whatever it is, I'm willing to do whatever it takes to work around it because the unit is otherwise flawless, extremely user-friendly, and a joy to use and have. When it's working, it is brilliant, and even after the TVGOS goes away, I'll still be able to program it manually using some kind of online guide and still get to watch my shows and not have to pay anyone anything.
Edited by kennedy1037 - 1/11/13 at 7:54pm

that's not true; all DTV pal dvr and CM 7000 DVR has the fan; it's just not using proportional control, working in thermostat mode.
All the DVR what I'm fixed send out with a little mod: added a component to bias a small current to the fan so it is rotating constantly at lowest speed without any audible noise.

Oh sorry. Well, that must be why mine gets soooo hot!
Edited by kennedy1037 - 1/12/13 at 6:38am

a number of posters including myself have installed newer drives and have asked that post #1 be updated to include the new drives but for whatever reason the moderator has not done so. You will have to search the forum and see the newer 1 TB drives that people have installed.

Please explain, is the fan thermostatically controlled in these? Mine seem to run their fans continuously regardless of room ambient temp or being On or standby mode.

One of my Pal DVRs did something odd this morning. I leave it on 24/7. Came in today, turned on the TV, had audio and video for a couple of seconds, then suddenly the DTVPal reset itself with the "Loading Please Wait" screen, like a power outage. Finally it's all back normal, and TV Guide is there, out 7 days.

Yes, as I've noticed whenever the vents on the sides of the case become covered with dust the fan runs faster
until I clean them, then the fan slows down to normal.

FW is using LM75 chip in the thermostat mode. I would recommend to open a DVR cover and clean up it inside.

Mine too even when my room is cold when less than 70F degrees.

Someone needs to take over the moderation if not updating it. :/

I found any Mod can help us to maintain first post - just send a note/PM by clicking on this and explain in details what need to be done.

I would open a cover and check inside... perhaps a dust laying over CPU or the LM75 chip near of it (outside of CPU shield).

I wish someone would takeover the moderation. I want to upgrade my DTVPal's hard drive and I have had a hard time finding the hard drives that are on that list. When I do find one, it's refurbished. Someone said to search through this thread to see what newer drives ppl have installed, but I really do not want to do that. This thread has over 500 pages!

I've read reviews for the Western Digital WD10EARX 1TB. They (the reviews) are saying that these drives are sometimes DOA/last for only 3-6 months. I really want to upgrade my DTVPal with a reliable hard drive.

WDC giving you 1 year of warranty at least, just replace it - often re-manufactured/refurbished drives last longer.

BTW, where are the URL to these 'sayers" ?

I know the drive can be replaced, but you lose anything that was saved on the drive.

You can check out the 1 star reviews on Newegg and Amazon. I read the 5 star reviews, but I also like reading the lower star reviews before I purchase anything.

If these events so valuable for you, you should invest in HW RAID enclosure, with two identical drives as RAID-1.
Perhaps you must take in account number of drives been sold and a number of the 1-star review.

That's an idea, although it can get expensive: over $200 for two identical drives and a 2-bay RAID-1 enclosure. But at least a drive failure won't ruin your day. Plus, it'd make it easier to copy your recordings to other Pals than with a PC and Ghost

Thanks for the tip. On the "Edit" page of "My Recordings" individually selecting the problem recordings also caused the system to re-boot. But the "Select All" worked and then I was able to "Unselect" all other recordings (except to the one directly above the problem recordings). Then the "Delete" got rid of the problem recordings. Thanks for saving me a re-format of the drive.

On a related note, is there an up-to-date thread on which hard drives can be used to replace a faulty drive? I remember seeing a list way back when along with replacement instructions. Are compatible hard drives still available? The warranty is long gone and I'd only replace the drive in an emergency. If I could still get a compatible hard drive...

HDD ? - check a post http://www.avsforum.com/t/1099071/the-official-avs-dish-dtvpal-dvr-topic/15570#post_22817154

Guys,

Forgive me if this has been covered (it probably has). I haven't been on the forum in a very long time, but I'm now losing TVGOS in Denver like everyone else.

What I'm wondering, are the DTV Pals capable of getting the info over the Internet or does Dish plan to update the FW so that they will get it from the Internet?

Thanks!

Nope, it won't happen. However, you local stations will carry simplied informations that are only a few hours long.

If you use Ghost to copy a HDD will the copied HDD work in the Pal DVR? Also if you copy a 250 GB to a 1 TB HDD can you still add more recordings to the 1 TB HDD since it will only be partially filled? Thanks.

Boo!!!! Weird that they won't allow that since some TVs are able to do that. Thanks for the info though.

That type of copy will works only for exactly same model of HDD. Else the DVR will reformat new drive; just a few sectors difference and puff, all data is gone.
But technically it is possible to transfer all your events to new bigger drive. PM me if you'll need the service.

How do I PM you, P Smith? I just joined this site and don't know how. I'm going to upgrade my DTVPal's HD and would like to transfer my events to the new drive. I hope it's not too complicated. I really don't know much about electronics.

The problem is twofold: a) the DTVPal DVR's TVGoS implementation was custom-made by Echostar, not based on Rovi's official TVGoS code; and b) the agreement (pursuant to a court settlement) that allowed Echostar access to the relevant TVGoS IP either predated TVGoS 10.x or just didn't include the Internet-based acquisition method. Rovi has never officially supported the DTVPal DVR, since it doesn't contain any of their software - so it's none of their concern what happens to it.

Put your cursor on his handle (at the left of one of his posts) and a menu should open. Then just select "Send PM."

Yes, we've been lamenting the demise of TVGoS for several months. You'll still get some guide info from the stations' PSIPs, but just how much depends on the station. The most I've seen is 72 hours, which is at least enough to work with; but a paltry 12 hours is more typical, and a few stations provide even less.

OK thanks!