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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
 
#32 ·
I talked to a computer store and they recommend a Vantec hard drive enclosure and a Seagate hard drive (they don’t “spin down” according to him).
I don’t really know how this will work, how dose this sound to you guys?
I’m hopping to get my update on my 630 soon so I can take advantage of an extra 2 TB’s
 
#34 ·
Lost recordings

I am reading all of your posts. I am confused as to why everyone believe that we would lose our recordings on the external HD, should a power failure occur. Why is that? If a power failure occurs, we don't lose them on the DVR. I am just looking for clarification.

I have not received the new version yet, but the idea of having an external HD is exciting. My parents use one with their Bell PVR and it is fabulous. So much space!

GaryE, I am considering purchasing the same external HD that you and somebody else mentioned - WD My Book AV . Have you had a chance to try it out yet? Any issues? If you threw a circuit breaker, would it replicate a power failure so that you could test to see if you really do lose your recordings?
 
#35 · (Edited by Moderator)
I have not received the new software yet. I believe the issue with losing the programming was with software updates on the Rogers 8300 PVR system, not the eHDD itself. If you read the Rogers forum you would see that when Cisco took over the SA receivers they updated the software and that created chaos with external drives. I think things are better with their current PVR model but the 8300 was a disaster. It was a pain having to reset the external drive and she was also upset it kept losing her shows. So I just said I'm not hooking it back up to her 8300. I would buy it back from her.

UPDATED @ 1:54pm: Just downloaded the update and installed the "My Book AV". All seems fine!
 
#36 ·
I don't think we can compare experiences with Rogers PVRs to the 630 since they are different receivers made by different companies.

quimbysjody, Bell PVRs use a different system for their EHDs. It's less likely to cause issues but I have seen lost recordings, even an entire disk's worth, with their EHD.

FWIW, I would go with either a WD My Book AV or a WD Red WD20EFRX in a Vantec NexStar CX NST-300SU-BK case. I haven't test these but the choice is based on experience with EHDs on other PVRs.
 
#38 ·
One thing to realize with a PVR is that it is designed primarily for time-shifting and not for archiving. Therefore a 1 GB HDD is often more than enough.

If you do save a lot of material on the PVR, be ready for disappointment at some future date when the programming is "lost" due to a malfunction or HDD failure. It's just the nature of the beast.

If there is anything that you wish to archive, you will need to offload it from the PVR - via a DVD recorder (Standard Def) or an HTPC/Hauppauge (HD) and also back that up.
 
#41 ·
I just purchased the WD My Book AV DVR Expander with 1 TB of memory. I attached it to my 630 receiver with the eSATA cable and it was working within seconds. My hard drive went from 43% to 8%. It cost about $150 including taxes, but it is worth every penny. It is super quiet and now I can record HD programs without always worrying about disk space.
 
#42 ·
Just bought and installed a Seagate Barracuda 2TB hard drive in a Vantic NexStar HX external hard drive case with a fan (NST-330SU3-BK). It went easy as pie. Plugged it into the 630 via the included eSATA cable started the power on the external hard drive, rebooted the 630 fallowed the prompts from the 630 and away she went.

The fan on the Vantec is very quiet, the hard drive makes more sound. You can also turn the fan off via an on/off switch (very nice). The blue light on the front is a bit much,runs full way top to bottom. I covered 90% with black electrical tape and you can’t even see it.
 
#76 · (Edited)
$69.99



Thanks to this discussion I learned about the new 630 firmware update and drive options. I have been using the same pair as above with no glitches for a couple of weeks. I've been meaning to join and post my results but what prompted me to do so this morning is that this same 2TB drive is on sale at tigerdirect dot ca for $69.99. It appears the sale is for today, Black Friday only. My in-store sale price at Tiger Direct was $104 I think.
My capacity went from 68% to 8%.
The 630 did not recognize the drive the first time I tried turning it on after plugging in the drive. It was because I had the 630 off when I plugged in the drive. On the second try I had the 630 on when i plugged in the drive, and it recognized the drive right away.
 
#47 ·
Newer drives are low power and don't need a fan when in an aluminum enclosure. I have a couple of CX cases with WD Green drives and they barely get warm to the touch. I've had cases and drives that get quite hot (mostly Maxtor drives) but they are history. If you want to run WD Black or Seagate enterprise drives, an enclosure with fan may be advisable but otherwise not. The WD Red drives are low power units so a fanless case is fine with those. (WD Red improvements are due to optimized cache and firmware.)
 
#50 ·
Hi, I'm trying to install a 2TB Barracuda with a Nexstar (Vantec) enclosure which has USB/FireWire/eSata. I have plugged in only the eSata cable. When the 630 boots up, I receive a message that it has detected a new hard drive... do I want to format it. I say yes. Then the screen goes black after a bit and it reboots. Once it has finished rebooting, it displays the same "hard drive detected etc...". If I agree to format again, it hangs indefinitely (let it go for 18 hrs). I've tried a couple of times. Any suggestions?
 
#52 ·
First off it sound like you doing everything right.
Did you call Shaw Direct; sounds like it may be from their end or the 630? (have fun on hold hehe)
Have you signed up for the VOD? If you haven't that may cause a problem I thought the said something about having to be signed up???(pure stab in the dark)
 
#53 · (Edited)
I hope this works (I'm at work right now and these are from my store receipts):

SGT 2TB Barracuda EP
Part Number = stbd2000101
Won't let me post a link... but if you google search for the part number above you'll see it (stbd2000101)

Vantec D.Nexstar 3 3.5" USB/FW/eSata
Part Number = 844767012490

If this isn't sufficient, please let me know and I'll resubmit once I'm back home.

Cheers!
 
#57 ·
From the specs that drive says:

Includes DiscWizard software for effortless installation
Provides built-in self-monitoring technology
Did you run DiscWizard on the computer to ensure that the drive is not set to power down? Also, the "self-monitoring" may somehow affect the performance on a PVR. Others on this forum may have better comments than I regarding these items. As mentioned above, check the SATA cable at both ends and any connections you made inside the enclosure.
 
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