Canadian TV, Computing and Home Theatre Forums - Reply to Topic
Canadian TV, Computing and Home Theatre Forums > Canadian Internet, Phone, TV and Wireless Service Providers > Bell Canada Enterprises (BCE) > Bell Satellite TV PVR, HD PVR and HD Receivers > Hooked up a SATA drive to 9200! > Reply to Thread
Thread: Hooked up a SATA drive to 9200! Reply to Thread
Title:
Message:
Trackback:
Send Trackbacks to (Separate multiple URLs with spaces) :
Post Icons
You may choose an icon for your message from the following list:
 

Register Now



In order to be able to post messages on the Canadian TV, Computing and Home Theatre Forums forums, you must first register.
Please enter your desired user name, your email address and other required details in the form below.

User Name:
Password
Please enter a password for your user account. Note that passwords are case-sensitive.
Password:
Confirm Password:
Email Address
Please enter a valid email address for yourself.
Email Address:
OR

Log-in









Human Verification

In order to verify that you are a human and not a spam bot, please enter the answer into the following box below based on the instructions contained in the graphic.

  Additional Options
Miscellaneous Options

  Topic Review (Newest First)
2006-09-05 11:02 AM
Snoman
Quote:
Originally Posted by DigitalCanadian View Post
Does anybody think if I email Bell about this, it would serve any good?
Ya go ahead and try, I'm sure Bell would love to hear all about it, then they can 'upgrade' all the 9200s with an anti tampering firmware that prevents HDD swapping. I think it would be best to ask them to enable the USB ports instead.
2006-09-02 09:51 PM
unreal1080p
Quote:
Originally Posted by DeadmanInc View Post
You never know... I had a "research firm" call me regarding my 9200 and they asked if I'd be willing to pay to offload PVR content to an external HD.
Well... I certainly hope you "told them the truth" and answered yes to that question... wether you meant it or not
2006-09-01 11:16 PM
DeadmanInc You never know... I had a "research firm" call me regarding my 9200 and they asked if I'd be willing to pay to offload PVR content to an external HD.
2006-09-01 08:24 PM
I_Want_My_HDTV You could also get an external drive enclosure with a SATA port and extend the SATA cable out of the case. I haven't tried this but it should work. Supported drive types are limited.
2006-09-01 02:47 PM
57 It's not so far fetched. The SA8300HD supports an external SATA drive.

http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/61-rogers-cable-tv-hd-pvr-discussion/23773-sa8300hd-external-sata-drive-works-please-read-post-1-post-1-links.html

Some Service Providers even officially supply the drive.
2006-09-01 01:34 PM
Cavendel
USB nightmare
Quote:
Originally Posted by DigitalCanadian View Post
Doesn't 9200 have a USB port? Why is it not utilized for connecting to external HD/backup medium?
First picture how much trouble BEV has supporting the 9200, a piece of hardware that they have spec'd and comes from one manufacturer. Then picture how much more trouble they would have if they allowed their users to connect an external hard drive of some make inside an enclosure of an unknown make all sitting outside the box with a USB connection.

I don't think they will ever support a USB hard drive.
2006-08-24 04:18 AM
DigitalCanadian
Quote:
Originally Posted by 57
Only once the firmware is capable of handling that number of GB. I believe at this point the firmware is probably limiting. Someone could try by trying a larger HDD.
Reading through this thread, I think someone mentioned that 9200 "only" supports a limited number of drivers with specific manufacturing code and dates.

If Bell refuses to enable USB firmware for external enclosures I think at least they should remove the limit for the type/size of drives the 9200 would support.. sigh..

Does anybody think if I email Bell about this, it would serve any good?
2006-08-24 01:31 AM
57 Only once the firmware is capable of handling that number of GB. I believe at this point the firmware is probably limiting. Someone could try by trying a larger HDD.
2006-08-24 01:03 AM
DigitalCanadian
Quote:
Originally Posted by I_Want_My_HDTV
The 9200s drive is 250 GB, twice as big as the 5900. 750 GB hard drives are starting to arrive in stores (at a large price I might add.) It's only a matter of time until 500 GB and 750 GB drives are put into HD PVRs.
Do you think Bell will let owners upgrade to these big 500GB and 750GB drives into 9200? I don't mind paying extra, but they should give us the option. 25 hours of HD shows are really too little.
2006-08-23 11:40 PM
I_Want_My_HDTV When the 5100 was introduced it provided 30 hours of SD recording. Then larger hard drives arrived and the 5800 provided 60 hours and the 5900 80 hours.

The 9200s drive is 250 GB, twice as big as the 5900. 750 GB hard drives are starting to arrive in stores (at a large price I might add.) It's only a matter of time until 500 GB and 750 GB drives are put into HD PVRs.
2006-08-23 11:23 PM
DigitalCanadian I totally agree, 25 hours of HD is unacceptable, as I only watch HD shows right now.
2006-08-23 10:54 PM
unreal1080p
Quote:
Originally Posted by robtsk
Well, I think you have unrealistic expectations. A way to maintain an infinite-capacity
library of HD programming is the worst nightmare Hollywood has, and PVR owners are
wary of crossing Hollywood (especially when they come from programming providers).
Rob
Hollywood has NOTHING to worry about as the bitrates and resolutions provided by cable and satellite providers are pathetic and Blu laser HD media will put to shame the quality of the broadcasts we currently "enjoy"- sarcasm...

As far as i'm concerned, a PVR with less then 100 hours of recording space just doesnt cut it (200 would be even better...). The 9200 gives you 180 hours of SD which is quite adequate and nice... if you want SD which I dont... With 25 hours of HD, except for the summer months, my PVR is ALWAYS full and it actually becomes more of a hinderance then anything (having to watch so many hours to make room for more recordings or simply being reduced to watching live or buffered due to a full PVR). I trully miss the days of my 240 hour SD TIVO back when SD was satisfactory
2006-08-21 08:20 AM
robtsk
Quote:
Originally Posted by DigitalCanadian
Yes but I frequently go on 1-3 week business trips during Fall, so I will definitely miss shows.
Have you looked into a Slingbox? Won't get you HD, but could be a good way to
keep up with shows while on the road, whatever service you have.

Rob
2006-08-21 04:38 AM
DigitalCanadian Yes but I frequently go on 1-3 week business trips during Fall, so I will definitely miss shows.

Swapping SATA external drive, dealing with enclosure, plugging cable in and out of BEV9200 are definitely not things I could ask grandma to come over and help with while I was gone.

Connecting a 400GB external 2nd drive to Rogers 8300HD (without taking internal drive offline) is definitely the way to go.

Too bad, I really love the programming on Bell.
2006-08-20 11:41 PM
robtsk
Quote:
Originally Posted by DigitalCanadian
This is such sad news for Bell 9200, for this reason alone, I am thinking about switching over to Rogers' 8300HD.

I think not having an expansion option and to have to buy all kinds of cables to open up 9200 and to plug in and out cables for each swap and having to seek out specific drives which are running out is simply unacceptable, especially from avsforums it seems like all the US manufacturers are coming out with newer models soon which will allow hooking up to external drives.
Well, I think you have unrealistic expectations. A way to maintain an infinite-capacity
library of HD programming is the worst nightmare Hollywood has, and PVR owners are
wary of crossing Hollywood (especially when they come from programming providers).
I know of no PVRs in the US that are going there. A few would let you bypass the
limitations of the built-in drive by permitting the addition of just one external, permanent
drive; that's as good as I think it gets.

With the Bell 9200, the same hardware on Dish in the US supports copying recorded
content to portable video viewers, so you can take it travelling. We could hope for
that at some point.

Quote:
Originally Posted by DigitalCanadian
Does this make sense?
Not to me. I find my 9200 works fairly well, and would like to see bugs fixed rather
than features like this jammed in. The name-based recording has made a large
positive difference for me, and I like the programming. I offload to DVD with decent
results, and have enough capacity for my weekly viewing even with some week-long
trips. I always have to belt-tighten when I go on a longer trip, so it would be cool to
be able to drop in another drive like I did on my old Tivo. But it's not a big issue to me.

Rob
This thread has more than 15 replies. Click here to review the whole thread.

Posting Rules  
You may post new threads
You may post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts
BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
 
For the best viewing experience please update your browser to Google Chrome
Terms of Use
Copyright