External HD questions

[AreWeThereYet]

New to external HD's, so my apologies upfront for my noobness.

I have (2) 612's and (1) 722 - all HD DVR's. Can I transfer my recordings from one DVR to another using an EHD? If they can't be transferred, can I at least watch them by moving the EHD from DVR to DVR?

One of my 612's needs to be replaced (power supply issues) - replacement on the way. I was told last night by DISH that if I transfer my recordings from my bad DVR to an EHD, then try to transfer them back to the new replacement DRV, the new DVR will want to format the EHD when connecting it, erasing my recordings. Any way around this? I do not want to lose my recordings.

Need a 1TB EHD w/ separate power supply....any recommendations? The WD 1TB Elements appears to be OOS about everywhere.

 

[KAB]

. Can I transfer my recordings from one DVR to another using an EHD? If they can't be transferred, can I at least watch them by moving the EHD from DVR to DVR?

One of my 612's needs to be replaced (power supply issues) - replacement on the way. I was told last night by DISH that if I transfer my recordings from my bad DVR to an EHD, then try to transfer them back to the new replacement DRV, the new DVR will want to format the EHD when connecting it, erasing my recordings. Any way around this? I do not want to lose my recordings.

Yes, you can transfer to EHD, watch from EHD on another receiver and transfer from EHD to another receiver. NO, the replacement receiver will NOT reformat the drive. That is simply wrong. Dish Tech Support is sadly lacking in the EHD department as I am in the process of discovering.

 

[ERSanders]

I found them at Target retail for $99, plus tax if applicable.

 

[AreWeThereYet]

Yes, you can transfer to EHD, watch from EHD on another receiver and transfer from EHD to another receiver. NO, the replacement receiver will NOT reformat the drive. That is simply wrong. Dish Tech Support is sadly lacking in the EHD department as I am in the process of discovering.

Thank you KAB! Good news indeed! Doesn't surprise me DISH tech support misled me. Not the 1st time - been w/ DISH for over 5 years.

 

[AreWeThereYet]

I found them at Target retail for $99, plus tax if applicable.

Just checked Target online. All 10 stores in my area the Elements is OOS (sold in stores only). Weird! What about the WD Essential? Can it be placed down on it's side? Really need one that sits horizontal.

 

[Jonhern]

Just checked Target online. All 10 stores in my area the Elements is OOS (sold in stores only). Weird! What about the WD Essential? Can it be placed down on it's side? Really need one that sits horizontal.

yes, and you can stack them.

 

[Jonhern]

Yes, you can transfer to EHD, watch from EHD on another receiver and transfer from EHD to another receiver. NO, the replacement receiver will NOT reformat the drive. That is simply wrong. Dish Tech Support is sadly lacking in the EHD department as I am in the process of discovering.

it will say it needs to format the disk, just say no and reset the reviewer and it will work when it reboots.

 

[AreWeThereYet]

yes, and you can stack them.

Here is the Elements Target sells. Looks like it has vent holes on top for a chimney effect? Will laying it on it's side affect the cooling?

WD Elements External Hard Drive - 1 TB : Target

Does the Essential have those cooling vents on top?

 

[AreWeThereYet]

it will say it needs to format the disk, just say no and reset the reviewer and it will work when it reboots.

So reset the receiver with the EHD plugged in?

 

[Jonhern]

So reset the receiver with the EHD plugged in?

yes.

And no, laying on the side should not effect cooling. I have two of them and they work fine, I have them up right now, but had hem on their side when I first got them. They are made to put on a shelf like books up right or on their side so you can stack them. They have vents all around the edge, so putting them on their side exposes more vents.

 

[AreWeThereYet]

yes.

And no, laying on the side should not effect cooling. I have two of them and they work fine, I have them up right now, but had hem on their side when I first got them. They are made to put on a shelf like books up right or on their side so you can stack them. They have vents all around the edge, so putting them on their side exposes more vents.

So looks like Essential it is. Is this the model you have? [ame="http://www.amazon.com/Western-Digital-Essential-External-WDBAAF0010HBK-NESN/dp/B002JMYCTC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1263919744&sr=8-1"]Amazon.com: Western Digital My Book Essential 1 TB USB 2.0 Desktop?@@AMEPARAM@@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/31kb%2Bi1PZcL.@@AMEPARAM@@31kb%2Bi1PZcL[/ame]

 

[AreWeThereYet]

Did you delete the WD Smartware?

 

[Jonhern]

I also just bought a Seagate expansion 1tb which i am using for my dvr, they are $99 online at bestbuy, or you can get it at the store for the same price if you show them the online price. that one lays on its side and has a similar aesthetic as the WD and a little bit thinner. The only thing with that one is that you need to change the power save feature, the software does not come with the hard drive but you can get it online from download.com, just search for seagate freeagent, hook it up to your computer and change the setting to never, when you reformat for the dvr it will stay the same. I think you need to do the same thing with the WD with a patch as the newer ones also have power save features, but i have not used them with the dvr so do not know the whole process.

 

[Jonhern]

Did you delete the WD Smartware?

I think you will need to do that from what I have read on here, I am not using the wd for the dvr, so idk how to do it, just do a search.

Yes, not sure if it is the same exact model, but looks the same and same size. One is almost 2 years old, the other is about 6months, neither has ever given me any problems. And just so you know with the WD and the Seagate expansion I mentioned, none have power buttons, so when you want to turn them off just unplug the usb from the dvr and wait until the light goes off, never just unplug the dive form power, it will screw it up. This happened with a lacie I had connected with a 211k that had the power strip it was plugged into turned off by accident and I could not recover the drive, luckily found a thread online on another forum about how to open it and put in a new drive, so I was able to do that with an old hard drive I had laying around, but lost the 500gb one. I guess they use linux for the dvrs so if it just loses power it can cause a lot of problems with the drive. And when you do unplug them and then plug it back in to the receiver you need to reset as well.

 

[AreWeThereYet]

I think you will need to do that from what I have read on here, I am not using the wd for the dvr, so idk how to do it, just do a search.

Yes, not sure if it is the same exact model, but looks the same and same size. One is almost 2 years old, the other is about 6months, neither has ever given me any problems. And just so you know with the WD and the Seagate expansion I mentioned, none have power buttons, so when you want to turn them off just unplug the usb from the dvr and wait until the light goes off, never just unplug the dive form power, it will screw it up. This happened with a lacie I had connected with a 211k that had the power strip it was plugged into turned off by accident and I could not recover the drive, luckily found a thread online on another forum about how to open it and put in a new drive, so I was able to do that with an old hard drive I had laying around, but lost the 500gb one. I guess they use linux for the dvrs so if it just loses power it can cause a lot of problems with the drive. And when you do unplug them and then plug it back in to the receiver you need to reset as well.

Thank you Jonhern for all the help and tips! Appreciate it!

I think I'm going with the Essential from Amazon - free 2 day shipping and no tax.

 

[Jonhern]

Did a quick search, mine is the older essentials, with the blue light. The target one actually has the wrong image, on wd website the element does not have any vents. But yeah, the essentials have the smart ware so you will need to turn that off. But the new ones do have a power on button it looks like so that is good.

 

[Jonhern]

Thank you Jonhern for all the help and tips! Appreciate it!

I think I'm going with the Essential from Amazon - free 2 day shipping and no tax.

your welcome

 

[Jonhern]

here is the website where you can get the update to turn off smartware
WD Product Update

 

[AreWeThereYet]

Just saw WD has an "Elite" model for $129 @ Amazon. It has a little window that displays the available capacity and personalized drive label. Wonder if that available capacity feature would come in handy? Does the DISH software tell you what space (or hours) is available on the EHD?

Edit: A reviewer stated: "If you choose not to use their horrible software, then the e-label doesn't work."
Not sure if that would apply to the available capacity meter or not, I imagine it would. I plan to disable the Smartware so it may be a waste to pay extra for the capacity meter feature and not use it. Hmm...


[ame="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B002JSS2NS/ref=ord_cart_shr?_encoding=UTF8&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&v=glance"]Amazon.com: Western Digital My Book Elite 1 TB USB 2.0 Desktop External Hard Drive WDBAAH0010HCH-NESN: Electronics@@AMEPARAM@@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/4171P86BAbL.@@AMEPARAM@@4171P86BAbL[/ame]

 

[KKlare]

Note any software supplied on any drive will be overwritten by the Dish file system. So if you want it, then save it to a computer first.

Recordings/files can be transferred between the EHD and any 612/622/722/722k and probably the 922. It asks twice before reformatting.

In the occasional case of a previously working drive asking to be formatted on a working receiver on your account, ask a technical CSR to give it a "hit" reset the household key code. [Code is found in Menu-6-3-counters, page down several times.] This will not affect any drive, just all your receivers. While there you can see the last connect to Dish date, latest update. I've done the hit twice.
-Ken