8300HD and External SATA - It Works!! - Page 293

How do I check amperage?

--Ed

I think the problem is the power supply. It shows 12.11v and 4.48v output. The external drive does not show on my computer when I connect it to the power adapter but shows when I connect the drive to the computer's power supply. I ran WD WinDlg and no problems were found with the drive.

I ordered a new unit from Newegg.com.

Thanks TNO821 & Bryan_CoxPHX for your help.

--Ed

Well this answer perplexed me. I know the others were using WD Cavier Black and I was using a Seagate 1 TB drive. At the electronic interface (SATA) the drives are identical regardless of any internal construction differences, otherwise they would not be interchangable on computers and the 8300HD for all intents and purposes is a computer.

Meanwhile, my home server drive died so I put the new Seagate in to fix that. Then I went out bought a new Caviar Black WD 1 TB drive and a new eSata case and installed it.

Then following your instructions to the letter I:

1 Disconnected my operating 160gig external drive.
2. Re booted the 8300HD through a pull of the power plug.
3. Waited for the 8300 to be up and operational.
4. Installed the new WD external unit
5. powered up the new external drive.

No message to format and the drive was not recognized.

I disconnected it and reinstalled the 160gig and it works perfectly.

So, I believe this proves that on my 8300 on Cox, it does not matter which 1TB drive I put on it does not work.

Any ideas on where to go from here ?

Thanks for all the help.

/phil

Go into the Diagnostic menu and check your Passport and PowerTV versions.

For an 8300HD they should be:
ResApp Version: Passport Echo 3.1.085 - Sep 13 2010
OS Version: PowerTV 6.14.98.1sp - May 22 2009

Have these changed, Which market are you in?

Las Vegas.

ResApp Ver - OK
OS Version: PowerTV 6.20.75.103sp - June 2 2010

/phil

That OS Version: PowerTV 6.20.75.103sp - Jun 2 2010 has only been reported on the 8300HDC and the 8240HDC, and will NOT Format a NEW Ext HDD. I have not seen a report of this version on a 8300HD.

Are you sure this is a 8300HD (without a CableCARD)?
On an HDC the CableCard would be in the rear, also the Diagnostic Menu will have a CableCARD tab at the very bottom with selections to view status.

Does your DVR prompt you when you disconnect the working 160GB Ext HDD? SEE Below? An HDC model running PowerTV 6.20.75.103sp will not.

For most that had an External HDD already attached and formatted to an HDC model while using the SARA IPG, that External HDD is still working with Rovi Passport, running PowerTV 6.20.75.103sp, although there is not a screen prompt acknowledging the Ext. HDD., and no additional Ext HDDs can be formatted until Cox releases a firmware update. Cox AZ has posted several times that an update is in testing to be released this summer. Or 3 years from now in Cox time.

Ok, "Now I see!", said the blind man.

Somewhere along the line a couple of years ago, they needed to replace the DVR. I now see that they switched it on me and I never noticed because everything worked including the Ext HDD. It is a SA 8240 HDC. Although it looks like an 8300 HD and they never gave me a new manual.

I thought it was strange that it never gave me the 'disconnected' message and wrongly assumed that was just from the change to Passport.

So, I am thinking, that I need them to change it back to an 8300HD which is what I had before. However, that means losing everything on the box again.

Give me your thoughts on the best course of action.

Thanks,
/phil

Thank you for this Forum.

I have Cox in Fairfax, VA. Have not confirmed what vers of Passport is installed, but I intend to.

Two years ago (pre-Passport perhaps?) I successfully installed a 1TB WD My DVR external HD on an 8240HDC. It continues to work fine to this day!

Recently, I attempted to install the NEW version of the WD My BooK AV DVR Expander on my 2nd, identical 8240HDC, with no luck. WD claimed "Not compatible with 8240, just 8300." I know that is nonsense.

Returned the WD and got an Iomega 34508. Same problem. DVR will not recognize and format the HD.

I attempted the "Passport IPG Instructions for connecting an External eSATA HDD" even before finding this Forum (i.e., "First, Power up the DVR with TV on, (Ext HDD powered off.) Second, Power up the connected Ext eSATA HDD with the DVR running, and you should be prompted to press "A" to format.") The picture freezes for a few seconds as if the DVR and the HD are trying to communicate, then the picture returns and no formatting occurs. (I saw the same behavior with the WD.)

It will come as NO surprise to anyone that COX in Fairfax and Cisco ARE USELESS. Each blames the other and NEITHER knows anything about the Passport vs. SARA issue.

From the many posts I've read today, it appears I'm screwed and cannot expect to install any external HD on the second DVR. Thoughts??? Should I send the Iomega back and be done with this?

Thanks!
Greg

p.s. Cox will be the death of us all!!!

Cox and others could fix this very easily just give us a box with a 2TB drive and everyone should be happy.

/phil

For Cox customers with an 8240HDC that want a working Ext HDD.

Email complaints to: CoxCorp.CustomerRelations@cox.com
Email complaints to: Your local market VP/GM

Send a written complaint to Your local market VP/GM and Atlanta.
David A. Bialis: Senior VP/GM, California (San Diego & Santa Barbara)
J. Stephen Rizley: Senior VP/GM, Arizona
Marilyn Burrows: Senior VP/GM, Las Vegas, Nevada
Percy Kirk: Senior VP/GM, Oklahoma (Oklahoma City)
Gary T. McCollum: Senior VP/GM, Virginia (NoVA)
Paul Cronin: Senior VP/GM, Cleveland

Post both on the Cox Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/CoxComm

Cox Facebook Local Market Locator: http://www.facebook.com/CoxComm#!/Co...99844123381002
Post on your local Cox Facebook pages: (Facebook also lists contacts and some markets have support sections.)
Las Vegas: http://www.facebook.com/CoxLasVegas
NoVA: http://www.facebook.com/CoxNova

Both Cox Las Vegas and Cox Arizona have stated they are testing an update for the HDC model to fix eSATA, and might be available this summer?????

In the meantime, your only option would be to swap the 8240HDC for a 8300HD.
If you do swap to a 8300HD make it clear to the Cox employee why you did this and ask to have it noted on your account.

Sorry I don't do Facebook or I would do that.

So today I tried a work around using this logic. My original 160g ext HDD was formated on my 8300HD before Cox switched me out and it works just fine on this 8240 HDC that I have now.

So I took my 1TB drive to my daughter's house and put it on her 8300HD. Got the Format question and did it. It showed up with all that extra space on her 8300.

So I brought it home put it on the 8240 HDC and it still does not recognize it.

The only thing suspicious was it seemed to complete the format very, very quickly and I would have thought it would take several minutes to format 1TB.

So, anything I should have done different? I thought it was worth a try.

/phil

Each DVR puts a unique ID on the Ext HDD (for DRM copy protection) you cannot format on one DVR and then use on another DVR. Why the formatting was so fast is because all it did was wipe the entries from the file allocation table and then create the DVR proprietary file type, It was not a full format.

One suggestion that might work, Is to clone your working 160GB Ext HDD to the new 1TB HDD using a bit-by-bit cloning method, I use "G4L". You would end up with a 160GB partition on the 1TB HDD.
EDIT: Using G4L you can clone an Ext HDD to have a back-up that will work and be properly formated for the DVR, I just haven't found a way to expand the partition.

Then once cloned try using "GParted" to expand the new HDD to the Full 1TB.
I tried to make this work tonight and Gparted would not recognize the partition all it saw was unallocated space.

There are other programs that might accomplish this task.

I had thought about that at some length too. But the bit x bit cloing would have created only the 160 gig. So I abandoned that idea. If you know of some other software then let me know what it is and perhaps I will try that. I have some swappable bays so it is easy to put the drives in to do it. I assume they are using DOS to do it?

I may just bite the bullet and take it back to Cox and get the 8300HD. That will mean losing all my data on the 8240 and all the recording setups etc, which is about as painful as buying a new cell phone.

Thanks for all your help.
/phil

For years, I've been able to output both HDMI and Component video from my Time Warner 8300HD DVR, but I haven't actively tried to use this capability until now.

I recently bought an Elgato EyeTV HD video recorder, and it worked great for a few days. Then a couple of days ago, it stopped working -- no component video. So, then I bought an Hauppauge HD PVR, and it is also no receiving a Component video signal. Furthermore, I've done some tests, and the STB stops outputting Component Video as soon an an HDMI cable is attached.

What is the deal?! Is there a trick to getting the STB to output both HDMI and Component video simultaneously?

Please advise.

Thank you!

This is relatively new and is called SOC (Selective Output Control). It is done on purpose to curb piracy. Whenever a signal is being output via HDMI, the Component video is disabled. There's nothing you can do about it; it's controlled by the firmware on the 8300HD. I suppose you could call your cable company and claim that you need both to output simultaneously, but I doubt they'll get enough complaints to convince them to back off.

Can you explain why my 160gig which was fomatted on my 8300HD still works on the 8240HDC when Cox swapped it? Is it was done on SARA vs Passport ?

/phil

If I understand your question, The answer is yes.

You had a 160GB Ext HDD connected to an 8300HD running SARA.
Cox swapped the 8300HD for an 8240HDC, while it was still running SARA. The new 8240HDC reformatted the 160GB HDD.
The same 160GB HDD is still connected and working on the same 8240HDC where it got formatted while running SARA.

Running SARA both the 8300HD and 8240HDC would format, and correctly recognize an Ext HDD.

Now with Passport, specifically the OS version of PowerTV, the 8300HD runs a different version of the OS PowerTV, an older version that will still format an Ext HDD.

Due to the CableCARD in the 8240HDC it runs a newer version of the OS PowerTV, that does not recognize an Ext HDD correctly.

Some background info.
When Cox AZ first launched Passport, they initially launched the 8240HDC with the following, which never did format a New Ext HDD.
• Version: Passport Echo 3.1.085 - Sep 13 2010
• OS Version: PowerTV 6.20.75.103sp - Jun 2 2010

When both Cox San Diego and Cox Las Vegas first launched Passport, they initially launched the 8240HDC with the following, which would format a New Ext HDD.
• Version: Passport Echo 3.1.084 - Aug 12 2010
• OS Version: PowerTV 6.20.72.2sp - Sep 11 2009
In December 2010 both San Diego and Las Vegas switched to the same versions as Cox AZ, which would no longer format an Ext HDD.

I have seen several reports where Charter is also using the same OS Version: PowerTV 6.20.75.103sp, and they also cannot format an Ext HDD on the HDC models. I have received messages from both a Charter employee and a Cox Las Vegas employee that there is an update which will fix the issue, but neither provider has offered it to customers yet. Cox AZ and Cox San Diego have publicly posted they will release it this summer.
Cox San Diego>> http://www.facebook.com/coxsandiego/..._comment_reply
Cox Arizona>> http://www.facebook.com/CoxArizona/p...50157858586220

I might be a little off-topic from the current discussion, but I didn't want to start a similar thread...

I bought my SA8300HD back in 2005. In 2009 I added a WD external hard drive. The hard drive in the SA8300 is now 6 years old...what is the life expectancy of these things ? Has anyone experienced hard drive failure with the 8300HD, and if so, how old was the hard drive at the time ?

Second question : my WD external hard drive is now full. I've started to record most of the files to my computer using the Hauppauge HD-PVR since the firewire port is not active on my SA8300HD and I couldn't find any other way to backup these files. But since it is not an exact bit-for-bit transfer, I'm not deleting anything from the SA8300HD...so that being all said, can I add another external HD to the 8300HD (there's only 1 SATA port, so I would have to disconnect the 1st HD and connect the 2nd) without losing everything I recorded on the 1st HD ? If there's no problem, that the SA8300 can keep track of the physical location of the files, then is it recommended to add a new external HD to a 6 years old SA8300HD ?

If you purchased an SA8300HD, I assume you are in Canada, Is that correct? US Cable Cos generally will not activate a DVR they did not lease to a customer.
What IPG and version is it running?

I would expect the life expectancy of the internal HDD to be about 5 Years + or -, so might be near failure, but it could last 5 more years. I believe in 2005 it was a 160GB Maxtor Quickview PATA HDD.

As long as you own the 8300HD you can remove the internal HDD and get an equivalent size PATA HDD and use G4L to clone the old to new without loosing anything. If you are running SARA, you may even be able to replace the internal HDD with a 500GB WD PATA HDD. But here you would loose all recordings.

For internal drives Cisco now uses Western Digital Caviar Blue WD1600AAJB 160GB 7200 RPM 8MB Cache PATA HDDs
For 500GB replacement HDD I would recommend the Western Digital Caviar Blue WD5000AAKS 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB PATA HDD

Secondly, SARA has no problem with having more than 1 eSATA Ext HDD, You can swap back an forth between the two, even three, and the Recordings index will know which HDD each recording is on.
Keep in mind at some point the recording index could become corrupt or a sector of the HDD could go bad. The DVR was not intended as a long-term storage solution for archiving.

Thanks for your input Bryan, much appreciated !
That's correct : I'm from Canada, and my cable provider is Videotron.
It's a SARA, version 1.9.0_8300_MR.HR_F.p.0401
The DVR HDD is a Maxtor, version 4R160L0.

If I go for the replacement of the HDD, buying a similar PATA, is it difficult to clone the old DVR and insert the new HDD into the 8300HD (I've never opened the box before) ? Would it be similar to changing the HDD inside a computer ?

Other than copying files using the Hauppauge HD-PVR, is there any other solution for long-term archiving ?

This is the HDD I would use, There are not a lot of choices for a 160GB PATA HDD.
Western Digital Caviar Blue WD1600AAJB 160GB 7200 RPM 8MB Cache
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product...82E16822136112
There is also a Western Digital AV WD1600AVJB 160GB 7200 RPM 8MB Cache if you can get one in Canada.
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product...82E16822136521

There are instructions for replacing the internal HDD in Canada here:
http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=15719
http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/show...069#post665069

I would keep the old Maxtor in a safe place as a backup when finished.

To clone the drives, you will need a computer with 2 40pin Parallel IDE cables or you will need to get 2 SATA to Parallel adapters. If you do not feel comfortable opening up your computer case, you should find someone to do it for you. You could also get two Parallel to USB adapters and not have to open your computer case. This method will take the longest. Cloning a 160 GB PATA HDD using G4L is going to several hours.

If you use G4L from a bootable disk, which is my recommendation, then you would need to open up your computer, disconnect your computers internal HDD(s), so you don't accidentally clone over one of them.

If any of this seems beyond your experience then find someone to do it for you.

As far as copying recordings off the DVR, there is no better way. You must play and capture each recording in real-time.
Does your version of SARA still have the "Copy To VCR" Function?

I find it curious that they would use a PATA HDD internally and offer SATA for the external. One would have thought they would have used the same interface when designing the box.

/phil

Yes, but it works only with the S-VHS output, not with the component output, so it's not HD (downscaled to 480p).
But I can capture without that feature anyways : the Hauppauge box has component input and output (plus the USB output to capture), so I can keep the Hauppauge box installed all the time, not having to plug it in to capture and then plug it out to watch tv.

I've been using the Caviar Black setup with good results for the last week or so. However, last night and this morning, I noticed occasional freezing and tiling. Not too bad, but enough to be annoying. This was while watching a live HD broadcast though (not time-shifted), which leads me to believe it might be signal related instead of drive related. Can anybody weigh in on this? My levels this morning were:

Tuner 1: -4 dBmV
Tuner 2: -8 dBmV
FDC: -9 dBmV
RDC 43 dBmV
QAM SNR : 34 and 32

If these are low, would something like the Motorola Bi-Directional RF Signal Booster improve this?

I'm experiencing the exact same thing since a bad storm about 5 weeks ago which resulted in a three day video/internet/voice outage. For me when this happens I lose audio. I then need to hit pause then play to get the audio back. I be thinking it's low signal level but I do not know how to check it on my Comcast RNG200 running the S25 guide.

Your signal levels are low, -15 would be critical, and your SNR could be better, Greater than 35 is best.
Signals do drop as heat rises.
Check any splitters and connectors and replace or eliminate if possible, even temporarily to test. Run a temporary line to the main if possible to see if your signal improves.

Also disconnect the Ext HDD for a day or two to see if the problem still exists. If it does then I would call for a Tech to come out to attempt to adjust your levels.

I just experienced the 8300HD/8300HDC working/not working issue.

My 8300HD died and Charter swapped it out for an 8300HDC. Guess what! My external drive no longer worked. After hearing from Charter support how they have never supported external hard drives on anything but a Moxi box (even though I was told they did back when I purchased my drive, on the recommendation of a Charter support person), I finally convinced them to swap out my 8300HDC for an 8300HD. The swap happened today and tada, my external drive worked again. The tech that installed it was amazed.

I suspect that those of us who have connected external drives to our 8300s are a very, very small percentage of the cable co customers. Not surprising that that a tech would be agog.

BTW, I read somewhere that Charter is going to roll out TIVOs sometime in the future.

Uh oh!!! Just got notified by Charter that they are rolling out a "new and better" program guide. I have Sara now, the new one appears to be Passport. Anyone know how this is going to play out with my external?

Yes, Charter will be giving you Rovi Passport Echo , I would get an extra 1TB WD Caviar Black and get it formatted now while you still have SARA. If you feel you might need a new DVR in the foreseeable future get it now while you still have SARA so you can still get an Ext HDD formatted.
http://connect.charter.com/newguide/

Here are links to the DVR and Non-DVR User Guides: (the Non-DVR IPG is horrible and nothing like the DVR IPG)
Rovi Passport Customer Service Guides for Scientific Atlanta/Cisco DVR/STBs
SA/Cisco - IPG DVR service: Rovi Passport Echo Version 3.1 - http://www.cox.com/support/digitalca...0for%20DVR.pdf (39.6MB/404pp)
SA/Cisco - IPG Non-DVR (SDTV or HDTV): Rovi Passport Guide Version 5.1 - http://www.cox.com/support/digitalca...r%20nonDVR.pdf (24.6MB/232pp)

In most every aspect I now prefer Rovi Passport to SARA. It has been reliable and much better than SARA at Series Recordings and Recording Management and Recording Conflict Management. It has been 99% successful at recording. The Guide Data is much better than it was with SARA and contains Episode Names. OnDemand is integrated with Passport and performance is smoother.
The two big downfalls for me are, 1) The eSATA issue with the HDC model and 2) I miss the "Copy To VCR" Function.
The transition from SARA to Passport for me was seamless, and I did not loose any recordings, just the ability to format a new Ext HDD with my 8240HDC.

If you have a 8300HD you will probably be OK, I believe the newest version it can run will still support formatting a NEW Ext HDD,
The following Versions on the 8300HD DVR should still recognize and accept a NEW External HDD.

• ResApp Version: Passport Echo 3.1.085 - Sep 13 2010 (Cox)
• ResApp Version: Passport Echo 3.1.086
• ResApp Version: Passport Echo 3.1.092 (Charter)
• OS Version: PowerTV 6.14.98.1sp - May 22 2009 (this version seems to be the newest an 8300HD will support)

But if you have an 8240HDC or 8300HDC you will most likely get the version of PowerTV that will not format a NEW HDD.

Will Not Format new Ext HDDs

• ResApp Version: Passport Echo 3.1.085 - Sep 13 2010 (Cox)
• ResApp Version: Passport Echo 3.1.086
• ResApp Version: Passport Echo 3.1.092 (Charter)
• OS Version: PowerTV 6.20.75.103sp - Jun 2 2010 (This version appears to be the issue)

The following recent post was from a Charter customer with an 8300HD: