[SloPoke]

I saw a message a while back where someone mentioned a source for the funky power cable required to add a 2nd HD to a 4504 or 4508. It has the standard molex connector that connects to the drive but the other end has a smaller connector like the connector sometimes used to connect a sound card to a CDROM drive. I remember someone commenting on the "creative soldering" required to fit the large power wires into that tiny connector. I've searched the forum but have been unable to find it. Can someone who has a better memory than mine give me a hint where to find this source? - SloPoke

 

[KenL]

If you really must do a second drive (I'd much rather one large drive) and you can't rig the connector yourself, try to PM user pu82 -- BTW we aren't allowed to link to dealer/vendor sites here. But he used to have some of those available for totally helpless wimps.


I'd consider a single large drive if you have any choice in the matter since the 45xx will take any size disk available... I don't believe 2 drives are really worth the potential pitfalls any longer... now with large inexpensive drives so plentiful.


Best of luck.

 

[Dallben]

Forgive me if there's a reason not to do this somewhere else, the search engine was still out of whack when I thought about it...


Why not just use a Y-Cable? They're only a couple of bucks and I know you can get them at Compusa, I think Radio Shack even sells them.


But I'd have to agree with the KenL: A single drive upgrade is the way to go.

 

[SloPoke]

Thanks KenL,

I'll check with pu82. There is a reason I am considering adding a 2nd drive rather than just replacing the current drive with a bigger one. Actually I have already replaced the 80GB drive with a 100GB drive. Yeah, I know, not much of an improvement on available space but that extra 20hours did help. Now I plan to add the original 80GB drive back in as a 2nd drive or add a 120GB drive that I have on hand. Besides the power cable, the hold-up is that I will have to save all of the programs off to other storage (DVArchive'ed to PC) so I can clear the MPG partition during the patch process.


A single 200GB drive might be inexpensive to some but when I already have two drives on hand, it seems senseless to me to buy another bigger drive. Funds are tight after buying the 4508 and activation. Plus I'm in the process of building a new faster PC and my funds have been dried up for a while. Also those big 200GB or 250GB drives are most likely to be 7200RPM (ie hotter) drives.


I can probably kludge the power cable together myself but want to see what is available. Oh, and I did not realize that the person who mentioned the cables was a commercial dealer. I had assumed from what I had read that he/she was just someone who had figured out a way to make these cables and was willing to help out other RTV owners. - SloPoke

 

[KenL]

Well the the 200 giggers are still a bit steep even for KenL. However it won't be long before they are on sale for $99. I mean back when the 20 GB were selling for $99 did you really think (before you could blink an eye) 120 GB would be selling for $99?


In the meantime I think the sweet spot for any one Replay unit is 120 -160 GB. I'm in the process of reverting all mine back to one drive. And I've found homes for all the 80's and 60's in PeeCee's.

 

[lizard_boy]

Quote:

Originally posted by KenL Well the the 200 giggers are still a bit steep even for KenL. However it won't be long before they are on sale for $99. I mean back when the 20 GB were selling for $99 did you really think (before you could blink an eye) 120 GB would be selling for $99? In the meantime I think the sweet spot for any one Replay unit is 120 -160 GB. I'm in the process of reverting all mine back to one drive. And I've found homes for all the 80's and 60's in PeeCee's.

yeah if i could just clear all the damn shows off my old showstoppers i am going to do this...i get too many e-mail from people with dual drives who have experienced heat-related problems...i'm pretty good about keeping them cool, but eventually one of my drives is going to go kaput and take a bunch of shows with it

 

[BaysideBas]

I just picked up 2 120's for my 3 Replays. Since I have them all with removable drive bays it made for a simple upgrade. Didn't copy any shows over and that allowed for large clusters. Takes just seconds to swap drives so I can take my time viewing the recorded shows and will eventually clear up the old drives unless I decide to use those for archiving. Now I have 320GB online with three tuners and an additional 180GB offline on the old drives. No show marathon will bring this system to its knees, life is sweet.....

 

[SloPoke]

Quote:

Originally posted by Dallben Why not just use a Y-Cable? They're only a couple of bucks and I know you can get them at Compusa, I think Radio Shack even sells them.

I remember from an earlier discussion in this forum that this _may_ not be a good idea due to the amount of power that the connector on the circuit board can deliver without damage to the board. The Y-cable was my first inclination also (I have several of these on hand) until I inspected the connector where the HD power cable connects to the circuit board and then I thought better. These connectors are not nearly as hefty as the molex connector that connects to the drive itself and the runs on the PCB are not that heavy either. I'd rather take the time to get the right cable than risk burning out the PCB by powering two drives from a connector that was designed to power only one drive.


I have located a source (the one that KenL pointed me to) for the cable and am awaiting a response to my email. - SloPoke

 

[lizard_boy]

i used a y-cable for a few months on my 4040--->4160 with no problems...picked up the cable from he-whom-shall-go-nameless and it's also worked fine...very easy to install

 

[RandyL712]

I'll cast my usual vote for multiple units vs high-storage single setups...