8300HD and External SATA - It Works!! - Page 286

I am having the same issues. We just switched from Directv to Blue Ridge cable in PA. The SA8300HDC only has a 160Gig hard drive so I want to add an external disk. After reading lots of info here I purchased a WD1001FALS and a Antec MX-1 enclosure. The cable box is running Passport 3.1.086 and refuses to recognize the new disk drive. I called the cable company and all they said was to have both boxes running and plug in the eSata cable followed by a pop up screen to accept formating the new hard drive. I never get the screen to accept formatting. I tried all the possible power up sequences. I do notice the programs freeze for about 10 seconds and then just continue with no attention pop up when I connect the eSATA cable. I don't know what to do next. Different cable box or drive or enclosure? Thanks for any new ideas.

Bryan thanks for your efforts and replies on this issue. If you need me to do any other testing I am happy to help. A few of my friends have 8300's with esata drives and they are stlil working fine even after the upgrade. I emailed Matt as you suggested.


Thanks,
Trent

Hi,

I am confirming that using the Easeus Disk Copy (2.3) utility, mentioned several times prior in this and other threads, worked great for me to clone a 500GB eSATA DRIVE (Samsung) to a new 1TB eSATA DRIVE (WD Black) (provided the sectors are not hozed up) and you do not try to use the partition copy. The % free went from abt 51% (500GB) --> 27% (1TB).

I have an SA8300HD on the TWC / Mystro / Navigator setup, so not sure about the others.

By design, there is no standard file system on these SA8300 DVR eSATA drives that Windows or Linux can recognize.

The bootable CD performs a sector to sector drive copy. Afterwards, once connected and booted, I believe the SA8300, using its proprietary file format, simply expands the "unused" space and formats the remaining space dynamically as needed. The target drive I used was a clean, never used, never formatted unit - that may be key as well - unsure. If I we to use a former drive, I'd certainly wipe it clean with 0's.

The sector copy requires a long time, so I had to disconnect my external drive before I went to bed (the recording shows defaulted to the internal drive) and then clone it overnight. It took about 8 hrs for the 500GB of sectors it moved via the USB connections.

http://download.cnet.com/Easeus-Disk...contentBody;1d

I also saw postings in other threads and forums that others have used Active@Disk which also has a sector by sector copy feature and the linux guys can use the familiar dd if= of= while booted from a small CD/DVD distro to do a sector by sector.

I do not know if any of these tools are or will be confuse by the new 4K sector drives.

I may try a 1.5 TB WD Black in a few weeks for kicks. I was tempted to try a 2.0TB but it is currently out of stock, so not an option for me.

Rough outline:

Download and burn utility ISO
Hook up both drives up to older laptop using two Roswell eSATA/USB enclosures.
Booted laptop using the Easeus Utility
Select the DRIVE copy
Selected the correct source and target drives.
Let it copy.

When I reattached the new drive to the DVR, I followed the procedure noted here by many others:

Power down SA8300
Unplug Power from SA8300
Connect eSATA, power up drive
Connect Power to SA8300
Allow to boot
Power on
Press "A" when prompted by SA8300 for new drive. In my case with Mystro/Navigator, it did not threaten to wipe the drive, it just wanted you to ack that you had connected a drive.
Review the % Free and make sure shows are still there. If not, force a reboot again and watch for the "Press A".

I will post if I have any issues in the coming weeks.

Later.

I will be running out of space on my 1.5TB really soon, so i might try a 2TB on my Thermaltake esata enclosure soon.

I tried to connect the firewire port from 8300HD to a dvr that accepts firewire inputs. No video or audio were detected on the dvr. So I tried the s-video and regular rca audio inputs and the dvr showed both the video and audio coming from the 8300HD.

I was able to make a cbs hd recording that i streamed from the 8300hd.

What was really weird was the video feed that came from the 8300HD was elongated into letterbox format on the dvr.

Has anyone tried this and had the same result as me?

I tried to correct the screen format but the image remained the same.

Well, I seem to be having problems with my external hard drive/enclosure. The last time I had a problem was 33 months ago (I looked it up; posted about it here). It turned out then that the problem was the power supply of my Apricorn enclosure. I am still using that same Apricorn closure (EZ-BUS-DTS) almost three years later with a 750 GB Seagate DB35 drive. The problem I've begun having is that the 8300HD is not recording an entire show. Typically, I don't get more than 15 minutes of an hour-long show recorded (at the worst, only one minute got recorded). I disconnected the external drive and tried recording without it, and this problem did not occur, so it is definitely something to do with the external drive. Is this problem more likely to do with the enclosure or the hard drive? Or the power supply of the enclosure again? I've had the Seagate drive for about 31 months now (looked that up too). Anyone have any ideas? Thanks in advance.

Cox has stated Passport Echo Vers. 3.1.085 has an issue with recognizing an Ext HDD on the 8240HDC, The 8300HDC has an Analog tuner and AUX jack on the front but otherwise is the same as an 8240HDC. To my knowledge Cox PHX does not have the 8300HDC in their inventory.

So if 3.1.085 has an issue with an HDC model, perhaps 3.1.086 also has the same issue.

What is your OS Version of PowerTV? Given that Cox PHX is running the same Passport Version (3.1.085) on both the 8300HD and 8240HDC and the 8300HD is not having a problem recognizing an Ext HDD, I wonder if the problem is the OS Version and not the Passport Version.

EDIT:
Blue Ridge Communications actually advertises "Increase your DVR storage capacity" on their website so I would definitely be barking at their door, so to speak.
(http://www.brctv.com/prodserv/dvr/ )

You may be on to something. My cable box has the following:

SA8300HDC Passport Echo Vers: 3.1.086, OS Vers: PowerTV 6.20.75.103sp

After I read that Blue Ridge stated they only support up to 750gig I thought maybe the WD1001FALS drive was the problem. I have an older Western Digital 160 gig sata drive so I swapped them and gave it another try. Still no pop up to format the drive.

1TB should not be a problem as I have been using a 1TB for almost a year. But 1TB might be the limit. Just for testing purposes I connected a 320GB Seagate Barracuda drive I had lying around, It was a NO GO. BTW it was the same drive I connected to my neighbors 8300HD where it did work.

I connected my new Westen Digital My Book AV PVR Expander to my Rogers SA 8300HD PVR. I thought it was fine because after it asked to format and I put for it to proceed, a minute or so later it said something like the external drive is compatible with the PVR and I clicked exit and it seemed ok. It seemed to tape shows. Without the expander, shows stopped due to lack of memory. I was at 96% or so used up until the expander, 13% with the expander. Anyhow I taped an hour show and watched it. I assumed it was fine. Then I realized that would go to the internal hard drive of the PVR. I decided to tape more, knowing that it would go to the My Book. When I went to play back what I taped, it showed a blank screen. I taped many shows and that's all I get during playback, a blank screen. I don't know why or what to do. I hope someone here could help. Thanks.

Just a quick search and the following came up regarding a recent Rodgers PVR software update.
http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r251...ents-recording

This Information should be helpful too, looks like Rodgers pushed out a new version of SARA, and there are reports of recording problems and problems with External HDDs. Rebooting by unplugging may be required more than once. Since the following site is dedicated to Rodgers Canada, You might have better luck with assistance there.
http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=131572

Bryan, I know about the update since I had an internal hard drive with an enclosure connected to my Rogers 8300HD and can't view my old shows. I bought the My Book AV since it had more memory. I don't mind rebooting again but given the format DID seem to work, a message came on saying it's compatible, will rebooting do anything? It does seem to be taping my shows, I assume since it does list it. I just can't watch what I tape. For my internal hard drive that lost old shows, I was able to tape new ones and play them back. Here I can't play anything back.

I rebooted and it seems to be working. Do I have to worry that it will stop again? Someone said something about a problem with it sleeping.

I should note that it didn't ask for formatting and the amount of used time seemed correct. It did pop up as usual, saying the external drive works with the PVR.

My Western MyDVR Expander apparently went south unless someone here has any ideas on a fix. At first there was some minor pixelation in recorded shows when it was recording two at the same time. Now it's got to the point that if it's recording a show and I'm watching another live show, it causes the live show to pixelate and stutter the audio. The recorded shows are basically unwatchable. It also started to end shows 10-15 minutes early. When I remove the ext. HD, the DVR works normally.

Any thing I can try to fix it or is it just a boat anchor now?

First, I would connect it to a computer, with Windows open Computer Management then Disk Management, initialize it, do a quick format, then run check disk or other HDD utility. If it passes, reconnect it to the DVR for a fresh format.
I posted step by step instructions here: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...7#post18414497, you will need an eSATA port on the computer, or if your tech savvy you could always open the desktop case and hook it directly to the mobo.

Second, make sure the power supply is not going bad. or simply try replacing the power supply with another of equal voltage and amperage.

Should I assume that there is a eSATA to USB cable as I don't have any computers w/ an eSATA port?

Yes, you need an eSATA port on the computer, or if your tech savvy you could always open the desktop case and hook it directly to the mobo. (only recommended if you've built or repaired computers before.)
It wouldn't be a bad idea to just add an eSATA PCI card to your desktop anyway, assuming you have an open slot.

You could always hit up a neighbor or co-worker to see if they have a newer laptop with an eSATA port.

Currently using laptops but I do have an old PC that I could add a eSATA PCI card to if they don't cost too much. Probably time to build a new PC and move into the 21st century. I'll have to check w/ my neighbor as he's an IT guy.

Thanks for your help.

They do make USB to eSATA / SATA Adapters that are relativity cheep, I have never used one, so I can't recommend a specific one.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...AW3GGCDM1EKH9Z

Certainly worth a try. Thanks again.

I bought one off of ebay for a few bucks when my WD Expander crapped out. Worked fine. Note that when I tested my drive with my computer. It seemed to work fine; but as soon as it went back in the Expander, it pixelated and eventually froze.

I don't think you need a card. Just an outside port that connects to the mother board. One came with my Vantec case and problable could be had for a couple of bucks. On the other hand, you do need to open the case to make the connection so you could just connect the external to the mobo while you have it open. Pretty easy even for a novice like me.

I let the PVR and My Book AV PVR Expander rest overnight and today. I was wrong about it being ok. The shows I taped yesterday are fine but I can't watch anything I tried taping tonight. The show listing always or most of the time even disappears. What should I do?

Elaine, If you still can I personally would return the WD My Book AV DVR Expander. Since it isn't working to your satisfaction and others with Rodgers in Canada are also having similar problems with certain DVR Expanders.

The New WD My Book AV DVR Expander has a chipset that supports both eSATA and USB 2.0, that may be part of your problem. The older WD My DVR Expander for the 8300HD had only an eSATA connection. The problem may also be the WD power saving feature that turns the HDD off when not in use.


Most posters on the http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=23773, recommend getting a WD Caviar Black HDD and a Vantec NexStar 3 HDD enclosure, The enclosure and the chipset used in the enclosure do make a difference, with many not performing well.

You mentioned in the other forum you had a 500GB Caviar Blue in a Vantec enclosure, so you may not even need to purchase another enclosure just swap the Blue HDD with a new Caviar Black 1TB HDD either the WD1001FALS or WD1002FAEX. I know from my own experience the Black series will work much better than the Blue series. If you want to access the shows on the Blue again just swap the HDDs back again.

I do not know what you have available to purchase in Canada, but I can also recommend the Wintec FileMate 3FME3B2TB-R enclosure.

I also highly recommend the WD Caviar Black series HDDs. installing the HDD into the enclosure is a very easy task. and if you are not up for it I am sure you could find someone to assist you.

Best of luck to you.

Thanks very much, Bryan. I have been looking into that all day. Would you know if I could buy a 1.5TB caviar black that would work with the Vantec enclosure and my Rogers 8300HD or do I have to limit myself to 1TB?

If it were me, I would stick with a 1TB max. There may have been a few successes with a 1.5TB but not enough reports to take the chance of it being an issue. Considering you have other issues with the new Rodgers firmware, why take the chance and throw another variable into the mix.

Ok, I'm in shock right now. The unexpected happened. I had made a decision to use the My Book AV DVR Expander for more memory for my computer. I had planned to use the Caviar Blue and Enclosure but I figured this way I'll have 1TB instead of 500gb to tape shows from my computer to the drive. I thought I would then do as you suggested and buy a WD Caviar Black and have the caviar blue and caviar black to use with my Vantec enclosure and could connect to the PVR whichever I want to use at any time. Great plan.

I went to my My Book and saw it was taping something. I forgot it was. Anyhow for fun I checked and it WORKED. I was shocked. Perhaps I misunderstood the sleep problem. It worked day 1 and then not yesterday. I didn't reboot so I thought it wouldn't wake up. I checked another show taped earlier today that I wasn't aware of and it worked too. Does that mean that my problem is fixed OR does the sleep problem mean it doesn't work for a day but works the next? Please enlighten me. Thanks.

FWIW my WD My DVR Expander never shut down which may have led to its demise. Will know for sure after I reformat and try again.

Per Bryan's suggestion, got a eSATA to USB adapter at Microcenter for $10.

Update: I see what happened. I just went to watch what DID work the other day and it won't play. I then saw a message about it being low in space. I then saw 96% capacity. It means it is no longer recognizing the My Book AV and it taped what it did today to the little space left on the internal drive in the PVR itself. Nothing's fixed.

Could the My Book AV DVR Expander be connected to a laptop so that I could take TV shows taped from there to the expanded memory? Would it have the same sleep problem? Does it make a difference if I connect it by esata cable versus USB cable?

Update: I took the Vantec enclosure with caviar blue inside it since Rogers told me they WON'T be able to retrieve lost shows. I attached it and reformatted the drive and I'm using it for extra memory for my computer.

As far as the PVR, I will be returning the My Book AV as suggested by you Bryan. I was going to go out and buy another Vantec Nexstar 3 360 SU-BK and I was trying to decide between the WD Caviar Blacks 1.5Tb WD1502FAEX or the 1TB WD1002FAEX or WD1001FALS. The latter one is hard to get at a reasonable price. I was edging towards the newer WD1002FAEX or risk the 1.5TB and then I read the digitalhome.ca forum and I'm lost again. Someone bought that same Vantec and the 1TB WD1002FAEX and he's having trouble with it and the Scientific Atlanta 8300HD so I don't know what to do now.

Elaine, The 1.5TB WD Caviar Black is not a proven successful Ext HDD for the DVR, I caution you to stay away, unless you are ready for more disappointments, or simply up for the experiment. Just stay with the 1TB model.

As for the Vantec NST-360SU enclosure it was reported back in August by two posters that their "new" Vantec enclosure had a different chipset than the older ones and different than the Vantec website reported. Both reported glitches with their recordings. I saw the same type of reports on the Rodgers Canada forums regarding new vs old Vantec NexStar 3 enclosures. So as far as enclosures go I cannot make a recommendation.
(It should be noted both attempts were with the WD1002FAEX and the Vantec enclosure. I believe both were also in Canada.)

If you do purchase a new Vantec enclosure, and it causes any problems just swap enclosures between your old one and the new one. So that the old Vantec is with the Caviar Black and the DVR, and the new one is with the computer and the Caviar Blue. The computer will not know the difference.

I have used a Wintec FileMate 3FME3B2TB-R enclosure with success but that was purchased a year ago and they could have changed the chipset also.

I do not want to confuse you even more, so I even hesitate to bring this up but here is what I am using, it is just the WD 1TB HDD, an SATA to eSATA (I-L) cable and a power supply. I do not have an enclosure, so I eliminate the compatibility issue of finding an enclosure that performs well. If my PDF makes sense fine, if not forget I said anything. The SIIG Silicon Hard Disk Protector Sleeve is not available in Canada, so I do not know what you could use instead. Perhaps find one on Ebay or another similar product.

Here is a 3-page PDF Parts List Set-Up with No-Enclosure. This is what I have been using since Feb 2010 with no problems.
The reason I recommend using no enclosure is to eliminate the need to find a compatible enclosure that will not cause your Ext HDD to glitch during recording. Some enclosures that worked in the past have changed the chipset inside and may no longer work as well as they have in the past.

Posted: 08-13-10