External Hard Drive Archive Bug Thread

[David_Levin]

My feeling is that the USB has signal integrity issues (marginal) which will vary from box to box. That is combined with marginal error checking from the dish software. Some external USb controllers are more tolerant then others.

The internal drive gets frequent runs of fsck (you can see it in the error counters), but the external drives are never checked.

I also wouldn't be surprised if the back USB does better then the front. It's mounted directly to the motherboard as opposed to the one on the front panel which connects to the motherboard via a ribbon cable.

 

[long_time_DNC]

How bad does fragmentation get on the external drives? Has anyone checked this using a Linux boot-up disc on their PC? Does one of the Linux flavors have a defrag utility to defragment files on the external drive(s)? Or is it even an issue?

 

[harshness]

How bad does fragmentation get on the external drives?

Not bad at all. Given that only one file is written at a time and the comings and goings typically aren't all that numerous, you would really have to work at fragmenting the drive.

 

[richtidd]

ViP 722 not recognizing my EHD with error code #788

[FONT=&quot]Sorry if this matter is address here or in another post but my searching did not really fined this exact issue posted.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]I have two WD HD’s connected to my ViP722 with firmware L618[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Today, I get the following error message #788:[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]“The attached external USD storage device is currently configured for use with another Dish Network receiver [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]External DVR archive devices may only be used with one receiver at a time.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Would you like to update the USB storage device to allow this Dish Network receiver to access its contents:[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Yes, Cancel, NO”[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]I have not changed any equipment. [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Neither the ViP722 not the WD HD have been changed & as I said this EHD was connecting & working last week.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Only one EHD is connected at a time but the problem shows for both.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Both EHD’s have need working fine for storing programs till today.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]I last was able to archive programs last week fine.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]I tried both front panel & pull the plug reboot without success.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Two EHD re hits by Dish Net tech support did not solve the problem.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]In checking threads, I find mentions of “household key” & I see the number & in fact the number changed after an EHD re hit.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Dish thinks the ViP722 is the problem & sending a new one.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]If I click on yes, does this reformat the EHD or just reconnect to it?[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Dish says it will reformat.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Does anyone have any thoughts as to why I am having the problem when it was working fine last week?[/FONT]

 

[long_time_DNC]

Not bad at all. Given that only one file is written at a time and the comings and goings typically aren't all that numerous, you would really have to work at fragmenting the drive.

Good to hear... I have one drive where there have been quite a few comings and goings, but I try to leave around 80-90 gb free on it for "frag space" so that the drive doesn't end up with small pieces of a movie all over the place. With 16mb cache on each of the 4 drives I'm using, the read light only comes on about every 2-3 seconds on the one drive that's had quite a few comings and goings...

 

[120inna55]

I've followed this thread since its inception, but I don't recall the following questions being addressed. (If they have, please forgive the revisitation.)

1. Are there any issues with moving several recordings to the EHD at one time? Being paranoid about possible corruption on the EHD, I've always transferred 1 event at a time, but unless someone has a reason why I shouldn't, I intend to transfer 3-4 2-hr events at once.
2. Is there any problem with placing the receiver in standby while events are being transferred?

 

[gadgtfreek]

Subbing to thread, have a 722k and My DVR Expander USB edtion on order.

My DVR Expander eSATA has worked flawlessly with my TivoHD, so Im sticking with that line.

 

[long_time_DNC]

I've followed this thread since its inception, but I don't recall the following questions being addressed. (If they have, please forgive the revisitation.)

1. Are there any issues with moving several recordings to the EHD at one time? Being paranoid about possible corruption on the EHD, I've always transferred 1 event at a time, but unless someone has a reason why I shouldn't, I intend to transfer 3-4 2-hr events at once.
2. Is there any problem with placing the receiver in standby while events are being transferred?

I have never had any problems moving multiple recordings from receiver to EHD. I recently transferred all 3 "Godfather" filims and "2001", all at once, to one of my external drives. It took about 2.5 hours for the process to complete, but there were no problems/issues at all.

I don't recall whether I've ever put my receiver in standby while transferring recordings, but the likelihood is that I have done so at some point. Most of the time (guessing 98% here), I've had my 622 on/active while transferring recordings, so I probably am not the best person to reply to item 2 on your list of questions...

 

[gadgtfreek]

Can you transfer while the rcvr is recording shows?

 

[long_time_DNC]

Yep, I've transferred one recording while another program is being recorded. Makes the transfer longer by about 10-15 minutes because the IHD is doing double duty, but it works fine...

 

[ripnbigc]

I haven't transfered anything in a while. Recently I tried to transfer a movie to my EHD. It started as normal and Iwent to view live tv. A few minutes later the picture locked up and I had to reboot the receiver. When I looked at my dvr events the movie was still there and hadn't been transfered. I tried several times with the same result. I have no problem watching events on the EHD though.

 

[gbs]

Duplicate listings for some programs

I have a 622 running 618. I have a WD 750 Gb HD connected and have been using it since this service was made available by Dish. The HD is about 90% full most of the time. Playback and file transfers work as they should but occasionally when a program is transferred the HD displays duplicate listings for the same program. If you delete one of the program listings after watching the program, a listing for a program that was not previously visible shows up in the archive list. Has anyone else has a similar experience? If so, is there a solution that will eliminate the duplicate listings and allow all of the archived program listings to be displayed?

 

[Smith P.]

Reformat the disk.

 

[willie177]

I have never had any problems moving multiple recordings from receiver to EHD. I recently transferred all 3 "Godfather" filims and "2001", all at once, to one of my external drives. It took about 2.5 hours for the process to complete, but there were no problems/issues at all.

I don't recall whether I've ever put my receiver in standby while transferring recordings, but the likelihood is that I have done so at some point. Most of the time (guessing 98% here), I've had my 622 on/active while transferring recordings, so I probably am not the best person to reply to item 2 on your list of questions...

I transfer 3-5 recordings at a time at night and I shut the receiver off/standby mode and everything is fine. Been doing this for several weeks now as i am pretty far behind on watching my shows.

 

[long_time_DNC]

I transfer 3-5 recordings at a time at night and I shut the receiver off/standby mode and everything is fine. Been doing this for several weeks now as i am pretty far behind on watching my shows.

I figured it worked fine transferring in standby mode, I just couldn't recall the last time I'd done it that way. Usually when I transfer stuff, it's in the evening and I'm watching tv while recordings are transferring...

 

[KKlare]

Several of my observations with 7 EHD and 2 722s:
. No problem with standby copying except if you run out of space.
. If there is not enough space in one contiguous block for the transfer to the EHD is will not go.
. I believe it just looks for the first empty space bigger then the whole recording.
. This implies it does not do linking from block to block, which the internal dish seems to do, and thus is more likely to run out of space with lots of unused slivers.
. The only way to cleanup this kind of file system with only the Dish recorder is to copy off ALL and then copy them back--very tedious.
. When you are close to full, try to transfer the largest files first--look at their size in MB in DVR-4-2 not in hours.
. The default order of transfer seems to depend on the sort order you have in DVR-DVR listing.
. Do not change the sort order when more than 1 file remains to transfer or it may get confused.
. I would like to set sort by name in the EHD and by date internally, but can't.
-Ken

 

[Walker1]

Actually, yes. I think gdarwin mis-understood your question. The encryption is keyed to your account number, so when you plug the external drive into your new 722, everything will be readable and you can move it all back to the 722's internal hard drive if you wish. If you haven't used an external hard drive on your 622 before, you will need to pay the one-time authorization fee of $40 to Dish for the privilege of using it (even once) but it will automatically be authorized on your new receiver.

I just did all this a couple of weeks ago (622 to 722 data transfer) so I can tell you from personal experience that there is no problem at all.

Once you have authorized the use of external drives on your account number, you can use them on any receiver on your account and it will read the contents just fine.

.....G

I also have a 722 unit and two external hard drives. A few weeks ago 722 was failing so I transferred everything from the DVR into the external units. When the tech came with the new unit, and it was hooked up I was prompted regarding the hard drives. Everything went smoothly, and I transferred some programs back to the DVR. I have not had a problem with either one of my external drives, communicating with the DVR. Hope this helps.

 

[gadgtfreek]

I also have a 722 unit and two external hard drives. A few weeks ago 722 was failing so I transferred everything from the DVR into the external units. When the tech came with the new unit, and it was hooked up I was prompted regarding the hard drives. Everything went smoothly, and I transferred some programs back to the DVR. I have not had a problem with either one of my external drives, communicating with the DVR. Hope this helps.

Wow, I never thought of that.

Can't wait to get my drive in, especially knowing this.

 

[ScoobyFlat]

Make Seagate Freeagent work

Hi all,
I don't know if anyone has already posted this information....

If you have a Seagate Freeagent and you have to reboot your VIP everytime you want to watch some archived show in the external HD then you need to turn off the "sleep" mode on the Seagate drive. Go to the official Downloads Seagate site (I cannot post any links yet) and download the appropriate software for your Freeagent model.
Install the Seagate application on your PC and connect your Seagate USB to your PC. Then run the applications setup and turn-off the "energy saving"/"sleep mode" option.
Then re-connect the drive to your VIP DVR and re-initialize the driver.

CAUTION: The above procedure will erase any previous recorder shows.

 

[ripnbigc]

I haven't transfered anything in a while. Recently I tried to transfer a movie to my EHD. It started as normal and Iwent to view live tv. A few minutes later the picture locked up and I had to reboot the receiver. When I looked at my dvr events the movie was still there and hadn't been transfered. I tried several times with the same result. I have no problem watching events on the EHD though.

I did a Tech chat and the tech said this was a known issue on the 622 with the current software level and that they were working on a solution.