DBSTalk Forum banner

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.
 
#2,977 ·
Drew2k said:
Keep in mind that DIRECTV auto-pads 2 minutes and 30 second per recording, where the user did not manually add padding, so that may change the calculations above if that auto-padding wasn't included in the "73 hours". (Ex: Looking at a playlist of 24 one-hour recordings, the DVR is actually storing 25 hours of recordings, due to the auto-padding.)
Welcome back!

Rich
 
#2,981 ·
hasan said:
Turns out my memory was pretty good. I just went through and calculated my 2 TB drive, with all mpeg-4 HD recordings:

73 hours recorded, 18% used

73/(0.18) = 405 hours total capacity for 2 TB

2048 gB / 405 hours = 5 gB per hour

All of this will vary by program material, of course, but should get us in the ballpark. I've done this calculation on multiple drives and multiple D* boxes and pretty much consistently gotten between 400 and 450 hours per 2 TB drive.
Perfect, that is close enough for what I was trying to figure out!
 
#2,984 ·
RunnerFL said:
As a matter of fact I have. I've formatted more EXT4 drives than you've formatted drives in your lifetime. It takes nearly no time at all. Formatting XFS is even faster.
Don't be so quick, cowboy :D perhaps my number of Linux HDD is not that high as your, but number of formatted Windows/Novell/IBM360 drives could easily exceed your total number :)

BTW, would you make short (10 sec by your claim) Vimeo how your 2TB EXT3 drive has been formatted ? ;)
 
#2,987 ·
P Smith said:
Don't be so quick, cowboy :D perhaps my number of Linux HDD is not that high as your, but number of formatted Windows/Novell/IBM360 drives could easily exceed your total number :)

BTW, would you make short (10 sec by your claim) Vimeo how your 2TB EXT3 drive has been formatted ? ;)
Cowboy? So now you're calling me names? No, I will not make you another video. I made a video to prove you wrong in the past and even with the hard facts you called me a liar. I won't waste my time again.

The number of drives I've worked with more than trump the number you've worked with probably at least 3 times over.
 
#2,992 ·
Ok, Ritch, I now fully agree with you as to WD20EURS drives not working well as externals on DirecTV DVRs.

I have fought problems with my HR-24 DVR with one of these for months. What was happening is that with the drive installed,
the sound and vidio would skip in and out at times. Also, when perusing theough the guide, it would hang at times and take some
time to free up. I also tried a WD15EURS and tried a Max 5 and a NexStar 3 enclosuires in various combinations but no joy.
This also affected playback of recorded material. I eventually discovered that this unit worked perfectly with the internal drive.

So, I ordered a WD20EZRX 2tb drive and installed it in the same old Max 5 and it has worked perfectly ever since.

Let me also mention that with the EURS drive installed, the problems also affected the LIST on a second HR-24 DVR hooked up
through Whole-Home as well as it would skip when playing stuff off of the troublesome drive. Once the new drive was installed
on the first DVR, the problems on the second DVR went away.

I realize that some folks have had no problems with the EURS drives but I thought I would report that I clearly did.

Once again, thanks for the tips, Rich.

...>>Sam
 
#2,993 ·
I am getting a Hr44 on Friday. I currently have a Hr20-700 in a MX-1 with a WD20EURS that I plan on keeping. What 2TB drive should I buy. I read the postings. I know lot of you like the WD20EZRX which is on Amazon for 81 bucks. Will the WD red WD20efrx for 99 bucks work and if so is it worth the extra 18 bucks. thanks Steve
 
#2,994 ·
As you mention your reading the thread, it come each week/month same your question about installing a drive what is new model or never been reported here by various reasons...
I'm sure you've seen pretty standard response to such question: we have no data to give you finite answer, so try it and report here. It will help find an answer for similar question about the model for future requests.
 
#2,995 ·
Drew2k said:
Keep in mind that DIRECTV auto-pads 2 minutes and 30 second per recording, where the user did not manually add padding, so that may change the calculations above if that auto-padding wasn't included in the "73 hours". (Ex: Looking at a playlist of 24 one-hour recordings, the DVR is actually storing 25 hours of recordings, due to the auto-padding.)
Hi Drew, long time no see! Yes that's certainly true. When I originally did the calc, there was no padding...HR20-700 early...., now of course, it could add up but I'm fairly certain that 2 TB will deliver 400-450 hours, auto-padding aside, and content differences (which are clearly there), will probably wash out with a decent sample size. I do think the per/hour might be closer to the 4 g/hr than 5 for some people. Nice to see you again.
 
#2,996 ·
i49mobile said:
I am getting a Hr44 on Friday. I currently have a Hr20-700 in a MX-1 with a WD20EURS that I plan on keeping. What 2TB drive should I buy. I read the postings. I know lot of you like the WD20EZRX which is on Amazon for 81 bucks. Will the WD red WD20efrx for 99 bucks work and if so is it worth the extra 18 bucks. thanks Steve
I purchased this one:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00IMPO5N8/ref=pe_385040_121528360_TE_dp_1

That is the 3T version, there is a 2T version also. I just installed this on my new HR44 and it worked with no problems. I did need to initialize it on my PC first.
 
#2,997 ·
hasan said:
Hi Drew, long time no see! Yes that's certainly true. When I originally did the calc, there was no padding...HR20-700 early...., now of course, it could add up but I'm fairly certain that 2 TB will deliver 400-450 hours, auto-padding aside, and content differences (which are clearly there), will probably wash out with a decent sample size. I do think the per/hour might be closer to the 4 g/hr than 5 for some people. Nice to see you again.
Thanks! That extra hour due to padding likely won't change your calculation, but this really great feature is so rarely mentioined I thought I'd bring it up in case anyone else wanted to take a stab using their own Plahlist recordings.
 
#2,998 ·
Sam-SS said:
Ok, Ritch, I now fully agree with you as to WD20EURS drives not working well as externals on DirecTV DVRs.

I have fought problems with my HR-24 DVR with one of these for months. What was happening is that with the drive installed,
the sound and vidio would skip in and out at times. Also, when perusing theough the guide, it would hang at times and take some
time to free up. I also tried a WD15EURS and tried a Max 5 and a NexStar 3 enclosuires in various combinations but no joy.
This also affected playback of recorded material. I eventually discovered that this unit worked perfectly with the internal drive.

So, I ordered a WD20EZRX 2tb drive and installed it in the same old Max 5 and it has worked perfectly ever since.

Let me also mention that with the EURS drive installed, the problems also affected the LIST on a second HR-24 DVR hooked up
through Whole-Home as well as it would skip when playing stuff off of the troublesome drive. Once the new drive was installed
on the first DVR, the problems on the second DVR went away.

I realize that some folks have had no problems with the EURS drives but I thought I would report that I clearly did.

Once again, thanks for the tips, Rich.

...>>Sam
Always nice to see that someone agrees with me. Yeah, I'm sure a lot of them work well, but I'm not into taking chances like that.

Thanx,

Rich
 
#2,999 ·
i49mobile said:
I am getting a Hr44 on Friday. I currently have a Hr20-700 in a MX-1 with a WD20EURS that I plan on keeping. What 2TB drive should I buy. I read the postings. I know lot of you like the WD20EZRX which is on Amazon for 81 bucks. Will the WD red WD20efrx for 99 bucks work and if so is it worth the extra 18 bucks. thanks Steve
Why gamble? We know the EZRX is a dependable HDD.

Rich
 
#3,000 ·
fudpucker said:
I purchased this one:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00IMPO5N8/ref=pe_385040_121528360_TE_dp_1"]http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00IMPO5N8/ref=pe_385040_121528360_TE_dp_1
That is the 3T version, there is a 2T version also. I just installed this on my new HR44 and it worked with no problems. I did need to initialize it on my PC first.
Rich said:
Why gamble? We know the EZRX is a dependable HDD.

Rich
I'm using that same PURX 3TB HDD and zero issues so far. No audio dropouts, etc. Also had to initialize on my PC first.

I didn't consider it a gamble Rich.

Correction: 32 HD surveillance streams is one of the primary uses for the PURX model...seemed pretty appropriate for 5 on the Genie. Also low power consumption/lower heat unit.
 
#3,001 ·
At the risk of irritating the forum gods, I will cross post this question here, as many of you did not see it where in it's own thread.

Anyone try a wd black enterprise series drive, perhaps a wd2000fyyz in a raid 1 configuration in a sans digital mr2ut+ esata enclosure?
I presently have two mr2ut enclosures 1 with 2 wd red 3 tb efrx drives in raid1. Am now getting lots of delays from the Hr34 series dvr. Drives now running about 50% full. Wd says raid should use enterprise spec drives because of error correction circuit in lesser series drives cause delays. Was thinking that this may be the reason I am experiencing occasional delays.

Question 2: not having swapped out any drives in the mr2ut enclosures, with success, what is the procedure to retain the current programming? I think the enclosures are "hot swappable" and that I just take one drive out, while the system is up and running, and put in a new drive. Wait for it to populate and replace the second original drive the same way. Is this correct? The last time I tried replacing a suspecious drive with a new one, I ended up loosing everything. But I did power down the system before I swapped out one drive.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top