Scientific Atlanta 8300HD+ disk failure

Hello,

I searched the site for information on this error message:

Video Recorder Not Ready
Your recording device is being checked.
One moment, please.

It appeared this morning when I started the SA box and pressed the List button to see what was caught.

It seems the 8300HD internal disk is corrupted or something. I tried contacting support at Videotron and they had me unplug the DVR expander, reset the box, then they sent the reset signal. Still no changes. The box goes over this sequence when rebooting:

Er51
FrLA
r39F (decreasing until it reaches r000)
Proc
boot
-^v- (the top an bottom are a actually square)
hddF
and the time is displayed.

Last thing that was tried was to manually reformat the disk, but it doesn't seem to want to complete. When I look at the Diagnostic console I see the following messages:

WARNING! 09.02.22.16:36 [SARA Main]@CHDDStatus.cpp:2203 (CHDDStatus: could not format drive, status = 65536, itfsSize = 0x00100
WARNING! 09.02.22.16:36 [SARA Main]@CHDDStatus.cpp:2160 (CHDDStatus: formatting drive, itfsSize = 0x00100000, appSize = 0x0010

Although the box was manufactured August 22 2008 by SA, Videotron says it's not under warranty anymore. So, I have the option of trying to repair it or buy a new one...

Any thoughts?

This is an update.

After wasting a couple of days with about everyone in the Vidéotron customer service, technical support and a visit from one one of their tech, I finally decided to take a chance and replace the hard disk.

I opted for a 500GB Western Digital WD5000AAKB and for the drive and Torx tool, I ended up spending about 135$. But I still plan on using the WD warranty on the original WD3200AAJB, it was manufactured a couple of week before the box, July 2008. I still have to research how this works.

If you want to know how this can be done, there is a lot of good information here:
SA8000/8300HD - Internal Hard Disk Upgrade Works (Cloning too) (http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=15719)
comes with pictures and everything.

If only it was that easy on the Bell receivers.....lol

Glad you figured it out.

The Western digital RMA process is pretty simple, it must be, I have used it. Go online, verify the Drive is in warranty and an RMA # is generated, you ship it to them and several days later you get a new Drive.

Meld, I'm sure someone has done the same for Bell's receivers, and if you're lucky, it's also documented...

For the warranty, this is important to know before you do anything, these drives that are sold to manufacturers are not under the WD "Limited Warranty (http://websupport.wdc.com/help/help_warrstatus.asp?lang=en)". You're supposed to send it back to manufacturer. However, in this case Scientific Atlanta doesn't support end-users, and Vidéotron doesn't support it's customers.

So, WD has a second option, you can purchase an upgrade, from their online store, at a discount price. This is part of their Customer Loyalty Program (http://websupport.wdc.com/store/upgrade/products.asp?custtype=end&lang=en).

When I checked, they didn't have an "upgrade" for my drive, they had 320 GB replacement for 52 US$.