I just purchased a hard drive to record programs with my GeoSat Pro DVR 1100C. It is a Toshiba Canvio 500 GB portable hard drive. I can't really figure out how to set up the drive. The instructions for my receiver were not entirely clear about what to do first. Do I use the receiver to format the drive, or do I need to do that with my PC? I plugged the drive into the receiver and tried to format it from the menu. However it doesn't even act like it recognizes the drive as being there. That leads me to believe that maybe I should format with my PC. I have considered that there could be another issue involved. I did not realize when I purchased the drive that it does not have its own power supply, but rather draws its power through the USB cable. Could this be a problem?
Having difficulty setting up USB hard drive with Geosat DVR 1100C receiver
- Thread starter dmehling
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We have not tested that model and cannot advise if it will be compatible or not. In Googling the drive, it appears to be NTFS formatted and will not natively be compatible with the GEOSATpro DVR1100. Please note that the DVR1100 recognizes FAT32 format type and will not record on NTFS formatted drives. You might be able to format the drive to be FAT32, but not sure of compatibility since it has some data encryption features embedded in the drive.
Does the drive C: show up when the Play button is pressed on the remote or if you enter the USB menu? If the drive C: is not displayed, then the drive may not have enough power to operate and require external USB power. Usually, smaller USB drives do not require an external power source. Does the USB pigtail have a third USB plug? If so, this usually indicates that the manufacturer realizes that the drive is drawing more than the typical USB rating and the drive may require additional power to operate. If the drive is mounting, but not able to record, it is may have enough power to semi-function, but require the external power supply to properly operate.
If the screen displays a wrong format error message when you attempt to record, the drive might not be correctly formatted. The drive must be FAT32 formatted and not NTFS. A drive should always be formatted using the receiver. It may be necessary to format a USB drive with a Mac or PC before using if it is not correctly FAT32 formatted. Here is a link if you are formatting the drive on a PC. You do not need any special software on a MAC to format in Fat32 type.
Does the drive C: show up when the Play button is pressed on the remote or if you enter the USB menu? If the drive C: is not displayed, then the drive may not have enough power to operate and require external USB power. Usually, smaller USB drives do not require an external power source. Does the USB pigtail have a third USB plug? If so, this usually indicates that the manufacturer realizes that the drive is drawing more than the typical USB rating and the drive may require additional power to operate. If the drive is mounting, but not able to record, it is may have enough power to semi-function, but require the external power supply to properly operate.
If the screen displays a wrong format error message when you attempt to record, the drive might not be correctly formatted. The drive must be FAT32 formatted and not NTFS. A drive should always be formatted using the receiver. It may be necessary to format a USB drive with a Mac or PC before using if it is not correctly FAT32 formatted. Here is a link if you are formatting the drive on a PC. You do not need any special software on a MAC to format in Fat32 type.
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