My 211 DVR function is activated

[Grandude]

Confused perhaps, but I understood the explanation to mean no dual "platter" drives (1 physical drive comprised of more than 1 physical platter deep inside the guts of the drive, not simply 2 separate drives inside a common case) . If you've ever taken one apart then you know what they're talking about. Multi-platter drives in my experience are generally older technology & likely to be found in the computer tinkerer's junk box.

Sorry, I but I believe you are wrong. Multiple platter drives should not be a problem. The larger drives typically had more than one platter, but I'm not about to take apart any of my larger drives to prove the point.
The explanation specifically meant no multiple drives in one enclosure which was typical of 1TB and larger drives. Now with the newer drives, 1TB can be in one physical drive but the 211s are programmed to not accept any drive out side the upper range of 750GBs.

 

[Smith P.]

Confused perhaps, but I understood the explanation to mean no dual "platter" drives (1 physical drive comprised of more than 1 physical platter deep inside the guts of the drive, not simply 2 separate drives inside a common case) . If you've ever taken one apart then you know what they're talking about. Multi-platter drives in my experience are generally older technology & likely to be found in the computer tinkerer's junk box.

Totally incorrect - just read technical parameters at Seagate or WD sites.
That poor wording did messed up . In reality the definition must be - NO MULTIPLE DISKS !

 

[PBX_Guy]

Totally incorrect - just read technical parameters at Seagate or WD sites.
That poor wording did messed up . In reality the definition must be - NO MULTIPLE DISKS !

Thanks for the clarification.

 

[PBX_Guy]

Sorry, I but I believe you are wrong. Multiple platter drives should not be a problem. The larger drives typically had more than one platter, but I'm not about to take apart any of my larger drives to prove the point.
The explanation specifically meant no multiple drives in one enclosure which was typical of 1TB and larger drives. Now with the newer drives, 1TB can be in one physical drive but the 211s are programmed to not accept any drive out side the upper range of 750GBs.

Thanks for clarifying. So then are we to assume that the 211 would not even attempt to format only the first 750 gB? Somewhere I recall reading folks claiming to be using 1 tB drives. Perhaps they're mistaken.

 

[Smith P.]

Take a look - I did posts a result of using 1 TB, and Foxbat shared his experience. We did that for you and others.

 

[giddy169]

I also posted my results with a 1tb drive many pages back. No it doesn't work

 

[PBX_Guy]

Exactly, this concerns me too. I don't want to have to buy a new EHD every couple of months because these things are constantly on and eventually die. I'm considering unplugging the EHD everynight.

I think if you research this you will find that all hard drives on all platforms (PC's, commercial equipment, etc) will give far better service (last longer) when left on continuous. That certainly has been our experience with Quantum Atlas-V & Hitachi Deskstar drives in our phone systems. I have over 60,000 hours each on 4 Quantum-V's (that's 7+ years). Our Octel voice mail system has a pair of Seagate Barracuda's that have been running close to 70,000 hours. Turning them on and off is what's hard on them.

If prior posts are right I think you're also going to discover that your 211 is going to get mad at you for putzing with the drive.

 

[Foxbat]

If prior posts are right I think you're also going to discover that your 211 is going to get mad at you for putzing with the drive.

Mad? No, but it will reboot with every configuration change. The DVR Upgrade is not like the Archive EHD on the 622/722; it is an integral part of the DVR function. If the drive disappears, you've lost the ability to "R" with your 211 "DVR", so the 211 reboots back to a vanilla ViP 211.

 

[howie14]

My wife got me a WD Elements 750Gb drive for Christmas and I spent several hours Friday getting it running. First, the automated hit wouldn't take. My first call to the TSR took care of that.

Then, the 211 refused to reformat the drive. It would give me the formatting screen, but when I pressed "yes" the screen would go blank for a minute, then the program would return with nothing having changed. My next call to Tech Support was a rapid failure as I don't believe the person I got even knew that the 211 could take an EHD.

I then checked my switch and went through the process again with the same results.

The next TSR I spoke with took the time to look up her 211/EHD procedure, but was no help. She had me do a front panel reboot and go through the procedure again. The same result followed. She actually argued with me that my EHD was setup because my timer screen had an "EXT" option on it. I told her that when the thing didn't work I'd be calling back again. It didn't work, but I didn't have to call again either.

On a whim I decided a total reboot was in order, so I did one via the unplug procedure and waited for the guide to reload. The 211 recognized the drive, asked me the format question and, when I said "yes", cleanly reformatted the drive and updated all my screens.

Since Friday afternoon the drive has worked flawlessly.

So the question remains, why can't DISH give decent instructions for these things, either on the website or by the TSR?

One final note: I'm really impressed by how cool the drive is running so far.

 

[PBX_Guy]

Mad? No, but it will reboot with every configuration change. The DVR Upgrade is not like the Archive EHD on the 622/722; it is an integral part of the DVR function. If the drive disappears, you've lost the ability to "R" with your 211 "DVR", so the 211 reboots back to a vanilla ViP 211.

Precisely what I meant.
Tried it, in fact.

Based on my own tests today, once set up, if you then disconnect (or turn off the drive) it appears that the receiver will spontaneously reboot, reacquire the transponders, then download only the 44-hour guide and your DVR button on the remote will become inoperable. If you therafter reconnect (or turn on) the drive, the receiver will give you a 499 screen then ask permission to reboot. If you click on 'yes' the receiver will reboot, reacquire the transponders, then download the full 9-day guide & resume DVR functionality.

No matter what sequence of events, anytime the receiver is unable to see the drive it will revert back to a non-DVR receiver, rebooting in the process. Conversely, if the receiver suddenly discovers the presence of the drive, it is going to revert back to DVR function, but always rebooting in the process.

From this it appears clear to me that the design intent is for the drive to

• Remain connected as well as
• remain powered.

I'm not yet completely sure what 'sleep mode' does. My drive doesn't appear to have a sleep mode, or if it does, the receiver i/o activity is sufficient to prevent it from quiescing the drive. However, I have a hunch the same event sequences may occur.

What have others witnessed? My tests were with the WD 750 MyBook Essent.

 

[rcbridge]

[No matter what sequence of events, anytime the receiver is unable to see the drive it will revert back to a non-DVR receiver, rebooting in the process. Conversely, if the receiver suddenly discovers the presence of the drive, it is going to revert back to DVR function, but always rebooting in the process.

/QUOTE]


MY 211 has the exact same behavior, I don't think my WD goes into a sleep mode.
I did remove the drive to install another drive and it did the re-boot thing!!

 

[neljtorres]

I got my new 211 k got it yesterday and activated it fast!
I got a WD my book essentials 500gb works just fine!

 

[PBX_Guy]

EHD observations

When the 211 formats the EHD, it appears to do little more than lay out 3 separate (Linux) partitions and lay down a minimal subset of the OS; The first partition is the Linux EXT3 file system, about 1.8 gigs worth. The second is a 250 meg partition reserved for the O/S. The third partition is the storage partition, which gets allotted the remainder of the drive. A full sector-by-sector format is not performed, which explains why "formatting" during the 211 setup procedure takes only about a minute.

Regardless whether your drive initially is totally bare and unformatted, or has anything else on it (DOS, BSD, VMS, etc) including multiple partitions, the 211 seems perfectly capable of taking ownership.

Recovering the drive (taking it back from the 211 to reassign it back into PC service) seems to be a task best suited for Acronis or similar. Symantec's Partition Magic (rls 8.05) stumbles when trying to identify the drive.

 

[Smith P.]

If you can look into details of those partitions you could find ( actually posted before ), that second partition is simple SWAP, and third partition is EXT3 type with one folder - DishArc what keep recordings in own sub-folder with hex names ( also posted before ). Foxbat did post full procedure for backup/restore - look around here.

 

[Carl B]

I think if you research this you will find that all hard drives on all platforms (PC's, commercial equipment, etc) will give far better service (last longer) when left on continuous. That certainly has been our experience with Quantum Atlas-V & Hitachi Deskstar drives in our phone systems. I have over 60,000 hours each on 4 Quantum-V's (that's 7+ years). Our Octel voice mail system has a pair of Seagate Barracuda's that have been running close to 70,000 hours. Turning them on and off is what's hard on them.

If prior posts are right I think you're also going to discover that your 211 is going to get mad at you for putzing with the drive.

Yes, continuous operation of a HDD poses less stress on the drive, but they do have a service life. That's why it would be best to use HDDs in continuous operation service that are rated/labeled/designated as "enterprise" HDDs. These are manufactured to more robust standards, have a longer estimated service life, and are generally intended for commercial/industrial customers. They cost a little more, but will generally last longer.

 

[PBX_Guy]

What format are the files in? (assume .tar/.tgz ? I'd go prowling through but this thread is already 17+ pages with marginal signal-to-noise ratio. Mebbe just scan for Foxbat's posts here. Thanks.

I found it interesting that PMagic only saw the entire drive & was unable to do anything with it. Guess PMagic is showing its age. Like many other utilities R&D ends when a marketing organization (ie Symantec) buys you out.

 

[PBX_Guy]

Yes, continuous operation of a HDD poses less stress on the drive, but they do have a service life. That's why it would be best to use HDDs in continuous operation service that are rated/labeled/designated as "enterprise" HDDs. These are manufactured to more robust standards, have a longer estimated service life, and are generally intended for commercial/industrial customers. They cost a little more, but will generally last longer.

A temperature-stable and clean, vibration & mechanical shock-free operating environment will also go an awfully long way toward contributing to the service life of all hard drives, whether commercial or consumer grade.

The Quantum Atlas-V drives in our (Mitel) phone system are in fact rated for continuous commercial service (CCS) and 120,000-hr mtbf, but I defy anyone to point out any such markings or label on the drives designating them as such. If you don't know, how do you tell? Price is sometimes a clue.

For DVR'ing with the 211/211k I would go for a recognized brand name, retail-boxed external hard drive rather than scrounging for bargain basement or eBay and 'open-box' (or white box) deals. I suppose it mostly depends on what value you put on your recordings, but If I had a whole season of something like The Sopranos recorded, I'd be a little mad at myself if I lost it due to a schlock drive.

 

[shaggyjb]

For those of you with harmony remotes. You will need to delete the VIP-211 device and add the VIP-622 (or whatever). The VIP211 is not correctly setup to handle the EHD (DVR). I used the VIP622 and it works perfectly. You will also need to add the DVR command (MY RECORDINGS) in you activity setup. FYI

Looks like Harmony fixed this as I just programmed a Harmony One w/ VIP211 and all codes appear to work perfectly (DVR, skip fwd/back, rec, ...).

 

[thedamaja]

Thanks to PBX_GUY for the helpful post about the correct menu. Anyone wanting to add an EHD should read post 308.

I had to convince tech support to look for a second menu after they repeatedly told me they had all ready activated my EHD when they actually enabled 622 archive. Now to just watch my bill for an extra charge.

 

[teachsac]

Thanks to PBX_GUY for the helpful post about the correct menu. Anyone wanting to add an EHD should read post 308.

I had to convince tech support to look for a second menu after they repeatedly told me they had all ready activated my EHD when they actually enabled 622 archive. Now to just watch my bill for an extra charge.

I finally got my 211 drive activated today. Man these CSR's are a bunch of morons. I originally called this morning. The hit didn't take so I called back. The person said I need to hook my EHD to my 622 not my receiver. Ummm I already have 622 storage that I spent part of the morning getting a hit because the 622 wanted to reformat when I moved it from my other 622. he couldn't figure it out so she had to call the "higher ups". Finally got a hit and got it going.

Dish quit outsourcing. Whatever happened to the days when you could ask for advanced tech straight off.

S~