eSATA - DIRECTV recommended list

**Doug Brott** · 06-30-09, 03:15 PM

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

Quote:

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)
~~Seagate 1TB (model ST31000SCA109-RK)~~

Follow these steps to connect the external hard drive:

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

MicroBeta · 06-30-09, 03:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Doug Brott

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:

link

Quote:

This modification of your DIRECTV system is not officially supported by DIRECTV.

DirecTV considers this a modification of our system? Interesting.

Official guidance. This is a good thing and step in right direction.

Mike

Drew2k · 06-30-09, 03:27 PM

Hey! That looks familiar!

I just posted it 5 minutes ago in the Working eSATA thread, but Doug beat me by a few minutes...

DIRECTV actually has a full-page discussion on drive expansion at the link below:

Increase Recording Capacity on Your DVR or HD DVR

Kansas Zephyr · 06-30-09, 03:41 PM

This should probably be a sticky thread.

**Doug Brott** · 06-30-09, 04:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kansas Zephyr

This should probably be a sticky thread.

Yup .. I'll keep it stuck for a while.

dave29 · 06-30-09, 04:17 PM

That's interesting that they even put a 500gb model on there considering that the latest DVR's have a 500gb drive. Although, it would basically double an HR20-21's capacity.

mabellboi · 07-01-09, 05:37 AM

It says the standard HD becomes "disable"... safe to assume it won't access anything that is already stored on there? Does it turn off the internal hard drive entirely so it's not spinning? Does it copy the content over to the new one?

If I unplug the larger one, and reboot, does that standard one in the dvr become "enabled" again?

davring · 07-01-09, 05:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mabellboi

It says the standard HD becomes "disable"... safe to assume it won't access anything that is already stored on there? Does it copy the content over to the new one?

If I unplug the larger one, and reboot, does that standard one in the dvr become "enabled" again?

It will not copy any content from the internal drive and yes, if you disconnect the external drive it will revert back to using the internal. Also, whan adding an E-sata drive you will need to rebuild your series links and I believe your favorite lists as well as that info is stored on the HDD.

CopyCat · 07-01-09, 10:29 AM

This also keeps the receiver from being replaced when the hard drive wears out. The CSR will ask if there is a eSATA drive attached and if so, turn off power to the receiver and unplug the eSATA. Now turn the receiver back on.

"Oh it works, you need to get a new external drive, until then you can use your internal drive."

Drew2k · 07-01-09, 10:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CopyCat

This also keeps the receiver from being replaced when the hard drive wears out. The CSR will ask if there is a eSATA drive attached and if so, turn off power to the receiver and unplug the eSATA. Now turn the receiver back on.

"Oh it works, you need to get a new external drive, until then you can use your internal drive."

From the grin with your post, I suspect you are jesting, right?

It's unsupported right now, so I wonder if while troubleshooting a CSR would ask if an eSATA drive is installed. Has anyone experienced this yet?

From other posts here at DBSTalk, it appears that the same error code is given whether the internal or external drive fails, so I would think it's in DIRECTV's best interest to have a different error code for external drive failures simply so that troubleshooting calls would be simplified.

rich584 · 07-01-09, 12:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Drew2k

From the grin with your post, I suspect you are jesting, right?

It's unsupported right now, so I wonder if while troubleshooting a CSR would ask if an eSATA drive is installed. Has anyone experienced this yet?

I haven't talked to any CSRs that knew what an eSATA is. I always ask the CSRs (I only deal with PP CSRs as a rule) if they have an HR. I've only talked to one or two CSRs that did have an HR. Now, they open the door to questions about eSATAs that they will not be able to answer.

Quote:

From other posts here at DBSTalk, it appears that the same error code is given whether the internal or external drive fails, so I would think it's in DIRECTV's best interest to have a different error code for external drive failures simply so that troubleshooting calls would be simplified.

The only error message I've ever seen was just after an NR and the HR said that the storage device was, and this is a paraphrase, corrupted. That was about an eSATA. I've never seen an error message concerning an internal drive. I've had quite a few replacements that I couldn't activate and they gave no error messages.

I did make the mistake of hooking up an eSATA to a 21-100 before activating it. Still don't know why I did that, it was a perfectly good FAP and the 100 just destroyed it during the boot up process. That's something they should have been included in the message. Something like "Do not attempt to activate an HR with an eSATA hooked up to it."

By the way, I count sixteen acronyms in my part of this post. "...Kettle...Black?"

Rich

armophob · 07-01-09, 12:29 PM

I see editing is alive and well at Directv's web site.

# 5. Plug in the power chord of your receiver.

rich584 · 07-01-09, 12:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by armophob

I see editing is alive and well at Directv's web site.

# 5. Plug in the power chord of your receiver.

At least they got the sequence right. Glad to see some of them are reading the forum.

I gotta say this: Kinda strikes a chord when you see something like a misspelled word in a document, doesn't it?

Rich

oldbamaguy · 07-03-09, 07:44 PM

I wonder why they didn't mention the Western Digital 2TB WD20EADS??
When I asked DBSTALK what to get, the WD20EADS in an Antec MX-1 enclosure was the eSATA combination most recommended by a wide margin.
Best To ALL!!
oldbamaguy

Drew2k · 07-03-09, 09:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by oldbamaguy

I wonder why they didn't mention the Western Digital 2TB WD20EADS??
When I asked DBSTALK what to get, the WD20EADS in an Antec MX-1 enclosure was the eSATA combination most recommended by a wide margin.
Best To ALL!!
oldbamaguy

The DIRECTV recommendations are all for pre-assembled off-the-shelf eSATA drives, that is, they are drives within enclosures so they just have to be unboxed and then are plug-and-play and would work best for the novice user. DBSTalk has some more advanced users, so there have been recommendations here for parts to-be-assembled as well as off-the-shelf eSATA drives. The whole thing is even though it's still not officially supported, DIRECTV still wants it to be as easy as possible for the users...

**Doug Brott** · 07-05-09, 07:13 AM

I think there may be some sort of special processing with the recommended drives, although I don't know specifically what that means.

hdtvfan0001 · 07-05-09, 09:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by oldbamaguy

I wonder why they didn't mention the Western Digital 2TB WD20EADS??
When I asked DBSTALK what to get, the WD20EADS in an Antec MX-1 enclosure was the eSATA combination most recommended by a wide margin.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Doug Brott

I think there may be some sort of special processing with the recommended drives, although I don't know specifically what that means.

As oldalabamaguy mentioned...a number of folks have successfully used the WD20EAD.

But if it's not on "the list"...using an alternative drive is done at your own risk. You may have no problems whatsoever, but just be aware alternatives have not been "certified" by DirecTV as acceptable.

Drew2k · 07-05-09, 10:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hdtvfan0001

As oldalabamaguy mentioned...a number of folks have successfully used the WD20EAD.

But if it's not on "the list"...using an alternative drive is done at your own risk. You may have no problems whatsoever, but just be aware alternatives have not been "certified" by DirecTV as acceptable.

I think it's more fair to say that use of ANY eSATa drive is at the user's own risk, as DIRECTV makes it clear that use of external drives is not officially supported. Also the site only recommends some specific eSATA drives, but it does not say they are certified. To do so would elevate those drives to "officially supported" status.

harsh · 07-05-09, 10:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by armophob

# 5. Plug in the power chord of your receiver.

You didn't recognize this as being a message from Earl?

armophob · 07-05-09, 10:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by harsh

You didn't recognize this as being a message from Earl?

Ahhh, a secret chode from Earl

bearklaws · 07-10-09, 01:42 AM

Does anyone know the format of the recomended drives? fat 32 or ntsf ?

CCarncross · 07-10-09, 06:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bearklaws

Does anyone know the format of the recomended drives? fat 32 or ntsf ?

Drives don't typically come pre-formatted, your OS needs to handle that. When you connect it to the DVR and turn it back on, the DVR takes care of all the hard drive prep for you.

dave29 · 07-10-09, 06:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bearklaws

Does anyone know the format of the recomended drives? fat 32 or ntsf ?

Like mentioned, the DVR will format the drive for you automatically. Just plug it in and the receiver does the rest.

bearklaws · 07-10-09, 09:01 AM

I did a little reading and seen mixed reviews with the FAP 1TB... I did try it with the HR-22 100 and it went strait through a boot up with out seeing the new drive at all. so i tried it again and it would get stuck and need to reboot 3 times, so it is a no go... The hard drive i had from before and it was formated to fat 32, so i quick format to ntsf.

Thanks

rich584 · 07-10-09, 09:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bearklaws

I did a little reading and seen mixed reviews with the FAP 1TB... I did try it with the HR-22 100 and it went strait through a boot up with out seeing the new drive at all. so i tried it again and it would get stuck and need to reboot 3 times, so it is a no go... The hard drive i had from before and it was formated to fat 32, so i quick format to ntsf.

Thanks

The FAPs do not work with the 21s, that includes the 22s and 23s. They do work very well with the 20-700s.

Rich