DCT6412 Hard Drive Upgrade? - Page 14

Everyone who has tried it has succeeded with the exception of customers on Cox cable. Cox uses an older firmware version that, while it will still work with the 1 TB hard drive, refuses to record more than 160 GB of content. If you're not on Cox cable, then you are nearly guaranteed success.

Sorry, my original post I meant to convey that I am on Cox. Is there a way to determine ahead of time whether the firmware I have on this box is capable of recording more than 160 GB? If I have an older firmware, is it possible to download the proper firmware and install it in the box? If so, how do I display the current firmware version? THANKS.

No, the cable company is in complete control of the firmware version. It is carried in the signal and your cable box picks up whatever version they push out. Since you are on Cox, I find it unlikely (but not impossible) that the upgrade will work out for you. But, if you're in the market for a 1 TB hard drive anyways, why not give it a shot and then crank up 16 straight hours of HD recordings (8 hours straight on both tuners) and see if it's able to get past the 160 GB barrier.




No. This thread doesn't have near the participation level required to know how often Cox changes their firmware version, but if they're like Time Warner and Comcast, they change their firmware only slightly more often than I change my underwear (I never change my underwear.)
Edited by TNO821 - 9/13/12 at 9:33pm

Ok. I will give it a try. If this doesn't work, then I believe I read in the thread that a model Motorola DCX will accept a 1 TB drive with a lot less effort. I could check with Cox and see if they have any DCX boxes, since I have had this box for at least 4 years. Will any model DCX box work with this upgrade or is it only specific DCX model DVR's? THANKS!

The DCX models will let you toss an unformatted HDD inside them and they'll format the drive for you. But I thought that on Cox it was still only recording up to 160 GB (I'm not certain)

I was afraid you would say that!!
We'll give it a try and let you know what we find out! Thanks again.

TNO821 - You rock!! I followed your procedure, purchased and put a WD 1 TB drive in my Motorola 3416 and it works great. It took about 3 hours to format the drive in my computer and was easy to install in the DVR. I have Cox Communications for my cable and it records up to the 1TB!! Thanks again for your help.

Very cool!! So it would seem that Cox Cable has adjusted their firmware/software. I'll update my procedure post to mention that Cox customers should give it a try.
Thanks for the feedback!

I may have missed something, but isn't opening a cableco owned STB a violation of the serivce agreement?

Oh no, you haven't missed anything. It is. At least if you're using a rented box, which if you're in the US, you pretty much guaranteed are. Or if you're a recent cable subscriber in Canada. Some years ago they used to sell the box to end users, but that practice is much more of a rarity now. So no, unless you own the box, you'd do best to not be cracking it open.

Yup, it violates the TOS. Punishable by death, I think. (We're hardcore like that)

hi guys. i just wanted to say thanks to all you genius's ((spelling) how ironic if i misspelled that word)):::. i read every word a couple of weeks back, i too found that the website you linked also sells the HD along with bit & tabs. i opted to just buy it since i'm not super tech savvy.

just wanted to report that i got it today. $125.24 for kit after tax & shipping to wa. state. 1gig. i put it in and checked diagnostic screen and it's reading 978,000,000,000. (not really zeros, other digits i didn't write down). it appears to be at least recognizing the drive but haven't tried recording tons of stuff yet. i will report back.

i got the 1gig, it is a Seagate. didn't write down model# number but i can pull back out if you want.

i think it's TN & someone else who i can't remember (please remind me what his handle is), but thanks heaps guys, i can't tell you how much better this is going to make my life if it works.

i think this is the first forum i've ever signed up for... that's how much i wanted to thank all you guys.

DCH3416

-bus

damn, i guess it's pretty obvious i'm a tool at this tech stuff. i think i meant 1 Tgig in the above post. what a kook:))

damn, i guess it's pretty obvious i'm a tool at this tech stuff. i think i meant 1 Tgig in the above post. what a kook:))

Are there any threads on upgrading a DCX3510 with Navigator? I cant find anything other than some cableco's enabling the eSATA port on the back for an expander. I tried throwing several blank hard drives in like the DCX3400's and it wont work. I even tried using the Acronis software to copy the image over but it wont go over the original hard drive size. Very furstrating.

The only thing I see are posts 400 and 401 in this thread.









j/k

Yeah I kinda just laughed when I saw those myself

Read my giant post (I think it is post #201) in this thread for the details about the Motorola DCX models.

The short version is that you probably can just throw in a 1 TB hard drive and the DCX will automatically format it.

However, if your hard drive is larger than 1 TB, the DCX will probably not be able to format it. In that case you will need to follow my guide on how to use a PC to format the hard drive.

-TNO821

Well, I tried to just put several blank ones in the DCX3510 and it sees it there (in the secret menu), but it wont do anything. I also tried the format like your post says with the Parted Magic and the format went great, but when I put it in the DCX3510 its the same thing. I have 2 of the DCX3400's and you can just put a 1TB in those and it does all the work no problem. One of the DCX3400's something happened to it and I had to return it to the office, and thats how I ended up with the DCX3510 which is a nice DVR, but I just cant get it to work with any other drive other than the one that came in it. When I first got the DCX3400's we were using iGuide here in the Dallas area, and then TWC pushed Navigator on them. I dont know if I need to just put the new 1TB in the DCX3510 and wait awhile until finally TWC decides to push Navigator down the pipes so it will load or what to do. I'm really stumped on this one, and the DCX3510 seems to be pretty new and you cant find much on the internet about them.

Thank you for your response

Oh yeah, I forgot to say, I tried doing the "Clr" command where you clear the hard drive from the secret menu, and its supposed to clear the hard drive and reformat it, and it shows that its doing it, but in the end its the same old thing. Thanks again.

I wonder if the DCX3501 (and other identical hardware going by the name RNG200) use a different file system?

If you have the original drive that came with the DCX3501, it might be worth experimenting with imaging it to one of your new drives to see if the DCX3501 would agree to use it (obviously you wouldn't gain any additional space, but you could learn if the box outright rejects all other hard drive models.)
Edited by TNO821 - 1/17/13 at 3:11pm

Oh yeah definately, you can use the Acronis software, and several others, and it will definately copy the full drive to another drive. I tried 3 different 1TB drives and they work when I put them in and boot them up, but of course it will only see the 500GB size.

Heres the thing. When you look at the drive in the Acronis software, or something like Gparted, it shows several different partitions, I think like 6 different ones, I cant remember now exactly how many. They are all really small, like 350MB and one is 7GB and then theres this huge partition thats around 450GB where I assume the video files are stored on. But heres the deal, because no software can recognize the format of the huge partition you cannot resize it. Strange it will copy the whole thing over to another drive, but not allow you to resize it. I also tried to create a temporary partition on the unallocated space and not format it, and then tried to merge the 2 together, but again it rejects it because the software doesnt recognize the format of the other huge partition. So I dont know on this one.

Also the model is DCX3510-M and its the one that is really small and has an external power supply like a laptop computer. The only button on the front is a power button and then it has the display. It doesnt have a fan in the back like the DCX3400 which surprised me, it just has the little holes in the top and you can see right thru it, the hard drive and cable card and everything. First time I ever seen one like this. I cant find very much on the internet about it.

Thank you for your reply

Here's a couple of pics.

Hi,

I am new at posting to the Comcast forum(s), so forgive me if this is not the proper area for my topic.

I have been a Comcast customer for about 10 years altogether but am having some difficulty in trying to increase the storage capacity for our DVR (or to change to a different DVR altogether). However, it seems quite difficult to obtain a new DVR with much increased storage capacity through our local Comcast offices, although I did discover that it's possible to add a privately owned Western Digital approved external hard drive to our Comcast supplied Motorola DCH3416 DVR (in some markets).

I purchased a Western Ditigal DVR Expander (external hard drive) this week at Best Buy & would like to add that to our system; however, reading the online forums shows that the eSATA port is not likely to be a live connection, and further checking on the Comcast webpage mentions calling Comcast before attempting to add a drive.

In doing further research at the Comcast webpage, I understand that the Colorado market isn't officially a part of the country that 'supports' external drives; but some users have been able to use them anyway per the Comcast forum pages. Is it even possible to use a 1 TB Western Digital hard drive (DVR Expander) to increase the recording capacity for our Comcast programming here in Colorado ?

Although there is a great deal of information on Comcast customer forums re: this issue, I'm not sure whether I may need a Comcast technician to make a service call to assist with this issue (or whether it's even possible to successfully add that particular storage device at this time in our market).

I would sincerely appreciate any input anyone could provide re: this issue.
Thanks.
Sincerely,
Kay
Windsor, Colorado

Originally Posted by flash2 View Post

TNO821 - You rock!! I followed your procedure, purchased and put a WD 1 TB drive in my Motorola 3416 and it works great. It took about 3 hours to format the drive in my computer and was easy to install in the DVR. I have Cox Communications for my cable and it records up to the 1TB!! Thanks again for your help.

Hi,

Your posting sounds very familiar, as we too have the Motorola DCH3416. We've found it almost impossible to get a DVR with greater capacity through our local Comcast offices, so we decided to purchase additional storage capacity through the use of a 1TB Western Digital DVR external hard drive 'Expander'. We then discovered from Comcast forum postings that the eSATA port on the DCH3416 is not likely to be a live connection, and further checking on the Comcast webpage mentions calling Comcast before attempting to add a drive.

Comcast webpages indicate that the Colorado market isn't officially a part of the country that supports external drives; but some users have been able to use them anyway per the Comcast forum pages. Are there any Colorado subscribers posting here who might have some experience with this subject who have successfully added an additional drive?

Although there is a great deal of information on Comcast customer forums re: this issue, we're not sure whether a visit from a Comcast technician may be needed to assist with this issue (or whether it's even possible to successfully add that particular storage device at this time in our market).

Any input re: this issue would certainly be most appreciated.
Thanks.
Sincerely,
KayDen
Colorado