Motorolla DCH3416 wants external hard disk

plargent

My Motorolla DCH3416 works fine but its 160GB hard disk is too small. Is it possible to upgrade the internal hard disk or attach an external hard disk? There are A-SATA, USB, Firewire and Ethernet ports.

Motorolla shows a hard disk attached in thier user guide but warns "Do not attempt to connect data devices without contacting your service provider. Advanced data features require the proper application and network infrastructure to operate". My service provider is Comcast in Montgomery County Maryland and they don't support this feature.

I would like to purchase a large hard disk and try this for myself. Do you know the answer to any of these questions:
1) What port (A-SATA, USB, Firewire and Ethernet ports) supports external hard disks.
2) Does the disk have to be formatted to a particular format (ex FAT32) to be compatible? Does the DCH3416 format it automatically?
3) Is there a limit on disk size? Can I use a 1TB drive.
4) Any other hints/tips/success stories/documentation?

Quote taken from motorola DCH3416 user guide page 42 at:
Sorry I can't post the URL directly because the forum is restricting my post:
However, the URL looks a lot like "broadband dot motorola dot com" with "/business/digitalvideo/downloads/DCH3416_User_Guide_537529-001-c.pdf" at the end.

borromini

The answer to most of these questions is contingent upon the firmware in Motorola's STB. If Comcast states that they don't support it...it likely means the firmware isn't setup to use one of those ports for an external HD.

The SATA port is the most likely candidate for such use. One option would be to update the firmware yourself via posted hacks on user forums, but this will potentially expose you to more trouble unless the hack came from specifically a Comcast user with the exact same STB model.

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goober22

I haven't seen any "hacks" for Moto or SA firmwares. They are just rolled out periodically by the MSOs and you can't hacke them like the TIVO units.

But, the eSATA port is active in most all areas now and can support external HDs. That IS the drive upgrade method.

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plargent

Thanks for all your info.

I tried an external USB drive. Did not work ... it was not recognized by the DVR ... a complete bust.

I will try an eSATA drive next. You mentioned some hacks and software updates that were available. Can you point me to the the forum(s) where I can look into these?

Thaddeus

Did you try to use FireWire? Did anybody?

Rick-F

All Moto DVRs are just loaded with great hardware features that cable service providers do not support. Most of the newer models all are networked media extenders-- so you can watch programs recorded on a DVR in one room on another unit, if they are both (or all) connected to the network; you can connect to your media PC, etc.. They have built in cable modems. They have provisions for connecting additional storage. . . and other great stuff -- all not supported by most cable providers.

I can't really blame the cable companies; it would be a customer service nightmare trying to support all these features. Where I live, Insight Communications runs frequent commericals telling people how to "reset" their cable modem & router when the internet connection is lost. We all know this probably fixes 98% of all the "problems"-- but 98% of the customers can not seem to figure this out. I just can not comprehend how the cable company could support external drives/storage, networking, etc. . . .

Neverthless-- I think these features should be "activitated", and if a customer chooses to actually use them-- they are on their own as far as "support" goes. I could live with that.

askthiru

When I got my DVR I spoke to a guy from retention dept in comcast who seemed to be knowledgable.. he told me that the firewire port is the only port that is open on the box which you can use but comcast strictly advises you against connecting anything to the box.. So do it at your own risk..

Thaddeus

Does it mean I can connect firewire Hard Drive and it will work? I find it hard to believe - either HD must be formatted specially or I need special software. Does anybody know about any more info sources?

deadhead68

No it does not meant that. It means when you play a program that is on the DVR, it will be output the firewire port. You may be able to capture in on your computer if it has a firewire input. But again, connect another device to your DVR at your own risk.

DeadHead68

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nonlinear

I was able to capture High Definition video to my laptop (Macbook Pro) via firewire using a program called Firewire SDK (sorry... can't post link. Do a google search and you can't miss it)


Just plug a firewire cable into the port on the back of the cable box and one into the laptop, tell SDK how long the recording is and hit start.
You also need to download MPEG Streamclip squared5 dot com to convert the raw stream into whatever format you want.

Both programs are free but I'm not sure if there is a version of Firewire SDK for windows. This works well for archiving specific shows or movies but the process has to happen in realtime which is a drag. I too am interested in expanding my hard drive space on the DCH3416. I hooked up a drive to it using firewire/usb/and eSATA and had no luck with any of them. The box just doesn't see that hard drive. My service provider is comcast and they didn't even know what a firewire port is. (I had to point it out to her in the store) I'm still looking into this and I'll post anything useful that I can find about it.

Rick-F

deadhead68 is exactly right. The firewire port OUTPUTS whatever is being played on the DVR. You can MOVE HD content from your DVR to another device (like D-VHS)-- but it will not be a COPY; you just moved it to another medium. To MOVE HD content from one medium to another is permitted and does not violate any copy protection regulations-- to make a COPY is an entirely different matter, and should not be discussed here.

Perhaps as nonlinear implied, you may, with 3rd party software, be able capture (I assume, COPY) HD content to another hard drive and actually DO something with it.

ahill3780

So you indicate that I can move saved media to an external drive from the DVR itself. I don't care to make a copy of the data, I just want to move the video off the DVR's skimpy drive without losing it so that I can watch it again later. But even if I accomplish this feat will the DVR be able to fetch the data from the external device or do I have to find some other method of playing it back?

deadhead68

No, the DVR will not be able to fetch the data once it is off it's hard drive. The only input on the DVR is the coaxial connection to the wall outlet. If you want pull the programs off the DVR you will have to send it to a VCR or a computer that has a capture card.

DeadHead68

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Moto 3416 HD DVR
Sony STR-DG810 Receiver
Sony DVP-NS77H DVD
Denon SYS-76HT Speaker System
Harmony 670

DVRARICEPT

"I can't really blame the cable companies; it would be a customer service nightmare trying to support all these features. Where I live, Insight Communications runs frequent commericals telling people how to "reset" their cable modem & router when the internet connection is lost. We all know this probably fixes 98% of all the "problems"-- but 98% of the customers can not seem to figure this out. I just can not comprehend how the cable company could support external drives/storage, networking, etc. . . . "

Well, I think you can blame the cable company. Why can Dishnetwork and directv allow one to extend the DVR memory and cable cannot? (Both satellite companies have allowed methods to radically enlarge or extend DVR recording times)
I do NOT want to copy HD material. IMO that is not the point. What people want is to have a higher capacity DVR. The hard drive in DCH3416 and other DVR's are way to small. You can almost fill the whole DVR with a couple of HD sporting events! We are not asking the cable companies to expend resources in bigger hard drives, although that would be nice, but we are asking is for them to have something similar to weaknees directv and a process similar to dishnetworks where one can buy an external hard drive. The technology is there in the motorola machine. I say let it live to its full potential.

IMO, what the cable companies are doing with dvr technology is anologous to what the telephone companies are doing with cellulars; both have hamstrung important technology.