HARD DRIVE COMPATIBILITY-I have a good idea on how to approach this - Page 3

I know someone who has tried to use SATA to PATA converters in a RTV 50/55xx box - No go.

If you go this route, prepare to buy, try, and RMA until you find one that works. Again, the RTV's IDE controller is like Morris the Cat, and only likes certain things, standards be damned.

I have read reports that ANY WD drive with 'AA' is no-go in a 50/55xx RTV, no matter if it's JB, KB, oer anything else.

newegg had some 80 GB non-AA JB drives in stock last time I looked.... Yes, small, but you will be hard pressed to find anything larger that 160 GB that will work in a ReplayTV 50/55xx box nowadays.

If the refurbished 400 GB Seagate is a 7200.8, then it should work, provided they didn't change out any firmware when they refurbed it (and making it a .9 or .10 -- which don't work.)

Good luck!
-Doug

Does anyone know if WD1600SB will work in a 5160? Geek.com has one for sale.

Also, has any purchased the WD3200JBRTL drive from Amazon (currently $59)? Anyone know if it'll end up being an "AAJB" drive?


Thanks.

Real "JBRTL" drive haven't been manufactured in years! Unless it is an auction, used, or refurbished drive, I can't imagine any distributor having stock of drives that old when modern stock is available...

Henry

The fact that it is "In Stock" leads me to believe that it has to be current production and extremely likely to be the case of being JBRTL labeled on the outside of the box and AAJB labeled on the drive itself...

As far as the others, again, if it is labeled JBRTL on the outside of the box, then that's what they are going to list because that's all they have to go on. At this point in time, the chance of the drive itself actually being labeled JB versus AAJB is extremely unlikely...

Henry

Stay away from any RTL packaging / models.... RTL means Retail.. You'll get mounting hardware, a cable, and some software...

If you are going to buy a WD HD for a RTV, you want OEM packaging, because only then is the model number truly reported.

WD3200JB OEM good
WD3200AAJB OEM bad
WD3200JBRTL bad

Newegg still reports 80 GB JB OEM drives in stock...
Yes, 80 GB, but any port in a storm...

Cheers!
-Doug

What about WD1600SB? Has anyone tried that drive?

There are refurbished versions of Seagate Barracuda 7200.8 400GB available all over the net.

How has your experience been with refurbished/recertified drives?

1. I'd worry about a refurbished drive... Hard drives should be new if I am going to pay anything more than garage sale prices.

2. I'd also be concerned how they were refurbished. If the firmware was changed / updated during the refurb, then it's no longer a 7200.8, may be newer, and therefore NOT work.

Feel free to try one out. At worst, you can slap it into a PC or a USB enclosure for extra storage....


Cheers!
-Doug

I'd guess that any new line of WD drives would have the newer firmware, and be a no-go.

But by all means try it out.

If you're interested in 160GB drives, you should check out the Seagate SV35 drives. The 160GB drive is fairly available at places like Newegg and such. Be sure and look for models that end with "AV" versus "SV"...

Henry

hdonzis, I couldn't find any SV35 drives available (Newegg.com for example says it's deactivated).

So, what are the chances that these refurbished 7200.8 have had their firmwares updated? Is that common practice?

That's a shame about the drive from Newegg! We just bought two of those and it was still available when I found the link to post it...

I wouldn't have any idea about the firmware in the refurbished drive. I would have to assume if it still has the 7200.8 model number and says 7200.8 on the drive that it would still have the original firmware. Someone else post in this forum that they bought a couple of 7200.8 refurbished drives and they worked fine. If you search for 7200.8 or refurbished I'm sure you can find it. However, I personally wouldn't be all that keen on purchasing refurbished drives for the purpose of recording shows that I want to be sure and be able to watch later. I think if you search on SV35 and DB35 that there are still several places selling the 160GB drives. I need to get one for myself, so I'm expecting that I'll be able to find one somewhere even if it's on eBay...

Henry

*UPDATE* Sorry, the post about successful usage of a refurbished 7200.8 drive was on PlanetReplay instead. The link probably won't work correctly, so it is the post by joshua362 pretty near the bottom of the thread as post #72504...

It looks like ReplayTV.us has done a lot of work for us:



Hopefully if they find something that works with the 5000/5500 series they will post it on their website. But, it looks like they've answered the questions about using a SATA adapter in a 5xxx and if any of the WD drives work in a 5xxx...

Henry

The problem as I see it is there are now 2 unknowns. Both the adaptor and the drive. For all we know the adaptor is perfect, but the drive being used is unacceptable, and vice-versa.

db

Agreed, but since RTVus is in the business of selling shake and bake drives, I would assume they have the resources to try all permutations.

Cheers!
-Doug

Definitely! This is their business and if they could find a working solution for the 5xxx family, they could really clean up as being the only place selling a working solution (as long as know one else figured out the recipe)!

Henry

Thanks everyone for their help. I ended up buying a "new pull" (with almost 31000 power-on hours) 7200.8 400GB drive and the ReplayTV is up and running beautifully.

I see that RTVus is busy testing out drive compatibility for us, but is anyone out there trying to solve the problem? Finding a way to update the ReplayTV firmware or OS? Is this the end for RTV??

I'm looking to buy a couple backup drives for 2 5040 units, i.e. if and when the drives fail, and see the HITACHI Deskstar P7K500 HDP725025GLAT80 (00A35390) 250GB 7200 RPM IDE Ultra ATA133 3.5" Hard Drive online but nothing about this or similar in this thread. Can somone please offer an opinion?

Also, what is the command string to see what make/model drive is being used in a ReplayTV? Thanks

1. I doubt the Hitachi will work. I do have a Hitachi drive in my 5040, but I installed it 5 years ago. knock-on-wood... A buddy of mine had bought one in more recent times, and it was a no-go.

2. When watching live TV or a recorded show (not on a guide), press 4-1-1-Zones


ReplayTV dot us has been looking for working drives. If they found a current production model that would work, they'd have already taken down their website disclaimer.

Cheers!
-Doug

Thanks for 411 Zones. I used it to remember the drives inside 2 Replays and have located the same drives online for sale. One is Hitachi and the other Seagate. The disks are pricey by today's standards for comparable products but that's expected.

I just upgraded my 5040 which previously had been upgraded to an 80G WD
(WD800JB)
to a Maxtor 200G (DiamondMax Plus 9 6Y200)

Both of the upgrade drives are 7200RPM so they are a bit louder than the original 40G. The WD 80 was in use for a few years with no issues and the Maxtor has been working fine for a few days. All programs and programming copied over just fine despite the warning. The Maxtor seems a bit louder than the WD and has more vibration. Isolators under the feet help a lot.

Great forum, thread and info. Wish I'd found it before I bought the unusable 500 GB WD drive that now sits on my desk.

Suggestion: Could we make a first post sticky, with all the winners and losers listed and updated? That would make it easier to see and maintain a summary of which drives to consider and which to avoid.

Currently shopping for anything larger than my 40/80GB drives in my 5040/5060 Replays. NewEgg has a Maxtor MaXLine II HDD-5A320J0-NDW-R 320GB on sale for $39, listed as Recertified. I understand that can mean anything in terms of age and use, but I'm willing to risk $40 + shipping if anyone here has had any success with it. I've had no problems with any NewEgg purchase over several years of shopping with them. This includes a liberal returns policy.

I could also pull the trigger on a Seagate ST3400832A 400GB icecow mentioned on the first page of the thread. I found one on Amazon, listed as New. I haven't done much electronics shopping on Amazon though, so I'd like some feedback on that before proceeding.

Too bad about the HITACHI Deskstar P7K500 HDP725025GLAT80 (00A35390) 250GB. NewEgg has that as well for $59 new.

Looking forward to your reply. Thank you!

Well, I didn't go here before buying a new HD for my 5040. Silly me! Anyone want a shiny new WD paperweight? Seriously, I tried a WD5000AVJB & no go. Worked fine in PC (wrote zeros to drive & installed software & all looked ok) but could only get "Please Wait" screen. Has anyone tried a Maxtor STM3320820A? It's listed on the Seagate website.
Gary

4A250J0 250GB Maxtor, three or four years old. Never a problem.

This HDD: HDS722525VLAT80 HITACHI - DESKSTAR 250GB 7200RPM 8MB BUFFER EIDE/ATA 40-PIN HARD DISK DRIVE(HDS722525VLAT80). NEW WITH MFG WARRANTY. IN STOCK worksin a 5xxx ReplayTV. $80 + s&h.

www.serversupply.com