External HD results: Drives Working Properly

KAB

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Sep 20, 2005
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GregE

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Sep 26, 2007
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Prospect, KY

dlsnyder

SatelliteGuys Pro
Sep 8, 2003
1,825
3
Moreno Valley, CA
I just got a 500GB Western Digital My Book Essential Edition because of the recommendations in this thread. Works like a champ! No issues so far - except that darn green ring around the power button. That big blinking light is so distracting that I have to turn the thing sideways. I am thinking about blacking it out with a marker. Any way to disable the light?
 

Sigma

SatelliteGuys Family
Mar 30, 2007
35
0
Arkansas
I'm late getting to the party, but I wanted to make sure that I got the case and drive I wanted at a decent price.

External Enclosure: Adaptec ACS-100 (Low price was found on Amazon).

Hard Drive: Seagate 750GB ST3750640A-RK (Price was $159 at Best Buy) & comes with a 5-year limited warranty.

Am using a longer USB cable so the drive is not sitting anywhere near the 622 receiver.

Assembly of the drive to the enclosure and USB drive activation through Dish went off with no problems.

Drive is completely quiet and the metal enclosure on the Adaptec is no more than 80 degrees F (if that much).

Copied my first HD movie (7.6GB) in 29 minutes flat.

:D
 

SalineCO5

Member
Feb 1, 2007
8
1
Colorado
For those looking for a hard drive enclosure - picked up the Rocketfish 3.5" enclusure on sale from Best Buy today. Put a Seagate 7200.10 250gb 16mb cache drive into it and it works great. THe same drive was in a Mad Dog enclusure and wouldn't work with my VIP 622.
 

Building

SatelliteGuys Pro
Jan 6, 2006
180
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Maxtor 500 GB

Just bought a Maxtor 500 GB drive today at Staples for 99.98 after rebate. It's the best price I can remember seeing. It seems to working just fine for me. It has a 16 MB cache, but it doesn't have a power button. Do most people without power buttons unplug the drive, leave it on always, or something else?
 

Parlyle

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Supporting Founder
May 16, 2004
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West Central Wisconsin
Just bought a Maxtor 500 GB drive today at Staples for 99.98 after rebate. It's the best price I can remember seeing. It seems to working just fine for me. It has a 16 MB cache, but it doesn't have a power button. Do most people without power buttons unplug the drive, leave it on always, or something else?

I've got a WD 750G MyBook Essential Edition. Learned from this thread that all I have to do to shut it off when not using is unplug the usb connection from the reciever. This works fine and it doesn't seem to do any harm at all. Remember to leave the cord plugged into the electrical outlet.
..........So much to learn, and So little time. What I have done is make sure that I unplug the usb AFTER I have turned the reciever off. I don't know if this is proper or not, just thought that it would be better if it was off before I unplugged the external.

Lyle
 

GregE

SatelliteGuys Pro
Sep 26, 2007
174
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Prospect, KY
An aluminum case will not get as hot as plastic. I have this get-up and it barely gets warm. Also same price as the plastic pre-made drives if you factor in sales tax.
EagleBit.com - Eagle Consus W-Series 500GB 7200rpm 16MB USB 2.0 to IDE + SATA Aluminum External Hard Drive powered by Western Digital 500GB Hard Drive - Brand New

I got this one that KAB recommended and activated it last night. It works great and I transferred a bunch of movies to it. I might have to get a 2nd one for more space.
 

KAB

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Sep 20, 2005
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Fishers, IN
I got this one that KAB recommended and activated it last night. It works great and I transferred a bunch of movies to it. I might have to get a 2nd one for more space.
Hey, glad you got one. Good solid drive, isn't it?

Edit: If you want another, they have dropped the price to $127.70, still free ship.
Those of you still shopping, this is a great, trouble free rig.
EagleBit.com - Eagle Consus W-Series Hybrid 500GB 7200rpm 16MB USB 2.0 to IDE + SATA Aluminum External Hard Drive powered by Western Digital 500GB Hard Drive - Brand New
 

SteveinDanville

SatelliteGuys Guru
Oct 1, 2003
129
0
I've got a WD 750G MyBook Essential Edition. Learned from this thread that all I have to do to shut it off when not using is unplug the usb connection from the reciever. This works fine and it doesn't seem to do any harm at all. Remember to leave the cord plugged into the electrical outlet.
..........So much to learn, and So little time. What I have done is make sure that I unplug the usb AFTER I have turned the reciever off. I don't know if this is proper or not, just thought that it would be better if it was off before I unplugged the external.

Lyle

I just bought the 750 gig Essential, and I thought it was supposed to spin down when the receiver was off and spin up when the 622 turned on. The green ring is on 24/7 and I can hear the drive spinning. Seriously, am I supposed to unplug it from the 622 whenever I'm not using it? That sounds kind of old-school. Any other comments from other WD Essential owners?
 

KAB

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Fishers, IN
I just bought the 750 gig Essential, and I thought it was supposed to spin down when the receiver was off and spin up when the 622 turned on. The green ring is on 24/7 and I can hear the drive spinning. Seriously, am I supposed to unplug it from the 622 whenever I'm not using it? That sounds kind of old-school. Any other comments from other WD Essential owners?
The drive does not know/care if the 622 is on or not. Green light is power ON indicator. You should ALWAYS turn off the drive when not in use.
 

SteveinDanville

SatelliteGuys Guru
Oct 1, 2003
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Thanks, KAB. I thought it would be a little more sophisticated than that. Power off is one thing, pulling the USB out of the HD is easy, but pulling the USB out of the 622 so that the 622 will let me use a thumbdrive up front is a pain in the neck due to the cabinet I have my components in. God forbid the HD would have an on/off switch; inside the green ring would have been a natural, huh?
 

KAB

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Thanks, KAB. I thought it would be a little more sophisticated than that. Power off is one thing, pulling the USB out of the HD is easy, but pulling the USB out of the 622 so that the 622 will let me use a thumbdrive up front is a pain in the neck due to the cabinet I have my components in. God forbid the HD would have an on/off switch; inside the green ring would have been a natural, huh?
Simplicity is a bitch, isn't it?
 

Parlyle

Pub Member/Supporter
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May 16, 2004
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West Central Wisconsin
Some have said that the middle of the colored circle IS the shut down on some of the WD externals. It't in the thread someplace.
Maybe with the advent of transferring off of the sat recievers, the external manufacturers may take this into account and put switches on the front of all EHD's.

Lyle
 

shodobe

SatelliteGuys Pro
Sep 8, 2003
606
4
NorCal
Now my WD HD light is on all the time and the drive is not spinning. This indicates that the HD is ready. I went to the WD web site and posted this question about the inability to turn it off andthey didn't have a real answer, so I don't do anything about it. It is like my computer which I hardly ever turn off. This is a situation where you will find different answers, turn it off or leave it on. Depends on who you talk to. I think the light just indicates that there is power to the unit but it isn't really on. I have had VCRs and TVS in the pasthat had a red light on but weren't really on.
 

adavis720

SatelliteGuys Pro
Aug 15, 2007
253
0
Thanks, KAB. I thought it would be a little more sophisticated than that. Power off is one thing, pulling the USB out of the HD is easy, but pulling the USB out of the 622 so that the 622 will let me use a thumbdrive up front is a pain in the neck due to the cabinet I have my components in. God forbid the HD would have an on/off switch; inside the green ring would have been a natural, huh?

How about an A/B USB switch with a dead "b"?
 
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kmmcdonald

Active SatelliteGuys Member
Nov 18, 2006
19
0
Questions about Seagate FreeAgent Pro 750

I have a 622 receiver and a FreeAgent Pro 750 which I have not connected yet. I have some questions:

1) Is it absolutely necessary that I configure the firmware to disable the automatic powerdown when using this drive with the 622?

2) If I leave automatic powerdown enabled, and the unit automatically powers down, can I manually power the unit up and begin accessing it again from the 622? (I understand that this unit has a power button.)

thanks

Keith
 

KAB

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Fishers, IN
I have a 622 receiver and a FreeAgent Pro 750 which I have not connected yet. I have some questions:

1) Is it absolutely necessary that I configure the firmware to disable the automatic powerdown when using this drive with the 622?

2) If I leave automatic powerdown enabled, and the unit automatically powers down, can I manually power the unit up and begin accessing it again from the 622? (I understand that this unit has a power button.)

thanks

Keith

1. No
2. Yes...always better to turn off drive when not in use.
 

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