SA8300HD - External SATA Drive Works, Please Read Post 1 and Post 1 Links

[Wayne]

I had a very easy time adding an external drive to my SA8300HD.

I used a Vantec Nexstar 3 eSATA case and a 400GB WD drive. Everything went exactly as expected. The case comes with the correct cable as well as a few extra cables that you don't need while using the drive with the PVR.

[riceman]

hi everybody. i just wanted to help in trying to solve this external drive blip riddle, as i got a vantec case and a seagate external 400GB HD and it sucks with all these hiccups.

i scanned all messages in this thread since about page 40 (july of this year), compiled all cases by all users concerning this specific problem (i ignored crashes, freezes, incompatibilities), and grouped them together. i may have missed a few entries, or mislabeled. if so please correct me. i won't categorize any problem or non-problem unless expressly stated. take a look: each entry is user, followed by post# so you can reference, and then case and HD type.

also, VN3 is short for the vantec nexstar3 model

group A: posters who said they successfully set up an external HD initially but did not follow up any posts regarding blips (this problem isn't always instantly noticeable)
jlet / 588 / penguin pg380 / seagate barracuda 320gb
bestman / 599 / ??? / ???
bucketo / 618 / VN3 / seagate 320gb
radiation / 619 / VN3 / seagate barracuda 320 gb
pakman / 623 / VN3 / seagate 320gb
infy9001 / 636 / VN3 / seagate 320gb
mg62 / 639 / VN3 / WD wd4000KS 400gb
sugarman / 643, 645 / VN3 / maxtor 320gb
totaldisctintion / 644 / VN3 / seagate barr 320gb
supercm / 677 / VN3 / seagate 320gb
jkanas / 703 / ??? / wd 320gb
wampus / 720 / ??? / seagate barr 500
wayne / 781 / VN3 / wd 400gb

group B: poster with the blip problem - not counting incompatiblities or crashes/freezes
mskvarenina / 610 / manpower 3.5 map / seagate 300gb
stoopid37 / 650 / ??? / ???
exraver / 718 / VN3 / seagate 500gb
devun157 / 719 / VN3 / seagate barr 500gb
belgiangenius / 724 / VN3 / seagate barr 320 gb
dasman / 728 / VN3 / seagate barr 320 gb
robinwood / 760 / VN3 / seagate ??? / (tried 2 different VN3's)
lonetreejam / 761 / maxtor external HD+enclosure / (got better with more use...)
patp / 777 / VN3 / seagate barr 320 gb
sugarman / 778 / VN3 / maxtor 320gb / (filled+erased. got better, than problems came back. buffalo?)
riceman (me) / this post / VN2 / seagate 400gb
sucubus* / 773 / VN3 / wd 500 / a few problems, but possibly buffalo


group C: posters that have expressly said they have NOT had blip problems after a certain amount of use:
avtechnoid / 698 / ??? / ??? / (filled a 400gb drive)
bplayer / 779 / VN3 / maxtor ???gb / (had 2 previous seagates, they didn't work)
romulus / 770 / VN3 / wd 250gb / several months and no problems
sucubus* / 773 / VN3 / wd 500gb / a few problems, but possibly buffalo
healer / 710 / seagate external HD+enclosure / fine for 17 days and counting
mfabien / 706,741 / ??? / wd1600JS
larry / 744 / ??? / ??? / advises to check signal strength
andya / 763 / maxtor QVE / 160gb works, 300gb's didn't
"dennis" from avsforum / 658 / azio esata / seagate 750gb /
marshalfaulk28 / 670 / VN3 / maxtor 320gb / minor problems (see post671)
alf / 608 / ??? / maxtor qve / fine, but corrupted after power reset
peter m. wilson / 614 / sata2sata metal gear box / ??? 300gb / hasn't actually said it isn't working

... and there you have it. please let me know any mistakes i made or updates to your situation. sucubus' problems might be buffalo so i put him in 2 groups. judgement call.

i don't know what to make of group A - maybe these posters didn't have problems to report or didn't report their problems. lots of seagates.
group B: almost all are seagates.
group C: almost none are seagates.

i'm going to try filling and erasing. if it doesn't work, i'll try switching to a wd...

[Jake]

Riceman great work. I didn't see my drive listed (it would have been late summer so I missed your cutoff) but your conclusion about Seagate is very telling. I belong to Group C and use a Samsung 400GB drive with the VN3 enclosure.

[devun157]

Great summary Riceman! Ive all but given up on my seagate barracuda. Add dropped/short recordings to the list of problems...the 5 minutes of scheduled 2 hours it recorded of Basic over the weekend was full of the "blips" also. Maybe ill try a WD also if we get enough people chiming in with successful longterm test results.

[patp]

Great work with the list Riceman. I'm hoping that eventually the moderators might be able to clean up this thread and post the relevant information in the initial post so that we don't have to go through 50+ pages to figure out what's going on in the thread.


I have a Rogers technician coming in tomorrow to check on signal strength. Scientific Atlanta tech support seems to think this is more logical than replacing hardware as they don't believe the problem is specific to the hard drive or enclosure. They suggested we look for changes in the cable signal or firmware that may have been pushed recently.

Considering I had been up and running with barely a blip for almost a month, it seems odd that all of a sudden I'm getting these blips even after replacing all hardware components involved.

If you guys have any specific questions you want me to ask the technician tomorrow, post it here. If he manages to fix the problem, it might be useful for us to understand what he's doing to fix it and what might be causing it to happen in the first place.

[57]

Originally Posted by patp

I'm hoping that eventually the moderators might be able to clean up this thread and post the relevant information in the initial post so that we don't have to go through 50+ pages to figure out what's going on in the thread.

Um, this mod has been doing this since the inception of this thread. Have you actaully looked at post 1?

- Where a summary of equipment was created
- Where instructions on the install are linked
- Etc. Etc.

[beleu]

Great report, you can add me in the list, I have my external HD running for 1.5+ years, no issues (note, I filled up the drive the week I bought it).
kingwin enclosure/ seagate barr 250 GB

[patp]

Originally Posted by 57

Um, this mod has been doing this since the inception of this thread. Have you actaully looked at post 1?

- Where a summary of equipment was created
- Where instructions on the install are linked
- Etc. Etc.

I did look at the first post.. and this wasn't intended to be an attack of any sort on the work you do here. I think I speak for all of us here when I say that you are doing great work and making this site a main source of information due to your dedication and quick responses in threads. I can see how dedicated you are to making this forum the #1 source of information for Canadian technology.

All I was suggesting was to compress the 53 pages and delete posts that don't offer any new information that hasn't been covered on the main page. What I used to do in another forum I helped in was to add relevant information to the initial post, allow for short discussions to take place so that new information could be found but once it was gathered, I would again add the information to the main post and then delete the conversations as they didn't contribute much to new visitors reading the thread.

Again.. it's merely a suggestion.. and hopefully I'm not offending anyone by offering it. (IE: this post is irrelevant to the conversation and can be deleted after being read.. I know.. I could have IM'd but I guess I was just trying to show what I meant).

[57]

Thanks for the suggestion, but if I deleted posts, then post 782 would no longer be referring to the correct post numbers...

Also, this is not only the mods' job. Anyone who has the initiative (like riceman) can prepare a post and then I'll link it in post 1, as I've already done.

[riceman]

If you guys have any specific questions you want me to ask the technician tomorrow, post it here.

ask him why the blips only happen when an external HD i used; i think that's what's happening to most of us - when it's only the internal HDD working, everything is fine.

[poppadon]

I purchased a WD500gb and a VN3 for my son for Xmas. I would like to test it first on my SA8300HD, I'm with Videotron and he's with Roger's.

Do you think there would be a problem installing and testing it on my Videotron setup and then on Xmas day on his Rogers setup? I'm hoping when I set it up on his system it will just reformat the drive as if it had never been used.

Is my assumption correct?

Thanks

[Sucubus]

The system should reformat the drive with no problems. It may take longer then if the drive is empty; it would stand to reason. poppadon I thoght this was for the daughter-in-law? Did she get on your nerves?

[mfabien]

Poppadon,

If it was me, I would buy the 160 GB external HDD from Videotron (seeing you have an account there) and that is foolproof. Mine works like a charm and I have not read any posts discussing problems with this HDD.

I guess you will say well it's only 160 GB and your son will appreciate having 500 GB as a HDD... 40 hours of HD vs 82 hours, right?

There are people who managed belongings and others who never discard anything. Seems to me that beyond 40 hours of HD, there should be a clean up session.

[Michel]

Originally Posted by poppadon

I purchased a WD500gb and a VN3 for my son for Xmas. I would like to test it first on my SA8300HD, I'm with Videotron and he's with Roger's.

Do you think there would be a problem installing and testing it on my Videotron setup and then on Xmas day on his Rogers setup? I'm hoping when I set it up on his system it will just reformat the drive as if it had never been used.

Is my assumption correct?

Thanks

Since you already purchased it, I'd say that your assumption is correct. Personally, I purchased a Maxtor 300Gig a year ago, specifically designed for the 8300 and I had no problems whatsoever with it so far.

[devun157]

What's the model number of your Maxtor 300GB hdd that was designed specifically for the 8300HD?