Eastlink Motorola DVR - Expander HDD Discussion (now possible)

[dawziecat]

Think I know the answer already.

Can we buy a DVR expander to use with the Eastlink DVR?

Like this one: http://www.wdc.com/en/products/Products.asp?DriveID=334

Or are all the auxiliary sata, IEEE1394 and USB ouputs "turned off?"

[leaffan1967]

the IEEE1394 port is active, everything else is shut off i am afraid.

[magnet]

Maybe in the future though... I've been following the shaw PVR thread and it seems that it may be possible in the future with the motorola 6416.

[travisc]

Get Eastlink to give you the right firmware (it's in the wild) and it'll be possible.

[dawziecat]

Originally Posted by travisc

Get Eastlink to give you the right firmware (it's in the wild) and it'll be possible.

Hmmmm . . .

You trying to tell me something?

[travisc]

Yes - complain to Eastlink that they should get the newest firmware for the box.

[magnet]

... says the man from Uxbridge, Ontario who is not with Eastlink.

Call me a pessimist, but I really have my doubts that by calling EastLink you will be able to get a firmware upgrade from another company.

[travisc]

Firmware is firmware. The Motorola boxes operated by Shaw use the same firmware as the Motorola boxes operated by Eastlink, which coincidentally is the same firmware that operates the Motorola boxes the cable system I work for uses.

Eastlink can deploy the necessary 16.74 firmware if they so desire. It is available to them.

[dawziecat]

Like "magnet," I feel calling an Eastlink CSR on the help line is unlikely to go anywhere with an issue such as this.
I have drafted a letter to Eastlink for snail-mail. Before I send it off, it would be nice to verify that I have the facts straight.

Latest FW for the DCT6416III is 16.57 according to http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/How_to_use_a_Motorola_DVR
This, according to the WIKI, supposedly fixed a problem encountered with v16.53 that left "many users no longer able to use Firewire to transfer live content to a PC."
It might be implied that fixing the corruption problem with the IEEE1394 port(caused by an earlier FW update) allows the use of an expander HDD, but I don't really KNOW that for certain. It also logically implies that an expander would have been useable with earlier FW, such as that installed in mine and, presumably, others as well.

I am unsure that an expander would be any more useable with v16.57 than with earlier
versions. It is apparently possible to record live, non 5C-protected programming to an XP-PC even with early FW. Not quite the same thing as being able to simply record 5C-protected HD programming on an "expander" HDD though, which is what I want.

FW in my machine is v16.35 BTW.

[JohnnyCanuck]

I am not an Eastlink customer. I am a Shaw customer and just passing on the information we've been given.

The firmware revision that supports external hard drives is 16.74. I am not sure, other than Shaw, what cable systems have rolled 16.74 out to their users.

While 16.74 supports external hard drives connected by eSATA, the firmware alone will not allow for their use. Motorola has implemented eSATA support in a manner that requires per account authorization. That requires some changes to the billing system that authorizes/enables channels and features.

Simply rolling the firmware out will not assist you without Eastlink choosing to implement external hard drives for their customers. In other words, when you raise the issue with Eastlink, you need to do so in the context of all the changes necessary to support external drives. Simply asking for the firmware revision to address other issues will not result in enabled external drives.

[dawziecat]

Many thanks, "Johnny." That makes it all pretty clear.
I won't likely EVER be using an external HDD with this receiver. Too bad. (sniffs)

[automator]

It may be worth your while to attempt to get Eastlink to swap your Motorola box for a Pace box. Pace boxes do have an active eSATA port. I know some people have had mixed experiences with them, but for what it's worth I've had one for a few years now and it still works fine.

I previously had a 500GB Seagate drive attached. I got spoiled with (what seemed like unlimited storage) right up until the point where a power outage damaged the drive. I haven't been watching as much TV so I haven't attempted it since.

[CATV]

Hello Everyone. I was curious... During a recent visit to BestBuy I was told I could "extend my HD-DVR viewing experience by being able to practically increase my DVR's storage capacity to an unlimited storage level of up to 600 hours" with a DVR Expander external HDD. The problem I'm currently having is that my EastLink HD-DVR box with dual tuners and built-in 160 GB HDD (Motorola model DCT6416) has both USB as well as an eSATA connector at the back. Would I be able to connect and use one of the Western Digital DVR Expanders with my EastLink D-DVR? There are two Western Digital products: My DVR Expander eSATA with 1 TB capacity and My DVR Expander USB with 500 GB capacity.

[57]

Your post was moved to this existing thread on the topic. At this time, I believe only Shaw has rolled out the firmware for the eHDD option. (SATA is used by Shaw)

There's lots of discussion in the Shaw forums on the topic and I'm sure once the firmware on Eastlink is updated, there will be similar discussion here.

[Northcountry]

I don't beleive the external harddrive feature is available with the current software that is running on the EastLink units and if and when it does get enabled only the eSATA version will work. Other cable companies that use the Motorola boxes and have deployed the latest firmware have enabled the extra hard drive.