DBSTalk Forum banner

Trouble with Cavalry esata 1 TB...

4067 Views 93 Replies 13 Participants Last post by  schneid
Hello Everybody!

Need some help. A couple of weeks ago I bought and hooked up a Cavalry 1 TB esata (caxe3701t0) to my HR20-700. Everything got up and running no problem. Took me a while to notice that whenever I watch a recorded show or go back in the live buffer, the picture stutters and pixelates. Also does it if I'm recording a show and watching another. Everything's fine if I'm just watching TV live. Only happens if the drive is doing two things at once. (whether that be watching a recorded show while buffering, or going back in the buffer while its still recording) I've tried restarting, re-seating the cable, or I read that the drive should be laying flat rather than in the upright stand...tried that also. Nothing. Any suggestions? I've heard from a handful of people that this drive works good with their HR20, that's why I bought it! Maybe a different esata cable? HELP!
1 - 20 of 94 Posts
Verrrrry interesting! Read this: http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=133810

Mine is a "home brew" eSata (separate case and drive). See if you are having the same problem as me. Try it on a Ka channel and also on a Ku channel.
I had three of these crappo Cavalry 1TB drives. The original and two defective replacements. Number one's HD actually failed. Number two ran for two hours and started rebooting my HR20-100 and the blue light died. Number three generated blank recordings, stuttering, and IKDs. I bought a SIIG cable but that didn't help. I pulled the drive which was WD Green drive. I connected the bare drive directly via an eSATA to SATA cable and powered it via an old PC power supply. Finding that stable, I eventially mounted it in an Antec MX-1 case. All is well since then.

I bought the initial drive via buy.com. They have a very restrictive return policy. Cavalry's RMA process is slow and expensive. All the drives came in beat up boxes, poorly packed, with rubber banded cables. Number three even was a 750GB model with the label taped over with a 1TB one. I read here or SatGuys that buy.com was selling used Cavalry drives.

As the last drive works fine after being moved to a new home, I suspect the problem has something to do with the Calvary's board and/or the fact the drives are not cooled.

Wish you had of read my posts here. You might have avoided some pain. As swearing is not allowed here, I am unable to express how I really feel about Cavalry and their products.
See less See more
Incog-Neato said:
Verrrrry interesting! Read this: http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=133810

Mine is a "home brew" eSata (separate case and drive). See if you are having the same problem as me. Try it on a Ka channel and also on a Ku channel.
Educate me....how do you know which channels are which?
I just installed a 1TB Cavalry drive (though mine is a CAXM3701T0) a week or two ago. Have not had any issues yet. As far as Ku vs. Ka... I don't think I've recorded any Ku. I generally stick to the HD channels, and I can't get 110/119 so I don't get the HD Ku channels. But I have recorded OTA HD, so it has at least seen high bandwidth situations.
L2BENGTREK said:
Educate me....how do you know which channels are which?
If it's off of 103 or 99, it's Ka. Otherwise it's Ku. Generally speaking, Ku is SD channels (not SD on HD channels), and the "legacy" HD channels that come from 110/119, which were available before the new sats launched.

EDIT: I just learned that some of the relatively new SD locals are also Ka.
Example: TNTHD, TNT, MSNBC, HBO, HBOHD, ..... all were virtually unwatchable when in the buffer or "recorded." They are all on 110,119,101. If you were watching live (real-time) they are fine but as soon as I rewind 10 seconds they are unwatchable.

All the "new" MPEG4 HD channels were perfectly fine either live or recorded.

Power cycling the eSata resolved it 99% but there is still some slight pixelating at the moment. I'm sure it will get worse.

I am using the "highly regarded" Antex MX-1 eSata case. Don't remember what brand 750 drive is in it at the moment but probably a Seagate.

I think the problem is something other then the Cavalry unit.

L2BENGTREK said:
Educate me....how do you know which channels are which?
what to do, what to do...

one says cavalry drives are crap

one says its something other than the design/brand.

Well, I pretty much knew going in that returns to buy.com (coincidently where I got it!) were a pain and I'd rather not deal with it. so I guess I'm stuck with this.

Not a huge deal cuz' I guess I could use it for the computer...although I'd much rather use it for what it was intended.

Hey schneid, can you point me to a reputable link for the case that solved your problems? maybe I'll take the drive out of the cavalry and use a better enclosure and cable. Then use the old cavalry case the next time I run across a deal for an HD for storage on the computer....what do you think?
I have the Cavalry 1 gig eSata on my computer (originally meant for my HR20 but it wound up holding movies on my PC) and I have had no problem with it for 6 months so far. But arguably the best external case is the Antec MX-1 which is what I am using on my HR20-700 but yet I'm still having the same problem as you which is why I don't think it's the case. Antec MX-1 is available from Newegg and others.

L2BENGTREK said:
what to do, what to do...

one says cavalry drives are crap

one says its something other than the design/brand.

Well, I pretty much knew going in that returns to buy.com (coincidently where I got it!) were a pain and I'd rather not deal with it. so I guess I'm stuck with this.

Not a huge deal cuz' I guess I could use it for the computer...although I'd much rather use it for what it was intended.

Hey schneid, can you point me to a reputable link for the case that solved your problems? maybe I'll take the drive out of the cavalry and use a better enclosure and cable. Then use the old cavalry case the next time I run across a deal for an HD for storage on the computer....what do you think?
Incog-Neato said:
But arguably the best external case is the Antec MX-1 which is what I am using on my HR20-700 but yet I'm still having the same problem as you which is why I don't think it's the case.
Gotcha.

I'm not quite sure what to do though. Amazon has the MX-1 for $38 with free shipping. It'd be a relatively cheap dart to throw! :lol:

By the way, I'm pretty sure I'm experiencing it on all channels. I'll check tonight.
Incog-Neato said:
I have the Cavalry 1 gig eSata on my computer (originally meant for my HR20 but it wound up holding movies on my PC) and I have had no problem with it for 6 months so far. But arguably the best external case is the Antec MX-1 which is what I am using on my HR20-700 but yet I'm still having the same problem as you which is why I don't think it's the case. Antec MX-1 is available from Newegg and others.
I got an Anterc MX-1 at Fry's for $29.99. I was lucky. The drive comes with an eSATA cable that seems adequate but I already had a SIIG.

As my last RMAed cavalry had the "warranty void if removed" sticker already removed, I wasn't worried about opening it. Once I saw it was a WD GP, I removed it and ran it bare for a week. it was solid so I sprang for the Antec case. It is well made, I really like the rubber bumpering that isolates the drive from case. The fan is unnoticeable.
L2BENGTREK said:
Gotcha.

I'm not quite sure what to do though. Amazon has the MX-1 for $38 with free shipping. It'd be a relatively cheap dart to throw! :lol:

By the way, I'm pretty sure I'm experiencing it on all channels. I'll check tonight.
Buy it. It was$50 there when I was shopping. I might get another.
schneid said:
I got an Anterc MX-1 at Fry's for $29.99. I was lucky. The drive comes with an eSATA cable that seems adequate but I already had a SIIG.

As my last RMAed cavalry had the "warranty void if removed" sticker already removed, I wasn't worried about opening it. Once I saw it was a WD GP, I removed it and ran it bare for a week. it was solid so I sprang for the Antec case. It is well made, I really like the rubber bumpering that insolate the drive from case. The fan is unnoticeable.
Problem is that mine looks brand new. box was a plain cardboard box that said "cavalry" on it...but inside the cables were in bags. Drive itself had plastic on it and I do remember seeing the "warranty void" sticker on it. The problem is that it does work...so if I try to return it what would they say? "That's not what we intended it for"

What's your opinion?
Incog-Neato said:
I think the problem is something other then the Cavalry unit.
If mpeg2 is recorded at a higher bit rate than mpeg4 and the Cavalry drive is not quite keeping up, I think that would explain your symptoms. Perhaps there are lots of bad places on the disk and the drive has to keep going back to re-read sectors.
GregLee said:
If mpeg2 is recorded at a higher bit rate than mpeg4 and the Cavalry drive is not quite keeping up, I think that would explain your symptoms. Perhaps there are lots of bad places on the disk and the drive has to keep going back to re-read sectors.
That would make sense. What would you suggest...a different drive? or do you think a different case would help? Maybe the circuitry is slowing it?
L2BENGTREK said:
Problem is that mine looks brand new. box was a plain cardboard box that said "cavalry" on it...but inside the cables were in bags. Drive itself had plastic on it and I do remember seeing the "warranty void" sticker on it. The problem is that it does work...so if I try to return it what would they say? "That's not what we intended it for"

What's your opinion?
I think I'd try to return the drive for a refund. You can buy a WD GP 1TB for $170 if you Google around and your MX-1 deal is great as it does include shipping.

If you try to RMA with Cavalry the process is slow and you get to pay the shipping.
GregLee said:
If mpeg2 is recorded at a higher bit rate than mpeg4 and the Cavalry drive is not quite keeping up, I think that would explain your symptoms. Perhaps there are lots of bad places on the disk and the drive has to keep going back to re-read sectors.
I was thinking the same thing...the older mpeg2 files will be quite a bit larger than the mpeg4 from the new HD sats, and any glitches in throughput or recovery would be more evident.

FWIW, I got a cavalry 1TB unit on a sale from buy.com with a rebate that made it about $150 with the intention of just pulling the drive from it, since I couldnt get a bare 1TB drive that cheap. I put it on my PC and ran it hard for about 3 hours, and it was pretty darn hot. I stuck it on my HR20 overnight and it again was pretty dang warm by morning. Hotter than I'd like to run a drive.

Pulled the drive and put it in an MX1 case, and thats cool as a cucumber.

I think most of these companies designing fanless case-is-a-heatsink drives arent really intending them to be used 24x7 with continuous multiple read/write streams. If they are, perhaps they need to rethink that idea.

I've heard a lot of people running the cavalry esatas that are quite happy with them. I've also heard a lot of people with problems and with them dropping dead after 6-12 months.

Not hearing a lot of problems involving the mx-1. Even among the tivo and other non-directv dvr folks who have been using them for quite some time.
See less See more
t_h said:
I think most of these companies designing fanless case-is-a-heatsink drives arent really intending them to be used 24x7 with continuous multiple read/write streams.
Yes, I'm sure they are intended mostly as back-up drives. That being said, the WD GP drives run very cool... my fanless cavalry is barely warm to the touch. Probably much cooler than the stock drive inside the fan-cooled DVR cabinet.
FWIW, I've had my Cavalry 1 TB drive hooked up to my HR21 for almost 9 months and haven't had any problems.
L2BENGTREK said:
That would make sense. What would you suggest...a different drive? or do you think a different case would help? Maybe the circuitry is slowing it?
I don't know enough to make a recommendation.
1 - 20 of 94 Posts
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