Need to change drive in HR20S to quiter one.

[jonquiljo]

Hi all, I have just bought a DirectTV HR20-S, and am appalled by the noise that it makes.

Is there any relatively simple way to upgrade it hard drive to a higher end - yet quieter drive. If not, its going to the trash pile as the noise is so loud that it keep me up all night (its in the bedroom).

Please help me out and let me know if you have any ideas.

Thanks.

[davring]

Have you contacted D* regarding this? I don't know what their policy is regarding noise, mine is very quiet. I do know if you crack the case it voids the warrenty, it's an expensive machine to buy outright. A piece of cake to change the drive, all the boot software is store on a chip in the HR20, the new drive will format and boot upon installation.

[Stuart Sweet]

Welcome to the forum, jonquiljo!

If you look at the front of your DVR, is the blue ring made up of individual LEDs or is it sort of a frosted over single piece of plastic?

The ones with the LEDs are the HR20-700s, they are a little louder than the HR20-100s. All in all neither should be exceedingly loud but I can hear my HR20-700's hard drive in a quiet room.

[jonquiljo]

Well, its a HR20-700 and its drive is louder than my computer (Dell Precision 380 Workstation) - so its clearly a cheap one that they use in the device.

I called DTV and they told me the usual - that they don't understand what I am talking about. I'm not concerned with voiding the warranty at all. What I am concerned about is that neither me or my wife cannot sleep in the room (its the bedroom) where the DVR is located.

What kind of drive is inside? Is it just a simple med speed SATA PC drive? If so, how many MB?

I just want to order a good high end Seagate, etc. to replace it as it is driving me nuts. The other possibility is to plug in a USB external drive such as a WD Passport and disable the internal HD of the HR20.

Any ideas, folks?

[brucegrr]

I am not sure cheap=noise and expensive=quiet.

I have heard some pretty noisy expensive drives.

How loud is the noise? I am having a hard time wrapping my ears around the noise issue :) For me, with everything in an audio cabinet I hear no noise at all. Are you hearing the drive above the TV or when everything is quiet?

If it is really loud (which may be a precursor to drive failure) then I would insist DirecTv fix it. Perhaps you could have the drive "fail" ? :)

I do understand noises that drive a person nuts. I remember having a computer in my office that was so noisy it drove me batty.

[jonquiljo]

I hear the drive when the TV is off ... but it is this grating noise, like a cheap hard drive. Its like I said, my Dell workstation makes less noise and it has a a hard drive, cooling fans, and 3 external USB drives.

I don't think the unit is failing, I think whoever made it used the cheapest drive available to save on costs.

My wife is insistent that it is unacceptable - and I agree. I am so busy these days that it would be easier to modify the unit on my own time schedule than deal with all the idiots at DTV. So, if its really just open the unit, and remove the old drive and plug in and mount a new one - I'm game.

I'm also wondering if you can just plug in a USB powered external into the USB port in the front - and then deactivate (pull the power internally) to the drive in the unit itself. Now that would be really simple.

[houskamp]

I hear the drive when the TV is off ... but it is this grating noise, like a cheap hard drive. Its like I said, my Dell workstation makes less noise and it has a a hard drive, cooling fans, and 3 external USB drives.

I don't think the unit is failing, I think whoever made it used the cheapest drive available to save on costs.

My wife is insistent that it is unacceptable - and I agree. I am so busy these days that it would be easier to modify the unit on my own time schedule than deal with all the idiots at DTV. So, if its really just open the unit, and remove the old drive and plug in and mount a new one - I'm game.

I'm also wondering if you can just plug in a USB powered external into the USB port in the front - and then deactivate (pull the power internally) to the drive in the unit itself. Now that would be really simple.
1. sounds like a bad drive.. I can hardly hear mine with my ear against the case..
2. see #1
3.yes you could do that..
4. esata external drives only.. no usb.. and it won't run without an internal (belive the temp sensor in the drive is used for fan)

[Vor]

I hear the drive when the TV is off ... but it is this grating noise, like a cheap hard drive. Its like I said, my Dell workstation makes less noise and it has a a hard drive, cooling fans, and 3 external USB drives.

I don't think the unit is failing, I think whoever made it used the cheapest drive available to save on costs.

But here's the thing, you can't record two MPEG-2 streams and read a third with a "cheap" hard drive. If it's making more noise than an external USB drive, then there's something wrong with it (either the drive itself or the way it's mounted).

[jonquiljo]

1. sounds like a bad drive.. I can hardly hear mine with my ear against the case..



An HR20-700? Mine is also marked HR20S .... A bad drive, or a run of HR20's with crappy and loud drives?

What kind of drive will replace it? Any SATA PC drive 300mb?

[houskamp]

An HR20-700? Mine is also marked HR20S .... A bad drive, or a run of HR20's with crappy and loud drives?

What kind of drive will replace it? Any SATA PC drive 300mb?
basicaly.. sata drives 300 and up..

[jonquiljo]

But here's the thing, you can't record two MPEG-2 streams and read a third with a "cheap" hard drive. If it's making more noise than an external USB drive, then there's something wrong with it (either the drive itself or the way it's mounted).

WEll, a cheap hard drive can do all that a good one can do, they just don't take care with noise suppression, etc.

[davring]

As far as I know it is a standard SATA drive used in a PC, but I have heard that there are drives used for DVR duty. If it were me I would put a 750gb drive in it. I would find out if there is any truth regarding the duty cycle.

[bonscott87]

I vote a bad drive. I also have an HR20-700 and I can't hear the drive at all unless I lay my head on the thing. But then again noise in general doesn't bother me. Total silence is what bothers me. I have to turn on a fan or some sort of white noise to sleep. So maybe I'm not a good test case. :)

[Ken S]

I vote a bad drive. I also have an HR20-700 and I can't hear the drive at all unless I lay my head on the thing. But then again noise in general doesn't bother me. Total silence is what bothers me. I have to turn on a fan or some sort of white noise to sleep. So maybe I'm not a good test case. :)

I agree...the HR20s aren't all that noisy. They're not the best drives in the world, but certainly not crap either. If it's making a lot of noise (you sure its not the fan?) return it. Actually, it doesn't matter...if it's the fan or anything else...if its making that much noise something is wrong...return it.

[ddeen]

You do have to understand that you not only will get the noise from the platter spinning all night, but also the read/write heads will be moving all night as well because of the program buffer. So you will need to get a drive that is quiet overall. A trip here might get you going in the right direction. www.storagereview.com

[billsharpe]

Have D* replace the receiver, as others have suggested. There's something wrong.

I've had two units, neither one of which is at all noisy.

Bill

[JFHughes08088]

Call D* and ask for a new receiver. If "dealing with the idiots at D*" as you say is to difficult, there are other options available to you. Cable, E* FIOS (if available) etc.

[Duffycoug]

Just curious, do you put the machine in standby and is it noisy then or just when it's on??

[veryoldschool]

WEll, a cheap hard drive can do all that a good one can do, they just don't take care with noise suppression, etc.
If you have a -700, then most likely you have a Seagate drive that is made to be quiet.
Maybe it's the fan.
As others have posted, my two -700s aren't that noisy.

[veryoldschool]

Just curious, do you put the machine in standby and is it noisy then or just when it's on??
Not much changes whether in standby or left on. [just the lights & outputs are turned off].

[jonquiljo]

I have taken a closer look at it and it is definitely the drive; probably the bearings in the motor are defective. Whether it is that or not, it is one crappy drive. You can hear it 20 feet away in a quiet room, and my hearing isn't that great. I just can't imagine that someone in this day and age would call that unit anything but unacceptable.

I have worked with computers for almost 40 years now, and I know what hard drives should sound like in 2007, and this is not what they should sound like.

I called DTV and got them to send me out a new unit. It took a bit of doing as they wanted to go through all these self-checks, etc. - I think the kids they hire are all programmed to say the same thing. I finally told them it made this terrible noise, and they agreed to send me a new one. They also admitted that the HR20-100 was newer and quieter than the HR20-700, but I am not sure what they will send - though they told me that they tend to send out 100's as replacements as a rule - thought that was kind of odd, but I will see what arrives.

I'll keep you all posted and thanks.

[Spanky_Partain]

Don't forget to add some noise dampening feet/padding on the unit as well.

[Stuart Sweet]

There's also the possibility you could put the DVR in a well-ventilated cabinet and use the RF remote if necessary.

[brucegrr]

If you have worked with computers 40 years then you know you have to tell tech support what they want to hear :)

They are most likely reading from a flow sheet of some sort. Just doing their job. Remember, not everyone who calls is "you"

I have met more than a few folks who "knew" computers that didn't. Not saying that about you. I have serviced, repaired, and built built computers since the days of the 286. I can't tell you the number of computers I have fixed after someone who "knew" computers fixed them :) You could probably say the same. I write all this to simply say that the tech support person has no idea of your tech level. Just because a person says they have such and such knowledge doesn't necessarily make it so. They have no meter that goes off when they hear the voice of a computer geek :)

I am glad your drive problem is on its way to being resolved. I hope it goes well. Let us know your opinion of the new drive.

[jonquiljo]

I can't tell you the number of computers I have fixed after someone who "knew" computers fixed them :) You could probably say the same. I write all this to simply say that the tech support person has no idea of your tech level.


Oh. I never say I know computers better than they do - it just makes me sound like some old geezer and I'm not. But I do remember the days when we used to start up computers by a long row of switches that input the initial boot-startup sequence in binary! I think it was about 1968. Wow ... the memories!

To be honest I'm not sure we are so advanced these days. Its all about "consumer electronics" which is about the cheapest bang for the buck. I'm not going to hold my breath about the HR20.

What I may do is put it on a remote control switch and just shut it down each night at bedtime.

The other possibility is to put it in a very small noise enclosure under a table or something. Anyone know where to find something like that?

[wingrider01]

Oh. I never say I know computers better than they do - it just makes me sound like some old geezer and I'm not. But I do remember the days when we used to start up computers by a long row of switches that input the initial boot-startup sequence in binary! I think it was about 1968. Wow ... the memories!

To be honest I'm not sure we are so advanced these days. Its all about "consumer electronics" which is about the cheapest bang for the buck. I'm not going to hold my breath about the HR20.

What I may do is put it on a remote control switch and just shut it down each night at bedtime.

The other possibility is to put it in a very small noise enclosure under a table or something. Anyone know where to find something like that?

Hmm - Dial FF into location CE :D

[veryoldschool]

Oh. I never say I know computers better than they do - it just makes me sound like some old geezer and I'm not. But I do remember the days when we used to start up computers by a long row of switches that input the initial boot-startup sequence in binary! I think it was about 1968. Wow ... the memories!

To be honest I'm not sure we are so advanced these days. Its all about "consumer electronics" which is about the cheapest bang for the buck. I'm not going to hold my breath about the HR20.

What I may do is put it on a remote control switch and just shut it down each night at bedtime.

The other possibility is to put it in a very small noise enclosure under a table or something. Anyone know where to find something like that?
I think I've already posted that my drives don't make that much noise.
Next time you call D* tell them it won't boot. [If it makes you feel better pull the power cord first].
While I can sense my two HR-20s are on, they are in no way that noisy.
Sometimes telling a CSR what they want to hear is what you need to do to get what you need. "Gee I don't know why, but it just doesn't power up". Next step is to send a replacement.

[jonquiljo]

I think I've already posted that my drives don't make that much noise.

That's the strange thing. You and others have reported that you can put your ear to the top of the and hear a slight whirring of the fan. I swear there's a rat on a treadmill in mine. But it doesn't sound like it is broken, just really garbage. Bad bearings would squeal.

I do hear reports of noisy HR20's too. What I think is going on is that they have outsourced the drives to different manufacturers (just because it says "Seagate" on it doesn't mean its manufactured to Seagate specs). If you can hear the heads at all, then they are really poorly shielded by the case, and I think a good deal of it is head noise (along with a very noisy motor).

I'm in my 50's and don't hear like I used to - in fact I have loud tinnitus (ear ringing), so it really must be loud to be heard over that noise in my head I have to live with these days.

[JFHughes08088]

If the drive says Seagate, it is made to Seagate specs, unless the drive is counterfeit. Now, specs can be drive specific but in your case, it sounds like a bad drive. Get the thing replaced and be done with it.

[veryoldschool]

Seagate & Western Digital are the drives that have been used for the HR-20 line.
Maybe you have a bad drive [not everyone can be 100%] or maybe you have something caught in the fan. You might unplug it and then give it the old shake test to see if it will change when you power it back up.

[jonquiljo]

Well, I used to actually work for Quantum - later bought by Maxtor, so I am familiar with hard drive specs. I am familiar with drive failure, etc. too. There usually isn't that kind of variability among drives. And I don't think its failing either - I just think its garbage.

With outsourcing, etc these days - I bet there are lots of things we don't know.

[bobinyuma]

I agree that the Hard Drives are somewhat noisey, but not overly disturbing for me. I put a 500 gig and 750 gig seagate pro esata on my two hr20. the drives are very quite and having the extra space is good.

[harsh]

Well, I used to actually work for QuantumQuantum invented the defective hard drive but IBM perfected it and sold it to Hitachi. All but three of the dead hard drives in my collection is a Quantum (or a Quantum Fireball drive rebadged as a Maxtor). The others are a Rodime, a Toshiba and an IBM Ultrastar.

I'm convinced that all manufacturers sell crappy drives, but it isn't necessarily a matter of the cheapest ones being the poor quality ones. Sometimes sales volume (especially OEM) makes the better drives cheaper than the crappy drives.

[CCarncross]

Ahhh, the drives us IT guys fondly refer to as the deathstars....

[Ken S]

Quantum invented the defective hard drive but IBM perfected it and sold it to Hitachi. All but three of the dead hard drives in my collection is a Quantum (or a Quantum Fireball drive rebadged as a Maxtor). The others are a Rodime, a Toshiba and an IBM Ultrastar.

I'm convinced that all manufacturers sell crappy drives, but it isn't necessarily a matter of the cheapest ones being the poor quality ones. Sometimes sales volume (especially OEM) makes the better drives cheaper than the crappy drives.

Was it Quantum that made the drive for Apple a few years back that had bad lubrication...basically it wouldn't spin up unless it got warmed up (or was given a nudge). This is way back...but I remember a bunch of people whacking their Mac SEs on the side to get their HD started.

[veryoldschool]

Was it Quantum that made the drive for Apple a few years back that had bad lubrication...basically it wouldn't spin up unless it got warmed up (or was given a nudge). This is way back...but I remember a bunch of people whacking their Mac SEs on the side to get their HD started.
percussion maintenance.

[smiller]

I have a hr-20-100 that is noisy at times. It seems when the hard drive is working hard it tends to vibrate and this causes the case to vibrate and setup a harmonic. If I press down on the case top in the middle, about where the face plate meets the top of the case, this stops the noise. This is annoying but so far has'nt affected hard drive operation.

[harsh]

Was it Quantum that made the drive for Apple a few years back that had bad lubrication...basically it wouldn't spin up unless it got warmed up (or was given a nudge). This is way back...but I remember a bunch of people whacking their Mac SEs on the side to get their HD started.Many different brands experienced "stiction".

The thing that was FUBAR about the Quantum drives in the Mac was that they were mounted upside down; the one orientation that was not recommended.

[jes]

FYI: Seagate makes a line of quiet drives... "Operating acoustics as low as 2.7 bels for near-silent operation" Not sure what's in the HR20s now....

Spec page: SATA 3Gb/s 750-GB Hard Drive (http://tinyurl.com/27x3y9)

[Ken S]

FYI: Seagate makes a line of quiet drives... "Operating acoustics as low as 2.7 bels for near-silent operation" Not sure what's in the HR20s now....

Spec page: SATA 3Gb/s 750-GB Hard Drive (http://tinyurl.com/27x3y9)

http://www.dbstalk.com/hr20/images/Small/23-harddrivedetails.jpg

[techntrek]

My H20 (not my HR20) gets noisy at times, and I have to tap it a few times to get it to stop. I think the drive's loose and I haven't felt like opening it up to fix it.

My HR20 is fairly quiet, but not as quiet as I think it should be. When everything else is off in my family room I can hear it across the room but only very faintly. If it were in my bedroom I probably wouldn't like it. However, its not so loud that I think the drive is about to fail.

Ah, memories of old drives. My first hard drive was a 10MB (not GB!) drive and it got to the point that I had to open it up and spin the platter by hand to get it to spin up. Once it was warmed up it was OK, but when it was cold it was stuck. Edit: It was a 5-incher, too. Big heavy brick. Oh, and I think I bought it for $100. Used. My how prices have dropped.

[veryoldschool]

My H20 (not my HR20) gets noisy at times, and I have to tap it a few times to get it to stop. I think the drive's loose and I haven't felt like opening it up to fix it.

My HR20 is fairly quiet, but not as quiet as I think it should be. When everything else is off in my family room I can hear it across the room but only very faintly. If it were in my bedroom I probably wouldn't like it. However, its not so loud that I think the drive is about to fail.

Ah, memories of old drives. My first hard drive was a 10MB (not GB!) drive and it got to the point that I had to open it up and spin the platter by hand to get it to spin up. Once it was warmed up it was OK, but when it was cold it was stuck. Edit: It was a 5-incher, too. Big heavy brick. Oh, and I think I bought it for $100. Used. My how prices have dropped.
:confused: Your dirve in your H20? what drive? :confused:

[dmurphy]

Many different brands experienced "stiction".

The thing that was FUBAR about the Quantum drives in the Mac was that they were mounted upside down; the one orientation that was not recommended.

Hey, I used to have to "coax" our SPARCstations into booting because of those lousy 500mb drives. I believe they were Conner drives way-back-when ....

[Redbeard]

Check out Weaknees .com for drive replacement and upgrade to larger drives.

[prospect60]

h. I never say I know computers better than they do - it just makes me sound like some old geezer and I'm not. But I do remember the days when we used to start up computers by a long row of switches that input the initial boot-startup sequence in binary! I think it was about 1968. Wow ... the memories!

Wow, you even beat me. My first working computer experience was using those stacks of punchcards that I had to sit patiently in line to manual punch holes into -- sit in line over and over and over since the stack never seemed to run correctly.
1976 or so if the fog abates long enough to let the memories through. I do remember seeing a nonfunctioning Apple II desktop somewhere about a year later though I don't it even powered up much less ran a program.

[CCarncross]

There are no hard drives in H model receivers, only HR model dvrs, of course I'm referring strictly to recent HD models here. The H10/H20's and the soon to be seen H21 are strictly receivers, not DVRs.

My 1st 110MB drive was $700 back in the day. IIRC it replaced a whopping 30 or 40 MB drive...

[Ken S]

Wow, you even beat me. My first working computer experience was using those stacks of punchcards that I had to sit patiently in line to manual punch holes into -- sit in line over and over and over since the stack never seemed to run correctly.
1976 or so if the fog abates long enough to let the memories through. I do remember seeing a nonfunctioning Apple II desktop somewhere about a year later though I don't it even powered up much less ran a program.

I just found one of my old Fortran Coding pads the other day...stapled to it was a card I had punched out of a hand with the middle finger extended. :)

[jes]

Seagate drive picture

Is that Seagate picture of the inside of a -100?


Never mind... I found your HR20s in your sig.... :blush:

[veryoldschool]

Is that Seagate picture of the inside of a -100?
The -100 uses a Western Digital 320 GB drive.

[Ken S]

The -100 uses a Western Digital 320 GB drive.

I was on the Pace website the other day and they claim their HR20 has a 320GB HD.

The picture also has the LED configuration of the 100.

Maybe they're all making the same device now?

Here's the link...Pace Website HR20 Page (http://www.pacemicro.com/americas/products/productDetails.asp?nav=products&productID=DSAT-HR20)

[jwdzubak]

I have 2 HR20-700s, one brand new and the other from the painful early days. The new one is whisper quiet :), but drive noise on the older one can drive me nuts at times :nono2:. The noise is clearly due to the seeking of the drive heads (click, click, click) rather than a fan or bearing. I am sure the drive is operating properly as I have never had any problems with it.

I called D* when I first got the DVR and they responded by saying there is nothing they can do about it. I have chosen to put up with the noise instead of replacing the drive due to the lease agreement stuff. If it gets too much to bear someday, I may call and demand a replacement.

Just wanted to put in my two bits. Now there is at least two people in the world with loud HR20s.

[Ken S]

I have 2 HR20-700s, one brand new and the other from the painful early days. The new one is whisper quiet :), but drive noise on the older one can drive me nuts at times :nono2:. The noise is clearly due to the seeking of the drive heads (click, click, click) rather than a fan or bearing. I am sure the drive is operating properly as I have never had any problems with it.

I called D* when I first got the DVR and they responded by saying there is nothing they can do about it. I have chosen to put up with the noise instead of replacing the drive due to the lease agreement stuff. If it gets too much to bear someday, I may call and demand a replacement.

Just wanted to put in my two bits. Now there is at least two people in the world with loud HR20s.

I read somewhere that they did switch the drive they were using in the HR20-700. The initial drivers were 300MB and now they're using a 320MB. The Pace website states they're not coming with 320MB drives as well. I can't be sure...and I'm too lazy to take mine apart.

[Sirshagg]

I have 2 HR20-700s, one brand new and the other from the painful early days. The new one is whisper quiet :), but drive noise on the older one can drive me nuts at times :nono2:. The noise is clearly due to the seeking of the drive heads (click, click, click) rather than a fan or bearing. I am sure the drive is operating properly as I have never had any problems with it.

I called D* when I first got the DVR and they responded by saying there is nothing they can do about it. I have chosen to put up with the noise instead of replacing the drive due to the lease agreement stuff. If it gets too much to bear someday, I may call and demand a replacement.

Just wanted to put in my two bits. Now there is at least two people in the world with loud HR20s.
:welcome_s