[rb5505]

just want to be sure i understand a couple things involving an external hard drive with an hr20-100 or 700 dvr.

if the dvr goes bad and needs to be replaced, all of the shows on the external hard drive that was connected to that dvr, are lost?

in addition, those shows cannot be played on the replacement dvr?

i haven't gotten the external yet, but the so far very unreliable directv dvr's sort of make me hesitant to build a 100+ hour hd library. i've had more directv dvr's go bad in the year or so that i've had them, then the 10 years with tivo prior. and yes, i saw the new tivo and directv announcement. yes!

 

[CorkyMuldoon]

just want to be sure i understand a couple things involving an external hard drive with an hr20-100 or 700 dvr.

if the dvr goes bad and needs to be replaced, all of the shows on the external hard drive that was connected to that dvr, are lost?

in addition, those shows cannot be played on the replacement dvr?

i haven't gotten the external yet, but the so far very unreliable directv dvr's sort of make me hesitant to build a 100+ hour hd library. i've had more directv dvr's go bad in the year or so that i've had them, then the 10 years with tivo prior. and yes, i saw the new tivo and directv announcement. yes!

This question has been asked several times. The unpleasant answer is yes - you'll lose all recorded content on an external eSata drive if the DVR is replaced. The two are essentially "married" to one another. Replace either and you're starting again from square one.

 

[Rich]

just want to be sure i understand a couple things involving an external hard drive with an hr20-100 or 700 dvr.

if the dvr goes bad and needs to be replaced, all of the shows on the external hard drive that was connected to that dvr, are lost?

in addition, those shows cannot be played on the replacement dvr?

i haven't gotten the external yet, but the so far very unreliable directv dvr's sort of make me hesitant to build a 100+ hour hd library. i've had more directv dvr's go bad in the year or so that i've had them, then the 10 years with tivo prior. and yes, i saw the new tivo and directv announcement. yes!

I had twelve TiVos running when I began the switchover to the 20/21s. Why twelve? I had to back up everything several times because the TiVo's hard drives kept crashing. I've actually found the 20/21s much more reliable than the TiVos.

Rich

 

[rb5505]

I've actually found the 20/21s much more reliable than the TiVos.

Rich

wow, really the opposite of my experience. thanks for the input.

 

[Rich]

wow, really the opposite of my experience. thanks for the input.

Ya gotta remember, a year and some months ago I was lugging the box the 20s came in to lawyers and getting opinions on how to sue D* for putting something on the market that clearly didn't work properly. Each lawyer I spoke to said I had a case. And those visits to the lawyers weren't free.

But, for some reason, I hung in and D* did straighten the 20/21s out. The TiVos had been around a lot longer and I got to the point where I could count on at least two crashing fatally during the season. And each of my twelve TiVos had large hard drives installed. Lose the TiVo and the HD had usually failed and there went a very expensive hard drive.

I'm very happy with my 20/21s right now and do not look forward to a new partnership with TiVo.

Rich

 

[lucky13]

The shows aren't technically lost--you'd still see them in the Playlist when you hook the external drive up to a different DirecTV dvr. You just won't be able to play them.

One of the most requested features among the eSATA community here is to allow the external drive to play on any dvr on your account, not only the one the shows were recorded on. DirecTV has made no changes in the eSATA configuration since the initial activation of the eSATA port close to 2 years ago, so it's hard to tell if this will ever be done. The eSATA connection is still an "unsupported" feature of the HR2x series.

 

[Rich]

The shows aren't technically lost--you'd still see them in the Playlist when you hook the external drive up to a different DirecTV dvr. You just won't be able to play them.

One of the most requested features among the eSATA community here is to allow the external drive to play on any dvr on your account, not only the one the shows were recorded on. DirecTV has made no changes in the eSATA configuration since the initial activation of the eSATA port close to 2 years ago, so it's hard to tell if this will ever be done. The eSATA connection is still an "unsupported" feature of the HR2x series.

I've been complaining about this for a long time. I've tried three threads and not many people seem concerned. Unfortunate.

One of the posters on one of those threads was of the opinion that less than 10% of HRxx owners used the eSATA function. I'm beginning to agree with him. Nobody cares until his HRxx fails and he/she loses all the recordings on the attached eSATA FOREVER.

How could people not use the eSATA function? Websites such as weaknees.com and digitalrecording.com must have made fortunes on large TiVo hard drives over the years. The eSATA function is so much simpler than opening up a TiVo and installing a large HD. And if the TiVo goes south you lose the HD as a rule. With the HRs, at least you still have a usable eSATA if the DVR fails. Yeah, you lose your recordings and I know that hurts, but at least you haven't lost your investment. You can always hook up the eSATA to another HR and start over.

Rich

 

[lucky13]

I've been complaining about this for a long time. I've tried three threads and not many people seem concerned. Unfortunate.

One of the posters on one of those threads was of the opinion that less than 10% of HRxx owners used the eSATA function. I'm beginning to agree with him. Nobody cares until his HRxx fails and he/she loses all the recordings on the attached eSATA FOREVER.

How could people not use the eSATA function? Websites such as weaknees.com and digitalrecording.com must have made fortunes on large TiVo hard drives over the years. The eSATA function is so much simpler than opening up a TiVo and installing a large HD. And if the TiVo goes south you lose the HD as a rule. With the HRs, at least you still have a usable eSATA if the DVR fails. Yeah, you lose your recordings and I know that hurts, but at least you haven't lost your investment. You can always hook up the eSATA to another HR and start over.

Rich

Count me on your bandwagon.
I have 5 HR2xes and 5 eSATAs.

Or perhaps I just need to get a life.

 

[hasan]

Among those of us using eSATA, this feature should be at the very top of the list.

(ability to move to any DVR within our account). It does not look like rocket science to me.

 

[66stang351]

The benefit of the eSATA if your DVR fails is the fact that you retain all of your settings and Series Links. When you plug it into a new DVR it picks up right where you left off and you don't have to set every thing up again. You just have to delete the list of shows that won't play.

 

[houskamp]

The more I think about it the more I think they should leave the esata the way it is.. (with the possible addition of remarrying it)..
if they make it "additional space" it will definately be lost if the dvr fails..
if they make it "move to space" it will be a big PIA to keep copying stuff (worst idea I can think of) and won't help the space shortage with stock harddrive..
What they have now is a simple way to increase storage with the least hassle..
The more I think of it the more I'm convinced they should leave it alone.. Oh, and possibly start selling esatas themselves that are compatible..

 

[Rich]

The more I think about it the more I think they should leave the esata the way it is.. (with the possible addition of remarrying it)..
if they make it "additional space" it will definately be lost if the dvr fails..
if they make it "move to space" it will be a big PIA to keep copying stuff (worst idea I can think of) and won't help the space shortage with stock harddrive..
What they have now is a simple way to increase storage with the least hassle..
The more I think of it the more I'm convinced they should leave it alone.. Oh, and possibly start selling esatas themselves that are compatible..

Just let the eSATAs play on any HR within an account. That's all I'm asking for. And I really hope that D* doesn't start selling their own eSATAs, that would mess up my master plan.

Rich

 

[Rich]

Count me on your bandwagon.
I have 5 HR2xes and 5 eSATAs.

Or perhaps I just need to get a life.

You have a good life, just not enough eSATAs. :lol: But seriously, why enable the eSATA function and then not "support" it? The percentage of eSATA users might be low compared to HR owners, but those of us who use it could use a little support. Just enough to make any eSATA play on any DVR within an account. What possible problem could that cause?

Rich

 

[Rich]

The benefit of the eSATA if your DVR fails is the fact that you retain all of your settings and Series Links. When you plug it into a new DVR it picks up right where you left off and you don't have to set every thing up again. You just have to delete the list of shows that won't play.

So close to what I want. Just add the feature that allows any eSATA to play on any HR within an account.

Rich

 

[jchumbley]

Guys, I first want to appologize for not visiting this site and reading up on things on a regular basis, but I have a few questions as well:

1) If I purchase an esata drive for my HD DVR, can I still view the recordings currently on my hard drive? Or will I have to transfer them to the esata drive?

2) Will I be able to unplug the esata drive and plug it into my computer, download them and then burn them to a dvd? I record a lot of hunting shows, and would like to be able to bring them with me to my cabin on weekends during hunting season. Can't take the dvr, as the family won't have anything to watch tv with.

Any help will be much appreciated. Thanks, Jeff

 

[lucky13]

Guys, I first want to appologize for not visiting this site and reading up on things on a regular basis, but I have a few questions as well:

1) If I purchase an esata drive for my HD DVR, can I still view the recordings currently on my hard drive? Or will I have to transfer them to the esata drive?

Yes, but NOT while the DVR is reading the external drive. You'll need to reboot without the eSATA connected, and then your "old" recordings, on the internal drive, will again be visible.

2) Will I be able to unplug the esata drive and plug it into my computer, download them and then burn them to a dvd? I record a lot of hunting shows, and would like to be able to bring them with me to my cabin on weekends during hunting season. Can't take the dvr, as the family won't have anything to watch tv with.

Any help will be much appreciated. Thanks, Jeff

You can connect your external drive to your computer if your computer has a compatible port (some eSATA drives also have a USB connection), but I don't think burning them to a DVD will do you any good.

The recordings you have, on the internal or external drives, are the zeroes and ones that your DirecTV receiver or DVR decodes when you watch live TV. When you play back the recording, your DVR decodes this data stream. So you won't be able to play these from a DVD, at least until DirecTV markets an MPEG4 DVD player.

 

[66stang351]

Guys, I first want to appologize for not visiting this site and reading up on things on a regular basis, but I have a few questions as well:

1) If I purchase an esata drive for my HD DVR, can I still view the recordings currently on my hard drive? Or will I have to transfer them to the esata drive?

As mentioned above you have to switch back and forth by disconnecting the eSATA and rebooting. You can not transfer files from internal to external

2) Will I be able to unplug the esata drive and plug it into my computer, download them and then burn them to a dvd? I record a lot of hunting shows, and would like to be able to bring them with me to my cabin on weekends during hunting season. Can't take the dvr, as the family won't have anything to watch tv with.

Any help will be much appreciated. Thanks, Jeff

You can't burn straight to DVD from the eSATA. The only way to record is to use the analog outputs on the DVR and connect a DVD burner to them.

 

[jchumbley]

Guys, thanks for the help.

 

[desulliv]

This question has been asked several times. The unpleasant answer is yes - you'll lose all recorded content on an external eSata drive if the DVR is replaced. The two are essentially "married" to one another. Replace either and you're starting again from square one.

Is bigamy allowed? If I hook up one eSata drive, then later a different drive, can I switch back and forth between the eSatas on the same DVR to watch recorded material?

 

[houskamp]

Is bigamy allowed? If I hook up one eSata drive, then later a different drive, can I switch back and forth between the eSatas on the same DVR to watch recorded material?

Yes, with a reboot inbetween..