I managed to swap the drive of my other 8300HD with a Security Torx 8 bit (and regular Torx 10 for the inside screws). I guess the screws were fairly loose on that one.

However, on my second 8300HD whose drive just died, the screws wouldn't budge. So, I went searching for a Security Torx 10 bit.

My results:

Canadian Tire: My local shop no longer carries Security Torx bits or screwdrivers.
Lowes: Couldn't find any Security Torx stuff anywhere, and I got sick of waiting to ask a store rep after standing around for 10 minutes so I left.
Home Depot: They had only 1 product with a Security Torx 10 bit. It was a screwdriver with a bunch of different types of Security bits (not just Torx) that are stored inside the handle... but it's $25. Ouch.
Rona: That had some Fuller Security bits that looked rather cheaply made. $19 for a whole bunch of different kinds. However, they also had a package of 6 Bosch Security Torx bits (size 10 to 30) that looked much better made, for $10.

So, if you need these bits, go to Rona and look for:

Bosch Security Torx Screwdriving Bits, 6 Piece, Bosch product number CC60391, Rona SKU 346319033.

YMMV of course.

So, I went searching for a Security Torx 10 bit.
This comes up often enough that maybe we should put sources of Torx 10 bits in this thread's first post.

Two other sources, previously mentioned in this thread, are:

Sayal Electronics (http://www.sayal.com/). Use you brower's search function to find tamper in the tools (http://www.sayal.com/ActionIndexC.asp?CLASS=TOOLS) section of store products.

Active Electronics (http://www.active123.com/). Search for keyword security from the main page.

Both of these places may have other drivers and sets not listed, or difficult to find on their web sites.

Princess Auto has also been mentioned.

Thanks scotta. I could have gone to one of those electronics stores, but this was late on a Sunday, and I wanted those bits right away. Gotta have that TV working. ;)

Just for the record my original 8300HD contained...
Perfect. My drive that just died is a Maxtor (although I can't remember the exact model number off hand). I just took apart my old unused Firewire drive, and it has a WD1200BB in it.

So, only 120 GB, but it's good to know that its brother is one that ships with the unit. The reduced size is OK since I don't leave much recorded stuff on this machine, and I didn't feel like spending another $70-$100 on a new IDE drive. It's been said before many times, but it's too bad they don't use internal SATA, since they already have (e)SATA.

but it's too bad they don't use internal SATA, since they already have (e)SATA.

The replacement model 8642 uses SATA internally.

Re: Spinning up drive with new firmware.

With this WD1200BB I installed, it's not completely silent. Acoustic management is on, but it has a whine when spinning. In a quiet room - my home office - it is very apparent... because now the drive is constantly spinning up and down.

I know I said I didn't want to spend any more money, but this sound is so annoying I'm tempted to buy a 5400 rpm laptop drive with a 3.5" adapter to replace it. pclam, did you ever try the laptop drive?

The WD1600AVJB scotta recommended is another option, but is several dB louder than the laptop drive you mentioned.

Unfortunately, it's becoming increasingly hard to find quiet IDE drives these days, whether they'd be 2.5" or 3.5".

Thanks scotta. I found the model of my hard drive in the diagnositics section - ST3160215ACE. From the Seagate website, it's Accoustics profile:
PATA (typical/max, bels) 2.2/2.3

22/23 decibels is less than the laptop hard drive I was looking at. I guess the hard drive wasn't making the noise. I could have sworn it's from the hard drive spinning up.

I guess the next thing for me to do is open the top of the 8300 and see if I can find the source of the noise.

Thanks!

There is nothing else that would be making the noise, besides the drive.

I am new here and appreciate all of this advice. I have two questions after ordering my WD5000AAKB.

1) Should I take the time to enable AAM on the drive? Does it ship "disabled". Some say it has made a difference for them. Which software is the best to access this task?

2) In following the original instructions....

(Finally, reverse the procedure with the new 500GB HDD and put everything back together. Hookup your TV cable, your video and power and turn it on. It will reboot several times automatically and in about 15 mins, you should see the clock again. You are now finished. Since the "warranty void" sticker is undamaged, this mod is completely reversible (as far as I can tell).

After I plug the power back in the newly installed unit, do I allow it to update on it's own, or do I actually press the "power" button on the front? I only ask this because the 8300 will reboot when it has a power source connected on not actually turned on.

Thanks

Should I take the time to enable AAM on the drive?
1. My opinion is it is not worth the slight improvement in sound at the risk of performance and compatibility.

2. You don't have to press power. Simply plugging the unit to power will initiate the upgrade process.

Super Thanks...wish me luck!!!

1. My opinion is it is not worth the slight improvement in sound at the risk of performance and compatibility.
What compatibility issues would there be? The main difference is performance as you say, but I'd say that even with acoustic management active these modern drives are faster than the old ones that shipped with the units anyway.

I have turned on acoustic management for both of my machines. Makes a significant difference in noise. However, I will say that one drive remains audible because it still emits a bit of a whine when the drive is spinning, and I sit relatively close to the unit. Acoustic management greatly reduced the seek noise however.

In fact, even though I'm mainly a Mac guy, I keep an old beige Pentium 4 in the closet to do stuff like this.

What compatibility issues would there be?

A few members here posted their testing of various AAM settings. If I get a minute I will see if I can dig them up.

Eug,

Sorry I didn't reply to you earlier. I haven't tried the laptop hard drive yet. But I just realized that I bought a hard drive for my laptop last year. I checked the model and it's WD1200EVE. The cool part about this is the accoustics:

Acoustics
Idle Mode 20 dBA (average)
Seek Mode 0 21 dBA (average)

The 160GB model has the same acoustics. I can only hear it when I put my ear to the laptop (around 6 inches away). So I'm on my way to trying this out with the 120GB in the next few days. If it works, then I'll pick up the 160GB model for the PVR.

The thing I'm concerned about is the throughput since I think that's what will allow dual recording and simultaneous playback. I couldn't really get much stats on the internet on the drives. The only site I found was www.datamarck.com which provided read throughput.

For my ST3160215ACE drive, read throughput is 56MB/s.
On my other 8300, it has a WD1600BB. The read throughput is 43MB/s.
The WD1200BEVE comes in at 39MB/s.

Assuming the write throughput scales like read throughput, the laptop drive is the slowest. I haven't had any issues with the WD1600BB with HD content, so I'm assuming 43MB/s is sufficient for reads. Since the WD1200BEVE is close to WD1600BB, I may be in luck. I'll keep you posted when I get around to trying this out.

I'm concerned about is the throughput
No worry. 40MB/s = 320Mb/s. Two typical 10-12Mb/s streams will only tap a fraction of that.

Is there any other internal hard drives larger than 500gb for Rogers 8300HD?

No. PATA is end-of-life and the largest is 500GB. Seagate made a 750GB model but given Seagate's poor performance you are taking a chance.

Is the WD5000AAKB the most reliable

I gave the laptop hard drive a try over the weekend (WD1200EVE). I think it was a success.

I only tested for ~10min, but the results were pretty good. I was able to record two HD streams and play 1 HD stream simultaneously without any issues. So that was quite pleasing.

As for noise, I was ~6ft away from the box and I could only hear the hard drive spinning if I paid attention and listened closely. Otherwise, I wouldn't be able to tell it was on. There was the occasional click from the drive that was noticeable, but that's about it. This PVR is in my spare bedroom so I had to close the door to keep noise from my other room out before I could hear the hard drive :)

FYI...the PVR is more audible because there's grills on the case vs. a closed environment of my laptop. So the only thing to I can think of to make it more quiet is to wrap it up in some foam. But it's probably not necessary.

I also had a bunch of extra screws that the laptop drive didn't need because it's much smaller. The holes in 2.5"->3.5" HDD bracket didn't line up correctly. I guess that's what I get for ordering it from ebay, but I don't think it mattered too much. The drive was upside down with two screws on the bracket. Anyone trying this will need to fiddle with it a bit to make sure it's secure. I also covered the bottom side of the drive with some paper to make sure nothing gets shorted with the metal bracket :)

My verdict - I definitely will be picking up a WD1600BEVE for my 8300HD PVR at my earliest convenience.

I enabled the AAM and successfully installed my WD drive today. So far it works like a dream. No digital issues and VERY quiet while on or powered off. Only took 5 mins or so to reboot a few times and the "clock" was back on!!!

You guys just saved me about $150 in labour costs to do this....can you imagine??

Much appreciated.

Peter

Hi a newbie here, I read thru many pages of a thread related to changing the Internal drive. I was very happy to see how easy it was, and that everyone pretty much was successful.

However, besides the obvious tripling of space...why were people doing it.

My problem was that shortly after warranty period ran out (about 16 months into life of unit - no extended wty offered)...we started experiencing problems where the image/signal would seem to get stuck....at first we assumed it was problem in the actual feed or signal.....:mad:

Over time the problem worsened...... it would get stuck for sometimes a minute or two.....even if we tried fast forwarding.....watching anything even live TV has grown increasingly unbearable.....

Problem seemed worse if we were watching a previously recorded program....or if there were multiple recordings taking place..... or if we were trying to watch something while device was recording......

We also had flashes where pixels seemed to be a problem (pixellatioon ??)..

Videotron support had us try:
- reboot
- sent a technician to check the signal coming into the house they agreed there was a problem, and changed something physical outside) - no noticeable improvement
- had us chg from HDMI to some other multi-colored / multi-jack cable (saying they have seen this rectify the problem)
- had us reformat the disk

If there was any improvement from these measures it was slight......and not permanent..:(

My option was purchase a new device at full price........

Threatening to leave (switch to Bell) got me a maximum of $210 discount...... but device still costs $599 + I guess the extended wty !!

So happy to find this site and this thread about ease of replacement .....
Thank-you to the pioneers why led the way here.......and the power of the Internet !! :D

Reading thru I jumped to conclusion that this would solve my problem and ordered the WD 500Gb replacement from Canada Computers.....It has arrived...

But now (while trying to get my hands on Tamper-proof Torx) am asking the question.....

Besides increase in recording space.....were people experiencing similar problems...and will this HDD swap likely rectify things ?? ...and give my box new life ?

BTW: I don't plan to clone he old HDD in case that copied over the jumpy recorded programs....nor do I plan to try AAM sine I sawa post where it didn't sound like it gave me too much compared to how complicated it was for a non-techie to do....Unless someone feels strongly about it !!!

Welcome your comments!!


Thanks,

Warren in Montreal.....