Re-Use the Hard Drive from 9200? - Canadian TV, Computing and Home Theatre Forums

smoutc · 2012-02-17, 08:21 AM

Has anyone sucessfully re-used the hard drive from a 9200 for general purposes in a PC? Is there a trick to it? My guess is that the drive has a hard drive password on it and the reciever unlocks it when it starts up, but I'm not sure. I have tried on two different PC's, and it detects it but I am unable to access it.

ScaryBob · 2012-02-17, 09:07 AM

Look at the drive using Disk Manager on Windows. It should be possible to just delete the existing partitions, create a new one and format it to NTFS. The programming is encrypted so it will not be accessible.

These drives are in fairly high demand. I would try and sell it first. There are people who might want a drive for a 9200. 9200s will still work for SDTV after the HDTV MPEG4 transition. It might work in a 9242 or 9241.

Pinza · 2012-02-17, 09:21 AM

Quote:

9200s will still work for SDTV after the HDTV MPEG4 transition

As soon as a 9200 is swapped out for a 9242/9241, the Receiver number of the 9200 is deleted from the Bell Inventory Database meaning it can NEVER be activated again, as according to Bell it will not exist.

m3repair · 2012-02-17, 09:29 AM

The most general uses for parts from the 9200 are the Hard drive and the power supply (same as in the 9242) and as for reusing the hard drive, (Reference the next post for clarification )

ScaryBob · 2012-02-17, 11:10 AM

Pinza, a 9200 that is not put through the swap program will still work for SDTV. 6000s were the same after the 6000 swap.

M3repair, I've not heard of a drive lock. There is a delayed spin up setting that will keep a drive from working with an O/S that does not send a spin up command. There is also a write protect setting but I doubt that would be set.

Pinza · 2012-02-17, 11:53 AM

Well I am told that when they flick the switch for MPEG4, all 9200's will immediately be removed from Inventory as well.

Are you saying you know of a 6000 still working.?

ScaryBob · 2012-02-17, 12:06 PM

There were people who were missed in the 6000 swap who were still using their 6000s for SD. Don't know if that's still the case. Bell refused to swap the receivers after a certain date so it would be very questionable for Bell to just disable them. What is Bell planning to do for people who get missed in the 9200 swap?

Pinza · 2012-02-17, 12:24 PM

I would imagine when they pull the plug, they will all get a 9241.

m3repair · 2012-02-17, 02:16 PM

ScaryBob are there still people using 6000's now that still get SD? seriously? or was this only when the swap has finished?

smoutc · 2012-02-17, 05:18 PM

I tried looking at it via disk management. It sees the drive, but I can't modify it. We set hard drive passwords on all our laptops at work via the bios, which is actually stored on the hard drive. When the laptop boots up, you have to enter the password or the drive won't boot. I thought it might be something similar with the 9200.

ScaryBob · 2012-02-17, 05:44 PM

Some versions of Windows won't recognize and/or work with Linux drives, the format used by the 9200. Windows 7 will allow deletion of Linux drive partitions, XP won't. Not sure about Vista.

peano · 2012-02-17, 06:31 PM

The 9200 drive works in the 9242 also so it is fairly valuable.

smoutc · 2012-02-18, 09:38 AM

The drive doesn't even appear to be spinning up, so I am starting to think there may be a problem with it. It was working fine when I took it out of the 9200, but maybe something happened to it after the fact. I'm going to try putting it back in the 9200 and see what happens.

smoutc · 2012-02-18, 04:16 PM

So, I put the drive back in the 9200, and it works fine.

I also tried letting it startup in the 9200, and then while still plugged into the power from the 9200, swap over to the SATA cable from the computer and then power the computer on. If I do it that way, the computer can see the drive just fine. When powered up by the computer, the drive doesn't spin up, nor is it detected properly. That tells me that the receiver must be issuing a hard drive password or some other command on power up to get the drive to spin up/initialize that the computer is not.

So, in a nutshell, unless someone else has other ideas, I don't see a way to reuse this drive. (Anyone want to buy it...make me an offer)

ScaryBob · 2012-02-18, 04:28 PM

The drive is probably waiting for a spin up command. On some drives the spin up option is configured with a jumper. With most it is configured with software that is often available from the manufacturer's web site (Seatools or something similar.) Hdparm will do the same on Linux. Just boot from a "live" disc if no Linux box is available.

As others have said, the drive is worth more as a replacement for satellite boxes than it is as a PC drive. I would sell it and use the money for a new 2GB drive.

2012-02-17, 08:21 AM	#1
smoutc Join Date: Aug 2004 Posts: 12	Re-Use the Hard Drive from 9200? Has anyone sucessfully re-used the hard drive from a 9200 for general purposes in a PC? Is there a trick to it? My guess is that the drive has a hard drive password on it and the reciever unlocks it when it starts up, but I'm not sure. I have tried on two different PC's, and it detects it but I am unable to access it.

2012-02-17, 09:07 AM	#2
ScaryBob Veteran Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: The Dandelion City Posts: 7,133	Look at the drive using Disk Manager on Windows. It should be possible to just delete the existing partitions, create a new one and format it to NTFS. The programming is encrypted so it will not be accessible. These drives are in fairly high demand. I would try and sell it first. There are people who might want a drive for a 9200. 9200s will still work for SDTV after the HDTV MPEG4 transition. It might work in a 9242 or 9241. __________________ At 20 I had a good mind. At 40 I had money. At 60 I've lost my mind and my money. Oh, to be 20 again. --Scary

2012-02-17, 09:29 AM	#4
m3repair Join Date: May 2011 Location: Etobicoke, ON Posts: 378	The most general uses for parts from the 9200 are the Hard drive and the power supply (same as in the 9242) and as for reusing the hard drive, (Reference the next post for clarification ) Last edited by m3repair; 2012-02-17 at 02:15 PM. Reason: incorrect info about HDD delayed Spin UP

2012-02-17, 11:10 AM	#5
ScaryBob Veteran Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: The Dandelion City Posts: 7,133	Pinza, a 9200 that is not put through the swap program will still work for SDTV. 6000s were the same after the 6000 swap. M3repair, I've not heard of a drive lock. There is a delayed spin up setting that will keep a drive from working with an O/S that does not send a spin up command. There is also a write protect setting but I doubt that would be set. __________________ At 20 I had a good mind. At 40 I had money. At 60 I've lost my mind and my money. Oh, to be 20 again. --Scary

2012-02-17, 12:06 PM	#7
ScaryBob Veteran Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: The Dandelion City Posts: 7,133	There were people who were missed in the 6000 swap who were still using their 6000s for SD. Don't know if that's still the case. Bell refused to swap the receivers after a certain date so it would be very questionable for Bell to just disable them. What is Bell planning to do for people who get missed in the 9200 swap? __________________ At 20 I had a good mind. At 40 I had money. At 60 I've lost my mind and my money. Oh, to be 20 again. --Scary

2012-02-17, 11:53 AM	#6
Pinza Veteran Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: GTA Posts: 8,583	Well I am told that when they flick the switch for MPEG4, all 9200's will immediately be removed from Inventory as well. Are you saying you know of a 6000 still working.?

2012-02-17, 12:24 PM	#8
Pinza Veteran Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: GTA Posts: 8,583	I would imagine when they pull the plug, they will all get a 9241.

2012-02-17, 02:16 PM	#9
m3repair Join Date: May 2011 Location: Etobicoke, ON Posts: 378	ScaryBob are there still people using 6000's now that still get SD? seriously? or was this only when the swap has finished?

2012-02-17, 05:18 PM	#10
smoutc Join Date: Aug 2004 Posts: 12	I tried looking at it via disk management. It sees the drive, but I can't modify it. We set hard drive passwords on all our laptops at work via the bios, which is actually stored on the hard drive. When the laptop boots up, you have to enter the password or the drive won't boot. I thought it might be something similar with the 9200.

2012-02-17, 05:44 PM	#11
ScaryBob Veteran Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: The Dandelion City Posts: 7,133	Some versions of Windows won't recognize and/or work with Linux drives, the format used by the 9200. Windows 7 will allow deletion of Linux drive partitions, XP won't. Not sure about Vista. __________________ At 20 I had a good mind. At 40 I had money. At 60 I've lost my mind and my money. Oh, to be 20 again. --Scary

2012-02-17, 06:31 PM	#12
peano Veteran Join Date: Dec 2002 Posts: 3,586	The 9200 drive works in the 9242 also so it is fairly valuable.

2012-02-18, 09:38 AM	#13
smoutc Join Date: Aug 2004 Posts: 12	The drive doesn't even appear to be spinning up, so I am starting to think there may be a problem with it. It was working fine when I took it out of the 9200, but maybe something happened to it after the fact. I'm going to try putting it back in the 9200 and see what happens.

2012-02-18, 04:16 PM	#14
smoutc Join Date: Aug 2004 Posts: 12	So, I put the drive back in the 9200, and it works fine. I also tried letting it startup in the 9200, and then while still plugged into the power from the 9200, swap over to the SATA cable from the computer and then power the computer on. If I do it that way, the computer can see the drive just fine. When powered up by the computer, the drive doesn't spin up, nor is it detected properly. That tells me that the receiver must be issuing a hard drive password or some other command on power up to get the drive to spin up/initialize that the computer is not. So, in a nutshell, unless someone else has other ideas, I don't see a way to reuse this drive. (Anyone want to buy it...make me an offer)

2012-02-18, 04:28 PM	#15
ScaryBob Veteran Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: The Dandelion City Posts: 7,133	The drive is probably waiting for a spin up command. On some drives the spin up option is configured with a jumper. With most it is configured with software that is often available from the manufacturer's web site (Seatools or something similar.) Hdparm will do the same on Linux. Just boot from a "live" disc if no Linux box is available. As others have said, the drive is worth more as a replacement for satellite boxes than it is as a PC drive. I would sell it and use the money for a new 2GB drive. __________________ At 20 I had a good mind. At 40 I had money. At 60 I've lost my mind and my money. Oh, to be 20 again. --Scary

Thread Tools	Search this Thread
Show Printable Version Email this Page	Search this Thread: Advanced Search
Display Modes
Linear Mode Switch to Hybrid Mode Switch to Threaded Mode