SA8000/8300HD - Internal Hard Disk Upgrade Works (Cloning too) See Post 1.

[TVJunkie]

Edit by 57 2011.06.13. It works - See post 2, 21.

Please note that only certain drives work properly. Use the experience of others in this thread and you may wish to also see the thread on the external drive addition.

Becoming frustrated with running out of space on my 8000HD. My wife records multiple shows in HD and they chew the disk space. Hard drives are now a dollar a gig so it has to be time to upgrade. I remember hearing rumours of people upgrading the 8000 and wanted to know if anyone has done this on the 8000HD yet.

1, Has anyone taken the cover off yet. Is there room for 2 drivers and does it support master slave type capabilaties.

2, Is it simply a matter of unplugging the drive and plugging a new one in.

3, Is there a certain recommended speed would 5600 RPM be to slow would 7200 create to much heat.

4, Are the drives locked ie do they use the IDE Hard disk password


(Obviously renters who are not afraid of violating rental agreements and people who value warranty this is not a good option).

Instructions & Photos - see:

http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/show...069#post665069

For Torx bits, please see posts 621, 622, link below:

http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/show...27#post1182327


SATA Adapter thread: Note that recent firmware may have created issues for some people with Adapters.

http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=94262


"Cloning" summary post - read the post and several posts that follow (at least to post 371): Edit - Cloning appears not to work properly any more after the most recent firmware update. This is discussed in a few posts on page 46 of this thread. Apparently the drive can be cloned, however, the "extra space" available above 160 GB is not available any more? (or whatever drive size you are currently using) Experiment if you wish...

http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/show...903#post856903


Note: If you get a Video Recorder Not Ready message after installing a new internal drive, you may need to do the "last resort" format as outlined at the bottom of post 1 of the SA FAQ below. This came about after a recent firmware update.

http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=17719

Note that it's getting difficult to find PATA drives, especially 500 GB and sometimes even 320. See the following post (and the posts that follow) for additional recent information.

http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/show...54#post1428154

[Phatboyc]

I just ordered a Maxtor MAXTOR 300GB 7200RPM ATA-133 16MB (HD-MA-6L300R0) for 127.28$

I want to use this drive to upgrade my existing Maxtor 160GB (4R160L0) in my SA8000HD. According to some on AVS forum, they have perform the upgrade it should be as simple as swapping drives. Power on, wait 50 minutes and voila!

Since some 8300HD comes with 160GB at 7200rpm I don't foresee any heat/ventilation issue compared to my current 160GB at 5400rpm.

p.s. Some also have done this with the 8300HD instead of an external drive.

Ill let you know the outcome!

[JonSS]

I saw on the avsforum posting that some people inserted IDE drives and others ATA drives (not SATA drives for the external enclosures)?

Are they the same?

[Jake]

Yes. ATA = PATA = IDE.

From what I know there is only room for one drive. The drive is set to 'cable select' so I don't know what would happen rigged a second by using a two-headed PATA cable. It may only be a single channel PATA controller.

For internal I know some users have reported a 5400rpm drive via the diagnostic screens. I have a WD some others have Maxtor.

They replacements drives have been play-n-play.

The drives are encrypted but not password protected.

[gordonb]

Originally Posted by Jake

From what I know there is only room for one drive. The drive is set to 'cable select' so I don't know what would happen rigged a second by using a two-headed PATA cable. It may only be a single channel PATA controller.

Correct - I couldn't see a IDE controller on the mainboard, only a ATA to SATA bridge chip for the external port (so we can assume this is on the scondary controller) I suspect a second drive on the existing channel would not work. All parrallel ATA RAID controllers do not support 2 drives on one cable. The IDE bus is just not as good as SCSI and can not handle queuing of data or commands very well.

Originally Posted by jake

For internal I know some users have reported a 5400rpm drive via the diagnostic screens. I have a WD some others have Maxtor.

The original units had 5400RPM Maxtor Quickviews. Some newer models have 7200RPM WD drives.

Originally Posted by jake

They replacements drives have been play-n-play.

Jake - your brains working quicker than your fingers "Plug-n-Play"

[Jake]

Play 'n Play. Oops.

Just for the record my original 8300HD contained,

Maxtor Diamond Max 16 4R160L0.
5400rpm
2MB buffer
ATA133
3 platters
FDB motor
Avg. Seek: 12.6 ms
Avg. Latency: 5.6ms
5V seek: 628mA
12V seek 587mA

My replacement 8300HD contained,

Western Digital WD1600BB.
7200rpm
2MB buffer
ATA100
3 platters
FDB motor
Avg. Seek: 9.9ms
Avg. Latency: 4.2ms
5V seek: 450mA
12V seek: 530mA

I certainly like the specs of the WD. If I ever swap out a drive I will look for something as good or better than the WD. Especially the power requirements and seek performance.

[gordonb]

I remember a post way back on AVS where someone was saying that 5400rpm was actually better than 7200rpm for AV use. Seemed like BS to me at the time. However, they also said that a smaller buffer was better as it would introduce less latency.

The WD is rated at 35-37 dBA whereas the Maxtor Quickview is 26dBA so the WD is significantly quieter too. The newer [url=http://www.maxtor.com/_files/maxtor/en_us/documentation/data_sheets/quickview_500_datasheet_en.pdfQuickview 500's[/url] are 29dBA and the Seagate DB35 I can't find any real specifications on. The Hitachi CinemaStar are 29 - 30 dBA.

[JonSS]

I went to Home Depot to see if they had a security torx bit (T10) and said they never heard of a security torx. Where did you guys get yours from?

Thanks

[Jake]

Print this image off and take it with you.

In the past I have called these star bits. I guess the pin in the centre is where the security comes from.

You can pick up a set at CT where they call them Tamper-Proof TORX.

Princess Auto has a kit as well.

[JonSS]

Thanks!

[gordonb]

Originally Posted by JonSS

I went to Home Depot to see if they had a security torx bit (T10) and said they never heard of a security torx. Where did you guys get yours from?

Thanks

Jon,

The Canadian Tire set is $30 and way over priced. Princess Auto is much more reasonably priced.

I got my bit as part of a kit for upgrading the Radio in a Cisco Aironet Access Point - just happened to work!

[Phatboyc]

Hello,
Just a reminder that I did not forget to update the forum. I finally did received my disk drive last week. Unfortunately I did not have time to watch all my recordings this weekend. Which I want to do before upgrading the disk drive. Hopefully this weekend will be less hectic.

[JonSS]

Thanks guys. I will get it from Princess Auto.

[rvs007]

I am using a SA-8300HD that I got from the winback/Real Choice promo. So essentially it is a rental unit. But I'm really interested in upgrading the hard drive inside. How does Rogers know someone has opened up the box to tinker inside? If I had to return the box back to Rogers, if I replace the original HD back before I return it, would Rogers know/care the unit was upgraded with a bigger HD?

Thanks.

[gordonb]

Originally Posted by rvs007

I am using a SA-8300HD that I got from the winback/Real Choice promo. So essentially it is a rental unit. But I'm really interested in upgrading the hard drive inside. How does Rogers know someone has opened up the box to tinker inside? If I had to return the box back to Rogers, if I replace the original HD back before I return it, would Rogers know/care the unit was upgraded with a bigger HD?

Thanks.

I guess what you have to ask yourself is "Am I willing to pay Rogers $599 in the event they do figure it out?" You are talking about breaking the terms of your lease agreement with Rogers and would be subject to any penalties specified and possibly legal action (or at the least them disconnecting your service until you pay for the box).

If you really want to add space get an external drive. The internal drive has a warranty sticker between the drive & the case on my unit.