[elixir26]

I have been graced with tons of info from this forum. This is my attempt to give back. Some will hate it some may use it. Others will call me a fool while others will mistakenly think I'm a genius. I'm just gonna share what has worked for me.

I was blessed with many (6) Hr20-500s They all worked great and the 2tb e-sata setups I used worked flawlessly. Time takes a toll on us all and the Hr20's eventually fell....I have 1 left working flawlessly with its 2tb e-sata drive humming along. With a bit of pull, moaning and groaning and gnashing of teeth I obtained 3 Hr24 500's a few months ago. Two of the 24 500's really didn't need more hd capacity so they are running great no problems. One of the 24 500's needed the 2tb hd so I set up the external and found that it did not work. I tried different combinations of drives and enclosures with no success. I eventually took the plunge and installed an internal 2tb EURS. It works great the install was very easy and all was right with the world. A couple weeks ago one of my last remaining Hr20's stopped recognizing its 2tb e-sata hd. I obtained a Hr24-100 and tried a known good external setup. It did not work. Sooo I brought out the butter knife and tool kit to pop the lid and install the 2tb drive, the same drive that would not work externally. The mechanical internals of the 100 differ greatly from the 500. I have an electronics background, I assemble computers as a hobby. I have the knowledge and expertise to comfortably poke around in box. I chose not to. There are too many pieces to take apart to get the drive out. After looking things over I simply put the new drive on top of the existing drive, moved the connections to the new drive, sat the lid back on and hooked it back up. The lid doesn't go down all the way but the box is not a show piece. The box is in a dark cabinet and is hardly visible. It works great.

I like the external e-sata option as my default option, but it has to work reliably. It seems to me that the 24 series is not as external friendly as the old 20 series. I have no opinion on the 21 22 23 series as I've never kept one more than a week as they are so slow.

Anyway, that's my story...There is more than one way to skin a cat (I love cats, just an expression) I'd like to see *D standardize the e-sata compatibility so guys like me would not have to get so inventive.

 

[Jerry_K]

To avoid disturbing those with furry friends, I always say, there are an infinite number of ways to remove the epidermis from a feline.

When the manufacturer makes it too hard to do, then find a workaround. Good job. I drilled a small hole in the chassis of my Series 3 TiVos to avoid external drive badness. Just hooked up to the internal cabling and put the drives in place. With the TiVo an additional drive made sense as they summed for program space. With the DTV DVRs it makes sense to put the new drive in place of the old. Or as you did adjacent to the old but with the old not connected. Thanks for the tutorial.

 

[elixir26]

Yet another great idea...I bet I could find some simple extension cables to slip through the side vent and tuck the drive behind the unit. Thanks for the idea!!

 

[Jerry_K]

The external drive enclosures are so cheap that they are bound to not have a very robust power supply for the drive. As well they enclose the drive so much that cooling is hard at best. So yes, a set of cables out of the better power supply in the DVR and an open drive that will remain nice and cool is a good idea.

 

[elixir26]

We shall conquer pitifully small manufacturers drives one hard drive at a time!!

 

[TomCat]

The external drive enclosures are so cheap that they are bound to not have a very robust power supply for the drive. As well they enclose the drive so much that cooling is hard at best. So yes, a set of cables out of the better power supply in the DVR and an open drive that will remain nice and cool is a good idea.

I don't think that is yet proven to be the case.

The PS in a HDD enclosure only has to power the HDD and a fan, and it is easy to build that supply robust enough, because the requirements are small. The PS in the DVR has to power everything.

It is also pretty easy to put an effective fan in the enclosure; a well-designed enclosure could create an environment significantly cooler than inside the DVR, and possibly cooler than a DVR with its guts hanging out, which has a number of safety, cosmetic, and other issues.

There's nothing wrong with that, I just think it's nothing more than a wild-assed guess whether it really has those imagined advantages, and therefore whether its a good idea or not. At a minimum, it is not recommended.

 

[elixir26]

I don't think that is yet proven to be the case.

The PS in a HDD enclosure only has to power the HDD and a fan, and it is easy to build that supply robust enough, because the requirements are small. The PS in the DVR has to power everything.

It is also pretty easy to put an effective fan in the enclosure; a well-designed enclosure could create an environment significantly cooler than inside the DVR, and possibly cooler than a DVR with its guts hanging out, which has a number of safety, cosmetic, and other issues.

There's nothing wrong with that, I just think it's nothing more than a wild-assed guess whether it really has those imagined advantages, and therefore whether its a good idea or not. At a minimum, it is not recommended.

Nothing in this thread is "recommended". It was never intended to be. This is a totally out of the box method to increase your dvrs capacity if a external option eludes you as it has me. I have a 8.99 e-sata extension on the way to close up my lid and experiment with multiple hard drives... the possibilities are endless.

 

[Jerry_K]

Tom Cat,

I mostly don't do what is recommended. That is my nature. Function is all I care about

 

[toms111la]

Several months ago, my first HR24, an HR24-100, started making noises indicating that the fan was failing. After a few days the noise stopped but I started getting overheating messages. I was able to move the unit to a slightly different location and lived with the problem for a few weeks but one Saturday, I decided to take a chance and open the case. I did not have any problem and was able to modify a computer case fan to solve the cooling problem and while I was there, I installed the formerly external 2TB drive internally and all was great. The drive was pretty easy to change.

Last week, I obtained a second HR-24, this time an HR24-200. After a few stable days of running a WD20EARX drive using a Thermaltake BlacX Docking Station, I decided, what the heck, why not put the drive inside. What I found was quite a bit different and although I was ultimately successful, it was a lot more difficult and required some unexpected modifications.

Removing the case cover was essentially the same. The drive mount bracket was completely different than the 100. The drive rack was secured by 4 screws, two inside the case requiring only a small Phillips screw driver and two which the heads of which were in the back of the case using anti-tamper screw heads. I was able to remove them using a small vice grip but it was not easy. I have heard that drivers for those types of screws are available and if I had to do it again, I would get one before starting. Once the drive mount bracket was removed, I found a bigger surprise. The stock internal drive was one of the newer Seagate “thin” drives. If you have not seen one of these, they have the same footprint as that of a regular size drive but rather than being around 1” high, they are only around ½” high. The surprise was that the bracket was designed to only accept the thin drive and would not accept a standard drive without modifications. Being stubborn, I was able to modify the bracket to allow a standard drive to be attached but only by drilling holes and mounting the drive upside down. Once completed, I then had to modify the sata power cable and to use a different sata cable with a backwards right-angle plug. It all went back together ok. Instead of the tamper proof screws, I used some small standard sheet metal screws.

Everything seems to be working well. I am not telling anyone not to attempt installing a larger internal drive; I am simply relaying my experiences.

 

[Rich]

Several months ago, my first HR24, an HR24-100, started making noises indicating that the fan was failing. After a few days the noise stopped but I started getting overheating messages. I was able to move the unit to a slightly different location and lived with the problem for a few weeks but one Saturday, I decided to take a chance and open the case. I did not have any problem and was able to modify a computer case fan to solve the cooling problem and while I was there, I installed the formerly external 2TB drive internally and all was great. The drive was pretty easy to change.

Last week, I obtained a second HR-24, this time an HR24-200. After a few stable days of running a WD20EARX drive using a Thermaltake BlacX Docking Station, I decided, what the heck, why not put the drive inside. What I found was quite a bit different and although I was ultimately successful, it was a lot more difficult and required some unexpected modifications.

Removing the case cover was essentially the same. The drive mount bracket was completely different than the 100. The drive rack was secured by 4 screws, two inside the case requiring only a small Phillips screw driver and two which the heads of which were in the back of the case using anti-tamper screw heads. I was able to remove them using a small vice grip but it was not easy. I have heard that drivers for those types of screws are available and if I had to do it again, I would get one before starting. Once the drive mount bracket was removed, I found a bigger surprise. The stock internal drive was one of the newer Seagate "thin" drives. If you have not seen one of these, they have the same footprint as that of a regular size drive but rather than being around 1" high, they are only around ½" high. The surprise was that the bracket was designed to only accept the thin drive and would not accept a standard drive without modifications. Being stubborn, I was able to modify the bracket to allow a standard drive to be attached but only by drilling holes and mounting the drive upside down. Once completed, I then had to modify the sata power cable and to use a different sata cable with a backwards right-angle plug. It all went back together ok. Instead of the tamper proof screws, I used some small standard sheet metal screws.

Everything seems to be working well. I am not telling anyone not to attempt installing a larger internal drive; I am simply relaying my experiences.

The 24-200 I had worked very well with an external drive. I owned and opened it, but, without a drill press handy, I decided not to butcher the guts up and just replace the external drive. I have had difficulty with 24-500s and external drives.

That's a pretty nasty trick, putting that small sled in there to hold the really slim Pipeline Seagate HDDs. When you go up in size on the Pipelines, the size of the HDDs reverts to the normal size.

Rich

 

[Richierich]

That's a pretty nasty trick, putting that small sled in there to hold the really slim Pipeline Seagate HDDs. When you go up in size on the Pipelines, the size of the HDDs reverts to the normal size.
Rich

Another reason why I am glad I have Owned HR24-500s because it is easy to Replace the Internal Drives in them with a 2 TB Drive.

 

[Rich]

Another reason why I am glad I have Owned HR24-500s because it is easy to Replace the Internal Drives in them with a 2 TB Drive.

Me too.

Rich

 

[dakeeney]

I have a Seagate 1 TB EHD and so far so good.

 

[toms111la]

Another reason why I am glad I have Owned HR24-500s because it is easy to Replace the Internal Drives in them with a 2 TB Drive.

What are the major differences between the various HR24's?
I have a 100 and a 200. I thought from some past readings that the only differences were that each was made by a different manufacturer. I know from working inside that a 100 and 200 look a lot different inside particularly as to the way the drives are mounted. What makes the 500 easier to upgrade the internal drive? Also, how does a DirecTV DVR become owned? I live dangerously so I have not resisted putting upgrade drives inside and I think all of my units are considered leased but a lot you of speak of "owned units". I have acquired all of my current units on EBay from authorized dealers. I recently tried getting one from DirecTV and was offered a $100 off (as a loyal customer since 2002) but they sent me a refurbished HR21 and acted surprised that I would not accept it!

 

[Richierich]

The HR24-500 takes about 10 seconds to get the Lid off once you know the trick.

It has 5 screws to unscrew and then you take it out and put the other one in and connect the Power Cord and Sata Cable and you are Good To Go.

I purchased some on EBAY from Directv Employees who OWNED their Equipment so therefore I OWN the Equipment.

I believe that Directv has changed their Employee Policy in regards to having an Owned DVR that after they Terminate their Employment they have to Return their DVR or face a Severe Penalty to keep it.

 

[P Smith]

...
Anyway, that's my story...There is more than one way to skin a cat (I love cats, just an expression) I'd like to see *D standardize the e-sata compatibility so guys like me would not have to get so inventive.

There is another way: http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?p=2645297#post2645297
Don't be confused by dish DVR, it will be same for your box.

 

[elixir26]

Thanks for the link and yet another great idea!