Scientific Atlanta Explorer 8300 HD Manual And Setup Guide

Lee Stewart

http://www.cisco.com/web/consumer/support/settop_8300hddvr.html

Certain versions of the Scientific-Atlanta Explorer 8300 (the 8300 HD, 8300 MR, and 8300 HD-MR) DVRs are compatible with external SATA drives so that you can expand the amount of recordable hours of programming that can be stored. At this time there are SATA drives from Apricorn, Maxtor and Seagate that are only compatible with boxes running the SARA software. Cable companies have a choice between running their 8300 DVR boxes on SARA or Passport software. The current version of the Passport software does not support external SATA drives. Several providers currently support external SATA drives, including Time Warner and Charter. Seagate's consumer line of external SATA (eSATA) drives are supported, but its flagship Freeagent Pro drives are not compatible.

Sooner Al

Thanks for the tip about the Seagat Freeagent Pro devices. I saw one in Sam's Club this morning and almost started to sweet talk my wife into buying one to add to our SA 8300HD...

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"When all else fails read the instructions..."

paulc

Not true, the current version does support it (2.6.002). From reading around, my market was one of the LAST ones to get that version; about 4-5 months or so ago.

Of course, "support" is one loaded word. It is 100% true that the version of Passport that supports SATA external drives does so with one large bug that scotches it's use for many (AKA, the trick play bug, wherein if you pause a recording, you can NOT use fast rewind/fast forward).

kmanny14

I have a magnovox LCD TV (26MF/32MF23ID) and the comcast HD service with the Scientific Atlantic 8300HD box. I connect using a monster HDMI cable. I also have a Coby DVD937 Surround Sound System. I am having trouble connecting and getting my speakers to play sound from the TV. I have tried overriding the HDMI as suggested in the 8300 manual. Any ideas? I have the HD box connected to my DVD/AMP via an aux input (red/white cables)

Lee Stewart

Hi and welcome to HDF

I will paraphrase and you tell me if i am copying you -

1. You have the HDMI attacted directly to the TV

2. The R & W sound output from the HD box is connected to your amp directly

You are not getting any sound via the amp

This it?

Salladay

I've tried 8 ways from Sunday to get my Scientific-Atlanta HD to recognize an external Seagate FreeAgent Pro 500G drive.

I always get the message "Attention: The external recording device is not functioning properly. Check to make sure the power and data cables are plugged in properly."

I'm using an eSATA to eSATA cable that I had to mail order. The drive says its port is eSATA. The 8300HD port is labelled SATA (but I saw somewhere that it is really an eSATA). Also saw that there may be a Passport software upgrade required.

My service provider is Comcast and their tech support people (even though I escalated to a supervisor) said they were aware there was such a thing as an external drive capability but really they said they knew nothing about it and could not help me - they suggested I ask Best Buy - who was similarly clueless.

I've followed the recommendations I found on AVS (i.e. unplug both boxes, connect cables, plug power to hard drive, plug power to 8300HD, power on 8300HD - then I always get the message above.

1) Am I using the right cable or should I have an SATA to eSATA?

2) Does Comcast support external hard drives on the 8300HD?

3) Is there a software upgrade or change required on the 8300HD and if so, can I somehow get it since Comcast tech support is clueless?

4) Is there another hard drive that will work?

5) The drives all come formatted - should they be completely unformatted somehow?

Any and all advice would be greatly appreciated - should I take the drive back and give up?

Lee Stewart

Hi and welcome to HDF

Here is a thread where someone added a drive successfully:

SA8300HD Expander

Why not send him a PM and see what he did and how he it. The DVR does have to be loaded with the software to support it. Not something you can do - only the Comcast can do it.

See OP on this thread.

inlanikai

If the answer is somewhere else, please post a link.

Is there a way to view on the TV connected to the 8300HD the power level it is receiving? That is, the one the cable system support people can see when you call them for help?

Thanks!

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Liars, Damn Liars, and those who write video spces..

Weavz

I'm speaking like I know, but I don't, but I thought I saw that the max HD size was 300GB for the eSATA port on the 8300? Maybe

alarmman15613

I called Comcast recently about adding external storage due to the fact HD programs fill the 160 gig internal drive fast. This particular tech told me it was possible and there was no limit to the amount, but he also told me that I could use the USB2.0 port, which I tried today and had no luck. Seems even the cable companies don't know much about technical issues with their own equipment. I just ordered a 500 gig WD DVR expander that uses eSATA connection. I'll post back when I find out if it works. Feel free to PM me if you have any experience with this unit and Comcast in the Murrysville, PA area of Pittsburgh. Thanks!

furjaw

Is it possible to switch between tuners on the 8300HDC?
I used to have a DirecTiVo.
A feature that I used a LOT was I switched between the 2 tuners by pressing the down arrow.
This is technically called "Dual Live Buffers".
I have Time-Warner cable.

silver86

is this guide compatible with the 8300hdc?

im having some serious issues with mine and would like to try using the HD wizard to set it up...

osanchez

I have a Samsung LCD TV (LN-T5265F) and the Adephia HD service with the Scientific Atlantic 8300HD box. I connect using a HDMI cable from the cable box directly to the TV. I get video but am having trouble getting my speakers to play sound from the TV. I have tried overriding the HDMI as suggested in the 8300 manual. Any ideas?

gossamer

I'm on Cablevision and today added a spare 250GB SATA I had lying around. I bought this case and it worked perfectly. Here are my results:

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Living Room:
Panasonic TH-50PZ700U Plasma
Scientific-Atlanta SA8300HD DVR
Sony PlayStation 3 80GB
Toshiba HD-A2 HD DVD
Apple Mac mini, 1.83GHz Intel Core Duo
Onkyo TX-SR706 Receiver
Paradigm Cinema 110 Speaker System
Pioneer CLD-3070 LaserDisc Player
Quasar VHQ760 VCR
Bedroom:
Panasonic TC-L32X1 32-inch LCD
Scientific-Atlanta SA4250HD DVR Plus
Panasonic DMP-BD30K Blu-ray
Panasonic DMRES15 DVD Recorder
JVC HR-S8000U S-VHS

hyedipin

Yes, just hit "SWAP" button (which is actually used to swap between two PIP channels)


Questions:
Three Questions

1) Is TimeWarner thinking of updating the software or getting newer/better boxes instead of 8300HD furnace/slow tuning hunk? (I still love it)

2) Can I change the Grey sidebars to Black? I am using component to 1080p monitor. Aspect Ratio is set to Widescreen (16:9) Sidebar 4:3 picture. Output Formats 1080i and 720p. My TV doesn't sense that it is 4:3 picture, normally my TV senses antenna and zoom/adjusts it to fill screen, but on cable it doesn't sense it.

Edit: I fixed it. I just switched it to Widescreen (16:9) Stretch 4:3 picture, and it worked! I also turned off 480i. Do we really need it anyway? Here is another answer to my own question, YES we need it. If I do not leave 480i selected, I cannot view the picture with Black bars on the sides on my TV, because tv thinks it is HD and does not allow 4:3 viewing!

3) Why wouldn't anyone make a wiki or FAQ of 8300HD box? I noticed a lot of questions are getting asked over and over again.

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Thank God for water, air and HDTV
MySetup:
TWCNYC DTV-HDVR SA 8300 -- Set Top Box
KV-36HS500 ---------- TV
DVP-NC655P ---------- 5 DVD
STR-K840P ------------ Receiver
SA-WMSP4 ------------ SubWoofer
SS-MSP2 x4 ---------- Satallite
SS-CNP2 -------------- Front Center