Yeah they are Shaw boxes that I had activated on Eastlink. The firmware allows external hdds. You just need to find a tech that can enable it. An Eastlink employee contacted me on here last year and helped me get it working. I had it working on the 3400 last August then I switched it over to the 3416 in December.

Eastlink pays Motorola licensing fees for each box they apply firmware too. These licensing fees are a monthly charge, and that is why there is a $5 monthly fee.

I noticed an announcement on Eastlink Twitter that they have now have software to enable the addition of an external HDD, and this in in all areas of the country that they serve, and the specs for the hard drive are given there.

Since I am leaving Bell, and returning to Eastlink, I wonder if the same HD I have been using on my receiver with Bell with also work with Eastlink's PVR? I assume some sort of hard drive format will be necessary.

It sounds like the only requirements for external storage are a minimum 16MB buffer, 7200RPM and an eSATA connection.:)

Here's the press release:

http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/August2011/04/c9531.html

Eastlink instructions:

http://www.eastlink.ca/CableDigitalTV/DVR/DVRExpander.aspx

Eastlink Video: Learn how to expand your DVR's built in storage

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I guess mine won't work after all, since it is USB 2.0 only, and not SATA.

Hi

I have been using and External HD with the 3400 for several months now- like close to a year.

Yeah same here, maybe all their reps know about it now though lol.

I find the following quote from the Eastlink site rather odd:

All recorded programs from this point forward will save to that external drive, Does this mean that the internal isn't used at all? Or only for the index and IPG? Or simply as evidenced in other eHDD applications that the eHDD is utilized until it is as full percentage-wise as the internal, then both drives are utilized again...?

Usually it's possible to tell if the iHDD is used by disconnecting the eHDD and accessing the programming that's on the iHDD, or simply by watching the drive indicator lights on the eHDD once it's as full percentage-wise. Any comments from the people who've had this working for a while?

I've made this thread a sticky.

Or simply as evidenced in other eHDD applications that the eHDD is utilized until it is as full percentage-wise as the internal, then both drives are utilized again...?
I'm pretty sure that's the right answer, since Eastlink uses the same hardware and software as Shaw and this is the way Shaw works.

the external drive is used until full, then written to the internal. i guess it keeps it all neat and tidy.

Hi all,

Based on the info in this thread, I purchased a Western Digital My Book AV DVR Expander (the exact one in the video). After connecting everything according to the instructions provided by Eastlink, the DVR refused to turn on. I called Eastlink and they said they won't support it as it's not their product. I called WD and they said the Motorola is not supported. I called Eastlink back and spoke to someone else who told me that DVR Expander will not work. Anybody have any clue as to what is going on here? I'm going to attempt to troubleshoot through Motorola, but I'd appreciate any other suggestions. Thanks!

Ok disregard my above post. I got it working by NOT turning off the PVR before plugging the DVR Expander in. Immediately the format menu came up and I was off to the races. However, I'm not real happy with the level of support Eastlink provided in this case.

Just spent an incredibly frustrating 2 days with eastlink tech support trying to get a DVD expander hard drive working. Was told the (Shaw) IOMega from Best Buy was incompatible and needed to get the WD By Book DVD Expander. Took 6 hours on the ferry to go back to Best Buy in Vancouver to get the WD drive. Only to find that it too did not work. Tech support did not call back, then hung up on me, but finally another tried to download an upgrade to the DCT firmware (no idea what version). He said to try again after 30 minutes to see if the "hard drive needs to be formatted" message appears - IT DIDN"T.
So searched the web and found an old post that suggested to NOT POWER OFF THE DVR BEFORE PLUGGING IN THE EXPANDER. and then it worked!!!!! Up popped the message asking to format the Expander drive and now my 80% full suddenly became 0% full. Now going to try recording to make sure it really works doing that.

So what happened to your 80% content as it went down to zero on your pvr? Did the content end up on your external drive?

WD My DVR expansion units are out of stock everywhere.

From the looks of it I could use an eSATA hard drive dock with a 1TB or maybe even a 2TB bare drive as long as the drive is 7200rpm with a minimum drive cache of 16M.

i.e.

Hard Drive Dock
http://www.thermaltakeusa.com/Product.aspx?C=1346&ID=1731

Bare Drive
-any SATA2/SATA3 7200rpm drive, most have 32M or 64M cache

(ack!! prices gone up, way up!)

Bonus - you can use the hard drive dock to make back-ups of your PC drives if/when the DVR is not in use.

I was fortunate enough to find the WD My DVR expander in my local Best Buy today. Ironically, it was NOT in the hard drives section of the store, but in the TV section, near DVR's and set top boxes.

The only reason I made the trip was that it was listed on the website as being "in stock" at both the Halifax and Dartmouth stores. The price wasn't even as bad as I feared, with all this news of hard drive shortages in the news lately.

David, how is it working out for you? Any problems?

Installation was quick and painless, aparsons. I was surprised to see how fast the "format" process was, almost instantaneous. After installation, my "percent full" fell from 20% or so to 4%.

Thanks David, I went and picked one up this morning, just as the snow started to fly.