EHD/DVR Expander

jhaan79

Active SatelliteGuys Member
Oct 24, 2012
17
5
Pontiac, IL
Hey everyone! I am at the point where I need more storage for my shows. I ordered a WD MyBook DVR Expander about a month ago from a site, found out it was on order, and now the website says it has been discontinued. So I think I am back to square one again. I don't pretend to be an expert on this so I figured I would reach out to you guys. The links at Dish Network for EHD go nowhere and I am wanting something for a reasonable price. The whole DVR Expander/EHD thing has me uneasy 'cause from the looks of it whenever I search for a product, it includes EHD storage for computers. I need a DVR Expander correct? Thanks for your guys' help!
 

Bobby

Publican
Supporting Founder
Lifetime Supporter
Sep 7, 2003
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A computer EHD works just fine as long as it is self powered.... I use a WD Elements and it has has been flawless for years.
 

dlmcmurr

SatelliteGuys Family
Mar 6, 2013
96
18
Tennessee
I just slap bare drives into a couple of USB docks.
KAB, I tried that with a 1TB Purple drive that I already had on hand in two different enclosures and had absolutely no luck with it. Then found a really good deal on a 2TB unpowered drive and bought a powered hub and have been very pleased.
 

KAB

SatelliteGuys Master
Pub Member / Supporter
Lifetime Supporter
Sep 20, 2005
21,735
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Fishers, IN
KAB, I tried that with a 1TB Purple drive that I already had on hand in two different enclosures and had absolutely no luck with it. Then found a really good deal on a 2TB unpowered drive and bought a powered hub and have been very pleased.
Define, no luck with it.
 

dlmcmurr

SatelliteGuys Family
Mar 6, 2013
96
18
Tennessee
Define, no luck with it.
No luck means the Hopper never acknowledged that I had connected anything. I had one device that had no enclosure, but had a power supply and ports for SATA, IDE, and 2.5" IDE that would work intermittently, but never reliably. My 2TB WD Elements unpowered drive along with the powered hub has never missed a beat. Maybe I just had bad luck when choosing enclosures, but they all worked with my desktop.
 

jhaan79

Active SatelliteGuys Member
Oct 24, 2012
17
5
Pontiac, IL
Just got the 2 TB WD Elements in the mail today. Just wondering how long it takes to format the drive (a.k.a. how long the 'Attention 869' box will be on the screen). Thanks all who have commented so far!
 

ChadT41

THE BEST THERE HAS EVER BEEN
Apr 20, 2014
11,080
4,512
Mesa, Az
Just got the 2 TB WD Elements in the mail today. Just wondering how long it takes to format the drive (a.k.a. how long the 'Attention 869' box will be on the screen). Thanks all who have commented so far!
Shouldnt be any more than 45 minutes. Larger the drive, the longer it takes. Also, I have heard but cannot confirm, the more stuff on the Hopper will actually slow down the formatting process. So simply put, it can be anywhere from 5 minutes to 45 minutes. Anything longer, reset both the receiver and hard drive
 

n0qcu

Supporting Founder
Supporting Founder
Sep 7, 2003
5,092
1,876
Earth
Amazon, newegg, bestbuy, cowboom, and the list could go on forever
Not true I've searched and searched and still have not found a 2 1/2 inch self powered drive, everything is USB powered that is why I asked.
 

dare2be

SatelliteGuys God
Lifetime Supporter
Jul 15, 2011
12,742
7,775
FL
Well, you were a little vague on the specifics. EHDs are generally used at home as an extension/offload of the main receiver. You never mentioned taligating.
 
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KKlare

SatelliteGuys Pro
Nov 18, 2003
2,397
14
Los Alamos, NM
I saw a report months ago that the software partition allocations should work with a 3TB but not 4TB. (I can see where that might be true.) Dish software may restrict it, even so. Has anyone here made a 3TB work or found a Mac workaround to make dish software accept one? I'm looking to get price to $30/TB. I got a 2TB for $60 on first sale of model and works great but now at $40/TB or more.
-Ken
 

navychop

Member of the Month - July 2014!
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Jul 20, 2005
60,011
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I'd rather have more disks to minimize losses, but most especially to actually SEE all items listed, not just the first 1,000
 

KKlare

SatelliteGuys Pro
Nov 18, 2003
2,397
14
Los Alamos, NM
If most of what you have are movies then it is likely the 1000 limit would not be a problem especially as the limit is likely in excess of 1500 titles. The 3TB limit would be from the size of one of the tables, so is less likely to be bypassed. Losing files to crashes etc., will not be more likely with smaller drives, just that when (not if) it goes down the loss is bigger at that time but still painful either way.

Showing more than the first bunch varies with time of day and needs a DISH fix. -Ken