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External (SATA) Hard Disk Drive (eHDD) Discussions for HDPVR 630 - See post 1

159K views 289 replies 83 participants last post by  TZM 
#1 ·
Awesome! Thanks for the update!!

Now, what drive do we buy?

Edit by 57 - thought it would be a good idea to start a new thread specifically for the eHDD for the 630.

From the Firmware thread:

HDPVR 630 External Hard Drive Support

- HDPVR 630 customers can now connect a single eSATA hard drive to expand their recording capacity, up to 2 TB (2000 GB)

- A 2 TB drive would provide over 1360 SD, or 360 HD hours of additional recording capacity!

- Drives must:

- Be connected via eSATA (not USB)

- Be externally powered (i.e. with a cord that plugs into an electrical outlet)

- Be 2.0 TB or smaller

· Drives should:

- Be rated for PVR/DVR usage. These are drives specifically designed to be quieter, run cooler, and support multiple HD streams and 24/7 usage.

- eSATA hotplug is not supported in this release, meaning the receiver must be rebooted if a drive is connected or disconnected. The onscreen menus will then guide the customer through the setup or divorce instructions.
From post 7 - eHDD link on SD:

http://www.shawdirect.ca/promotions/english/hdd/default.asp?WT.mc_id=van_ExternalHDD
 
#2 · (Edited by Moderator)
Western Digital DVR Expander

I have a Western Digital DVR expander and they are great. Super quiet and cool running. You can probably also get by with a spare drive and an eSATA enclosure. The key with DVR expanding is to use a setup that won't auto sleep or spin down the hard drive after a set period of inactivity. That always seems to be the kiss of death for lockups and such.

A nice feature of the DVR expanders is an automatic optimization algorithm that's basically a defrag that the drive runs on itself to ensure its able to stream efficiently without lots of seeking. That becomes important when recording 2 HD shows while watching another.
 
#5 ·
The eSATA > USB > eSATA link might be too slow and could present other issues. I would stick to an eSATA enclosure.

I am wondering how the programming is managed. Is the external drive treated as a separate device (like Bell PVRs) or is it treated as one big drive combined with the internal drive (like Rogers PVRs?)

Is the drive portable between PVRs on the same account (like Bell PVRs?) I would like to transfer some programming from one 630 to an external drive and watch it on the other 630. Is that possible?

Another issue would involve replacement of the internal drive. I want to transfer the programming to an external drive, return the original drive to the 630 and watch the programming on the external drive. Will that work or will the 630 make the programming on the external drive inaccessible?
 
#7 ·
Hi Everyone,

Official details and support information is now available at www.shawdirect.ca/external. I don't think there's a way to get to the page other than via the direct URL right now, so I apologize if I'm breaking site rules by posting the URL.

For the questions:

I am wondering how the programming is managed. Is the external drive treated as a separate device (like Bell PVRs) or is it treated as one big drive combined with the internal drive (like Rogers PVRs?)
Effectively the latter.

Is the drive portable between PVRs on the same account (like Bell PVRs?) I would like to transfer some programming from one 630 to an external drive and watch it on the other 630. Is that possible?
No. Like the cable platforms which use DCII, it's not possible for recordings to be played anywhere but on the unit they were created on.

Another issue would involve replacement of the internal drive. I want to transfer the programming to an external drive, return the original drive to the 630 and watch the programming on the external drive. Will that work or will the 630 make the programming on the external drive inaccessible?
Also a no, for a couple of different reasons. First, there's not a way to copy files between the internal and external drive, because they're basically treated like the same "big drive". Second, you've lost the PVR database by replacing the internal drive which would also cause you to lose the recordings on the external drive.

Can I use a regular external HDD that is USB and get a USB/eSATA adapter to plug into the 630? Or is it a must that I buy an eSATA enclosure?
We haven't found a device which converts USB to eSATA, but as ScaryBob mentioned it'd probably be too slow. We specifically stuck with eSATA because it goes up to ~3.0 Gbit/s, versus ~480 Mbit/s for USB 2.0.

eSATA enclosures work great and can be had for ~$30 if you've got a drive to put in it.

Any special HDD needed?
Drives rated for PVR or DVR usage are highly recommended, but not required. Naturally, DVR use is hard on a drive, so performance and longevity issues may be encountered if you use a regular consumer-grade drive.
 
#8 ·
Extra Thoughts...

One more thing to note, the HDPVR 630 supports the connection of a single external hard drive. You can always "replace" the external hard drive, but you'll lose any recordings stored on the old drive. (The point here is it's better to get the biggest drive you think you'll need, rather than planning to buy multiple small drives and switch between them).

Also, glad you guys are excited about this one. We've been testing External HDD for the last few months and are really happy with how things have turned out. Enjoy!
 
#81 ·
HD allocation

One more thing to note, the HDPVR 630 supports the connection of a single external hard drive. You can always "replace" the external hard drive, but you'll lose any recordings stored on the old drive. (The point here is it's better to get the biggest drive you think you'll need, rather than planning to buy multiple small drives and switch between them).

Also, glad you guys are excited about this one. We've been testing External HDD for the last few months and are really happy with how things have turned out. Enjoy!
How does the 630's controller decide where a recording goes? What happens if it is recording 2 shows at once? I know that there are 2 tuners. I was under the impression that in a 630 there are 2 internal HDs, or at least that there is a single HD with 2 record heads. A Shaw tech told me that such is not the case. So now, not only would I like to find out what happens when recording 2 shows when an extHD is hooked up, but I am also wondering how 2 recordings are done on just the intHD(s).

[Great forum. Thanks for all the info I've gleaned so far.]
 
#10 ·
I'm also concerned about fault scenarios. What happens if the external drive loses power, the eSATA connection or it is turned off during recordings? What happens if it is turned off for an extended time? Will this cause corruption or loss of programming?
 
#11 ·
I'm also concerned about power failures. As I mentioned in my previous post I bought the WD My Book AV for my mother to use on her Rogers 8300 PVR but whenever she had a power failure or some kind of a reboot she would lose all her programs on the My Book. I'm hoping this doesn't happen when I try it on my 630.

Curious as to why the external drive feature was not activated on the 605? Were there problems or has SD not tried to get it to work on the 605 yet?
 
#61 ·
I'm also concerned about power failures. As I mentioned in my previous post I bought the WD My Book AV for my mother to use on her Rogers 8300 PVR but whenever she had a power failure or some kind of a reboot she would lose all her programs on the My Book. I'm hoping this doesn't happen when I try it on my 630.
Had a five minute power failure yesterday and I'm happy to report that my eHDD came back to life without losing any programming or getting any kind of formatting screen like it used to get on my mother's Rogers PVR. I have say that I have had very little, if any, trouble with this new software compared to many others on this board.
 
#14 ·
I have both my 630s on a UPS but, as they say, "Stuff happens." I'm just wondering how robust this external drive system is.

I would look for external drives rated for multimedia use. The internal drives are just cheap, generic 5400RPM models but some people report better results with faster, more durable drives.
 
#16 ·
USB 3.0 seems to be taking over the high speed external device market. Once again, Shaw is looking like they are years behind the times. eSATA has always had issues, though it works well once up and running.
 
#19 ·
Considering at the time of the 630 coming to market there were virtually no USB 3.0 devices, this argument doesn't seem to hold water. There are newer DVRs then the 630 that don't use USB 3.0 either. ESATA is the current standard for DVR expansion, just as it was in 2010. That may change in the future, but to say Shaw was years behind in 2010 by building the 630 with eSATA instead of USB 3 (which at that time was wholly unproven in the market), is silly.
 
#21 ·
Was targeted to get the 8.26 firmware download, so I forced a download. While that was happening ran out and picked up a 1TB ext drive ((WD1002FAEX). Will give me 180 hrs of HD recording more than enough for me. Followed the instructions on the Shaw website for set-up and was going in less than 5 minutes. I have 20 hrs recorded and it shows 8% full where as before the 20 hrs showed 40%.
 
#22 ·
Costco has an APC 550VA UPS that is fine for powering a DVR plus drive and/or HTPC. It's about $50. Beware some of the other big box stores. They charge more than retail for APC UPS models they carry. It's cheaper to buy directly from APC, even with shipping.
 
#23 ·
I got the update last night. When I went to see if the recordings phantom undeleted recording had been deleted. I was disappointed to see that it said my drive was 93% full and then it suddenly changed to 20% full.

This morning went out and picked the the WD My Book AV extender plugged it in rebooted the 630 it detected the drive offered to format and said it was now ready to use. Checked how full the drive was and instead of 20% it now says 5% full. So far so good. That's the way things should work. Let's hope it stays that way.

Bob
 
#24 ·
I will be receiving a 2TB G-Technology G-Drive tomorrow and will report how well it works.

From what I found, the choices for 2TB drives with eSata are few. The one I ordered (part number 0G00203) has already been discontinued and replaced with a new model with USB 3. Luckily I managed to get an old one. :D
 
#25 ·
I prefer to put together my own from a case and bare drive. There are two advantages to this. One is that bare drive warranties are longer. The other is that I know exactly what drive is inside the case (make, power, speed, intended application, etc.)
 
#27 ·
I haven't tried an external drive on the 630. Some general observations from past experience: Get an aluminum case with external power supply. Go with name brands, not house brands or generics, and read user reviews to see how they work for eSATA. Many 2.5" cases are not supplied with power supplies but must be purchased separately. I've used power supplies from other small devices, such as USB hubs. Just make sure the voltage and parity are correct (usually 5v, center positive.)

For 3.5" drives, get a lower power "green" drive or, preferably, a drive designed for multimedia use. For 2.5" drives, get a higher performing or multimedia drive. Avoid drives that have hard coded spin down features. Some green drives may do this but it's usually only done when the spin down or standby value is set by software. (This is also a problem with some pre-assembled external drives.)
 
#28 ·
get a lower power "green" drive
Be aware that "green" drives may spin down on their own and the PVR may not spin them up properly when needed. We have encountered issues with those many times on the Rogers PVRs, so most people have been using the WD "Black" drives with "Vantec" enclosures. Some people have been able to connect the "green" drives to a computer first and disabled (or check) the spin down feature...so I'm not saying they won't work, just be aware. Also, I'm not saying that WD Black/Vantec is the way to go, just that it has worked on Rogers.

Good Luck. Having something work for a day or two is also a lot different from a long term test. Anyone with access to several different enclosures and drives - feel free to experiment and report back here

For those interested, there are two eHDD sticky threads in the Rogers HDPVR forum for the 8300 and 8642.
 
#29 ·
There was one model of WD Green drive that had the spin down/standby feature hard coded. They are no longer made. Current models can be set to not spin down (the default) or to spin down automatically. This parameter (and others) can be set by software. However, exercise caution and change settings only when necessary since incorrect settings can render a drive unusable.
 
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