How long does it take to format an EHD?

smokey982

SatelliteGuys Pro
Original poster
Sep 7, 2005
2,050
161
Cleveland, TN (Chattanooga Market)
I bought a 3TB WD My Book external drive today to go along with the 2TB drive I already have installed. I plugged it in around 4pm this afternoon. I got the standard message that the drive needs to be reformatted. But it's now almost 3 hours later and it still says "USB storage device is formatting, please wait". How long should this process take? I've had my 2TB drive for several years now. But if memory serves me right, I don't think it took but a few minutes.
If this is normal. Could I try plugging in and formatting the drive on my bedroom hopper? And then move in back to my living room after it's finished? No one will be using the bedroom hopper until later tonight.
 
Yep, too long. And yep, try formatting it in the bedroom. But that particular 3TB might just not work.
 
Dish only officially supports up to 2TB drives. Others have reported success with larger drives (but only get to use 2TB), but YMMV.
 
3TB not supported by Dish. https://www.mydish.com/external-hard-drive Some people claim to have used 3TB, but I stick with 2TB WD My Book EHD's which is the maximum size supported by Dish.

I can't find the My Book in 2TB anymore. I think the 3TB is the smallest available now. I guess I could buy a different brand but I've had a lot of success with my old WD drive.
 
Yep, too long. And yep, try formatting it in the bedroom. But that particular 3TB might just not work.

Well I tried in the bedroom and I'm not even getting a pop up on the screen about a device being added. It's like it's not detecting it at all. Both are hoppers with sling. The only difference is the bedroom hopper has been updated with the new CUI. That shouldn't make a difference though.
 
  • Like
Reactions: navychop
Here's another thread talking about how the drive working or not has something to do with the enclosure being used. The CUI not recognizing EHDs that previously worked issue has also been widely reported as a bug (which is probably what you are experiencing in the bedroom), and others have suggested that the enclosure makes a difference.

http://www.satelliteguys.us/xen/threads/ehd-issue-with-hopper-3.360667/
 
Here's another thread talking about how the drive working or not has something to do with the enclosure being used. The CUI not recognizing EHDs that previously worked issue has also been widely reported as a bug (which is probably what you are experiencing in the bedroom), and others have suggested that the enclosure makes a difference.

http://www.satelliteguys.us/xen/threads/ehd-issue-with-hopper-3.360667/

I appreciate the help. I had to unplug the drive earlier because I couldn't watch tv with that message on the screen. I think I'll plug it back in tonight before I go to bed and let it try overnight to format. If that doesn't work I guess I'll return the 3TB and try and find a good 2TB somewhere. Any good recommendations besides WD? Because it appears that have discontinued the 2TB My Book.
 
Have you looked at the WD Elements? Amazon has the 2TB for $75

Nevermind, the current Elements line does not have its own power supply. Previous models did.
 
Has anyone had success with the Seagate units?
Seagate works fine.
I have had success with a Seagate hard drive. It is a 1TB drive that I got from Dish before they ran out of stock. I have been hoping that Dish will start offering hard drives again, because if Dish is selling it, there should not be any question about whether or not it will work with Dish receivers.
 
Well after driving all over town with no success. I found a 2TB WD My Book at Fry's online. Apparently they're the last place in the world to still have some left over inventory. Dish needs to rethink this 2TB limit on there drives because they're almost impossible to find with AC power supplies.
 
It is the chipset that sets the limit, supposedly. So there is no s/w fix. Maybe H4 or H5.

I would NEVER trust so many programs on a 2 or larger TB drive without making it a RAID 1 array.
 
***

Users Who Are Viewing This Thread (Total: 1, Members: 0, Guests: 1)

Who Read This Thread (Total Members: 1)