8300HD and External SATA - It Works!!

UPDATED INFO

Xnappo's SATA Databases. Tracks compatibility issues between SA8300HD and various SATA drives/enclosures:

• SA8300HD eSATA Compatibility Database (SARA)
• SA8300HD eSATA Compatibility Database (Passport)

Interactive Program Guide Images. Useful for determing which software is being used:

• Image of SARA IPG
• Image of Passport IPG

Installation Instructions

• Pepar's Passport Installation Link

ORIGINAL POST
At least in Shrewsbury, MA. Our town owns and operates its own cable company, so they do their own thing, but we're running SARA version 1.85.17.3.

So, I ordered the following items:

External enclosure (black plastic)-
http://www.addonics.com/products/ext.../aeehdsa35.asp

SATA I to eSATA External Cable-
*** LINK NOW DEAD

And a 120GB Maxtor Ultra Series SATA drive.

I plugged the unit in as described in the 8300HD manuals found online, and the 8300HD recognized the external drive and asked me if I wanted to format it. Once this was done (it did this very quickly) the remaining disk space on my existing 8300HD increased accordingly.

Now, I had to "fill up" my fairly new 8300HD's internal drive enough to equalize the remaining disk space on each drive. Once this was done, the 8300HD recorded my next recording to the external drive (the 8300HD always records to the drive with the most remaining space, and ping pongs back and forth).

So, if anyone has any questions, let me know.
-D

Enclosure - $35 plus shipping
Cable - $12.50 plus shipping
Drive - had this already, but about $100 retail.

So, about $150 for 120GB - about 15 more hours of HD.

-D

Yes, see my post above.

Bump!

sgr, I used a 120GB because that is what I had.

Supposedly, the dedicated one that Maxtor will sell will be available in a 300GB version.

Also, Silicon Image demonstrated with Scientific Atlanta (at CES) a RAID system that will allow expansion of the 8300HD up to several Terabytes.

-D

Kromkamp, you could simply fill up the internal drive (with arbitrary recordings) with the external drive disconnected, and then connect up the external SATA. From that point on, all future recordings would be placed on the external drive.

I was thinking about getting this optional cradle for the drive enclosure that I purchased and listed above:

http://www.addonics.com/products/com.../aechdsa35.asp

By purchasing additional enclosures ($9 each), you could create a library of archived content spread across several drives that you could simply remove and replace in the cradle, power cycle the STB, and you should be good to go.

Of course, the point you make above is very valid - if the STB dies or has issues, and you need to get a replacement from the cable company, the replacement STB would have a different KEY and would not recognize the recordings, making your collection useless.

-D

No, you must get the cable I listed above, and as far as I could tell, this was the only source in USA.

All current drives have SATA I on back, and the 8300HD has a SATA II. SATA II spec. was just finalized, so most products don't support this connector yet.