One might think after reading this thread that Princess Auto is the only place in GTA that sells them.There's a link in post one which provides many options.

Hi Guys,

Just wanted to chime in with my experience using Linux to clone it. I got the Trinity Rescue Linux distro (http://trinityhome.org/Home/blog.php?front_id=15) and booted from a CD into a computer I had set up with the 2 disks from the PVR (old and new). Copying the data was as simple as doing this command:

dd if=/dev/sda1 of=/dev/sda2

It took about an hour to copy everything. Once I popped the drive into my PVR, it took a few minutes to boot and then my available space was updated and all my programs still available for viewing.

Cheers
Some precisions regarding the DD command. I confirmed it worked fine for me but with some adjustments.

dd if=/dev/hda of=/dev/hdb bs=128k

The difference here is because I used an internal IDE connection (the old flat cable) instead of usb connection. Linux recognizes these as hard drives hence the different device naming.

the "bs" parameter is to change the default 512 bytes to 128 kbytes chunks while copying. It speeds up the process a bit.

The box then needed two reboots of about 5 minutes and Voilà! no more external drive and all their glitches.

Cheers

Can you guys verify that the Linux DD command has actually spanned the original hard drive over to the new larger hard drive you've used since the new SARA 1.92 firmware was pushed down?

I'm finding that cloning a smaller drive (160GB in most cases) to a larger (500GB) drive works as it always has in the past, but since the 1.92 firmware has been pushed out, the 8300HD is no longer taking the space above the 160GB point and making it available for additional recordings. The new cloned 500GB drive is only showing the space of the original 160GB drive.

I've spent a fair bit of time on this today and would like to get some feedback from anyone else who has cloned a drive recently.

My symptoms exactly when I tried to clone the external hard drive. I just checked and my Cisco Explorer 8642HD is using SARA v1.92.16.2. The content was cloned perfectly but the % used remained the same (not recognizing any of the space over the original 500GB).

rgoossens, thank you for weighing in on this and adding your comment.
I'm glad to see I'm not the only one experiencing this. I've successfully cloned dozens of drives for people, but this is the first one since this SARA firmware change and I'm really starting to think this firmware is the only explaination for why this isn't working. I've generally always done this cloning work under Windows, which is why I wanted to hear from the Linux guys to find out if the Linux DD command was still working since the SARA 1.92 "upgrade". I tried using Linux today to see for myself, but unfortunately could not get two hard drives recognized properly as mounted devices, and therefore could not use the DD copy command to test.

Still looking forward to more feedback on this whether you've been successful or not with cloning drives recently.

I replaced my failed internal hard drive today with a WD5000AAKB from Canada Computers. I did not bother with cloning. I found the Security Torx 10 bit at Part Source for less than $7.

It was very easy to do thanks to all the instructions and advice found in this forum. Thanks to all who contribute.

Nice thread guy.

The HD on my 8300HD terminal broke.

I ordered the WD5000AAKB from Dell Canada, I would say I was pleased with the shipping speed plus there is no fees.

I'm wondering if I need to plug the new drive in a PC to initialize it and format it? Or can plug it directly and the terminal will take care of it?

^^^^
Just plug it in and it will work.

You do NOT want to initialize it, but I do plug the drives I install into a computer to check them for SMART errors, surface problems and I lower the noise threshold setting on the drives so they potentially run at their quietest setting.

I upgraded my 8300HD a couple of months ago to the WD 500gb drive and have not had any issues at all except for today? It froze up while watching a recorded program! I finally had to pull the plug to get it to respond and realized this sucker is HOT! It's in a shelved video stand with good air flow and nothing on top of it and has about 2 inches of space above to the next shelf. Has anybody else experienced a heat issue?
Thanks
Jim

Have you had any success cloning either iHDD or eHDD since the SARA upgrade?

Thanks, RG

Not really off topic, but canadian tire tamper proof torx set for $14.99 25-6272-8 is the item code. Was just noticing post 621.

I had a spare 260 gig at home and needed the bits the one needed is in the set. Need a 1/4" ratchet the size is not for a 1/4" screw driver.

Works great but I think I will purchase the 500 (my original drive was freezing on playback. Even after format. Thank-you every one for the great information

I upgraded my 8300HD a couple of months ago to the WD 500gb drive and have not had any issues at all except for today? It froze up while watching a recorded program! I finally had to pull the plug to get it to respond and realized this sucker is HOT! It's in a shelved video stand with good air flow and nothing on top of it and has about 2 inches of space above to the next shelf. Has anybody else experienced a heat issue?
Thanks
Jim
GMJim, please check my posts on page 44 of this same thread
http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=15719&page=44
There is a link to the pictures I took after the modification.
Hope it helps.

Both my 4/5 year old HD8300 PVR's had started acting up, with various issues, so I started by replacing the HD with the WD5000AAKB in one of them to start with. Once we finish watching everything on the other one, if that's even possible with all the dead areas, I'll do the other one as well. Canada Computes has these drives for $85 and about 15 minutes of time to be all fixed up and running again. The 3 hours of reading and researching was definitely worthwhile. Thanks to everyone for all the advice, photo essays, etc.

[...]
(open the 8300HD with the Torx Tamperproof T10 screwdriver bit, 99 cents at Outils Berger).
- decide if you want to test what you think is the cause of your trouble (hint: it might be a waste of time, it was for me)
[...]


I went to the Outils Pierre Berger in La Prairie this past weekend and they wanted $13 for that one single bit! I told them someone else got it there for $1 and he thought I was crazy.
Needless to say, I didn't buy it.

My suggestion for anyone who is having problems with their box and suspects the HD might be the cause, just open it up and disconnect the power connector to the HD. When the box boots back up after, it will operate as just a digital tuner. In my case, all the image freezing/pixelizing and slow interactive response issues went away with the HD unplugged. I have ordered a WD5000AVJB.

My upgraded 8300HD seems to have developed a tendency to lose track of the internal drive. It fails to record schedule shows, and if I try to play one back, I just get dumped back out. The only way to get it working properly is a hard boot, at which point the recorded shows are all fine again. It takes a while for the problem to show up; maybe a few day to a week.

I've already gone through a reformat, as well as re-seating all the connectors. When it first started having this problem, it was sitting out in the open, so air circulation should have been fine. It's now sitting with a dvd player on top, so I'll move it and see if it improves things any.

Has anybody else run into this? I'm wondering if there's any possibility that the latest firmware might have become incompatible with some feature on the drive? I seem to recall enabling a power savings mode when I did the upgrade.

I do have a second unit, so if nobody has any better suggestion, I guess my next step will be to swap the drives. Which brings up another question; can you just internal drives on these beasts, or will it require a reformat on both units?

What's the make/model of the iHDD? Heat is certainly a killer for electronics and blocking the top of a PVR is a no no. If you swap the drives, they will be automatically reformated and you'll lose the info on those drives since they are "tied" to their original PVR.

The new firmware affected those with SATA adaptors, but I don't believe it's directly affected those with PATA iHDDs.

It was the WD5000 (not sure of the precise version, but probably the AAKB).

Thanks for the heads-up on the reformatting. Maybe I'll pick up another WD5000AAKB and upgrade the stock unit while I'm swapping things around. And maybe look at putting fans in while I'm at it.

Btw; just did a comparison between the units as far as perceived heat; and they both seem comparable. Actually seemed cool compared to what I remembered the stock one feeling (when I first got that one, I was worried if it was overheating).

hi Everyone,
is cloning required if you do not need the recordings on the previous drive? I was also about to buy the 500GB drives from Canada computers, hoping i can drop in and the system will format.

^^^^
You can just install the new drive and it will work.