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eSATA - DIRECTV recommended list

576K views 4K replies 404 participants last post by  mjfoxtrot 
#1 ·
Can I increase the recording capacity of my DVR?

For folks that are adding HDD capacity to their receiverss, DIRECTV has added the following FAQ to their web page:

DIRECTV.com
Yes, you can increase the recording capacity of your DVR or HD DVR simply by connecting an external hard drive with greater storage than the receiver's internal hard drive.

First, make sure you have a compatible receiver. Check the model number inside the small door located on bottom right corner of the front of the receiver. The model number should read either R22 (DIRECTV Plus® DVR) or HR20 or above (DIRECTV Plus® HD DVR).

You'll need an external hard drive that uses an eSATA connection. The following hard drive models are recommended:

  • Western Digital 500GB (model WDG1S5000)
  • Seagate 500GB (model ST30500SCA109-RK)
  • Western Digital 1TB (model WDG1S10000)
  • [STRIKE]Seagate 1TB (model ST31000SCA109-RK)[/STRIKE]

Follow these steps to connect the external hard drive:

  1. Turn off your receiver by unplugging the power cord. (Do not rely on the power button.)
  2. Look for the port on the back of your receiver labeled SATA.
  3. Connect the eSATA hard drive with an eSATA cable. Make sure the cable is firmly connected on both ends.
  4. Turn on the eSATA hard drive and give it several seconds to spin up to speed.
  5. Plug in the power chord of your receiver.

When your receiver reboots, it will automatically see the newly-connected hard drive. The hard drive inside your receiver will be disabled.

You now have expanded recording capacity. With a 1TB hard drive, you can record up to 200 hours of HD programming.

Please note: We offer this tip because we want to help you get the most out of your DIRECTV experience. It is recommended for advanced users who are comfortable working with electronic hardware. This modification of your DIRECTV system is not officially supported by DIRECTV.
 
#2,877 ·
Chilcoot said:
Thank you Hasan for your detailed writeup of what worked for you.

I followed your exact advice and now have what appears to be a fantastic 2TB expander for my new HR44.
The forum never ceases to amuse me. In another thread Hasan is brushed off as an Internet poster and here he is lauded for his advice. Personally, I thought the brush off was unwarranted. You served yourself well by listening to his advice. Those EURS HDDs are a royal PITA, I've had a couple and had the same problems he did with them.

Sage advice should never be overlooked.

Rich
 
#2,878 ·
Chilcoot said:
Thank you Hasan for your detailed writeup of what worked for you.

I followed your exact advice and now have what appears to be a fantastic 2TB expander for my new HR44.
Thank you so much Chitcoot! I have gotten a lot of help on these forums over the years and it is always gratifying when a recommendation works out for somebody. I must share the credit, however. I took very sound EXPERIENTIAL advice from Rich quite a few years ago and some since w/r to external drives. Once I figured out what worked well with what, I like to share those experiences to make it easier on others...there are so many blind alleys one might traverse when reading speculation and opinion.When you find someone posting actual experience and carefully detailing the procedures and variables, it can be a great help.

BTW, I continue to use those 2 TB externals on the HR44-700 and HR24-200 and they are doing just fine. I've really given them a bunch of exercise with the NBA finals, College World Series and World Cup.

Have fun!
 
#2,879 ·
Hi there, I would like to report that my ThermalTake Max 5G enclosure has been running just
fine with a WD20EURS 2tb on one of my HR24s for well over a year. The bad news is that the
EURS just failed and it is out of warranty. Ugh! (I had used the drive in another applacation for some
time).

Out of all of the WD 2tb drives offered, is there another model that would be a better choice
than to replace it with another WD20EURS????

...>>Sam
 
#2,880 ·
I have a WD AV-GP WD30EURX 3TB Drive that I have been using for over a year with no problems on my HR-44-700
Also have a 2TB EURS (Can't remember the exact model) that has been going for almost 5 years on a R-22.
Both are used in Thermaltake BlacX SATA enclosures.
I figure I should probably think about replacing the 2TB drive with something else while I can still extract the data off it.
 
#2,881 ·
Sam-SS said:
Hi there, I would like to report that my ThermalTake Max 5G enclosure has been running just
fine with a WD20EURS 2tb on one of my HR24s for well over a year. The bad news is that the
EURS just failed and it is out of warranty. Ugh! (I had used the drive in another applacation for some
time).

Out of all of the WD 2tb drives offered, is there another model that would be a better choice
than to replace it with another WD20EURS????

...>>Sam
I am of the opinion that the EURS is problematic. Enough posts have been made about this to draw that conclusion. To add to all those posts, I've never had any success with an EURS drive. Admittedly, I don't have a lot of patience with HDDs, but I'd avoid the EURS line. I really don't know what's inside my owned HRs. I should have kept better track of the models when I put them in. None are EURS drives, I know that. And none have ever failed (that's only true of my 2TB internal drives). I do know I've had one EARX running in a TT dock for over two years on a 24-100 that is leased. That's the only external drive I have left.

I find it interesting that I've never lost a 2TB drive when installed internally. Not that I've lost many HDDs, but they seem to be much happier inside an HR than externally. I'm rapping my knuckles on a wooden table as I write this.

Now, everyone can post and tell us how wonderfully their EURS is running. Won't change my mind about them. I'd still recommend avoiding them.

Rich
 
#2,882 ·
dazed&confuzed said:
I have a WD AV-GP WD30EURX 3TB Drive that I have been using for over a year with no problems on my HR-44-700
Also have a 2TB EURS (Can't remember the exact model) that has been going for almost 5 years on a R-22.
Both are used in Thermaltake BlacX SATA enclosures.
I figure I should probably think about replacing the 2TB drive with something else while I can still extract the data off it.
Some people get lucky, some don't. Almost 5 years is a really good run. I guess when the EURS HDDs work, they really work well. The EURS HDDs I've bought didn't work well at all. And that happened pretty quickly.

Rich
 
#2,884 ·
ktoonsez said:
My Antec MX-1 fan died the other day and want to replace it with something new.

Wondering if the Thermaltake Max 5 will work with my HR24-200 just like the Antec MX-1 did?
I'm pretty disappointed with TT over the docks. I don't like companies that require you to pay to ship devices that don't work correctly back to them. By the time you do that, you end up losing money. I just threw away several of the docks because of bad on/off switches. Be sure to buy the Max 5 from Amazon and make sure they're responsible for the returns. Don't trust TT to do the right thing, they won't.

Lots of folks have used the Max 5s and had no problems that I've seen.

Rich
 
#2,885 ·
ktoonsez said:
My Antec MX-1 fan died the other day and want to replace it with something new.

Wondering if the Thermaltake Max 5 will work with my HR24-200 just like the Antec MX-1 did?
Mine is working fine on an HR44-700. I have the ThermalTake Dock on an HR24-200 and have had it on an HR20-700. It continues to work fine, although given a choice I like the Max5 enclosure with the fans built in, and of course the drive isn't exposed like it is on the dock.
 
#2,886 ·
hasan said:
Mine is working fine on an HR44-700. I have the ThermalTake Dock on an HR24-200 and have had it on an HR20-700. It continues to work fine, although given a choice I like the Max5 enclosure with the fans built in, and of course the drive isn't exposed like it is on the dock.
Thanks for the replies guys, appreciate it :D. Got some good news on a side note, logged into my account for Directv and realized that I was up for a free upgrade and got the Genie HR44-500 and 2 mini genies for free, got to love that, so as you said thermaltake stuff should work just fine on my newly installed HR44 :D
 
#2,887 ·
hasan said:
Mine is working fine on an HR44-700. I have the ThermalTake Dock on an HR24-200 and have had it on an HR20-700. It continues to work fine, although given a choice I like the Max5 enclosure with the fans built in, and of course the drive isn't exposed like it is on the dock.
Quick tip: Trust Hasan! I do.

Rich
 
#2,888 ·
ktoonsez said:
Thanks for the replies guys, appreciate it :D. Got some good news on a side note, logged into my account for Directv and realized that I was up for a free upgrade and got the Genie HR44-500 and 2 mini genies for free, got to love that, so as you said thermaltake stuff should work just fine on my newly installed HR44 :D
You're welcome. We don't get that much chance to help out on eSATA questions as we used to and it's always a pleasure.

Rich
 
#2,890 ·
FWIW- Running 4 different BlacX's on 3 24-100's and 1 on my Genie 34 for a couple years now. Before that I ran 1 Seagate but mostly some EADS and EURX 2TB drives inside my 24's and they ran hotter and eventually started failing.

Now with the externals, running only EURS 2TB drives and not a single failure yet, even when drives sit at about 95% full on a regular basis. I do rotate the 2TB drives 2 times a year with a 500gig stock drive for about a month just to give them a break from the action.

Knock on wood, I have not had a TT go bad because of the power switch yet.


Sent from my iPad using DBSTalk
 
#2,891 ·
ktoonsez said:
My Antec MX-1 fan died the other day and want to replace it with something new.

Wondering if the Thermaltake Max 5 will work with my HR24-200 just like the Antec MX-1 did?
It works just fine on My HR24-200 with the following combination WD20EURS & TT Max 5.
 
#2,892 ·
codespy said:
FWIW- Running 4 different BlacX's on 3 24-100's and 1 on my Genie 34 for a couple years now. Before that I ran 1 Seagate but mostly some EADS and EURX 2TB drives inside my 24's and they ran hotter and eventually started failing.

Now with the externals, running only EURS 2TB drives and not a single failure yet, even when drives sit at about 95% full on a regular basis. I do rotate the 2TB drives 2 times a year with a 500gig stock drive for about a month just to give them a break from the action.

Knock on wood, I have not had a TT go bad because of the power switch yet.

Sent from my iPad using DBSTalk
I'd be out buying lottery tickets if I were you! Running EURS HDDs without a problem and no problems with the TT's on/off switch, geeze, you're obviously a lucky man. I should have such luck.

Rich
 
#2,893 ·
I guess I never toggle the power switch on or off, it always stays on since I don't rely on the internal drives because of the heat generation. Heat is the #1 killer of electrical/electronic components.

On a side note, heading to the gas station now to buy some lottery tickets. :)


Sent from my iPad using DBSTalk
 
#2,894 ·
codespy said:
I guess I never toggle the power switch on or off, it always stays on since I don't rely on the internal drives because of the heat generation. Heat is the #1 killer of electrical/electronic components.

On a side note, heading to the gas station now to buy some lottery tickets. :)

Sent from my iPad using DBSTalk
Since you've never touched the on/off switch, don't. Not that it makes that much difference but it can't hurt to leave it alone. They fail even then, tho. I guess nobody from TT ever reads our forum. Can't be that hard to fix the problem with the switches.

Good luck! May you win a few million!

Rich
 
#2,897 ·
P Smith said:
if WD Green is good for DVR, then Purple will be perfect too; just pay the premium ;)
Only Weaknees is implying Green is "good"...or is it that they're cheaper and therefore higher margin to them! So yeah, ~$20 more right now to get the Purple. Probably worth being a guinea pig on it (based ont he WD description if nothing else), plus picking it up quickly, locally vs. shipped.

Oh, this would be for an HR44 and via a Thermaltake BlackX. I've only used a 1TB HDD in that so far...assume it'll work but not sure about the 3TB HDD.
 
#2,899 ·
RunnerFL said:
I wouldn't use WD Green in a DVR at all. Others have reported issues.
That's all that I use. I've got various Green models and all work well. The only real issues I've seen are with the EURS models and the problems with them appear to be rare. Since 2008 or thereabout, I've only lost one Green HDD and that one was on an eSATA platform. I've never had a problem with an internally mounted Green HDD. (Now, I'm furiously knocking on wood and hoping they all don't crash on me.) I really don't see any problems with them at all.

Rich
 
#2,900 ·
Folin said:
Only Weaknees is implying Green is "good"...or is it that they're cheaper and therefore higher margin to them! So yeah, ~$20 more right now to get the Purple. Probably worth being a guinea pig on it (based ont he WD description if nothing else), plus picking it up quickly, locally vs. shipped.

Oh, this would be for an HR44 and via a Thermaltake BlackX. I've only used a 1TB HDD in that so far...assume it'll work but not sure about the 3TB HDD.
I'm pretty sure the dock will work with a 3TB drive. Not sure I'd try anything with more capacity, tho.

Rich
 
#2,901 ·
I'm gonna give the PURX a shot. And yeah, I think 3TB is sufficient as well as hopefully work w/ the BlackX.

They finally agreed to send us back one HR-24. Took about 1hr of complaining that my work order (swap a Genie for one of my 3 HR24's) was not done as requested. They came and took all 3 HR24's and left a Genie and two mini's. So I lost of a lot of recording capacity (in channels and storage). This should set me right for the next 3-5 years.

Of course, for some reason the new HR24 isn't showing up in Home Network...so another call will need to be made.

Very pleased w/ the Genie's speed.
 
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