MIS3 As I mentioned several times, this is the correct thread to discuss cloning, as the topic is discussed extensively here, despite you wanting to clone an eHDD, the procedure is the same.

I'd answer you, but I don't know the answer to your question. Your cross-post was deleted. Please wait for people to respond here, or use the techniques outlined in this thread.

57: Sorry for the confusions. I did read most of the threads and this was how I know some people here use the software EASYUS Disk Copy. True that I may have missed some posts.

I am now asking specific question about the software that some of the readers may have experienced. I also read up on Disk Copy in EASYUS site. While I believe this will do the job, looks like it needs both HDD to be connected at the same time.

I am wondering if there is a way to clone the HDD without opening the PC case. I was hoping there is a way to copy the image to a temporary location so I can connect the HDD to the ESATA one at a time.

Apparently, Disk Copy will let me create the image in a USB hard drive. Just happened that I have a WD 650 GB USB drive so I tried it.

The source HDD was the external HDD of my PC with capacity of 500 GB wand 90-100 GB of data. I launched Dsk Copy and the estimated time to complete was 13-14 hours. Wow, this is long!!! I killed the job after 30 minutes.

I bought a Western Digital Caviar WD5000AAKB 500 GB IDE Hard Drive to replace the 160GB IDE Hard Drive that came with the SA 8300 PVR. I have noticed though like last night the Grammy's only recorded for 11 minutes and Saturday Night live 4 minutes even though when I looked at the Box the recording light was always on for the hours that the shows were on for.
I am lost.
Help.

Check your signal strength and S/N ratio and report back.

http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=17719

Ok when I get home tonight I will check. But will this affect the recordings even though the internal 160GB drive worked flawlessly all this time?

Perhaps when you disconnected/reconnected the RF-coax your connection is not as good - lots of stuff could change when you perform service on a machine.

I had a 500GB IDE drive installed in the 8300HDC until the box itself died.

I...

-Removed my 500GB drive from the dead 8300HDC
-Reinstalled the original drive
-Exchanged the dead 8300HDC for another
-Got the new 8300HDC setup and activated
-Put my 500GB drive into the new device

Everything booted fine. I can see all of the recorded items in DVR.

--BUT--

When I try to play any of the recorded content, the screen goes blank for some time, reboots, and initiates the chkdsk (hex countdown).

Questions: Am I hosed? Have I lost all of the recorded content? Do I just need to wipe the drive now? Anyway for me to recover the recordings?

Thanks y'all.

If I recall correctly from earlier in this and the external thread, the programming is somehow "tied" to the original PVR hardware. You cannot access the programming in new PVR hardware. I believe you'll have to format your drive and lose all the programming.

Here's the FAQ on STBs with the format instructions at the bottom of post 1.

http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=17719

I believe the discussion took place a few months ago in this and/or the external drive thread.

57,

Thanks. The sad part is that I can see the recording list, delete old recordings, record new programs, and everything else BUT watch all the old recordings.

Based on that, I don't know if I must reformat the drive...

It would be nice if they allowed the drive to be swapped between devices so we won't lose recordings when the device fails.

The encryption is tied to the hardware. So in this case your junked PRV. The new PVR cannot decrypt the recordings because the keys will be different. You can delete the old shows because all you are doing is deleting the file listing. You can record new shows because they will be encrypted with the new hardware keys.

If you could swap drives into other PVRs then you could share recordings with other PVR owners.

That clears it up. Thanks. I presume an external SATA is also subject to devce-specific encryption?

The index for the eHDD is on the internal drive, so it can only be accessed from that PVR, with that internal drive.

Snovvman,
As Jake said, all the recordings are tied to the box that they were recorded on via encryption. Regarding the need to format or not - did you happen to notice/check what amount (percentage) of space your new PVR was showing as available when you put the old drive in? Was the space available increasing as you were deleting recordings? I'm just curious if the new box sees those old recordings and leaves them on the drive or if it considers it free space that can be recorded over top of immediately.

With all the installations I've done I've never moved someone's old drive into a new PVR as I already knew about the hardware encryption and the fact that the old recordings will not be available for viewing. Personally I would recommend formating your drive in your situation just to be thorough, although it's probably not necessary.

I modified my receiver yesterday (8300HD) with a Western Digital 500GB 3.5" Desktop Internal Hard Drive (WD5000JBRTL)

So far so good, thank you very much for posting the instructions with the pictures. I'm no expert at this, this was my first time changing a hard drive. I removed the old one (that was broken) and placed the new one within 30 minutes...plugged in the receiver which did some diagnostics or what not and 15 minutes later it was up and running. Very cool stuff!!!

I need some help!

I have a SA 8300HD (from Videotron) with a 320Gb drive that may be defective. It won't record properly. Playback of previously recorded HD material (say 6 months ago) freezes partially for a few seconds or sometimes completely. Strangely, playback of SD material plays back smoothly. I was told that it would be my hard drive that is defective. What do you think? I've had no message warnings whatsoever. What else can it be?

If I replace the hard drive with a new hard drive (say a WD5000AAKB) will I be able to clone it since it is defective? I've read that the swap doesn't always work if you don't clone the old one in the process. Is this true?

Is the WD5000AAKB still the best choice or is there something newer with more capacity worth considering?

Have you performed a cold reboot of the PVR (unplug/replug)? You can clone as discussed in the link in post 1 of this thread.

Cloning transfers the recorded programmes to the new drive. If you don't care about those recordings, then simply replacing the drive is possible. If the recordings are corrupt, then they would be corrupt on the cloned drive. Sometimes this issue can be with the other electronics and not the HDD...

I have performed a cold reboot with no noticible improvement. I also checked the diagnostic menu and the HDD looks fine, no bad sectors or anything. The problem seems worse when utilising both tuners, like copying two programs at once. The unit is passed the warranty period, I've had it for 18 months.

Check the Signal Strength and S/N ratio: http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=17719

I modified my receiver yesterday (8300HD) with a Western Digital 500GB 3.5" Desktop Internal Hard Drive (WD5000JBRTL)


I just upgraded my drive with the 500GB Western Digital WA50000AAKB, according to these instructions (http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?p=665069#post665069). However, I found it wasn't necessary to remove the 8 side plate screws. I only removed the 3 screws holding the drive bracket to the side plate. I was then able to remove the bracket and drive assembly. I also managed to avoid wrecking the security seal. I didn't have to clone the drive as I had watched & deleted every recorded show.

Now to see how well it works.


BTW, the original drive was a Seagate ST3160215ACE, not the Maxtor shown in the article.