Has anyone gotten an hr21 working with external drive?

[CraterGrillo]

I just spent the last 2 days trying to get a free-agent-pro 750 working with my new HR21, to no avail (lockups etc...). My brother has the same drive and cable that works great on his hr20.

Does ANYONE have an hr21 with an external drive?

http://www.highdefforum.com/showthre...d=1#post543952

I can't figure out why the hr20 and hr21 would handle an external drive differently from each other.

Any ideas?

I can't stand how small the internal drive is on this hr20.

[GerryC]

There have many posts here, and on other forums, that the HR21 does not support the FAP externals. It appears to have something to do with the chip sets in the FAPs. I have a Cavalry 1TB external working on my HR21 with no problems.

[CraterGrillo]

Originally Posted by GerryC

There have many posts here, and on other forums, that the HR21 does not support the FAP externals. It appears to have something to do with the chip sets in the FAPs. I have a Cavalry 1TB external working on my HR21 with no problems.

Thanks - over in a different forum I found a similar thread. They indicated that an antec mx1 enclosure works great. I'm glad I got the FAP at costco - no problem returning it!

I'm picking one up today with a 1TB WD drive. Hopefully that nails the problems. I'll send a reply after a day or two if it works.

THanks!

Steve

[TomLewandowski]

Hmmm, I would have suggested trying the hard drive after removing the autorun file and other software from it. My Free Agent 500GB eSATA drive worked fine when I connected it to a HR21-700, but I deleted all the software that came with the drive right after I got it. I'm wondering if you're having a conflict of some kind with the pre-installed software, or the drive's pre-formatting.

I don't accumlulate recordings for any period of time on my HR21-700, so I have no need for a bigger hard drive -- but I did want to try an external drive, just to see how it would work; and it did. This Seagate eSATA drive is great for backing up my PC, which is why I got it.

[CraterGrillo]

Originally Posted by TomLewandowski

Hmmm, I would have suggested trying the hard drive after removing the autorun file and other software from it. My Free Agent 500GB eSATA drive worked fine when I connected it to a HR21-700, but I deleted all the software that came with the drive right after I got it. I'm wondering if you're having a conflict of some kind with the pre-installed software, or the drive's pre-formatting.

I don't accumlulate recordings for any period of time on my HR21-700, so I have no need for a bigger hard drive -- but I did want to try an external drive, just to see how it would work; and it did. This Seagate eSATA drive is great for backing up my PC, which is why I got it.

Note that mine worked "for a while" and then locks up. maybe within 30-90 minutes depending.

Deleting the software shouldn't have made any difference as far as I can tell anyway, the dvr has its own file system - I doubt if anything at all on the drive would be preserved after using in the dvr.

[GerryC]

Originally Posted by CraterGrillo

Thanks - over in a different forum I found a similar thread. They indicated that an antec mx1 enclosure works great. I'm glad I got the FAP at costco - no problem returning it!

I'm picking one up today with a 1TB WD drive. Hopefully that nails the problems. I'll send a reply after a day or two if it works.

THanks!

Steve

From what I have read you should have no problems with the mx1.

[gobogie]

Damn it - now you guys have me "wanting" something else!

[sprkeng]

You all are writing about external hard-drives for the HR-21. I have an HR-21, where do I find information that explains how to add your own hard-drive to the HR-21. Is it ran by USB or another port behind the HR-21?

[TomLewandowski]

Note that mine worked "for a while" and then locks up. maybe within 30-90 minutes depending.

Ahhh...I only tried it for less than 30 minutes. Probably less than 15 minutes. I just wanted to see what all the excitement was about, and know that I could do it if I wanted.

sprkeng, the replacement hard drive requires an external serial ATA (eSATA) drive, which are available at just about any computer-related resaler. (Best Buy, TigerDirect, etc.) Some eSATA drives come with a cable. You need the eSATA cable and drive, connected to the SATA port of the HR21-700. Power up the drive and reboot the HR21-700...and you're in business.

Do a search on these forums for more details; there's been tons of posts on the subject.

[cyberl1]

Originally Posted by sprkeng

You all are writing about external hard-drives for the HR-21. I have an HR-21, where do I find information that explains how to add your own hard-drive to the HR-21. Is it ran by USB or another port behind the HR-21?

Behind the HR21 is an ESATA connection. This is the only way to hook up an external hard drive. The USB is power only. No data.

There are a few threads here on what external hard drive has worked with the HR21. The Seagate 750G Free Agent Pro is very popular with the HR20 but seems to not work with the HR21

[CraterGrillo]

Originally Posted by TomLewandowski

Ahhh...I only tried it for less than 30 minutes. Probably less than 15 minutes. I just wanted to see what all the excitement was about, and know that I could do it if I wanted.

sprkeng, the replacement hard drive requires an external serial ATA (eSATA) drive, which are available at just about any computer-related resaler. (Best Buy, TigerDirect, etc.) Some eSATA drives come with a cable. You need the eSATA cable and drive, connected to the SATA port of the HR21-700. Power up the drive and reboot the HR21-700...and you're in business.

Do a search on these forums for more details; there's been tons of posts on the subject.

Actually it's not as simple as that. Some drives work and at least a few don't (as I found out).

The FAP 750 does NOT work on the HR21 (something about a chipset incompatibility). This causes the lockups that I and many others (on dbstalk) have had.

Yesterday I got an Antec MX1 enclosure and Western-digital 1TB hard drive, and so far it's working perfectly. All reports are that the MX-1 enclosure (which has an ESATA chipset) works fine with the HR21.

Steve

[CraterGrillo]

Great news.

The MX-1 with WD 1TB drive works perfectly. and it's virtually silent.

Highly recommended for the HR21.

Thanks for help everyone!

Steve

[cbsquidss]

I too have the Antec with a WD 1TB drive, finally got it working after resetting my HR21.

I have question as to the recorded format of the movies - what is it? Is it MGEG2, MPEG4, proprietary....?

If I attach my drive back to my computer, will I be able to access the movies to bur to DVD?

Thanks in advance, Jay

[CraterGrillo]

Originally Posted by cbsquidss

I too have the Antec with a WD 1TB drive, finally got it working after resetting my HR21.

I have question as to the recorded format of the movies - what is it? Is it MGEG2, MPEG4, proprietary....?

If I attach my drive back to my computer, will I be able to access the movies to bur to DVD?

Thanks in advance, Jay

I believe it's mpeg4 with the hr20 and hr21.

And no I don't believe you'll be able to access the media from your computer. The file system is not compatible with it as far as I know.

Steve

[joed32]

Originally Posted by cbsquidss

I too have the Antec with a WD 1TB drive, finally got it working after resetting my HR21.

I have question as to the recorded format of the movies - what is it? Is it MGEG2, MPEG4, proprietary....?

If I attach my drive back to my computer, will I be able to access the movies to bur to DVD?

Thanks in advance, Jay

It's still a mix with most channels Mpeg 4 and some of the major channels still at Mpeg 2. Your external drive will replace the internal and should work exactly the same.