Ok, discard previous message. I was able to download Active Boot Disk and create a boot CD.

Here is problem now:


Booted from the CD (Win 7 PE)


I ran the Clone Disk feature, cloned by 160GB to the new 500GB drive. This took about 1h30 minutes.


Put the new disk in the PVR


Plugged all the drives


Still show 85% used. The SA8300HD is not seeing the extra space.

What did I do wrong?

Swapped my PVR HD to the WD5000AAKB yesterday using EASEUS DiskCopy using the Sector by sector copy. Took about 1h30 to copy. PVR is still reporting 90% full.

For those interested in enabling the Acoustic Management Mode, you need to download the Hitachi Feature Tool 2.13. Latest version 2.15 doesn't include it. A little search on google should get you this version.

Couldnt edit my post, so here the screen from the diagnostic mode

http://pages.infinit.net/mkampf/pvr.jpg

Seems like the PVR report my HD to a 1tb oO

Ok, everything was lost this time.

I am now starting to wonder if a maintenance routine, say disk defrag, is to blame? As far as I can tell, no additional software was pushed out.

Lost 92 shows this time.

All the resets had no effect (soft and hard).

In desperation, since everything was gone anyway, I had it reformat the disk. I left the external connected, but have no idea if it reformatted or not.

We recorded a bunch of shows last night, and they seemed to play this morning. I intent to 'harass' the unit tonight to see if I can trigger a loss of data..

Has anyone else determined a pattern?

Ok, discard previous message. I was able to download Active Boot Disk and create a boot CD.

Here is problem now:


Booted from the CD (Win 7 PE)


I ran the Clone Disk feature, cloned by 160GB to the new 500GB drive. This took about 1h30 minutes.


Put the new disk in the PVR


Plugged all the drives


Still show 85% used. The SA8300HD is not seeing the extra space.

What did I do wrong?Swapped my PVR HD to the WD5000AAKB yesterday using EASEUS DiskCopy using the Sector by sector copy. Took about 1h30 to copy. PVR is still reporting 90% full.
I have recently experienced a same issue cloning internal 500GB WD5000AAKB to 1TB SATA drive with IDE adapter. SA8300HD ignored the extra space and kept seeing only the original 500GB. However if I let the PVR format the drive it sees the full 1TB drive capacity. Of course, in this case all the recordings are lost.

Didn't find any solid information so far but I suspect the infamous SARA upgrade pushed in October - December 2010 is to blame. Looks like they removed the capability to discover the unused HDD space. Prior to that during 2008-2010 I cloned both internal drive from 160GB to 500GB and external drive from 500GB to 1TB a number of times just fine with Active Disk Image.

Can't blame the cloning software in this case. It created an exact copy of the original smaller drive. The problem is that PVR won't expand the AVFS partition anymore. Didn't have an opportunity to test whether the same issue occurs when cloning external drives, perhaps someone would share their recent experience.

Couldnt edit my post, so here the screen from the diagnostic mode
Seems like the PVR report my HD to a 1tb oO
HDD capacity is internally measured in 512B sectors, so 976642096 sectors come up to 500,040,753,152 Bytes or ~466GB. By the way, AVFS size for WD5000AAKB on the diagnostic screen is shown as 972434700 for me. Your AVFS size of 308244800 means ~147GB, which matches the size of 160GB drive.

I'm using Videotron service and I called them last month cause my external HD wasnt detected anymore. Tech guy told me last update was back in March when they pushed the new menu along with a few new feature. I might have to call them again to check again.

Ill try this weekend to re-clone my 500gb back to the 160gb. Reformat the 500gb and let the PVR reformat the drive to its full capacity. And then... reclone sector by sector the data back to it.

Fun weekend for sure with all those tests :D

Ill report my result at the end.

Question for anyone who has replaced the Internal HDD, without cloning, who was also using an External HDD that had recordings on it prior to the Internal replacement.

Question:
Did the 8300HD still recognize and was able to playback recordings on the previously recorded External HDD?

I am assuming the answer to my question would be No, based also on my assumption that the recording data index is stored on the Internal HDD which was replaced.

I apologize if this has already been answered in this thread.
Thanks in advance for your answer.

Question:
Did the 8300HD still recognize and was able to playback recordings on the previously recorded External HDD?
You are correct, the index is on the internal drive so you will not be able to access the recordings on the external.

I reformat the 500gb this morning without any filesystem on it and my PVR doesn't seem to reformat it. When I go in the listing, it says that my hard drive is not ready and provider is checking at it.

Is there any way to force to format it?

edit: ok seems that you have to wait to get it formated.

Is there any way to force to format it?

edit: ok seems that you have to wait to get it formated.
The format process takes seconds. It is the download of the software and IPG that takes the time.

I'm planning on doing the 500gb internal upgrade to my 8300hd. Just curious, should I write down my scheduled programs, or does the box retain those after the replacement?

All settings, scheduled recordings and recorded programs will be gone.

^^^^
Settings pertaining to the operation of the box are retained. Settings about recordings are lost. Easy way to remember is if you use the Menu/Settings button, to configure something, it will be retained. If set through the IPG, it will be lost.

So i did some testing this weekend. After I let the PVR format my whole 500gb, I still couldnt have all my stuff with the 160gb recloned to it.

So I watched a bunch of tv shows I had previously recorded and reformated my 500gb.

Success with an Internal HDD upgrade to a WD3200AAJB (320Gb) I found and pulled from a decommissioned PC. It's not 500Gb, but at least it's double what was there originally. The T-10 Security torx was in ample supply at Princess Auto.

When I go in the listing, it says that my hard drive is not ready and provider is checking at it.
I have this problem too. I am now trying to use the Hard Reboot procedure described by BSplayer, who said:
"A Hard Reboot will resolve MANY issues with not only external drives, but memory issues too. You should WAIT until the reboot is completely finished before powering up. It usually takes about 5 - 10 min, depending on your application and IPG data. The best way to determine when the download is finished is to watch the front panel indicators. On the front panel, where the : (colon) separates the hours and minutes, the bottom " . " dot will appear after all the OS firmware has been loaded. A PVR getting a download or initializing will be blank. Leave the PVR alone until the dot appears."
I am puzzled with that bottom " . " dot. I only see the : (colon) separating the hours and minutes. How long should I wait for the bottom dot to appear ? Thanks for any tips.

Another successful transplant using a WD AAKB 500GB drive (that used to be my PC external backup drive.) Did it last night, recorded some stuff overnight, watched them today, no problems. Of course, I had to reschedule everything again.

Was too lazy and cheap to go out and get the security torx bits, so used a Dremel and a thin cutoff disc to cut slots in the three screws holding the cover on. Worked like a charm. Oh, yes, I do own the unit. ;)

...jim

Hi everyone, I just discovered this forum and was wondering if anyone has upgraded the SA 8300 to a 1TB or 2TB internal drive as the price of a 1TB is now down to around $70. Is there a limit with this (SA8300) unit? Sorry, if this question has been discussed previously, but I did a search and it seems everyone just talks about the 500gb drives.
Thanks in advance....
Dan

This has been discussed many times. The WD 500GB is the largest PATA (IDE) drive available that works well in the 8300. There is a link in post 1 of this thread to the thread on adaptors that allow you to use (larger) SATA drives, however, they have been problematical and with the new Rogers firmware still more problematical - not recommended.

The T-10 Security torx was in ample supply at Princess Auto.Just a note regarding the availability of the T-10 (or to be precise, TT-10) Torx security bit that opens the SA8300HD cover. One might think after reading this thread that Princess Auto is the only place in GTA that sells them. I found mine in a store called EfstonScience in Toronto at Hwy 401 & Dufferin St. across the street from Yorkdale mall. They had them in a 33-piece set of all imaginable security bits. Paid $9 couple of years back but looks like now it went down to $6, and they sell them online, too.

^^^^
I got mine from Sayal.