Saving Dish 722 Recordings to EHD prior to Hopper Upgrade

[Donst]

I'm considering upgrading from my 722 receiver to the Hopper and want to save my DVR recordings. I have a WD 7500HIU external hard drive with power supply. Will this work to save the recordings so they can be viewed on the new Hopper or do I need something else? Is the backup process straight forward? I don't want to lose my recordings. Several Dish CSR's have told me it's not possible to save my recordings, but many of you say it is possible. Any explanation of the process or why Dish is telling me it can't be done would be greatly appreciated.
Also, will the Dish technician need to change or reposition my existing Turbo HD dish for the Hopper upgrade? My dish is on the roof and it's snowy here this time of year. I can set up some scaffolding to the roof for safety purposes if he'll need to go up there.
Thank you very much for any help!

 

[david_jr]

Welcome to the forum

That hard drive should work. If it is 750 GB it should be able to take them all. Transfers to hard drive can take a while so don't delay. It is a very straight forward process. You will be able to view the recordings from the hopper or you can transfer them back.

The Dish should work fine. Depending on your current setup the tech might need to run additional lines to your house. A single Hopper install requires 2 lines from the dish to a "solo node", a 2 Hopper install requires 3 lines to a "duo node". The node can be placed anywhere from near the dish itself to in the house at a central location that will access your current interior coax wiring. The Hopper requires RG6 swept to 3 Ghz from the node to the Hopper, including any wall plates. Any Joeys can use RG59, but most here try to avoid it if possible and just use RG6. You will find lots of helpful info and wiring diagrams in the Hopper Section of this forum.

 

[Donst]

Welcome to the forum

That hard drive should work. If it is 750 GB it should be able to take them all. Transfers to hard drive can take a while so don't delay. It is a very straight forward process. You will be able to view the recordings from the hopper or you can transfer them back.

The Dish should work fine. Depending on your current setup the tech might need to run additional lines to your house. A single Hopper install requires 2 lines from the dish to a "solo node", a 2 Hopper install requires 3 lines to a "duo node". The node can be placed anywhere from near the dish itself to in the house at a central location that will access your current interior coax wiring. The Hopper requires RG6 swept to 3 Ghz from the node to the Hopper, including any wall plates. Any Joeys can use RG59, but most here try to avoid it if possible and just use RG6. You will find lots of helpful info and wiring diagrams in the Hopper Section of this forum.

Thanks so much Dave for the great information!
I'm still nervous why the Dish reps I've spoken with say I won't be able to watch saved 722 recordings on the Hopper. They say the software is incompatible. I don't mean to be a pain, but I would just feel better if I knew why I'm getting the conflicting information. Any comments would be so appreciated!!

 

[Bobby]

It's because CSRs don't know about anything that their computer screen doesn't tell them. You've come to the right place for your information. We actually have experience with the real products. I can tell you it works fine. I had a 722, changed it out to a Hopper, plugged in the EHD to the Joey, and there they were, all my recordings....

 

[thomasjk]

I also changed from a 622 to a Hopper and the EHD worked correctly.

 

[Donst]

Thank you very much. I feel so much better. I realize the CSR's main job is to set people up with service, not to know everything about every product. That's why I'm so glad I found this place for information. Great work! Thanks!

 

[Bobby]

You're welcome. Enjoy your new upcoming Hopper!

 

[Tony S]

Just to add to what the others have said...I upgraded from a 722 to a HWS and despite the CSR telling me that it wouldn't work, I had no trouble at all transferring all of my recordings to my external Western Digital drive, and I have no problems viewing the recordings on my HWS.

If your Hopper does not recognize the EHD, it is probably because your household key number has not been loaded to the Hopper. You can call Dish and have them do that , if necessary.

 

[Donst]

Can I get a little more help with transferring my recordings from my 722 receiver to my EHD and then to the Hopper?
I've had this WD EHD for awhile, but never connected it to my 722. When I got to my account on MyDish, it says my 722 is not external hard drive enabled. Do I need to enable it somehow? Or do I just need to plug the EHD in? I do not have the receiver connected to internet, but I could if that makes a difference. Also, how do I know if I have a household key number?
Thanks guys!

 

[Bobby]

You simply connect the EHD to your 722. It will then format. Then it will be ready to transfer recordings. Internet is not required.... You will lose anything you may presently have on that EHD...

 

[dwarren2]

At one time there was a $40 fee per account to connect an ehd. That was dropped years ago. All you have to do is go to the Transfer menu and select the records to transfer and follow the prompts. I'd do it in blocks. No need to transfer them back to the Hopper. They will play just fine from the ehd. The Hopper will support 2 ehd's at a time. From my own experience you can use a 3tb ehd.

 

[KAB]

At one time there was a $40 fee per account to connect an ehd. That was dropped years ago.

Except for the non-dvr 211 series.

 

[dare2be]

From my own experience you can use a 3tb ehd.

Just to be clear, a 3TB drive will only work on the Hopper. In the case of transferring shows from the 722 to the Hopper, a 2TB or less size EHD would be needed.

 

[Tony S]

If you want to see what your household key # is, you can go into the setup menu and I think it is under diagnostics, counters. Use the page down button to scroll thru the counter list. (I have not had my 722 for a long time so I am going from memory - I could be wrong).

I am also remembering that my HWS had a different household key than my 722, but it was tied to my account so the EHD still worked with my HWS. (I remember writing down my household key just in case, but I did not really need it).

If you plug the EHD into your Hopper, and it wants to format it, do not let it do that. Wait a while for the household key to load to the Hopper, or call Dish and have them send it (you are most likely not going to run in to this problem, but I am mentioning it just so you know).

 

[Bobby]

If you want to see what your household key # is, you can go into the setup menu and I think it is under diagnostics, counters. Use the page down button to scroll thru the counter list. (I have not had my 722 for a long time so I am going from memory - I could be wrong).

I am also remembering that my HWS had a different household key than my 722, but it was tied to my account so the EHD still worked with my HWS. (I remember writing down my household key just in case, but I did not really need it).

If you plug the EHD into your Hopper, and it wants to format it, do not let it do that. Wait a while for the household key to load to the Hopper, or call Dish and have them send it (you are most likely not going to run in to this problem, but I am mentioning it just so you know).

Excellent point! It sometimes take a few days for everything to get loaded on the Hopper. You must be patient....

 

[spudmancbr954rr]

Just a quick question that relates to this topic. If I have an external drive on each of my current DISH DVR receivers (a 722, a 622 and a 211K), can I move these external hard drives from one receiver to the next and plug them in without losing the content on them and/or reformatting them? I'm thinking the answer is yes....that somehow DISH knows that all my receivers are "enabled" for EHD use. If I remember correctly, I had to pay a fee back in the day to get an EHD to work on my 211K.

 

[Bobby]

Just a quick question that relates to this topic. If I have an external drive on each of my current DISH DVR receivers (a 722, a 622 and a 211K), can I move these external hard drives from one receiver to the next and plug them in without losing the content on them and/or reformatting them? I'm thinking the answer is yes....that somehow DISH knows that all my receivers are "enabled" for EHD use. If I remember correctly, I had to pay a fee back in the day to get an EHD to work on my 211K.

You can move your EHDs between the 722 and 622 just fine. Your 211K's EHD is not transportable, unless it goes with another 211. Totally different software with the 211s. Their EHD makes them a DVR.....

 

[JM42]

Just a quick question that relates to this topic. If I have an external drive on each of my current DISH DVR receivers (a 722, a 622 and a 211K), can I move these external hard drives from one receiver to the next and plug them in without losing the content on them and/or reformatting them? I'm thinking the answer is yes....that somehow DISH knows that all my receivers are "enabled" for EHD use. If I remember correctly, I had to pay a fee back in the day to get an EHD to work on my 211K.

The 622 and 722 drives can be used between any 622/722/Hopper on the same account. The 211 drive is a different format and could only be used with another 211.

 

[spudmancbr954rr]

Thanks guys! I guess I'll be moving my home theater PC upstairs to the room with the 722 then. I just bought a Hauppauge PVR and am planning on getting all my content off the 722 and its EHD and onto a dedicated drive in the HTPC. Unfortunately, I have the HTPC downstairs in the rec room where I have the 211K set up. I was thinking I could just take the EHD from my 722 and plug it into the 211K, but yeah...I see what you mean in that the EHD attached to the 211K is merely converting it to a DVR and not functioning like a real EHD. With a little rearranging, I'll make room for the HTPC and Hauppauge unit upstairs.

 

[navychop]

I support the idea of waiting 2-3 days after Hopper install before using the EHDs just because the Hopper (& any receiver) may take a while to dl all sw and become sable.