625 Died - Any Way to Save Recorded Programs?

[netsfan]

My 625 just died. The fan keeps turning on and off, followed by the hard drive whirring sound, as if it keeps trying to start, but it won't send any signal to any of the TVs. I called up Tech Support and they are sending me another unit.
The problem is I had a TON of programs recorded that I hadn't yet seen. Is there any way to salvage them from the hard drive? I am pretty technical so please let me know any options that are available at all!
Thanks!

 

[Pepper]

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dishrip/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/PVRExplorer/

 

[Stargazer]

If it was a hard drive failure then you would have to have a special place retrieve the contents off of the hard drive and that is not cheap. Last time I checked I think it was at least a few hundred bucks. If it was not a hard drive failure but just a receiver failure then the links in the previous post should help you.

 

[Mark_AR]

Lest we forget that unless the 625 is OWNED and not leased, the solution moot.

I've lost a TON of programs 3 times now on my 522. Last time was to a HD with a fever of 140'F.

Sorry for your loss.!sadroll

 

[netsfan]

Thank you very much for the links.

I am starting to read over them to see if they can help me.

Mark, why is this solution moot if the 625 is leased?

Thanks again.

 

[downriver]

I went through two 625's in two weeks. Both had failed harddrives. Then I purchased a now obsolete 942. What a great company!

 

[netsfan]

Last time was to a HD with a fever of 140'F.

Now that I think about it, I wonder if this is what happened to mine. I hear the fan turn on REALLY loud for a few seconds, then the hard drive whirs, then the fan comes on again, then the hard drive whirs.. etc..

Does this mean I have no hope of recovering what's on the hard drive?

On a side note, did Dish give you any kind of credit? Thanks.

 

[Mark_AR]

Leased equipment doesn't belong to you. If you open the case to remove, salvage programming or whatever, the box becomes yours and you pay money for it.

Historically, there is anti-tamper tape over drive housings so you can't pull the drive out easily.

Credit: You are getting a replacement box. That is the only credit I've ever gotten.

Hopefully PocketDish support will make it easier in the future to backup programming through the USB port. (We can only hope)

And yes, your programming is gone unless you can miraculously get it to work before the replacement arrives and offload it to VHS or DVD.

 

[netsfan]

Leased equipment doesn't belong to you. If you open the case to remove, salvage programming or whatever, the box becomes yours and you pay money for it.
Historically, there is anti-tamper tape over drive housings so you can't pull the drive out easily.
Credit: You are getting a replacement box. That is the only credit I've ever gotten.
Hopefully PocketDish support will make it easier in the future to backup programming through the USB port. (We can only hope)
And yes, your programming is gone unless you can miraculously get it to work before the replacement arrives and offload it to VHS or DVD.

Wow that stinks. I definitely won't take that chance then. Looks like it's gone forever.

Thanks for all your help though guys.

 

[Stargazer]

I have only had one hard drive failure out of nine DVR receivers I have ever had active. The main issue I have had is tuner failure in the 501/508/510 series and 721. The 522's have not given me any issues and I have had them since last summer but maybe it is too early to say that they are great receivers as the other receivers I have owned have failed within the first year I have had them active.

 

[Purogamer]

Whoa whoa whoa there boys...

You can EASILY unscrew the HDD bay and move it without touching that sticker. My 510 had this exact same problem (fan on/off, wouldn't acquire a signal) and I took the HDD out just fine and saved almost everything because DISH doesn't know what the f**k is wrong with the boxes over the phone. They just say it's an HDD error and get off the phone rather than come up with a memory dumping solution that would actually work.

Try taking the HDD out before the new box arrives. If you can get it out without removing the sticker.

Can you access the menu? If so you can reset the whole thing, clear the PVR stuff and have a new box without having to accept an E* refurb that's probably been abused.

How many programs did you have recorded? I don't care so much about time (irrelevant), I mean how many actual programs did you have recorded?

 

[netsfan]

Whoa whoa whoa there boys...

You can EASILY unscrew the HDD bay and move it without touching that sticker. My 510 had this exact same problem (fan on/off, wouldn't acquire a signal) and I took the HDD out just fine and saved almost everything because DISH doesn't know what the f**k is wrong with the boxes over the phone. They just say it's an HDD error and get off the phone rather than come up with a memory dumping solution that would actually work.

Try taking the HDD out before the new box arrives. If you can get it out without removing the sticker.

Can you access the menu? If so you can reset the whole thing, clear the PVR stuff and have a new box without having to accept an E* refurb that's probably been abused.

How many programs did you have recorded? I don't care so much about time (irrelevant), I mean how many actual programs did you have recorded?

The box won't even send a signal to any of the TVs. So I can't access the menu or anything else.

I had a ton of programs saved on there, maybe fifty or more, including a lot of short clips and also some full shows. You've given me some hope, so I might try to open it a little bit and see if it looks like there are stickers on there, but I'll be very careful because I don't want to void the warranty.

Thank you.

 

[netsfan]

Well the sticker is right there and I have no way of removing the hard drive. The only chance is if I move the entire receiver next to my PC, and try to connect the hard drive to the computer while it is still in the receiver.

But a Big Question - If the hard drive is indeed overheating, could it kill my PC if I plug it into it?

Please reply soon as I'd like to try it out tonight. Thanks!