[pirey4]

Recordings on my HR20-700 have started to stutter again. On some shows, the audio drops in and out and the picture freezes and then jumps forward suddenly. Last night, the machine froze in the middle of a recording and I had to hard reset. I suspect it is the external ESATA drive that I have. I rebooted the HR20 without the external drive and the internal drive seems to be working fine.

I currently have a Western Digital WD7500AAKS 750GB drive in an Antec MX-1 case as my external drive.

I bought this drive and case because I had two Segate Free Agent Pro's (FAP) fail with the HR20. With the first FAP recordings started to stutter after about 6 months of continuous use. This got worse until the HR20 locked up and would not reboot. I removed the drive from the HR20 and tried to run diagnostics on it from my PC but the drive was not recognized. I exchanged the first FAP for another under warrantee. The second drive started to stutter after about 3 months of use. I got frustrated and bought my current drive combination at the end of January so it has only lasted about 8 months.

Any ideas why these drives keep failing in my HR20? I have 2 directv tivos that I put together in 2004 still running with the original drives that I upgraded them with.

Can anyone recommend an external drive/case combination that has proven to work for more than 8 months?

Could it be something other than the drives?

Thanks,

phil

 

[cjever19]

These posts keep bringing me down. I have been thinking about buying an expansion drive for the last year and today I saw an Antec MX-1 on sale at my local Staples for $39 and I pulled the trigger. Since, I've been looking for a drive online and I read this post. I also have a HR20-700, Argghh!

Is there a survey about how many people actually have problems vs. success?

 

[cygnusloop]

I think two failed FAP's and a failing WD would point to something besides the external drives. Are they in an enclosed cabinet and getting really hot? Do you have power issues where you live (brown outs, flickering power, etc... )? Maybe something is wrong with the HR20. Regardless, three failed drives would (IMO) point to some external factor.

FWIW, I have had a FAP 750 running for well over a year without a single hiccup (in a semi-enclosed cabinet with two HR2x's, DVD, Blu-ray and an AVR --- with a small external fan to keep some air moving through the cabinet). I also have the HR2x's and external drives running on a UPS, as I get a lot of flickers where I live.

 

[pirey4]

I kept the FAPs on top of my entertainment center so they would be in the open. They get extremely warm. I keep the MX-1/WD combo in a semi-enclosed cabinet but it is the only electronic device in there so it doesn't get hot. All the drives I've had and the HR-20 are on a UPS.

 

[cygnusloop]

Yeah, the FAP's are passively cooled, and get very warm to the touch. But still, one drive failure, bad drive. The second drive failure, maybe it's possible. Third drive failure, I'd start looking at other causes.

I can't imagine what the HR20 could be doing to kill drives, but I suppose it's possible. It could have bad socket, or internal cable that is causing some kind of intermittent problem that is just really hard on the drive.

Tough spot. I don't know if you could get DIRECTV to replace for a potentially bad eSATA port. It might be worth a try.

 

[CCarncross]

Just to add another data point here, HR-20 with the ANTEC and WD7500AAKS drive, running for at least 6 months with absolutely zero issues.....

 

[STEVEN-H]

I bought a 750 FAP at Costco on 9/17/2008 connected it to my HR20 and never one prolem. I did use a SIIG eSATA cable from Newegg.com

 

[krock918316]

FAP750 been connected to my HR20-100 for over a year. No issues for me. It does get hot to the touch!

 

[machlis]

I've had a FAP750 connected to my HR20-100 for about a year. Only issue was the drive being wiped once, which I think (due to timing) was somehow caused by a software update. Before and after the wipe it's worked fine. It's sitting out in the open, and I also bought a SIIG cable.