Upgrading to H3

[navychop]

Thread title: Hopper 3 EHD Capacity Limit

1/28/16
AlexTheOne
Topic Starter
SatelliteGuys Family
FYI....Scott G. provided me with an update (thanks, Scott) confirming that the new Hopper 3 indeed still has 2TB EHD limit (some larger drives MAY work, so YMMV) and it is not due to DISH but actually Broadcom chipset and drivers used in Hoppers. Hopefully Broadcom comes with updates which would allow the use of larger drives in/with the future Hoppers.
Until then we can use as many separate 2TB drives as we want, which is not as "elegant" solution for all the data lovers but at least is an option. Thanks.

 

[makman]

Hi,

Thinking of upgrading from 2 HWS to a H3 and Joey. Both my HWS have become very slow. Also, often when we watch a show on hopper#2 from hopper#1, the wrong show plays (often something we did not even record). DIRT says these are know issues and I should upgrade to an H3 and Joey. I perused the forum and I am not so sure. Certainly if I had an H1 I would agree. If I do the upgrade, can I transfer both hopper's recordings via ethernet to the H3?

Thanks

 

[navychop]

I would suggest you move the questionable programs to an EHD. Then play them from the EHD. I did this, and the proper program played. But if I moved a program back to the DVR, the wrong program played.

 

[makman]

I would suggest you move the questionable programs to an EHD. Then play them from the EHD. I did this, and the proper program played. But if I moved a program back to the DVR, the wrong program played.

If I watch them on the hopper where they are recording they play perfectly. It's just when I try to watch them on the other Hopper. So I don't really need to move them in order to watch them. I just cannot watch them in the room that I planned on watching them.

Mitch

 

[navychop]

You mentioned moving to an H3. Ethernet is slow and you may perpetuate the problem. Using an EHD will be quicker, and perhaps avoid the problem.

 

[HipKat]

If I watch them on the hopper where they are recording they play perfectly. It's just when I try to watch them on the other Hopper. So I don't really need to move them in order to watch them. I just cannot watch them in the room that I planned on watching them.

Mitch

When you're watching one show from the other Hopper, don't use Select on the remote, just hit Play. It's a know issue

 

[makman]

When you're watching one show from the other Hopper, don't use Select on the remote, just hit Play. It's a know issue

Thanks!

You mentioned moving to an H3. Ethernet is slow and you may perpetuate the problem. Using an EHD will be quicker, and perhaps avoid the problem.

Not sure I am moving to an H3. The reason I mentioned ethernet was because when I go to manage recordings, not all are there (including missing non PTAT ones).

So related question, is the H3 really much quicker than the HWS? Is the HWS known to be slow?

Thanks

 

[navychop]

I have two HWSes. They are now slow, since Dish downgraded them to the CUI. The H3 is known to be much faster, and not have as many problems as the HWS, but MAY have some EHD connection issues. These, I understand, can usually be dealt with with work arounds.

 

[dweber]

Hi,

Thinking of upgrading from 2 HWS to a H3 and Joey. Both my HWS have become very slow. Also, often when we watch a show on hopper#2 from hopper#1, the wrong show plays (often something we did not even record). DIRT says these are know issues and I should upgrade to an H3 and Joey. I perused the forum and I am not so sure. Certainly if I had an H1 I would agree. If I do the upgrade, can I transfer both hopper's recordings via ethernet to the H3?

Thanks

The problem where the wrong show plays on the second Hopper occurs with two Hopper3 receivers also. The bandaid solution is to play the recording from the episode tab. Then the correct program plays.

 

[allargon]

I noticed that 2 TB drives are becoming rare. Has anyone been able to use a 3 or 4 TB drive on a Hopper?

I would find it odd for the limitation to be in silicon. It is possible, but I'd be much less surprised if it is a driver or filesystem limitation. I know they don't use XFS any more, but I don't know what they switched to. If it is a software limitation, they should be able to resolve it without swapping boxes. The other possibility is it is a memory limitation. It kind of depends on how the filesystem they are using is written, but it isn't unusual for more storage to mean more RAM is needed.

I can confirm that the 4TB EHD's work just fine on an HWS. I had to manually format the drive on my home computer with some rather esoteric Windows/Linux partitioning tools. The 1000 title limit still exists, but it recognizes a 4TB drive without issue.

I complained years ago that 2TB drives were becoming hard to find.

I'm bumping this thread because my wife also told me to look into a Hopper 3 upgrade.

My questions.

How much faster is the Hopper 3 vs the HWS?

How much more will I have to pay per month? (It's still cheaper than a divorce.)

Anyone using the Hopper 3 on a 1080p display? Do you still have to pay a 4K programming premium?

 

[navychop]

The H3 is a helluva lot faster than the HWS.

I calculated that an H3 and Joey will reduce my bill from 2 HWSes.

There is no 4K premium.

 

[Voyager6]

There is no 4K premium.

Except the cost of the 4K TV (and AVR, and DVD player).

 

[navychop]

BTW, I was recently at MicroCenter and they had plenty of 1, 2 and 3 TB HDDs.

 

[allargon]

BTW, I was recently at MicroCenter and they had plenty of 1, 2 and 3 TB HDDs.

Fry's Electronics has a few of those smaller drives, too. But, they are not cost-effective. The sweet spot is really 6 TB these days.

Thanks for the H3 info. I will look into the upgrade.

 

[charlesrshell]

I complained years ago that 2TB drives were becoming hard to find.

https://store.dishdepot.com/dish-2tb-external-hd-western-digital

 

[Jim5506]

Buy a hard drive dock then put a $45 2TB internal drive in it.

 

[allargon]

https://store.dishdepot.com/dish-2tb-external-hd-western-digital

I appreciate the link. However, I know you don't actually want us to order a $149 2TB HD from Dish when we can pick up an 8 TB from Fry's Electronics for $148? I am aware that I can special order 400 GB or 2 TB drives from Amazon. However, they are not commonplace anymore which is what I'm saying. I'm sure I could even find an old school 1987 5 MB HD on E-bay if I search long enough. However, that's not effective either.

 

[charlesrshell]

I appreciate the link. However, I know you don't actually want us to order a $149 2TB HD from Dish when we can pick up an 8 TB from Fry's Electronics for $148? I am aware that I can special order 400 GB or 2 TB drives from Amazon. However, they are not commonplace anymore which is what I'm saying. I'm sure I could even find an old school 1987 5 MB HD on E-bay if I search long enough. However, that's not effective either.

Welcome. Order what you wish. Both my 500G WD EHDs are still working good. But, if one broke down I would get the 2 TB for me because that is what DISH supports and I don't store that much. I don't understand why folks store so much TV on their EHDs. They will end up wearing out before you ever get to watch everything.