8300HD and External SATA - It Works!! - Page 197

See the links in Xnappo's signature!

I'm curious what made you think that these drives would work?

Read the first post in this thread and you'll see the database links.

Only for Passport users. You do know you can record the program and get the "trick play" functions back, don't you?

Oops, sorry about that. I should've payed closer attention.

Thanks,

nv

Many folks report far more "glitching" on shows that are recorded to the external drive as evident of an incompatibility. Which seems odd to me as observation in a system without an external drive absolutely points to squeezed bandwidth creating almost unwatchable content due to said "glitching."

My market had that in spades when ESPN2 HD was added. Over the course of the next few months it gradually got better. BUT one of my homies documented how they had started doing more "rate shaping."

Dave, the problem is that there must be some sequence of dos and don'ts to be successful with that. Twice I tried to mimic the advice, I'm watching something, I need to be away for 1/2 hour, I hit record and end up with a recording of everything I have already watched that ends at the point I hit record.

Yeah, I've seen posts that mentioned that. Probably a difference in versions or something. Never hurts to try though. I probably should have said "might get".

Btw, has anyone tried pressing Record a second time to see if it would then start recording from that point on? It seems the first time, it is simply emptying the buffer.

This works virtually flawlessly for me here in NYC, on the same platform version.

If you want to increase your chance that everything will work just fine, flip away from the channel momentarily (to clear the buffer), flip back to the channel, and then press record. This will make sure that you're getting the program from that point forward....

There is no doubt rate-shaping, as you call it, has an impact, but there have been plenty of reports where the glitches simply went away once the SATA drive was disconnected and recording reverted to the internal drive. I'm sure both things are at play depending on location, drive, etc. It's always recommended that folks disconnect the drive to see if the glitches go away. This would point to a drive/connection problem vs rate-shaping.

Also, with larger drives, there might be a speed problem causing glitches as the drive fills up. I know that doesn't really make much sense, but we don't know exactly how the data is written to or read from the drive. We know how PCs do it, but not specifically how the 8300 does it. Lack if definitive info always leads to speculation and some (heated) discussion.

I can personally attest to this. I had a seagate external SATA drive hooked up for nearly a year, and dealt with 1-3 "glitches" every 30 minutes.

Of course I eventually filled that drive up and needed a bunch of space when I was going out of town for the weekend, so I bought a 2nd hard drive (a Western Digital, touted in its specs as being "rated for streaming video" or something like that) so I'd have enough space to record the entire UHD coverage of the Live Earth concert while I was away.

And now I've left the WD hooked up because I am experiencing none of the glitching I saw with the Seagate.

Go figure.....Same SATA housing, same power supply, same cables, same SA8300HD running the same version of Passport -- just MUCH smoother operation with a SERIOUS reduction in glitches.....

(BTW -- my info is in the database)

As a side note, I have ALWAYS noticed smoother operation (less chance of "glitching") when whatever program I'm watching has recorded to the internal drive (which happens when your internal drive has more free space on it than your external drive). My external housing has a light on it that blinks when it's being accessed. You can tell which drive any program is on in the following manner:
1. Tune both of your tuners to "non-recordable" channels (in my area, I tune one tuner to an "on demand" channel, press "swap", and then tune the other to a different "on demand" channel). This will stop your 8300 from buffering.
2. Note that the drive light (assuming you have one) on your external should go out.
3. Select a program to play back. If the drive light blinks while it's playing back, it's on the external drive. If it doesn't, it's on the internal drive.

Scott

Hey guys,

Man, reading all these posts combined with my lack of technical knowledge in the hard drive connection area I decided I should just add my own post. I am looking to add an external drive to my 8300HD from Cablevision (NJ). Based off of the images on the first post, my guide looks like the SARA version. On the Cablevision website, they recommend the WD My DVR Expander and the Apricorn (ADVRX-500 or ADVRX-750) ...links for both provided below.

Looking at the database provided on the first post, it looks like both pass, but I would like to hear some personal experiences if possible. Also, I can't find anyone selling the WD model, so if you have it, where did you get it?

With the Apricorn model, I am assuming what is on the link below for $180 is all I need (plus possibly a better cable). I have read other posts that sound like the Apricorn is a case and you have to buy a drive to put in it?

Sorry, I am just really confused, but I am also tired of having to rush through and watch shows to free up room to record other shows or not having enough space to tape a sporting event I want to watch later because I only have like 15% space left. Also, I don't need an external drive for my PC, so I want to be sure to have something that works.

WD
http://www.westerndigital.com/en/pro...sp?DriveID=334

Apricorn
http://www.apricorn.com/product_deta...e=family&id=37

I'm also in the Cablevision boat, and just upgraded my 8300 with a Beyond Micro 320 GB external HDD (500 GB was OOS), for $99 delivered.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822709021

After a couple of reboots, I was able to get it to work and watched some shows off of it today. Best thing, it came with the right cable in the box!

Spencercat

I use cablevision and am located in northern NJ. I've used the following for about 6 months now and it works perfectly.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822136073

and

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817362002

The cable included with the enclosure works fine.

Hooked up easly
no glitching
no early termination of recordings

Does everything work normal (FF, REW, etc.)? This would be about $40 cheaper. How many HD hours do you have now? I am assuming yours is SARA and not Passport?

Ah, logic says that may work. However, I adopted the "record it, watch it" attitude that so far seems to be working... i.e. do NOT let things pileup on the drive.

If you looked at his signature, he is indeed using SARA and all functions work for live viewing with SARA. Passport has the "trick play" problems, but that doesn't have anything to do with any particular drive/enclosure. It's simply a problem with Passport when any external drive is connected.

I assume none of your observations happened around this past June? 6/15 they added ESPN2 HD and I remember the glitching was SO horrendous that many shows were essentially unwatchable (also a good pal who I have been suggesting get into HD finally took the step and got one, only to hit this excessive glitching). It very slowly and gradually got better... and your note about additional rate shaping to reduce bandwidth sure as hell pointed to the "why" it slowly got better.

I'm NOT trying to say that glitching has no relationship to an external drive, just that there clearly ARE other causes for it.

I guess glitching is a better term term skippage !

duh....I always forget to look at sigs.

Understandable. These 8300 threads are some of the few where we use signatures (or the area below your User ID) to identify type/version so we don't have to keep asking for it or remembering to post it. So much, especially in this thread, depends on this info for accurate answers.

Wow, I checked the database a quite a few people use this case/drive combo or case/differnt drive combo and MOST have worked flawlessly. I may have to give this a shot. Worst case, I'll use the drive on my PC.

That is correct I'm on SARA and all functions (FF, REW, PAUSE jump back 5 sec ETC..) work correctly. I record any where from 3-6 shows a night and quite frequently watch one prerecorded show while recording 2 other shows. So over 6 months I would consider that heavy use but I'm sure you can do the math. I originally started with a 320GB WD YS (server grade drive) which quickly burned up but the 500GB AAKS drive has been used for about 4 months and works great. I do know there have been a lot of problems with long gevity with the YS series drives in server and PC applications so I wouldn't blame the drive failure on the 8300HD. The feed back about the AAKS series as it applies to the 8300HD has been very positive. So that combination of drive and enclosure in my opinion is a very wise choice.

The Swap button on my 8300HD remote doesn't do anything. It is on the bottom of the remote with other PiP buttons. Is there another Swap buttons? I haven't figured out a way to swap between tuners.

I've found that eSATA only hard drives work - not eSATA/USB combo interfaces, etc.

I apologize if this has already been asked and answered. I'm at work right now and I don't have time to read through every post. I want to buy an external hard drive to connect to my DVR. Here is what I'm looking at:

- I have TWC 8300HDC with Navigator (not sure which version) - I'm in Syracuse, NY

- I'm looking to buy the Western Digital 500GB external HD model # WDG1S5000

I called TWC, to ask about compatibility and they have yet to get back to me. Will this combo work? When I hook the external drive up, will my existing shows stored on my 8300HDC be erased? Any other suggestions?

Can't answer directly, but did you check the Navigator database?

eSATA only is a good idea, however the Apricorn enclosure has USB and eSATA and is the most successful case in the database.

xnappo

I just got the I-Rocks eSata/USB case at Meritline for $10 AR + ship. Rebate expires 10/29.

Comes with eSata cable & bridge and works with the Maxtor 320GB sata and Navigator.

Good deal.

I'm pretty sure that TW in Syracuse has SARA. So getting a SA8300HDC does not switch you to Navigator, like Passport systems do. So you want to check the SARA database instead of the Navigator one.

Well, I think I am now leaning towards the fully enclosed Apricorn (ADVRX-500) rather than the the combo you suggested above with the Apricorn external case. When you add taxes (I live in NJ) and shipping, there is not much savings. Plus the enclosed Apricorn is rocommended by Cablevision and others on this site have not had problems with it (at least in the posts I got when I pulled up the searched the thread for the model number).

I just checked it out. Looks like one guy had good luck with the same setup I want to get! I guess the only other thing I would like to see, is multiple people with the same setup claiming success. Anyone else out there have this setup working? (8300HDC & WDG1S5000)

Thanks for the link!