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Upgrading Foxsat HDR disk?


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Old 15-09-2009, 07:20
zpat
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I've had the box for a while and the disk is filling up fast (no delete while recording is so dumb, why doesn't it just flag it and do it later?).

Anyway I would appreciate instructions on how to upgrade to a 1 TB disk, and ideally how to keep my current recordings and schedules intact.

I have access to a Vista PC with SATA connections although I don't usually run Linux.
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Old 15-09-2009, 08:24
zetor
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I've had the box for a while and the disk is filling up fast (no delete while recording is so dumb, why doesn't it just flag it and do it later?).

Anyway I would appreciate instructions on how to upgrade to a 1 TB disk, and ideally how to keep my current recordings and schedules intact.

I have access to a Vista PC with SATA connections although I don't usually run Linux.
There is a fair bit of info in this thread:

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/forums/s...r+HD+in+foxsat
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Old 15-09-2009, 09:28
grahamlthompson
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I've had the box for a while and the disk is filling up fast (no delete while recording is so dumb, why doesn't it just flag it and do it later?).

Anyway I would appreciate instructions on how to upgrade to a 1 TB disk, and ideally how to keep my current recordings and schedules intact.

I have access to a Vista PC with SATA connections although I don't usually run Linux.
Also see here

http://foxsatdisk.wikispaces.com/
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Old 15-09-2009, 11:52
wiimunkee
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Has anyone tried a 1.5 or 2.0 Terabyte hard drive?

I know foxsatdisk recommends these HDD's, but most of these are out of stock or model numbers have changed slightly.

1. Western Digital 1Tb WD10EVCS
2. Western Digital 1Tb WD10EADS
3. Western Digital 1Tb WD10EVVS
4. Samsung Spinpoint 1Tb F1 HD103UJ
5. Samsung Spinpoint 1Tb F1 HD103SI
6. Seagate 1Tb Barracuda ST31000340AS
7. Seagate 1Tb Pipeline HD ST31000533CS

Is there an updated list anywhere ?
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Old 15-09-2009, 12:18
carvell
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I'd recommend a drive from this range:
http://www.wdc.com/en/products/products.asp?driveid=615
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Old 15-09-2009, 12:31
grahamlthompson
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Has anyone tried a 1.5 or 2.0 Terabyte hard drive?

I know foxsatdisk recommends these HDD's, but most of these are out of stock or model numbers have changed slightly.

1. Western Digital 1Tb WD10EVCS
2. Western Digital 1Tb WD10EADS
3. Western Digital 1Tb WD10EVVS
4. Samsung Spinpoint 1Tb F1 HD103UJ
5. Samsung Spinpoint 1Tb F1 HD103SI
6. Seagate 1Tb Barracuda ST31000340AS
7. Seagate 1Tb Pipeline HD ST31000533CS

Is there an updated list anywhere ?
I have seen a post from someone who tried a 1.5Tb drive and it did not work
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Old 15-09-2009, 12:35
zpat
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Thanks. Looks like the disk upgrade is easy.

Keeping existing recordings seems more of a challenge.

Would a USB enclosure for the old drive be the easiest way to retain access to them?

Any way to transfer them en-masse to a PC and view them?
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Old 15-09-2009, 12:36
wiimunkee
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So can you use one of the 1.5 or 2.0 in this range ?

With all these HD channels that are on the way, I might need it - Ahem
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Old 15-09-2009, 12:51
savvy
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Thanks. Looks like the disk upgrade is easy.

Keeping existing recordings seems more of a challenge.

Would a USB enclosure for the old drive be the easiest way to retain access to them?

Any way to transfer them en-masse to a PC and view them?
Or do the eSata mod from the wiki site, but use an eSata/USB open caddy instead of an enclosed one.

Then you can swap your disks (or any disks) at will, and also connect it up by USB (not whilst connected to the switched on HDR) to your PC, and transfer away.

Note, you won't be able to view encrypted HD on your PC.

Rgds.

Les.
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Old 15-09-2009, 13:18
zetor
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Would one of these be any good?
http://www.maplin.co.uk/module.aspx?moduleno=226653
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Old 15-09-2009, 13:25
grahamlthompson
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Old 15-09-2009, 13:32
savvy
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No,

That one only connects via USB.

You have to be careful, there are others that only connect via eSata.

You need one, like Graham has pointed to, that has both eSata & USB connections, if you want the ease of also transferring to your PC, unless your PC also has an eSata external connection as well.

Rgds.

Les.
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Old 15-09-2009, 17:39
zetor
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Yes that ones looks better then the Maplin one and is half the price, do you know if it works with Windows 7? I mailed them and they said they don't know at present.
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Old 15-09-2009, 19:07
grahamlthompson
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Yes that ones looks better then the Maplin one and is half the price, do you know if it works with Windows 7? I mailed them and they said they don't know at present.
You will need a linux driver to access the drive under windows it's formatted linux EXT 3.

http://www.ext2fsd.com/

Not sure if it will work with Win 7. I boot my laptop into linux to access the drive
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Old 15-09-2009, 19:41
zpat
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I've ordered a Seagate Pipeline 1 TB drive and a USB enclosure.

Don't fancy the eSata option.

I have mainly SD recordings from ITV4.
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Old 16-09-2009, 10:36
White-Knight
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The Seagate Pipeline is one of the large capacity drives there have been problems with. However, it was the 1.5tb version that didn't work allegedly with the HDR so at 1TB you're probably OK.

I hope you can record HD via USB as I'm not sure about the copy protection and transfer rates. The USB port on the HDR has a very slow transfer rate.

As for esata the only difficult bit is getting a cable with a small enough connector to get through the hole in bottom of the HDR as a lot of the after market cables have large plugs that won't fit through. In the end, I had to get a stanley knife and pare plastic off my esata plug until it just fitted through. Luckily it was all plastic moulding and nothing to do with the plug internals. If you want to avoid the hassle, go with normal sata as the plugs and cable diameter are much smaller. Thats the real difference - esata has thicker cable to provide more interference shielding. But what you'd want is the poorest quality esata cable you could find as you need the smallest plugs and thinnest cable.
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Old 16-09-2009, 11:54
savvy
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I hope you can record HD via USB as I'm not sure about the copy protection and transfer rates. The USB port on the HDR has a very slow transfer rate.
Just to clarify here, you can't record anything to a USB HDD, you have to record to the internal HDD (or external HDD via eSata) first.

You can transfer non-encrypted HD recorded in non-freesat mode via USB freely, and it will playback on the HDR from the USB HDD.

You can transfer BBC HD recorded in freesat mode, once to an external disk, but have to transfer it back to the HDR to view as the encryption key is box-specific, and USB is not fast enough to cope with decrypting on the fly.

ITV HD has not enabled the copy-once facility, so you can't transfer these programmes.

Transferring any content to an external HDD via USB is painfully slow.


Rgds.


Les.
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Old 19-09-2009, 16:45
zpat
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I swapped the disk over - no problems at all so far.

I didn't have a warranty sticker to break - proving my Comet bought unit was far from brand new - be warned and buy from Amazon instead!

The old disk in now in a USB enclosure but I can't read it from the Foxsat - it says unrecognised format - fairly odd since it just came out of the device.
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Old 15-10-2009, 15:05
ohansen
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I got one of these from play.com a while ago, but didn't get around to doing it until this morning:
Western Digital (WD) Caviar Green WD10EVDS 1TB 3.5" Internal SATA Hard Drive Price: GBP 70.99

Quick job: off with the three screws holding the cover, off with the four screws holding the internal drive bracket, off with the SATA and fan cable, replace the drive, reconnect and start up. It formatted automatically and I think from I disconnected the power to the unit worked again probably it was less than 1/2 hour. Nothing to be afraid of.

I got an external SATA/USB enclosure from ebay seller "alliance*computers*electronics" (£9.99 plus shipping) that I put the old drive in, it's now busy copying the stuff from the old drive (now in the USB enclosure).

The file manager is a bit abysmal, no way as far as I can tell to copy an entire folder. I had to re-create the directories, do a blue button "select all" and "copy". So moving any recordings back that you want to keep is a bit of a pain, if you want to maintain the directory structure.
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Old 17-10-2009, 14:38
ohansen
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The old disk in now in a USB enclosure but I can't read it from the Foxsat - it says unrecognised format - fairly odd since it just came out of the device.
Maybe the enclosure, my Foxsat seems to be picky about what it recognizes and what not. I have a Freecom MediaPlayer-35 (320GB) which I have given up on, it recognises that something is there but doesn't allow me to do anything with it.
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