HR21-700 External Drive Usage

[bcarman]

I am a newbie to the site so please forgive me if this has already been addressed and i just could not find it.
I want to attach an external drive (500GB) to my HR21-700 to use it like a media center. I want to rip all of my DVD's to the drive then attach it to the DVR so I can pack all my DVD's away. I have ripping software but I don't know what format (MPEG4, AVI, some proprietary format) to use or if when I try and find the movies in my playlist if they will show up.

Thanks
Brian

 

[bateau980]

This will not work the way you want it to. The usage of the HDD connection is to replace the internal HDD (typically for larger storage). The additional HDD will be automatically wiped and imaged by the unit to be used as the only HDD. You would need to set up a PC to act as a Media Center in order to acomplish what you want to do.

 

[atp1313]

And even then, I don't think the HR2x will read and deliver non-satellite recorded data. You can look at pictures and listen to unencrypted music files on your PC through the HR2x receivers, but I don't think you can play video from PC to DVR.

 

[bcarman]

Thanks for the info. I was hoping to not go the route of a media center PC but i have an extra Linux box in my network so I can convert it. Thanks again for the help.