[ignun]

Starting a separate thread on this so it doesn't get lost in others.

How successful have people who have got the new DCX3400 from Eastlink been at getting an eSata drive working? I bought an enclosure and 1TB drive today but when I connected it I get a message saying it's not authorized. Called Eastlink but the tech I spoke to was no help at all saying that external drives were not possible.

Thanks,

D

 

[dtrickle]

i was told by two techs two different times that the box would run the eSATA.

i was then by the local office that the port were locked. i went so far as to phone Motorola.... they don't "lock" ports. it's up to the cable companies to run the proper software.

which begs the question... why does the Pace run the eSATA?

 

[travisc]

The boxes handle it differently - it just works on the Pace, while on the Motorola there's a code that needs to be added to your account to allow it to work. I assume Motorola thought a company might want to charge for activating the port, which is why it doesn't just work.

 

[jimbo42]

The second last software/firmware that was done on the boxes middle of this year enabled the eSata port on the motto's as was posted in another thread. Guys had there externals working on them, when Eastlink did the last software/firmware update a couple months ago it seemed to have messed up the eSata port and it stopped working for some or all I don't know but this has also been posted in the other thread. So the last update did something to the port to stop it working again.

 

[ignun]

I did manage to get it to work. You just need someone knowledgeable at Eastlink to make the change as this is still an unadvertised (and thus undocumented) feature.

My suggestion is make sure you call during regular office hours for Halifax as you stand a better chance of getting someone who is aware of this feature and how to activate it. If you call in the evening or on the weekend and get the call center your chances of getting this to work will go down considerably at least for now as they don't have the documentation to know how to enable it.

 

[maritimer555]

Esata

Hi

Ignun said ;

"I did manage to get it to work. You just need someone knowledgeable at Eastlink to make the change as this is still an unadvertised (and thus undocumented) feature.

My suggestion is make sure you call during regular office hours for Halifax as you stand a better chance of getting someone who is aware of this feature and how to activate it. If you call in the evening or on the weekend and get the call center your chances of getting this to work will go down considerably at least for now as they don't have the documentation to know how to enable it. "​

I had the 3400 hooked up today. The tech was not aware of the externall HD feature. So ignun, can you provide a bit more detail, when you spoke to eastlink online was it a firmware update issue or something else. cause I'm sure when i call in they will swear to me that its not available.

Another question- does it have to be esata hdd? I guess i should try and find the other thread and look it over.

 

[Northcountry]

Yes it has to be an eSATA drive and I got mine working. All I had to do was have them hit my box and when it came back on it asked if I wanted to format the external drive. Maybe they have things all setup now and a hit is required to refresh the box.

 

[ignun]

There is a code that needs to be sent down to the Motorola box in order to get the drive to work. After that it really is just plug in the drive and you'll get prompted for format it.

 

[ignun]

has anyone who has got the external drive connected notice that the DVR no longer reports the % full?

I added a 1TB drive and it has told me 0% full ever since. I'd love to think that is true but I know it's not.

 

[57]

Similar issues in the Shaw forums. Each time there's a reboot of the PVR, it resets to zero. If you're ever wondering about Motorola or Pace issues with Eastlink, check out the Shaw forums - lots of customers there with similar equipment.

 

[yhzhrm]

Connecting eSATA Drive

1. Power off DCX3400.
2. Unplug unit.
3. Attach external eSATA drive.
4. Power on unit, external drive will be initiated and formatted.

If above steps do not work, call Eastlink support for assistance.


Despite what has been said about ext. drive being married to the unit that initialized it . I have been told twice now by Eastlink support that the external drive will work with another unit. However, this is only first tier. I have a question out to second tier for clarification. If for nothing else to have first tier on the correct page.

 

[Quadrature]

The drive only works on the DVR it was originally formatted on; if you connect it to another you get a message saying that the drive was previously used on another DVR.

 

[yhzhrm]

Motorola's manual for external drives.

http://www.motorola.com/staticfiles/Video-Solutions/_Documents/User_guides/Static_files/Motorola%20DVR%20Set-top%20External%20Storage%20User%20Guide.pdf

In a nut shell:

The cable box will automatically determine whether to record to the internal hard drive or the connected external drive based on which drive has the most space available at the time of recording. As a result, you do not have the option of choosing whether the cable box will record to the internal versus the external drive.

 

[ledgehead]

dcx3400 external hard drive Works!

I contacted Eastlink 5 times today and 3 out of 5 techs. told me this option was not available.

What I have confirmed is;

YES, an external "esata" drive is supported!

Just do what "yhzhrm" wrote;
1. Power off DCX3400.
2. Unplug unit.
3. Attach external eSATA drive.
4. Power on unit, external drive will be initiated and formatted.

Add step 3a. re-plug in unit.

My % full went from 27% full to 8% full after I plugged in a WD 500GB drive, woohoo.

BTW no messages appeard on the screen, but the dvr would not turn on for about 60 seconds after the drive was installed, so be paitent. The blinking light of the drive being accessed assured me that there was something going on between the dvr and the external hard drive.

Extra stuff
If your drive has a light on it unplug it "after" installing it or the flashing light of the drive being accessed will get annoying really fast.

If you get an error that your drive was already installed on another dvr simply plug it into your computer and format it and then plug it into your dvr again and it should work.

HTH Cheers

This is not an April Fools Joke!

 

[jimbo42]

@ledgehead ,Welcome to Digitalhome .

We already know all this information. Everyone knows External HDD's work and a search of this in this forum would have brought up a bunch of posts from months past on this. This is old news but thanks anyway buddy.

 

[ran94]

If I buy one of these at FS, it has Shaw on it. Who covers the warranty if I use it for Eastlink Cable?

 

[HisHighness]

Hey all,

I got an esata drive and enclosure and I hooked it up to my DVR (Moto DCX3400) and followed the instructions I found in another thread and it worked beautifully.

However, the main reason I got the drive is I wanted to be able to record stuff on my DVR and then move it over onto my computer without having to go through the hassle and quality loss that goes along with using my capture card.

When I disconnected the drive and connected it to Windows XP it comes up as unallocated and won't let me access it. It brings up an Initialize and Convert wizard and then makes me format the drive. I go ahead and do that and then of course that empties everything on the drive (nothing important I was just trying to get it to work first) and then when I attach it to the DVR it formats it again and I'm back to square one.

I'm wondering if anyone knows a way to get the recorded files off the drive and onto windows. I tried Google but all I found was info on using Firewire which I guess is disabled on this model.

Thanks,
H2

 

[57]

The files are encrypted, so you can't do what you're attempting. If firewire is disabled, then you have no access to the HD material other than with the Hauppauge, discussed in the HTPC forum. Here's the FAQ on Recording HD:

http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=14099

This thread is for discussing the eHDD, so if you have any additional questions not directly related to the eHDD, please use the appropriate threads.