8300HD and External SATA - It Works!! - Page 250

I hope we get some new hardware up in CNY! However, since my eSATA hookup is working well I can live with the 8300 for now. I'm hoping we see a new interface sooner than later though.

Help I'm new to this.I have a Seagate Showcase Media attached Storage provided by Rogers in Canada.
The 8300hd it was attached to was swapped out due to Software problems and when I connect the external drive to my new 8300hd it wants to reformat it. No way I've got 35 or so hours of content I want to save How can I do this. Is there a way of hooking this up to a computer with the e-sata connector on the external drive box or fooling the new pvr in recognizing the drive
Thanks Habsfan10

Don't think there's a way to save the content.

I agree. The external drive is encoded with a key specified by the set-top box (STB) it's attached to when it's originally formatted. The drive cannot then be removed and then reattached to a different STB for playback, because the new STB will not know the key to decode the drive's content.

All you can do at this point is reformat with the new STB.

Hi all,

I really appreciate the forum and folks coming together with their ideas/experiences in adding an external drive to a cable company's DVR.
I do agree with earlier posts that if someone could put together a 'newbie level' step by step FAQ, that would be cool. It took a few days of combing through posts and google searches (always lead me back here) to try and verify that I was at least trying the right approach in trying to get the Cox STB to recognize the drive (power down, unplug, plug in SATA drive, turn on, power back up, etc). The info on the various OS's (SARA, etc), diagnotic modes, and database of working drives collected here IS awesome.

So i'm trying with a Macally (pretty much generic) eSATA/USB case I have, but no luck so far. Thanks to a well worded email to Cox Tech support, I was able to verify that the port is active on my 8240HDC (I'm hearing very similar to the 8300HD box) and thanks to the forum, I was able to verify last night I'm running SARA 1.90.xx.xx (i saw the 1.90 part atleast) and that it detected the Hard disk (after resetting my DVR umpteen times trying to plug in the drive different ways, this was a relief), except it didn't see any "formatted" space on the drive. In one page I was able to see the drive was detected and the total drive size, but the next showed 0MB drive space avail for the external drive.

When the DVR boots in normal mode, it doesn't prompt to format the drive. I first tried with a NTFS partition that wasn't reformatted (a storage drive literally taken out of a Windows PC and just plugged in), then tried reformatting in linux EXT2 and also leaving the partition unallocated, all with no luck, b/c I assumed NTFS wouldn't work. Next I'll try reformatting NTFS (I saw a post where someone reformatted NTFS and the DVR detected and reformatted).

Any ideas on the best way to format the disk in a custom case? Anyone know the disk format used when the DVR formats the drive? If the DVR is detecting the HD in the Diag mode, does that mean it should work, or is it no guarantee of the case/drive being compatible in actual operation?

If what I have on hand doesn't work, I guess I'll cough up the $$ on one of the verified cases or a WD DVR expander, which looks like it works pretty much plug and play for most folks.

Thanks for the forum...I'm a PC guy, but a total newb when it comes to AV/Home Theater stuff and this site provided tons of research and answers to my questions.

You may need to do a low level format in Windows, see below for link to tool.

I've started an instruction guide here for ODN users...

http://baseportal.com/baseportal/xna...vigator&Id==64

Hi,

I am on Comcast in Minneapolis. I have been operating with the understanding that the Freeagent pro from Seagate has problems with this esata connection.

Is this still true?

I called Comcast, and they told me that esata is not supported at all here!


If it actually is...then I have some more questions (like recommended drives, will my current Seagate Freeagent Pro work, recommended place for cheap cables, what is the currently recommended cable configuration).

Thanks!

I tried Ronin1's suggestion. The SA8300HD formatted my 1 TB drive for 1 TB of space. I then cloned my 320 GB drive to the 1 TB drive, and the SA83000HD told me my AVFS partition was only 297 GB--i.e., the same partition that was on my 320 GB drive.

The only explanation for Ronin1's success that I can think of (besides the fact that he had Harry Dresden's help) is that he uses a different version of SARA than I have. I want to thank you for your time and trouble, Ronin1, but I think if I cannot find some software utility to change the partition size on the AVFS encrypted partition, I'm out of luck.

I am not a smart guy on this at all, but might there be a [MBR] or [partition table] that could be compared from the 320 GB drive and the 1 TB blank drive? Like looking with a hex editor or something? Might be easier if you had completely blank drives to compare (then you would know the right addresses where the differences are). Then do as you have done, but after you clone the 320 GB image, go back and restore the partition table to the one setup for the 1 TB drive...

Edit: I was speaking to [monkey see - monkey do], not having to break or understand the encryption or partition table... Just comparing two blank drives to find the differences in the [MBR, partition table, etc.] that could be copied back since the cloning seems to overwrite it...

v/r,
C-F

Thanks for the suggestion, Cannon-Fodder (great user name, by the way--brings to mind the quality of generalship during the Civil War). However, I dropped the cloning project for now and am switching back and forth between the two external drives, as needed.

Thanks Xeno,

I used the low lev tool as you suggested, but still no luck, but a little progress.

It seems my STB recognizes it somewhat when I boot it up. Live play back pauses for a bout 30 secs if I try connecting the drive with the case powered on and the STB already booted up. But I never get a format drive prompt.

I tried a second HD (this time a WD 160GB, I was trying a WD300GB 1st) but the same results...I see it in the SARA Diag screens, but only as 0KB formatted space and I never get prompted for a reformat.

Maybe it's the case...I've noticed in the cloning tools and the low lev format tool you suggested, the drive is recognized by Windows and Linux as "External Hard Drive" via USB connection and any info like where the WD part number would be is blank (unlike the USB only cases I have which Windows and the linux tools recognize as a Hard Disk, but on a USB bus). Don't know if this has anything to do with why it's not 'talking' to my 8240HDC STB.

--Forgot to put that this was a reponse to Dsurkin's post above--

I'm far from an expert as well on this as well, but i've run into a similar issue cloning a drive in Windows and I got the results I was looking for using a different cloning tool. You might want to try the clone job with another tool or make sure the settings of your clone job include expanding the partition to include the free space left on the drive. Even with a preformat of the new drive, like you did, the cloning the old drive will destroy the partition on the new drive. Details of what I ran into are below, but this was for drives to be seen by Windows. The concept might apply but I've never tested it on a DVR STB. (I'm still trying to get mine recognized).

By default, a clone tool may not expand the partition you are cloning over to the new drive to use all the available free space...you might have to tell it to do that, usually by dragging a slider representing the size of the new partition if your tool uses a GUI, or typing in a new partition size if using a command line. I was cloning a windows disk to a larger drive with PartMagic (free, open source) tool and telling it to expand the copied partition to the available space of the new drive, but it only registered in windows as a drive the exact same size of the original disk (new space was not recognized, even though I told it to expand). Tried it again using an Acronis True Image disk a friend gave me and it worked like a champ. It cloned it over and expanded the partition to include all the free space of the disk.

Any ideas on how to get the disk formatted AVFS or whatever in the 1st place? What's the 'boot up' sequence that works for you?

I've been quietly looking for external cases that have a RAID chip in them AND have a SATA i/o interface. I've come across several that use a RAID chip in a 2 drive enclosure, but with only a FW interface.

I've now come across the kind of beast I've been looking for! A 2 drive case with all of the typical interfaces (FW400, FW800, USB 2, SATA) AND has a RAID chip to strip (or mirror) 2 HDs. Not only that, but the price of this baby is simply not to be believed (2 T for $255???). I have no idea how long this price will last, but have to believe it won't be all that long.

http://www.jr.com/western-digital/pe/WD_WDH2Q20000N/

Of course, absolutely NO guarantee it will work with any DVR, but it sure as hell will work with any computer, so it meets it's design goals as a mass storage device.

Yes, two TERABYTES!

Just got the Vantec Nexstar 3 USB + eSATA enclosure for my 8300HD and loaded it with an old 160GB Western Digital SATA drive. Worked great on the first try. I went from 70% full to 30% full.

I do have a question, though. This enclosure mentions nothing about power management. Will the drive automatically power down when Idle like the one in the DVR does if turned off and nothing recording? I don't like the idea of an enclosed hard drive running 24/7.

Just swapped out my 8300HDC for an 8300HD. My hard drive is back!

With regard to the Vantec enclosure and the 8300 HD....by any chance are you on Comcast?

Comcast claims that they don't support esata in Minneapolis...but sometimes they are full of beans. I'd be willing to experiment if I have some indication that this enclosure works on Comcast...its a small jump to see if it works here.

Thanks.

By the way are both the 260 and 360 known to work? I found two different model numbers for the drive.

I am with TWC (Brighthouse), so I can't speak for comcast. I do know that Brighthouse claimed the same thing while people here were busy using the eSata port without issue.

As for the enclosure numbers. The 260 and 360 are identical, but the 260 fits 2.5" (laptop) hard drives, and the 360 fits 3.5" (full size desktop drives). I am using the 3.5" version. My Drive is an old Western Digital WD1600AAJS and it works flawlessly, although a bit warm. The Aluminum case definitely dissipates a lot of heat. CompUSA has the enclosure $5 off at $34.99 right now. The only issue (if being nitpicky) is that if you lay the enclosure horizontally on it's attached rubber feet the drive is upside down inside the enclosure. I stand mine up on the provided stand.

cam--

What cable did you use? It would appear that one has to be very specific on type I and type II on each end.

Thanks.

Of course test it (record two HD and watch a third already recorded). Then add it to the proper database with your results. Others would like to know. /Dan

What, if anything will the USB input on the SA8300HD do? What I'd really like to know is if an external HDD with a USB connection can be used with this receiver. Charter cable SARA 1.90.5.a103.

Thought is it is for a keyboard. Definitely not for drives. Don't even think it is active on anyone's TWC box. /Dan

I reprogrammed my Harmony to leave the STB on all the time. Sure it wastes energy but I got sick of rebooting my STB and eSATA drive to reconnect it.

Actually someone recently did some testing with one of those power monitors and found there was no difference.

xnappo

That would be moi with my trusty Kill-A-Watt. It draws about 28 watts in every possible state, off, on, with a playing video playing or paused, recording from both tuners. Oh, it seems randomly to go up to 29 watts.

I have it set to show the channel when on, but the time when off.

aceofspadez619,

Just what cloning tool did you use and what procedure did you follow?

I have forgotten whether I mentioned this before, but I was told, but can not vouch for the accuracy of the statement, that the Linux "dd" command should accomplish the same sector by sector cloning. I suppose that it would be possible to set up a bootable CD (of Ubuntu or Puppy Linux or whatever) and try it without getting the Windows drive cluttered up.

dsurkin,

I am sorry that the procedure I used did not work out for you...I am trying to think of an explanation for the different result. I was using an Apricorn ez bus dts enclosure which has since been superseded by a new model, the Aegis Desktop. I have not tried the new enclosure yet, but did speak with Apricorn's tech support and they indicated that there should be no changes in terms of expected compatibility. They indicated that there have been improvements to the power supply and fan, as well as the changes to the case itself...the new feet look to be a useful improvement. I would expect that the chip set has been tested in their ready-to-go DVR Expander. The web page describes it as "the perfect companion for the Scientific Atlanta 8300 series."

Interestingly, Apricorn also offers the DVR Expander with a 1.5 TB drive which should mean that a drive that size would work with the SA 8300s.

I have seen some listings in the database with mixed results with large drives in other enclosures. Has anyone tried a 1.5 TB or 2 TB drive in the Apricorn enclosures?

The damn eSATA drive still disconnects. I will get rid TWC.

Damn...went from 8300HD to 8240HDC. Everything was working fine with my 1TB eSATA drive from Cavalry. (Went from another successful 500GB Cavalry drive, I did report my successes in the main database.)

Cincy, OH TWC

I've gotten to the point where I can successfully get a "Press A to Re-format Drive" prompt with each reboot, but still there is no success confirmation...ever. I've read that it takes many attempts. I'm on attempt #20 or so....

Any other ideas? I mean, getting the format drive prompt is definitely about as close to success as possible, right?

The activity light just blinks when I hit "A" to format. I remember when I formatted successfully in the past it would only take a few seconds, but I'm pretty sure the drive light would stay on longer and the drive would spin more...gah....

Thanks....

EDIT#2: Ok so I tried holding in "A" button this time. Weird! The drive light stayed on for much longer, but then it prompted me a 2nd time "Press A to Re-format Drive." This is a first for me. I had to release "A" (still holding down, about 20 seconds elapsed) to press "A" again, but this time the set rebooted! ...rebooting now.

I'm just going to keep reporting in real time...

So this reboot is taking much longer than usual, which I guess means it will probably come back with a "Drive is bad, press A or C to exit" error...

Oh this isn't good...stuck on L-13 for many minutes, now I have a black screen and the STB front display still reads L-13....oh dear...

For those in the same situation and still reading, I should credit the page that got me this far (along with the low level format tool and tips):

http://baseportal.com/baseportal/xna...vigator&Id==64

Ok well my reboot recovered, eventually went back to the much loved Mystro boot screen, and came up with "Press A to Re-format drive" prompt. Back to square one, no success confirmation, no added storage or extra drive in diagnostics. This sucks, I'm guessing maybe I should try to get another 8300HD? I had so many problems with reliable service with the 8300HD (non DVR related stuff, the DVR+expansion worked amazingly well), and the 8240HDC has been reliable on that front (with a crappy tiny HDD though). I just moved units in my building though, maybe I would have better luck in this unit with the 8300HD. The cable install guy said the 8300HD was for Adelphi customers only, blah blah...those guys all say different things.

Thanks again, I'm giving up for now it's been a long night...

Based on my experience and similar reports from others, if you're trying to get your external drive working with ODN 3.1.x_x, you're pretty much wasting your time. I got mine to eventually format and record (my accounts are in this thread), but when I tested it by rebooting, I lost my recordings (again). I refuse to keep screwing with something I can't trust and I advise you do the same. If you do get it to format, be sure to try two important tests:

1) Let it sit idle long enough to enter sleep mode (3 hours) then press a button on your remote (or just turn it on after being off over night) and see if it still works.

2) Record something, then reboot. Make sure you can still view your recordings.

So has anyone had any success yet with a 1.5TB drive on a SARA system? Checking Xnappo's databases, I only see a couple of attempts, and none were successful.

I just ordered a 1TB WD10EADS drive and Antec MX-1 enclosure, which several people have reported success with...but I sure was tempted to get the WD15EADS, instead!

Ok thanks for the reply. So even if I go back and get an 8300HD, this would probably still have the ODN 3.1.x_x rendering the external drive useless?

I stopped trying with the 8240HDC for now, losing patience...still nothing.

That sucks, I can't live with 150GB for HD storage...

These are incredibly naive questions for this 250th page of this thread, sorry:

1. if I go with DirecTV should I be able to use a 1TB expansion HDD with their box?

or

2. If I spend megabucks on an HD Tivo, can I use that with existing TWC and maybe even expand that HDD also?

Geez...after all the hell TWC has put me through, the saga continues. I had 6 techs out in one year in 2008, each one less competent than the last...

Thanks...