# Dag nabbit! Lets compile a list of Hard Drive Model #s compatible with RTVs!



## icecow

I aint doing all the work. If you know a model # that works, post it!


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## slowbiscuit

No


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## icecow

Thanks for dooming this thread before it began.


May you eat an over-microwaved hotdog on halloween.


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## zimdba




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *icecow* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I aint doing all the work. If you know a model # that works, post it!



If you can figure out how to know the make/model while it's already in the replay, I have 3 data points. Otherwise, it's too big of a PITA to pull the machines out and the covers off.


That said, I've never had a problem with a replayTV drive - and I think I have at least 1 maxtor with a 16MB cache.


Oh, and all drives work in DVArchive servers . . . .


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## Murphy




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *zimdba* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> If you can figure out how to know the make/model while it's already in the replay, I have 3 data points. Otherwise, it's too big of a PITA to pull the machines out and the covers off.



411Zones will give you the make and model number.


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## icecow

I'm (and think others would be) primarily interested these types of HDs:


>Newer larger HDs 400gig+

>Working and nonWorking 16meg model#s

>even successfull stories of SATA drives with a SATA adapters

>any other useful info


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## FarmBubba

You can always get one locally with a great return policy! In my case, it a week to find out the replay would flake out with a 16 meg cache...


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## mikek

OK let's do it.


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## KenL

Good one o cow of ice.










(perhaps once and for all we can put to rest the often parroted urban myth about the 16 meg cache)


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## KenL

*Working* flawlessly long term (5K):
ST3300831A Barracuda 7200.8
ST3250823A Barracuda 7200.8
ST3250824AV SV35.1

Getting ready to install *known compatible*:
ST3400833ACE DB35 Series 7200.2

(if for any chance not... shall duly report)


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## Inextirpable

Seagate 500GB ST3500841ACE works great and much quieter than previous (older western digital) drive


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## wfay




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *KenL* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> [*]ST3250824AV SV35.1



Ken, I'm curious for more info about your experiences with this drive, if you've got a few minutes... TIA!


Looks like the SV35 is a good drive (spec-wise) for use in Replays and seems to cost about the same as a 7200.8 of similar capacity.


Just curious about noise, heat, and other "user" experiences with the drive as compared to other units you have installed.


----------



## SpaceCadet




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *wfay* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Is it just me, or is the SA 8000 software complete garbage?? Full of bugs AND lacks features we had in Replay v1.0...



You need to upgrade to the SA 8300--your bugs will execute faster. Better yet, get the HD version--HD and more storage for your bugs to mess up.


----------



## KenL




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *wfay* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> ...Just curious about noise, heat, and other "user" experiences with the drive as compared to other units you have installed.



Funny you should ask. Actually when I first installed it I did a quick test. The SV35 was cloned from a ST3250823A 7200.8 So the drive contents were identical. I did a timed 5 minute test booting up each in the replay, playing a file, buffering, ect and measuring power consumption.


As expected the SV35 averaged perhaps a little more than 2 watts less than the corresponding (otherwise identical) 7200.8 in the very brief test. So it potentially should run slightly cooler. I'm guessing 6 watts as compared to 8.5 watts.


Performance wise, seemingly identical to the 7200.8.


----------



## wfay




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *KenL* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Funny you should ask. Actually when I first installed it I did a quick test. The SV35 was cloned from a ST3250823A 7200.8 So the drive contents were identical. I did a timed 5 minute test booting up each in the replay, playing a file, buffering, ect and measuring power consumption.
> 
> 
> As expected the SV35 averaged perhaps a little more than 2 watts less than the corresponding (otherwise identical) 7200.8 in the very brief test. So it potentially should run slightly cooler. I'm guessing 6 watts as compared to 8.5 watts.
> 
> 
> Performance wise, seemingly identical to the 7200.8.



This is great info, Ken. Seems like I can find the SV35 250gb for a pretty reasonable price, whereas the equivalent DB35 is too much of a $ per GB premium to justify right now. So I'll go with the SV35 for now.










edit: I found both the SV35 and DB35 250gb at TheNerds for $75. So I guess I'll go with the DB35, unless you have any specific reasons to advise against it!


----------



## wfay




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *SpaceCadet* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> You need to upgrade to the SA 8300--your bugs will execute faster. Better yet, get the HD version--HD and more storage for your bugs to mess up.



Brilliant! I can't wait.


----------



## KenL




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *wfay* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> edit: I found both the SV35 and DB35 250gb at TheNerds for $75. So I guess I'll go with the DB35, unless you have any specific reasons to advise against it!



Either should be fine. It's unclear to me the power consumption of the DB35. If there happens to be a difference between SV35 and DB35 I'd want the cooler running one. But I haven't tested a DB35 yet. From the DB35 specs it seems the actual power consumption is related to the capacity of the drive and perhaps the revision 7200.2, 7200.3.


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## mikek

This one has been working great:


Seagate 300GB 7200RPM 16MB Cache

Model: ST3300631A


Are you going to compile a list?


-mk


----------



## zabolots




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mikek* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> This one has been working great:
> 
> 
> Seagate 300GB 7200RPM 16MB Cache
> 
> Model: ST3300631A



So some 16MB cache drives do work? I thought they were all problematic.


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## choli0090

If people want to send me what they have that is working I will update the list I started. I have uploaded what I have so far.

 

replaytvdrivelist.zip 1.646484375k . file


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## icecow

you make it an excel file then zip it and make it an attachment??


how about just paste it as text in a post?


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## KenL




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *zabolots* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> So some 16MB cache drives do work? I thought they were all problematic.



Yes they work. It's a heavily spammed urban myth that Replay 5K drive compatibility is a function of HDD cache size.


It's such an appealing fantasy even you fell for it?









You opened that message, took the *claims* for fact, and probably forwarded it to 999 others?










However with the Seagate Barracuda, the reality is it's the firmware series that (apparently) predicts compatibility in a 5K. 7200.7, 7200.8 are (apparently) always compatible even with 16 meg. 7200.9 and 7200.10 (apparently) never are even with 8 meg. We have constant reports of people getting started with 7200.9 ugrades and claiming it works only to find out they were loosing all recorded shows every week (maintenance reboot) or everyday (won't record at all, freezes/reboots) in fact here is another one today. I'm guessing either it won't prove reliable, or hopefully it's actually a 7200.7 or 7200.8 drive.


Seagate DB35 series (so far) are (apparently) all compatible: 7200.2, 7200.3, so if you can find one of those (good luck) they should be a safe bet.


Not sure what is going on with Maxtor drives but Maxtor is now owned by Seagate. For the most part reports indicate Western Digital drives nearly all work, but many don't like the noise -- myself included.


And of course to make it more confusing the Seagate retail kits quite often don't match the firmware series listed on the box. Additionally too many vendors don't honor a distinction between 7200.7, 7200.8, or 7200.9 in what they list and what you get. You might see a place listing a Model: ST3300631A as a 7200.9 when it should be 7800.8. But what's in the box is actually a ST33300622A. Confusing enough yet?


Fortunately (so far) it seems that what's printed on the label of the drive itself is what you've got. So for Barracudas, OEM drives may be more likely to be listed correctly.


----------



## dstoffa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *icecow* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I aint doing all the work. If you know a model # that works, post it!



Installed this drive last night - no worries:

Western Digital Caviar SE WD3200JB, 320GB, 7200 RPM, 8MB Cache IDE Ultra ATA100


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## nithos

Just installed this after upgrading my server with a couple $50 250GB WD from Staples.


Maxtor DiamondPlus 9 - 160GB


411ZONE - Maxtor 6Y160P0 [Y481QEPE]


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## icecow

what are the chances that this would work in a replaytv using a sata-->ide adaptor?

http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Maxtor/3H500F0S/


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## KenL




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *icecow* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> what are the chances that this would work...



Be the pig !


----------



## icecow

I turned on the TV today and checked 411.


fwiw, the 1+ year 160 gig maxtor model# is 6Y160P0 [Y41L7R1E], it has been working fine the whole time.


nithos reported the same several posts ago


----------



## KenL




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *icecow* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> fwiw, the 1+ year 160 gig maxtor model# is 6Y160P0 [Y41L7R1E], it has been working fine the whole time.
> 
> 
> nithos reported the same several posts ago



Those are compatible, but to just add another little nag (to aggravate your big nag) my last one went rather inexplicably *T*ango *U*niform in less than two years.


When I suggested _*Be the pig!*_ I meant why not trial one of those inexpensive Maxtor QuickView 500s you linked to?


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## icecow

because, for one, I have two shrinkwrapped 400 gig IDE maxtors in the garage(frys memorial day $99), and three shrinkwrapped 200 gig IDE maxtors(some other mad deal)


Such a waste. You can easily get a 400 gig drive on sale for $99 today if you look.


----------



## KenL




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *icecow* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> ...You can easily get a 400 gig drive on sale for $99 today if you look.



Or less but that's not exactly relevant to this thread. We are looking for Replay drives. Are any of those you have sitting around useful in a ReplayTV?


----------



## icecow

Not to my recollection, I think I used them all in replaytvs.


Are you concerned that you are answering a question with a question?


----------



## dvasco

You guys are as entertaining as tv and better than youtube.


----------



## KenL




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *icecow* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Not to my recollection, I *think* I used them all in replaytvs.



Oh that's right. You " aint doing all (if any of) the work"


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## dvasco

I'm loving it


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## KenL




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *icecow* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> ...I have two shrinkwrapped 400 gig IDE maxtors in the garage(frys memorial day $99), and three shrinkwrapped 200 gig IDE maxtors(some other mad deal)
> 
> 
> Such a waste. You can easily get a 400 gig drive on sale for $99 today if you look.



Are those all DiamondPlus 9 series? And not that it matters if so, but what's the cache size?


----------



## KenL




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *icecow (Replay fan)* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> ...The incompatible 16 meg cache enigma has held its ground, and using a ide-->sata adapter is new territory (at least for me).



Held its ground?


You mean as persistent myth?


Or do you mean it crumbled under the weight of the evidence as a broad (cross brand) HHD generalization?


----------



## icecow

Do you really think it's a myth? I thought you were being sarcastic (and unintentionally misinformative).


All I know is many have reported problems with 16 meg caches, and like 1 claimed success.


I really wouldn't know and that's the purpose of starting this thread.


btw, I saw i said my two 400 gig drives were maxtor. I'm pretty sure they are seagates ..with 16 meg caches, and my working assumption has been that they won't work.


I'm backed up with a trainwreck number of projects I want to do and my procrastination knob is turned up to 11, so to speak.


I'll get back with the info in time. This thread will take time.


I'm still sick, not a dire sick, but plump full of annoying symptoms: weakness, lower back pain, living the present in a bubble of haze(or is that part a eureka realization?)


----------



## hdonzis




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *icecow* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I'm still sick, not a dire sick, but plump full of annoying symptoms: weakness, lower back pain, living the present in a bubble of haze(or is that part a eureka realization?)



If it is purple haze, then it is an episode from Eureka!










Henry


----------



## KenL




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *icecow* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Do you really think it's a myth? I thought you were being sarcastic (and unintentionally misinformative).
> 
> 
> All I know is many have reported problems with 16 meg caches, and like 1 claimed success...



In that case don't listen to me.


Instead do an analysis of the data points you are aware of. So far we have not a single (confirmed) case of Seagate Barracuda 7200.9 or 7200.10 being 100% reliable (what we are calling _compatible_) in a replay 5K. No matter the cache size 8 or 16 meg. I'm unaware of a single case where one was usable even if it was 8 meg cache. Similar problems have been reported in video devices besides Replays for these HDDs.


On the other hand we don't have a single (confirmed) case of a Seagate Barracuda 7200.7 or 7200.8 (of any cache size 8 or 16) suspected as being _incompatible_ in a Replay 5K.


Anyone please point to evidence to the contrary.


Given all of that, cow does that give you the confidence you can buck those odds? That, as long as you adhere to the myth and track down the elusive 8 meg cache Barracuda (7200.9 or 7200.10) Outpost deal for your 5K upgrade, you'll be good to go, trouble free?


> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *icecow* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> btw, I saw i said my two 400 gig drives were maxtor. I'm pretty sure they are seagates ..with 16 meg caches, and my working assumption has been that they won't work.



Makes a difference. It's unfortunate that this is the case. But those who can't tell a Maxtor from Seagate perhaps may have better luck getting an upgrade from Mikeyboy?


I don't really much care, I have plenty of compatible drives. But I hate to see NOOBs spend a week of their life struggling with it and losing shows because they listened to some bozo brain reciting over and over and over "avoid the dreaded 16 meg cache" while neglecting to mention that they should instead concentrate on getting a known compatible drive, if they desire to use it in a ReplayTV 5K.


Nothing wrong with avoiding the dreaded 16 meg cache, if you so desire.


----------



## icecow

#### ###


----------



## icecow

good news for me. the 400 gig drives are both 8 meg, and 7200.8 so they both look perfect for replaytvs by either metric.

specs:
http://www.pricegrabber.com/search_t...sterid=5323802 

comments?


The only catch is I bought these for a home server.


Perhaps I should sell off a few oldstock 50xxs upgraded with new 400gig drives to keep it real.


They cost $108 after tax. If I sold a new lifetime 5040 for $375, plus $108 for the new drive, plus $20 for the trouble that would be $503+actual shipping. put that way the price sounds high.


However if anyone wants one for that price or just a non-upgraded new oldstock for $375+ship, let me know.


----------



## KenL




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *icecow* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> good news for me. the 400 gig drives are both 8 meg, and 7200.8 so they both look perfect for replaytvs by either metric.



I'd say you lucked out. But of course you need to look inside to know for sure. To your favor I believe most of those early 400 gig Barracudas were actually 7200.8 and not 7200.9, in the box. So if the drive itself is printed 7200.8, should be a go for a Replay upgrade.


And of course *sfhub* would probably warn not to use 7200.8s in raid servers. You can read about it around here somewhere.


(if you need more minor nags to distract from and/or enhance your overall malaise)


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## kdkrone

Does anyone know if this Seagate works?


ST3300631A-RK

7200 rpm. 16MB cache


Thanks

Ken K


----------



## icecow




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *KenL* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> On the other hand we don't have a single (confirmed) case of a Seagate Barracuda 7200.7 or 7200.8 (of any cache size 8 or 16) suspected as being _incompatible_ in a Replay 5K.



It's the 7200.9s and 7200.10s you have to watch out for.


Figure out which one your HD is.


I looked up specs on ST3300631A-RK and none of them said. The fact that the drive is ata100 gives promise.


The HD is in you hands so you will have to figure out if its a 7200.7,8,9, or 10 on your end.


----------



## kdkrone

Actually, I was looking to purchase it this afternoon from CompUSA (I could wait for a deal but I want to get up and running)


Will the 7000.x be on the packaging or only on the drive itself? I doubt that they will be too excited to open the package...


And thanks for the tip!


KK


----------



## icecow

The shrink wrapped one I was holding 15 seconds ago did not have it on the package.


but, it is an ata100 (not ata133 or ata150) and I know it is a 7200.7 from it's specs. So I personally wouldn't bother doing the guess/return thing unless it is listed as a ata100.


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## kdkrone

So it is likely to work OK, is that what you are saying?


----------



## icecow




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *kdkrone* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> So it is likely to work OK, is that what you are saying?



I'm saying if it says ata100 on the box (which will be on the box) I'd probably risk it. the ata100s are 'older' drives and likely to be cheaper too.


I don't know the odds of it being an ata100 though, being older.


And I'd get full versed on the return policy if I tried.


I'd also pay cash because stores now track returns and profile customers which may affect other things...offers, ect. In a few years I expect them to pull up names like police and gauge how willing they are to take back returns/etc (if they aren't already). Potentially, bit competing chains may start sharing information like casinos.


It is a big hastle harassment to return stuff now adays, and this time your the one causing the problem if it doesn't work (from a waste perspective), but I think their return policy covers returning stuff that doesn't work for you so you aren't doing anything legally wrong.


Anyway, good luck.


----------



## kdkrone

Well, my luck is not so good today. The drive is 7000.9


So what is the issue with the .9 firmware?


Also, what about Hitachi Deskstar drives? I have a few 160's around.


KK


----------



## kdkrone

OK, here are two drives that DO NOT work:


Seagate Barracuda ST3300622A. 300 GB It is part number 9BD044-304 and is a 7200.9 drive


Hitachi Deskstar HDT22525DLAT80 250GB


KK


----------



## diesel25

Is it true that you should not or cannot use a drive larger than 320gb because you might get out of memory error messages?!?!


----------



## diesel25




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dstoffa* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Installed this drive last night - no worries:
> 
> Western Digital Caviar SE WD3200JB, 320GB, 7200 RPM, 8MB Cache IDE Ultra ATA100



that is the exact drive that i am about to buy to upgrade mine.. how many hours of high quality do you have now?


----------



## KenL




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *diesel25* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Is it true that you should not or cannot use a drive larger than 320gb because you might get out of memory error messages?!?!



Not true.


While there is some performance hit on the local 5xxx when using a very large drive (when it starts getting full) the primary concern is the networked units (with large drives) when they start getting full.


----------



## diesel25




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *KenL* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Not true.
> 
> 
> While there is some performance hit on the local 5xxx when using a very large drive (when it starts getting full) the primary concern is the networked units (with large drives) when they start getting full.



so if i just have one 5040 and a 500gb hd, then i should be good eh?


----------



## diesel25

I also had a question about the "software" used to clone these drives... On one site, you have to pay $30 bucks to get the software and then on the other site it is free.. Is there a difference??


since i am new, i cannot post the links BUT one is from pvr digitalinsurrection com and the other is from rtfpatch sourceforge net


----------



## icecow

Yeah.


So you know, the problem happens when you have two or more replaytvs networked together. When one asks for the other for the show list, the one receiving the list can crash if the list is too long. So it's more about how many shows you have then the HD size.


For instance, if you have a 300 gig drive and every show you record is a half hour show, and you record it on standard quality the list will be about 600 shows long. that will definately crash a networked replay asking for the list.


As HD sizes become gInormous the problem might come in to play even if you only have one replaytv, who knows.


However, IMO it's still a good idea to get a huge HD 500+. Just start recording everything in High Quality, and help yourself to more movies.


a huge HD would work will with netflix. You could have all your TV shows and, say, 10-20 full lenth movies, all recorded in High quality.


a two hour movie recorded at high quality will take about 6 gigs, but only count as one show on the list.


Also, it's a good idea to leave about 10-15% of your HD free so it all works out if you are a hog that knows what you are doing.


----------



## icecow




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *diesel25* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I also had a question about the "software" used to clone these drives... On one site, you have to pay $30 bucks to get the software and then on the other site it is free.. Is there a difference??
> 
> 
> since i am new, i cannot post the links BUT one is from pvr digitalinsurrection com and the other is from rtfpatch sourceforge net



Send me $5 and use the free one. It's cheaper.


----------



## KenL




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *diesel25* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> so if i just have one 5040 and a 500gb hd, then i should be good eh?



Should be fine.


Of course we might perhaps inquire of flipflop the capacity @ which we want larger 5xxx cluster size?


You should be OK with 500. I'm running 400 (upgraded and so using original cluster size) but performing well (locally) just over 2/3 full.


----------



## icecow

Splitting hairs..


I'd personally get a 400 gig if a 500 gig had a significantly higher price. Go for the best bang for the buck. The extra space isn't THAT important. There's just no reason not to have it if it's just a few bucks more.


Also, I'd recomend flying the model# you intend to get by this forum before buying it. Some brands/models are not compatible with replaytvs.


----------



## diesel25




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *icecow* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Send me $5 and use the free one. It's cheaper.



good one...


----------



## icecow

So the seagate 7200.7 and 7200.8 drives work and the 7200.9 and 7200.10 drives don't. What's after that, do they work?


There are some maxtors that do not work. I have some that will be going in puters. What do we know about these maxtors that don't work?


Do all samsungs still not work including the lastest ones?


----------



## dstoffa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *diesel25* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> that is the exact drive that i am about to buy to upgrade mine.. how many hours of high quality do you have now?



I record at Standard Quality for most shows. Medium Q for movies.


When I set it up, I had 325 hours free at standard quality. Divide by 3 for HQ.


----------



## dstoffa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *diesel25* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I also had a question about the "software" used to clone these drives... On one site, you have to pay $30 bucks to get the software and then on the other site it is free.. Is there a difference??
> 
> 
> since i am new, i cannot post the links BUT one is from pvr digitalinsurrection com and the other is from rtfpatch sourceforge net



If you pay more than the cost of your internet connection, you are paying too much...


----------



## KenL




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *icecow* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> ...As HD sizes become *gInormous* the problem might come in to play even if you only have one replaytv, who knows.



Cow been watching down his backlog of GilmoreGirls?


(it's interesting a 37"(?) lcd is considered _Humongous_ _gInormous_ J_umbotron_ in Stars Hollow )


----------



## KenL

(so suppose it all depends on what is *gInormous* to a *c*old-*c*athode-*c*ow ?)


----------



## KenL




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *icecow* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> So the seagate 7200.7 and 7200.8 drives work and the 7200.9 and 7200.10 drives don't. What's after that, do they work?



7200.10 is it, *P*erpendicular *M*agnetic *R*ecording. Nope don't work.


Just *avoid* the *dreaded Seagate Barracudas*, apparently nothing current is compatible.


If you must have a Seagate, track down the DB35 series. Virtually indistinguishable from the 7200.7 or 7200.8 (for ReplayTV upgrades) except that it's harder to find and more expensive. And for 250 GB the Seagate SV35 series. I believe that is my ReplayTV drive of choice right now, reduced power consumption, slightly cooler.


Otherwise just go Western Digital. That's what the former Brain Scientist did after trialling Seagate DB35s. He went back to WD last I read.


----------



## icecow

so what's the deal on maxtors now adays?


so all current and past WDs seem to work?


----------



## zimdba




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *icecow* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> so what's the deal on maxtors now adays?



By all means buy them if you like the sound of HD seek/read/write . . .










I'll say it again - loudest drives in my house by far.


----------



## KenL

Not a bad sound in my book. Not bad at all.


By far the loudest drives in my house are squowling (dry bearing) Western Digitals. I keep them powered down because of the health hazard. I also have some old Maxtors and Quantums with nearly similar kreeching bearings, too retired to prevent hearing impairment. I believe they repel rodents, but most certainly pets/farm animals.


I have a single 18-month-old WD I'm forced to run (in my Sony HD recorder -- no way to swap or upgrade) and so far it's still smooth spinning.


(knock on termite chow)


----------



## icecow

I not herd nothin. It's moo(sic) to my ears.


----------



## kdkrone

I was hoping that this thread would have shed more light about the drives that are compatible but so it goes... At least I know to not use Seagate drives that are .9 or .10, but, unfortunately, that may not be clear until after the box has been opened.


What I have gotten, however, is that older Seagate and Western Digital have the best chance of working.


Can anyone else expand on this?


Thanks

Ken


----------



## KenL




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *kdkrone* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> ...What I have gotten, however, is that older Seagate and Western Digital have the best chance of working.
> 
> 
> Can anyone else expand on this?



I couldn't summarize the current situation better than this:

_Updated: ReplayTV Drive Compatibility_ 


In short, use a Seagate DB35 7200.2 or 7200.3. Or go for the WD3000JB or WD3200JB. Better yet get one from Mikeyboy ... it will work and he stands behind it.


----------



## zimdba

2 of my 3 Replay TV's:

Maxtor MaXLine Plus II 7Y250P0 250GB ATA133

Seagate Barracuda ST3160023A 7200.7 160GB ATA100 Hard Drive


I think the MaxLine Plus II was a replacement for a DiamondMax 9 that died within 15 days of installation.


----------



## zimdba




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *KenL* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> In short, use a Seagate DB35 7200.2 or 7200.3.



What was the manufacture date for these drives? I might question installing a > 3 yr old drive in a DVR . .


----------



## icecow

the DB35s are made for DVRs

http://www.seagate.com/www/en-us/pro...cs/db35_series 


I think that is a clever way of saying the new drives will stop working with dvrs so we'll continue making the old ones and sell them to dvr owners (and might as well tweek them to work with dvrs better)


----------



## KenL

 7200.3 is new, apparently within the last few months.


I agree about really old drives and that's why I say give up on the pursuit of 7200.7 and 7200.8 Barracudas. Some may still be able to dig up a few new ones. I wouldn't want to upgrade a Replay with a used one. In fact I'm cycling the last few out of my units (after several very good years, not a single failure) in favor of SV35 and DB35.


The retired drives find a less demanding new purpose.


----------



## zimdba




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *icecow* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> the DB35s are made for DVRs
> 
> http://www.seagate.com/www/en-us/pro...cs/db35_series
> 
> 
> I think that is a clever way of saying the new drives will stop working with dvrs so we'll continue making the old ones and sell them to dvr owners (and might as well tweek them to work with dvrs better)



Damn marketing peeps. I was thinking that the 7200.* was relevant to what year/generation they were made. So the 7200.10 Perpendicular drives would be the newest, while the 7200.3 would be several years behind in technology. So what they are saying, in effect, is the .3 from one product line is equivalent to .10 from another.


----------



## icecow

But they are indeed great for PVRs, and they are tweeked to be better. I ran in to a post by the guy of weeknees.com. He was touting them for their relibility and ease. Said it's all they use.


The perpendicular technology is important to make bigger harddrives. By lining up the bits vertically they can fit more space on a platter.


PVR owners can think of seagates PMR (Perpendicular Magnetic Recording) technology as one brute attack cycle short of PMS .


Honestly, I never made the connection between PMR and RTV PMS till KenL mentioned in earlier in this thread, even though I wrote about Hitatchi's upcomming perpendicular technology in late 05.
http://archive2.avsforum.com/avs-vb/...ar#post6485025 

The post even has a still-working flash movie link that shows how the technology works.
http://www.hitachigst.com/hdd/resear...Animation.html 


It seems about 15 sec into the video the cartoon starts by clearly stating, "I'm a lonely little b#tc#!". Perhaps a PVR PMS hint I didn't pick up on.


Edit: I should be more careful talking about one thing but not another. I don't know if all perpendicular drives are bad. It is a theory. I will be keeping my eyes open. We know at least some of them are bad and older (non-perpendicular) drives work fine. There are some 500Gig DB35s; I don't know if they are perpendicular or not. I don't know that the 7200.3s haven't gone perpendicular.


----------



## KenL




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *icecow* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> ...It seems about 15 sec into the video the cartoon starts by clearly stating, "I'm a lonely little b#tc#!". Perhaps a PVR PMS hint I didn't pick up on.



It's "I'm a lonely little bit" not necessarily the same difference.










(do you have osage-orange-apples stuck in your ears again?)


Since that (rather early) revelation predates even the feasibility of such technology, shall we start calling you *Edgar Cowse* or *Sylvia Browne Cow*?


----------



## KenL




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *icecow* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> But they are indeed great for PVRs, and they are tweeked to be better. I ran in to a post by the guy of weeknees.com. He was touting them for their relibility and ease. Said it's all they use...



I wouldn't go too overboard touting the benefits of DB35 for RVRs. The only apparent *benefit* for Replays (over 7200.7, 7200.8) is just that the DB35 are both compatible and still available.


----------



## RFontenot

There was a earlier thread that covered this topic already:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=722702 


RF


----------



## MISSY QUICK

I have a "PANASONIC SHOWSTOPPER PV HS 2000" and would like to upgrade to a larger hard drive. I have been getting conflicting information about the size of the hard drive that this model will support. Perhaps someone has the correct information.


THANK YOU...


----------



## icecow

the max size is about 140 gigs (based on the figures given on the box).


Use either a 120 gig drive (which is about 115 based on the box) or a 160 gig drive. However if you use a 160 gig drive the replaytv will only utilize 140 gigs worth (20 gig waste). It doesn't really matter. basically let the prices of the HD decide for you.


in review: use a 120 gig or 160 gig drive.


----------



## hdonzis




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *KenL* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I wouldn't go too overboard touting the benefits of DB35 for RVRs. The only apparent *benefit* for Replays (over 7200.7, 7200.8) is just that the DB35 are both compatible and still available.



Actually, there are some real benefits to the DB35 drives. The main one is that it doesn't retry reading a bad sector and simply goes on to the next. The theory being that you won't mind a bad frame of picture (just like you get all the time with digital TV) rather than having the Replay start looping and hiccupping because the disk is retrying to read a bad sector...


Henry


----------



## KenL




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *hdonzis* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Actually, there are some real benefits to the DB35 drives.



Perhaps you can dig into this more?


I read everything I found on that, and got the impression the alternate error correction modes need to be called by the appliance in question. Which lead me to believe they aren't utilized by Replays. My (unscientific) experience so far with the DB35 tends to back that up. Absolutely no benefit I can discern over the cloned 7200.8 replaced. Of course I went from 300 to 400, but the performance is definitely not *better* and I suspect it's off just a hair. But that could be explained by the size difference alone. Number of shows started out the same (perhaps 260 GB) since it's a patched exact clone. If it only comes into play with bad sectors, well I've never identified or suspected bad sector (issues) on any of these Seagates. But by that point I'd rather replace the drive.



> Quote:
> The Seagate DB35 Series hard drive delivers the performance, power efficiency and reliability DVR manufacturers need to design superior products.



Well the 7200.3 (400) is using apparently _more_ power than the 7200.8 (300) in my 5 minute (unscientific) boot the replay with each (identically loaded) test. The specs seem to back that up.


The only theoretical 'power efficiency' the DB35 have over 7200.8 (I can see) is a max spin-up current of 2.0 amps as opposed to max of something like 2.5 amps. Perhaps they are identical in reality. But the larger capacity drives do use more.


The SV35 (250 GB) on the other hand, uses measurably less power (confirmed by my 5 minute boot/buffer/page-through-guides test, against original 7200.8 250 GB) so it should average a few watts cooler. And longer life/more reliable just by that metric alone. My initial impression is the (250 GB) SV35 has smoother performance than the (400 GB) 7200.3, but of course not a fair comparison, since the 400 DB35 has more content. And I really would expect some performance hit from the reduced seek wattage on the SV35, but so far in the Replay 5K I'm not identifying it. Bottom line is all these compatible Seagates seem to perform more than adequately.


One must temper expectations from the marketing hype. But if you can dig up evidence our Replays can utilize _any_ of the DynaPlay Technology™ *magic* I'd love to hear it.


----------



## hdonzis




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *KenL* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Perhaps you can dig into this more?
> 
> 
> I read everything I found on that, and got the impression the alternate error correction modes need to be called by the appliance in question. Which lead me to believe they aren't utilized by Replays. My (unscientific) experience so far with the DB35 tends to back that up. Absolutely no benefit I can discern over the cloned 7200.8 replaced. Of course I went from 300 to 400, but the performance is definitely not *better* and I suspect it's off just a hair. But that could be explained by the size difference alone. Number of shows started out the same (perhaps 260 GB) since it's a patched exact clone. If it only comes into play with bad sectors, well I've never identified or suspected bad sector (issues) on any of these Seagates. But by that point I'd rather replace the drive.


 Here is where I first posted some information on the DB35 drives. And, here is some newer information that I just found...


Henry


----------



## KenL




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *hdonzis* /forum/post/0
> 
> Here is where I first posted some information on the DB35 drives. And, here is some newer information that I just found...
> 
> 
> Henry



Yes, I previously reviewed that, and the rest of the pdfs.


What I'm saying is I have no reason to believe any of those *benefits* apply to ReplayTVs. The DB35 apparently don't save power over the previous 7200.8 Barracudas, I don't see evidence Replays utilize the alternate error correction to improve streaming, and overhead from the DriveTrust™ technology is likely a minus for us, since we don't DRM.


But hey the DB35 are compatible with 5Ks. So that's a pretty big plus.


----------



## hdonzis




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *KenL* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Yes, I previously reviewed that, and the rest of the pdfs.
> 
> 
> What I'm saying is I have no reason to believe any of those *benefits* apply to ReplayTVs. The DB35 apparently don't save power over the previous 7200.8 Barracudas, I don't see evidence Replays utilize the alternate error correction to improve streaming, and overhead from the DriveTrust technology is likely a minus for us, since we don't DRM.
> 
> 
> But hey the DB35 are compatible with 5Ks. So that's a pretty big plus.



I see what you are saying, and it doesn't seem like the Replay OS could be taking advantage fully of those drives. But, it still reads to me like the drives have default limited command times, so they are probably still better than a normal PC hard drive. I have to believe from all I've read that they aren't interchangeable with the Barracuda series if you simply don't set the time limits. There isn't anything in the documentation to indicate that it would be OK to use these drives in a normal PC environment where data recovery is important...


So, even though the Replay probably isn't taking full advantage of these drives, they probably still have an advantage over standard hard drives. Just like the Maxtor QuickView drives are also better choices for DVRs, you don't want the drive recalibrating all the time as standard PC drives do, and you don't want a bunch of read retries being attempted. These drives are still optimized to stream data, which is probably what makes them compatible with the Replay in the first place...


Henry


----------



## KenL




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *hdonzis* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> ...There isn't anything in the documentation to indicate that it would be OK to use these drives in a normal PC environment where data recovery is important...



Some of the Datasheets included a _Consumer Storage Profile_ in addition to the _PVR Profile_ so I suspect they default to standard error correction. DB35 have also been promoted for Media Center applications (which is desktop) so I have to guess they are pretty much interchangeable with the comparable legacy Barracudas, if not virtually identical.


And if they get too goosey with errors, we may end up with corruption in Replay system partition. Which is where I've seen Replay drive error problems in the past. Any of these theoretical *benefits* are probably hidden below the threshold of our 5K cpu and process priority concerns, so we may never realize them anyway.


At any rate... thus far, in practice I'm not seeing appreciable difference in ReplayTV performance. With perhaps the exception of the lower power consumption of the 250 GB SV35.1 drive.


----------



## Chip718




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *nithos* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Just installed this after upgrading my server with a couple $50 250GB WD from Staples.
> 
> 
> Maxtor DiamondPlus 9 - 160GB
> 
> 
> 411ZONE - Maxtor 6Y160P0 [Y481QEPE]



Hi. can anyone please tell me if a Maxtor 200GB Diamondmax 10 ATA 133 Hard Drive is a compatible drive to upgrade my 5040?


Thanks for any info.


----------



## nded

You must provide a specific model number to get any valid feedback.


----------



## Chip718




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Chip718* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Hi. can anyone please tell me if a Maxtor 200GB Diamondmax 10 ATA 133 Hard Drive is a compatible drive to upgrade my 5040?
> 
> 
> Thanks for any info.



Sorry about the missing info. Its a Maxtor 200GB Diamondmax 10 ATA 133 Hard Drive - Model: 6L200P0


----------



## KenL

*
*
*Many problems reported with Maxtor Diamondmax 10 drives in ReplayTVs*


----------



## Chip718

Thanks for the info, KenL.


Does anyone know if a Maxtor 200GB Diamondmax 21 PATA Model: 6A200V0 faired any better?


----------



## icecow

 http://www.engadget.com/2007/02/18/m...resting-thing/


----------



## tluxon

I've never upgraded any of my Replays and any desire I might have had at one time had all but died with 99.9999% of *my* viewing being done through a couple two-tuner HD-DVRs from Comcast. Also, the vast majority of things *I* want to archive can be done in full HD via firewire to PCs and a DVHS VCR.


Nevertheless, despite the fact that they're all stuck in analog SD land, all three of our Replays continue to get used for longer-term storage and for when easy navigation is more desireable than glorious HD PQ.


Now, two of our three Replay 5000s have just met the "Please wait" death angel and need upgrading, which will be the first ones I've done. I'm certain the third is not far behind. I've chosen to go with the

250GB Seagate ST3250820ACE DB35 


from TheNerds. If all goes well and the drive isn't too noisy, I'll probably do the same for the other Replay(s).


I'm hoping I can somehow get the shows on the old drives moved over to the new ones, but at this point I have no idea if I'll even be able to read the old drives.


I wonder how much longer we're going to even need these things to last - especially once analog is no longer attainable without a STB.


----------



## ClearToLand




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *icecow* /forum/post/0
> 
> *I aint doing all the work.* If you know a model # that works, post it!



Well, since you're here ALL THE TIME (and usually complaining about being bored), why don't you:

*AT LEAST COMPILE THE RESULTS AS THEY ARE POSTED?*


----------



## ClearToLand




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *choli0090* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> If people want to send me what they have that is working I will update the list I started. I have uploaded what I have so far.





> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *icecow* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> you:
> 
> make it an excel file
> then zip it
> and make it an attachment??



Stop complaining! He *COULD* have PASSWORDED the ZIP file.










> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *icecow* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> how about just paste it as text in a post?


*choli0090*,


How about:

Convert it to HTML
Increase the amount of information
Upload it to GeoCities
Provide everyone with a LINK
Maintain it
*?*


----------



## hdonzis




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tluxon* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I've never upgraded any of my Replays and any desire I might have had at one time had all but died with 99.9999% of *my* viewing being done through a couple two-tuner HD-DVRs from Comcast. Also, the vast majority of things *I* want to archive can be done in full HD via firewire to PCs and a DVHS VCR.
> 
> 
> Nevertheless, despite the fact that they're all stuck in analog SD land, all three of our Replays continue to get used for longer-term storage and for when easy navigation is more desireable than glorious HD PQ.
> 
> 
> Now, two of our three Replay 5000s have just met the "Please wait" death angel and need upgrading, which will be the first ones I've done. I'm certain the third is not far behind. I've chosen to go with the
> 
> 250GB Seagate ST3250820ACE DB35
> 
> 
> from TheNerds. If all goes well and the drive isn't too noisy, I'll probably do the same for the other Replay(s).
> 
> 
> I'm hoping I can somehow get the shows on the old drives moved over to the new ones, but at this point I have no idea if I'll even be able to read the old drives.
> 
> 
> I wonder how much longer we're going to even need these things to last - especially once analog is no longer attainable without a STB.



You can only copy over the shows to the new Replay when it is still bootable. For the two "stuck" Replays, you will have to load a new image on your replacement hard drive (I used the ST3250823ACE and have been very happy with it), which will boot up with no shows and no programs. You can (hopefully) use extract_rtv5 to extract all the shows and show descriptions from your "stuck" hard drives and then access them through DVArchive, WiRNS, or IVSmagic. Unless the drives are completely dead, you should at least be able to extract all the recorded shows even if you can't get the show descriptions.


If the third Replay is still working, then you can completely copy it over to a new hard drive with a different capacity and retain all your recorded shows and programming...


Henry


----------



## tluxon




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *hdonzis* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> You can only copy over the shows to the new Replay when it is still bootable. For the two "stuck" Replays, you will have to load a new image on your replacement hard drive (I used the ST3250823ACE and have been very happy with it), which will boot up with no shows and no programs...



Being that I've never done a Replay drive update, I wasn't thinking along the lines that "bootable" was a requirement for salvaging shows. I was really kind of hoping that the old drives might spin up and be readable even though they won't boot their respective Replays.


So is it not possible that the Replay is just getting "stuck" when trying to read a bad sector on bootup and that that is not a factor when simply reading the drive?


Thanks!


Tim


----------



## tluxon

Say, I have a computer with an older (2 yrs?) Maxtor 200GB PATA drive in it that I'd like to replace with a 500GB SATA drive (ASUS P4D800-E Deluxe motherboard that can take both).


I seem to recall these Maxtors making pretty decent Replay drives. Anybody know for sure?


----------



## KenL




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tluxon* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> ...So is it not possible that the Replay is just getting "stuck" when trying to read a bad sector on bootup and that that is not a factor when simply reading the drive?



No exceedingly unlikely. If there was some other reason (besides the drive) it wasn't booting, perhaps.


While it may be possible to extract the shows from a non-booting drive (if it still spins up and has an intact mpeg partition) you don't want to use that to image the new drive, because you can almost be certain the booting problems will transfer to the new upgrade in such case. Extract the shows if possible and use a fresh image to upgrade.



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tluxon* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> ...I seem to recall these Maxtors making pretty decent Replay drives. Anybody know for sure?



May be possible but I'd never use a 2 year old used maxtor in a Replay if I had any choice. Go for the Seagate DB35, unless you want to be going through the please wait again sooner than later.


----------



## hdonzis




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tluxon* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Being that I've never done a Replay drive update, I wasn't thinking along the lines that "bootable" was a requirement for salvaging shows. I was really kind of hoping that the old drives might spin up and be readable even though they won't boot their respective Replays.
> 
> 
> So is it not possible that the Replay is just getting "stuck" when trying to read a bad sector on bootup and that that is not a factor when simply reading the drive?
> 
> 
> Thanks!
> 
> 
> Tim



As Ken posted, you don't want to copy over the problems of your old drive to your new drive. If there is an unreadable sector, then you won't be able to copy that sector to the new drive, so, of course, then the new drive will have a readable sector with garbage data in it rather than the real data. You are certainly welcome to try, but the process is very similar to "Ghosting" (if you are familiar with that drive copying program) or mirroring the drive. The Replay boots off the hard drive and if it can't boot off your existing hard drive, then copying that hard drive to a new one is unlikely to produce a bootable system. When you use RTVPatch, it tries multiple times to read bad sectors. Through temperature changes, it may be possible to recover bad sectors. You can start out by trying to backup your existing hard drive's system partition and see how successful that is. If it has bad sectors but is able to eventually read them through retries, you can certainly attempt to see if the Replay will boot if you copy that system partition to the new hard drive. If you want to go to the trouble, use RTVPatch to simply save the system partition of your existing drive. Then, restore that saved system partition ot the new drive, patch the drive, and see if the Replay boots. If it does, then you can run RTVPatch again, restore the system partition again, and then copy the MPEG partition as well to copy your recorded shows to the new hard drive.


But, it is most likely that you will have to download a new boot image to put on your new hard drive, which will mean that it will boot up with no shows or scheduled recordings....


Henry


----------



## DavidEC

Let see if I can boil down what I have read in this thread so far..


The Seagate ST3120026A-RK may come in different firmware and only if the firmware printed on the drive is listed as 7200.7 or .8 will work with the ReplayTV?

The drives being sold have a mim of 8mb cache... but from doing a google search some have purchased this drive and in fact it had a 16mb cache...



The reason I am looking at this drive: 5 year warranty.. as many other drives only have a one year warranty.


--David


(Pricegrabber and another shopping search tool list the drive as follows:

Seagate Barracuda 7200.7 Plus ST3120026A-RK 120GB Hard Drive)


----------



## dstoffa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *DavidEC* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Let see if I can boil down what I have read in this thread so far..
> 
> 
> The Seagate ST3120026A-RK may come in different firmware and only if the firmware printed on the drive is listed as 7200.7 or .8 will work with the ReplayTV?
> 
> The drives being sold have a mim of 8mb cache... but from doing a google search some have purchased this drive and in fact it had a 16mb cache...
> 
> 
> The reason I am looking at this drive: 5 year warranty.. as many other drives only have a one year warranty.
> 
> 
> --David



You may get lucky at finding a Seagate HD with compatible firmware. However, your reasoning for getting the Seagate because of the 5 year warranty is flawed- but it's not your fault.


If your Seagate hard drive fails, and you send it back for replacement (and hopefully this would happen sometime in the future - say two or three years), you are likely to get whatever type of PATA Hard Drive Seagate still makes. It is very likely that the firmware on that replacement drive will NOT be compatible with your Replay. You'll get a replacement drive that you cannot use (in a Replay).


Western Digitals work well in Replays. Use the JB320 GB Western Digital. It's under $100 at newegg. It has a three year warranty.


-Doug


----------



## wfay

I think if you went with the Seagate DB35 or SV35, you wouldn't get "any old PATA" drive as a replacement in the 5yr warranty, but instead you would probably get a drive back that is compatible with the Replay.


So if you like Seagates like me, you should look at those lines.


----------



## dstoffa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *wfay* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I think if you went with the Seagate DB35 or SV35, you wouldn't get "any old PATA" drive as a replacement in the 5yr warranty, but instead you would probably get a drive back that is compatible with the Replay.
> 
> 
> So if you like Seagates like me, you should look at those lines.



The Poster did not quote a DB35... a ST3120026A-RK, a 120 GB IDE drive was quoted.


I have a Seagate installed in one of my RTVs. I bought it for the warranty. However, that drive is now a lemming, becuase if it fails, the replacement I get will likely not work with my RTV.


Cheers!


----------



## wfay

You read entirely too much into my post.


I never suggested that he quoted a DB35 or SV35... Instead I was simply trying to suggest that he consider those lines instead of the other... for reasons you posted.


----------



## jasper2




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dstoffa* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Western Digitals work well in Replays. Use the JB320 GB Western Digital. It's under $100 at newegg. It has a three year warranty.
> 
> 
> -Doug



Be aware that some retailers offer the retail boxed version of this drive (WD3200JBRTL) which carries only a one year warranty. The one at Newegg is an OEM version (WD3200JB) which has the 3 year warranty.


I purchased one of these drives from Newegg and put it in my 5040 a few months ago - it's been working great! I have about 300hrs at standard quality and about 1/2 that at medium. I've been taking advantage of the extra space since upgrading to an Olevia 542i. I've noticed a difference in picture quality between standard and medium on this display that wasn't apparant on my ancient 27" CRT TV and now only use the medium setting for keeper shows. Of course there's always DVArchive but it's nice not have to keep the server running 24/7.


----------



## DavidEC

Newegg and I had a falling out.... due to sale timing and billing... being at 12:01 the item was no longer on sale... yet I had started the check out process at 10mins till per my local clocks....

Due to conflicting info at "Best Buy" about my extended warranty I may go and stand in the store and make a scene Sat. am....I paid for an extened warranty to replace the harddrive if the current drive fails and they want to:

[AX3csr] Not to even try to repair and give store credit...

[Bx2csr] Best Buy ships unit to some unknow place in Texas for repair which could take eight weeks and if they are unable to repair give store credit....

[Cx1csr] I ship to Replay for repair, pay for the repair, and submit a repair claim for refund which could take six months for refund and the repair claim could be turned down

... I have even called the "888" at different times and gotten different answers ??


--David


PS: Does anybody have a drive image for the 50xx series newer than:

Factory Reset Image 530511440.rtv

.....


----------



## icecow

 http://www.craigslist.org/about/best/sdo/289223353.html 


no, as far as I know 530511440 is the latest downloadable version. However, if you use it and connect to the mothership, the mothership will send a software update. You should be fine.


----------



## KwadGuy




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dstoffa* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Western Digitals work well in Replays. Use the JB320 GB Western Digital. It's under $100 at newegg. It has a three year warranty.
> 
> 
> -Doug



Yeah, the Western Digitals work well until they go belly up in a month or two or three. I have had THREE different WD drives, different models, all die quickly in two Replays and one Tivo. These are the only WD drives I used. In the rest of my DVRs I've used Seagates--no problems.


I will NEVER buy another WD for a DVR.


Kwad


----------



## SE5907

Do you guys think this drive will work? It seems like a decent price. The thing that confuses me is the "Ultra DMA/100" part. I thought it was supposed to say "ATA". Deal sites say this Seagate drive is 7200.7.


Seagate 200GB Ultra DMA/100 8MB Buffer ST3200822A-RK- Retail Hard Drive Kit
http://shop4.outpost.com/product/400...H:MAIN_RSLT_PG


----------



## Mikeyboy




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *SE5907* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Do you guys think this drive will work? It seems like a decent price. The thing that confuses me is the "Ultra DMA/100" part. I thought it was supposed to say "ATA". Deal sites say this Seagate drive is 7200.7.
> 
> 
> Seagate 200GB Ultra DMA/100 8MB Buffer ST3200822A-RK- Retail Hard Drive Kit
> http://shop4.outpost.com/product/400...H:MAIN_RSLT_PG



It should work in a 5000 or 5500 as long as the firmware version is as you expect 7200.7.


----------



## SE5907

Thanks a lot, Mikeyboy.


----------



## dstoffa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *SE5907* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Do you guys think this drive will work? It seems like a decent price. The thing that confuses me is the "Ultra DMA/100" part. I thought it was supposed to say "ATA". Deal sites say this Seagate drive is 7200.7.
> 
> 
> Seagate 200GB Ultra DMA/100 8MB Buffer ST3200822A-RK- Retail Hard Drive Kit
> http://shop4.outpost.com/product/400...H:MAIN_RSLT_PG



I didn't see the firmware quoted at the Fry's web page you cite... Buyer beware. Sometimes what's on the box is not what's in the package. i.e. - Box says 7200.7, drive in the box is 7200.9.


Cheers!

-Doug


----------



## SE5907

Thanks Doug, I will look out for that. I didn't see the firmware on the site either, but two deal sites that led me to it described it as 7200.7. I'll keep my fingers crossed.


----------



## icecow

I should have spoke sooner.


I've seen a similar deal at staples (a seagate 200 for $49.99). The deal doesn't seem to be on staples.com.

*I don't know which version of firmware the seagate is or if the same deal is going on at your local staples*


the good part is this is staples 'customer appreciation week' and there is a pdf floating around the net that you can print out and get a 12% discount (says not applicable to computers or laptops(guessing computer accesories are fair game)).

*you will have to find out the details yourself if interested, this is a lead not conclusive*


----------



## CrazyCanuck

I just put in a Seagate 160 gig 8 meg cache drive last week in my 5040 when its drive went belly-up. It is a 7200.9 version firmware; however been a week now and no problems. I wonder if the 7200.9 problems have something to with larger drives (at least larger than 160 gigs) combined with 16 meg cache.


'course probably gonna jinx it now that I posted that everything is fine. .


----------



## SE5907




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *SE5907* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Thanks Doug, I will look out for that. I didn't see the firmware on the site either, but two deal sites that led me to it described it as 7200.7. I'll keep my fingers crossed.



It turned out to be a 7200.9. Time to RMA.


----------



## jasper2




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *KwadGuy* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Yeah, the Western Digitals work well until they go belly up in a month or two or three. I have had THREE different WD drives, different models, all die quickly in two Replays and one Tivo. These are the only WD drives I used. In the rest of my DVRs I've used Seagates--no problems.
> 
> 
> I will NEVER buy another WD for a DVR.
> 
> 
> Kwad



Up till a few months ago I' d have agreed wholeheartedly with you Kwad - Over the years I've seen a lot of failed PC drives most of which were WD. That seems to be changing.


I have two 5040s which I upgraded with WD3200JB drives, one with a single drive, the second with a pair for a total of 640GB. I was worried about the extra current draw and subsequent heat output of the second drive but have not had any notable problems. Both units have been working very well and are very quiet.


Just my $0.02


BTW anyone try a 500 GB WD5000JB in a replay yet?


----------



## jbacke

Circuit City has a good deal this weekend on Seagate 160GB 7200.7 drives. Just $30 after rebate. Drive is a bit small by todays standards but its a cheap and reliable Replay drive for those wanting to upgrade a 5040.

Circuit City


----------



## SE5907




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jbacke* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Circuit City has a good deal this weekend on Seagate 160GB 7200.7 drives. Just $30 after rebate. Drive is a bit small by todays standards but its a cheap and reliable Replay drive for those wanting to upgrade a 5040.
> 
> Circuit City



I think I have the worst luck when it comes to Seagate HDs. I picked this one up yesterday and it's a 7200.9.


----------



## jbacke




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *SE5907* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I think I have the worst luck when it comes to Seagate HDs. I picked this one up yesterday and it's a 7200.9.



Crap. I wish Seagate would put the correct model number on their boxes. Are they just trying to use up their old stock of boxes? I didn't have time to get this drive yet but I'm going to try to pick one up tomorrow. I have 3 of the 7200.7 versions and I want to get one more so I can double up drives in 2 Replays.


Office Max has the same drive (actually both PATA and SATA versions) for $50 and there's a 20 off 50 coupon available so this could be $30 out the door with no rebates, if the CSR accepts the coupon, some do and some don't. I'm hoping the OM drives are old stock because I'll probably return it otherwise.


----------



## PaganGod

First post...


So the Hitachi 160GB my wife (!) originally upgraded our 5040 with was having stuttering, slow response to remote, rebooting, and other issues (after 2.5 years) and was getting full frequently anyway, so we decided to upgrade. Turned out the drive was having SMART failures with excessive block reallocations (media or head issues).


Circuit City had Western Digital 250GB retail kits (WD2500JBRTL) for $95-$35rebate=$60. Not a great deal, and only a 1 year warranty, but it was available locally. I should note that we originally bought a Seagate 320GB but it was a 7200.9 (16MB) and we did not know there was any issue. Once I realized how slow it was going copying the MPEG partition (I was on "upgrade duty" this time), I did some research to make sure I was not doing anything wrong, and found out about that issue before I waited 3 days (!) for the copy to finish. THANK GOD I DID THAT!


Anyway, it took a long time to copy, but it works fine. I thought I would post a status report since this capacity (250GB) does not seem to have any reports. I suspected it would be fine because other capacities in this line all seem to have lots of success reports. I thought this would provide more complete information.


Also, I do not note the drive as being louder than the Hitachi was, at any rate. Thanks for all the useful info, everyone!


----------



## rajeshh

I got the OEM one from newegg, patched it and used the image Reset_140.rtv..but when I put this as the only disk in Replay 5040, it never gets past the first Please wait... screen ( so its only running the stuff from the ROM)...


patched it a couple of times..no change. tried with jumper for Cable Select vs Master, still didnt work...


Any ideas? I hate to have to return it and get the 3200JB..


TIA


p.s: I ran WD's diagnostic stuff before to make sure the drive was fine, and it didnt have any issues.


Is there anything different with the RTVPatch program because of the size? I am using version 2.5.3


----------



## hdonzis




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *rajeshh* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I got the OEM one from newegg, patched it and used the image Reset_140.rtv..but when I put this as the only disk in Replay 5040, it never gets past the first Please wait... screen ( so its only running the stuff from the ROM)...
> 
> 
> patched it a couple of times..no change. tried with jumper for Cable Select vs Master, still didnt work...
> 
> 
> Any ideas? I hate to have to return it and get the 3200JB..
> 
> 
> TIA
> 
> 
> p.s: I ran WD's diagnostic stuff before to make sure the drive was fine, and it didnt have any issues.
> 
> 
> Is there anything different with the RTVPatch program because of the size? I am using version 2.5.3



Sounds like you must have already looked at this page, but I believe that hard drive is known to work. Following the instructions on that page, I guess I would try another hard drive just to make sure it isn't some kind of cockpit error...


Henry


----------



## rajeshh

yes, I redid the patch several times over including on a different computer. ALso tried version 2.4 of the patch program as suggested on that link. Other drives I patched earlier have gone past this stage, so I am pretty sure its nothing that I am doing.


have now ordered a 320 G drive..Will wait a few more days to see if there are any other sugestions before RMAing this drive.


----------



## rajeshh

just an update: I received a WD3200JB drive and that works fine. Btw, the channels seem to change faster too ( even though it takes the same time for the picture to show on the TV)..


----------



## rpk113

Has anyone had any luck with the WD WD1600JBRT? I've tried it patching it and putting different images on it, but nothing seems to work, I can't get past the Please Wait... I've checked everything www.replaytvupgrade.com says... any ideas?


----------



## grunkel

After my 40gb drive died in my upstairs 5500 I decided to try the Western Digital "AV" drive especially for DVR use as an upgrade. The WD2500*AV*JB 250GB 7200rpm from NewEgg.


I've tried RTVpatching a new image from my working replay and from on-line. I did the boot patch option in RTVpatch 2.5.3 (and 2.4). Tried both Cable Select and Master jumpers. Wrote over the whole thing with zeros and tried it all again. But I'm still stuck at the "Please Wait..." screen. I can take my good drive out of my "B" machine and it works fine in the "A" machine. I reformatted my "dead" drive and rebuilt it with the same process and it works (as much as I trust it). So it's got to be the drive.


So unless anyone else has had success with the WD "AV" series drives I guess I'll admit defeat and RMA it.


GGG


----------



## hdonzis




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *grunkel* /forum/post/11773306
> 
> 
> After my 40gb drive died in my upstairs 5500 I decided to try the Western Digital "AV" drive especially for DVR use as an upgrade. The WD2500*AV*JB 250GB 7200rpm from NewEgg.
> 
> 
> I've tried RTVpatching a new image from my working replay and from on-line. I did the boot patch option in RTVpatch 2.5.3 (and 2.4). Tried both Cable Select and Master jumpers. Wrote over the whole thing with zeros and tried it all again. But I'm still stuck at the "Please Wait..." screen. I can take my good drive out of my "B" machine and it works fine in the "A" machine. I reformatted my "dead" drive and rebuilt it with the same process and it works (as much as I trust it). So it's got to be the drive.
> 
> 
> So unless anyone else has had success with the WD "AV" series drives I guess I'll admit defeat and RMA it.
> 
> 
> GGG



Well, you're the second person to report failure with getting a WD AVJB drive working. And, it sounds like you tried pretty much everything possible. Guess we'll have to ask Mikeboy and l8er to add it to the list of non-working drives...


Henry


----------



## mulox

I upgraded all 4 of my replays (two 5040's, one 5080, one 5504) with Seagate Barracuda 400gb drives, ST3400832A . Drives are ATA100, 8mb cache, 7200.8 and been working great for about a month now. I was very lucky to find these for $100 each, incl shipping.


Interestingly, the original 80gb drive in my 5080 (which was purchased in a retail box) was a Maxtor Diamondmax 16, ATA133, part number 4R080L0-1306P1


----------



## grunkel

Looks like Western Digital is going the way of Seagate in terms of labeling. I just picked up a WD2500JBRTL from Circuit City and a WD3200JBRTL from Best Buy. Well at least that's what the box said. When you open them up they are WD2500*AA*JBRTL and WD3200*AA*JBRTL which are on the "do not work" lists. Guess it's back to NewEgg to try one of the Seagate DB35's.


----------



## CommercialSkippy




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *icecow* /forum/post/10376540
> 
> 
> I should have spoke sooner.
> 
> 
> I've seen a similar deal at staples (a seagate 200 for $49.99). The deal doesn't seem to be on staples.com.
> 
> *I don't know which version of firmware the seagate is or if the same deal is going on at your local staples*
> 
> 
> the good part is this is staples 'customer appreciation week' and there is a pdf floating around the net that you can print out and get a 12% discount (says not applicable to computers or laptops(guessing computer accesories are fair game)).
> 
> *you will have to find out the details yourself if interested, this is a lead not conclusive*



Actually, Staples Customer Appreciation Week is Oct. 14 -20. I've had no problem using this on drives in the past.


----------



## Ed_Gein




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *grunkel* /forum/post/11775317
> 
> 
> Looks like Western Digital is going the way of Seagate in terms of labeling. I just picked up a WD2500JBRTL from Circuit City and a WD3200JBRTL from Best Buy. Well at least that's what the box said. When you open them up they are WD2500*AA*JBRTL and WD3200*AA*JBRTL which are on the "do not work" lists. Guess it's back to NewEgg to try one of the Seagate DB35's.



Ditto for Staples. Picked up a WD3200JBRTL for $79.99 over the weekend. Same thing. It was a WD3200AAJBRTL in the box.


Anyone find a source for "real" WD3200JB's?


----------



## dstoffa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Ed_Gein* /forum/post/11920453
> 
> 
> Ditto for Staples. Picked up a WD3200JBRTL for $79.99 over the weekend. Same thing. It was a WD3200AAJBRTL in the box.
> 
> 
> Anyone find a source for "real" WD3200JB's?



They are all in my secret lair.... Seriously, why buy a Retail box when OEM is usually cheaper, and comes with a 3 year warranty vice a 1 year?


newegg has REAL JB's, but not 320GB... Last I checked, they have 250GB JBs, OEM.


----------



## KwadGuy

Microcenter has the retail 400Gb Western Digital WD400JBRTL drive for $90. I was thrilled to find this drive, locally, at a decent price.


I bought two. Stupidly, I pulled my Replay out (disconnecting the cables, etc.--a big pain) THEN opened the box...to find a WD4000AAJB drive inside.


That drive is on the no fly list.


Oh well. Back to the store.


Drats.


Kwad


----------



## ZR1Dude

Drive Upgrade Issues:


Background - I've owned Replay units for 5+ years and currently have a 5xxx and a 55xx series unit networked in my home. I have previously hacked each with upgraded drives - Maxtor 160Gb (6Y160P0). The 5xxx unit is used most as I'm able to use Commercial skip whether watching it or the 55xx. About 15 months ago the 5xxx unit died (hot weather and dirty vents) and I upgraded it with a Maxtor Diamond Max 10 200Gb (6L200P0). This September when I returned from an extended trip the unit was locked in startup "please wait".

Without updating my research on the forum about compatible drives I purchased a Seagate ST3320620A (9QF66TJB) and installed it. It worked fine until it began to fill up and then I had 2 instances of stuttering sound with frozen picture and 2 self reboots with a break in current recordings. Obviously not a compatible drive!!


So now I've waded through all the posts about the upgrade issues and it appears that the Maxtor DiamondMax 10's are no good (reliability) and that the Seagate series drives 7200.9 and 7200.10 will not boot or are unreliable.


With these two eliminated I went to Staples and purchased a WD3200JB which turned out to be a WD3200AAJB 7200.10 in the box. I returned this and exchanged it for a Maxtor DiamondMax STM303004N1AAA-RK. Note the STM part NO. - Yep, in the box was an STM3320620A (9QF66TJB) 7200.10 Maxtor Label - Seagate part number identical to the Seagate I bought in September.


So today I am returning the Maxtor and looking for what?? Anything that isn't PRT, Maxtor part number with an AA in the model number and NOT Seagate 7200.9 or 7200.10??


Has anyone had a recent experience with a drive upgrade that has "worked" from the currently available drives (160-400Gb) and has used it for 30+ days to test when it fills up?


----------



## gweempose

I'm in the same boat. My friend wants me to upgrade his 5040, and I don't know what drive to use. Life used to be so simple.


----------



## hdonzis

I think that the Seagate DB35 drives are still compatible with the Replay 5000 series...


Henry


----------



## gweempose




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *hdonzis* /forum/post/12096502
> 
> 
> 
> I think that the Seagate DB35 drives are still compatible with the Replay 5000 series...



Such as this one ?


----------



## hdonzis




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *gweempose* /forum/post/12098004
> 
> 
> Such as this one ?



In this thread, rragnell posted he was using that ST3500830ACE. In addition, jrgordon posted that he was using a 7200.3 750GB drive, ST3750840ACE. So, that's two people who said they had good success with the 7200.3 drive, including that one of them is the same one that you are looking at from CDW. The only person that ever posted that they had a problem with a 7200.3 drive was KenL. He claims that the SV35 drives are even better...


Henry


----------



## gweempose

Thanks for the info, Henry! I think I may be better off going with this Western Digital instead. I guess I'll just have to make sure that it is indeed a "JB" and not an "AAJB". The nice thing about CDW is that it's right up the road from me.


----------



## hdonzis




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *gweempose* /forum/post/12099394
> 
> 
> Thanks for the info, Henry! I think I may be better off going with this Maxtor instead. I guess I'll just have to make sure that it is indeed a "JB" and not an "AAJB". The nice thing about CDW is that it's right up the road from me.



I'm not sure why you think that (I hope you meant Western Digital, not Maxtor), but if you can at least look at the physical drive, you can make sure that it is the older model. It's pretty unlikely, however...


The Seagate DB35 drives have proven out pretty well. That's all I use myself, now. CDW also has the DB35 in 250GB and 320GB capacities if using 500GB was concerning you. They also have several SV35 drives: 250GB , 320GB , and 500GB (the SV35 drives seem to be available right away and are the older 7200.2 drives, which could be a good thing)...


Henry


----------



## gweempose




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *hdonzis* /forum/post/12099690
> 
> 
> 
> I hope you meant Western Digital, not Maxtor ...



Oops! I did indeed mean Western Digital. I corrected it in my original post.



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *hdonzis* /forum/post/12099690
> 
> 
> 
> CDW also has the DB35 in 250GB and 320GB capacities if using 500GB was concerning you.



Yep. It seemed like some people were having problems when they filled up a drive that large with recordings. 320GB should be plenty large for my friend's needs. He's been using the 40GB factory drive for two years, so 320GB will seem huge. I happen to be a big fan of the DB35s myself. I have two of the 750GB SATA models hooked up to my S3 Tivos. They've both been rock solid, and they run nice and quiet. The only downside is that they're relatively expensive. I was just trying to save my friend some money by going with the WD drive instead.


----------



## hdonzis




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *gweempose* /forum/post/12100090
> 
> 
> Oops! I did indeed mean Western Digital. I corrected it in my original post.
> 
> 
> Yep. It seemed like some people were having problems when they filled up a drive that large with recordings. 320GB should be plenty large for my friend's needs. He's been using the 40GB factory drive for two years, so 320GB will seem huge. I happen to be a big fan of the DB35s myself. I have two of the 750GB SATA models hooked up to my S3 Tivos. They've both been rock solid, and they run nice and quiet. The only downside is that they're relatively expensive. I was just trying to save my friend some money by going with the WD drive instead.



Well, if you're trying to save money you can consider getting this 80GB DB35 drive for only 66 bucks! It's still twice the capacity that he has today. Or, you can get this 160GB drive for only 73 bucks and it's four times the capacity! But, obviously, going with a Seagate 250GB drive, either DB35 or SV35, is a bit cheaper than the WD drive (although, probably not cheaper per GB). I'm surprised that their Seagate 300GB drives are so high. I always try to buy the biggest I can get for under 80 bucks, and I've had no problem getting a 300GB drive for that price in the past (could have been a good sale, however)...


Henry


----------



## OzFan1




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *hdonzis* /forum/post/12099690
> 
> 
> 
> The Seagate DB35 drives have proven out pretty well. That's all I use myself, now. CDW also has the DB35 in 250GB and 320GB capacities if using 500GB was concerning you. They also have several SV35 drives: 250GB, 320GB, and 500GB (the SV35 drives seem to be available right away and are the older 7200.2 drives, which could be a good thing)...
> 
> 
> Henry



Hi Henry...


I'm in the same boat right now of having to find a drive for a Replay. I followed the link you supplied to the Seagate 320GB drive above, and saw that it had a 16MB buffer. Is this acceptable with this drive? I read where only the 8MB drives would work depenably.


Thanks!


OzFan


----------



## ZR1Dude

Henry -

Thanks for the feedback. I was trying to find a drive locally so I could confirm the drive type as opposed to ordering one and then going through the return hassle. The CDW link shows that they have a good selection of Seagate and Western digital options.


I did find a WD250Gb locally that has the correct JB model number and will install it tomorrow. A 320Gb would have been nicer but wasn't available. I've been running for over a year with 200Gb so went for reliability rather than size. Since I'm also running another Replay unit with 160Gb and two Comcast DVR's I have more TV than I can possibly watch...


Dude


----------



## hdonzis




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *OzFan1* /forum/post/12102687
> 
> 
> Hi Henry...
> 
> 
> I'm in the same boat right now of having to find a drive for a Replay. I followed the link you supplied to the Seagate 320GB drive above, and saw that it had a 16MB buffer. Is this acceptable with this drive? I read where only the 8MB drives would work depenably.
> 
> 
> Thanks!
> 
> 
> OzFan



I'm certainly not the expert on all this, but having read through a lot of the posts, it seems that the 16MB problem may only be a myth (although, I've only used 8MB cache drives myself). As far as the DB35 and SV35 drives go, I think they have been working fine with either an 8MB cache or 16MB cache. But, you can certainly query others and see what experiences they have had for themselves. And, KenL posted here that the 16MB SV35 drive seemed to be just fine. So, all I can say is that you can read through the different posts and see what you think for yourself...


Henry


----------



## gweempose

I've decided to go with the 320GB SV35 (ST3320620AV). After reading KenL's post, I'm afraid to try a 7200.3 DB35. Plus, the SV35 is in stock, so I can pick it up tomorrow.


----------



## Ed_Gein




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ZR1Dude* /forum/post/12103524
> 
> 
> I did find a WD250Gb locally that has the correct JB model number...
> 
> 
> Dude



Hey Dude!


Where are you located? Where store did you find this drive "locally"?

And when you said it has the correct model number, did you mean on the box, or on the drive itself?


Thanks,


Ed


----------



## ZR1Dude

Ed -

I'm in the Seattle area and found the WD2500JBRTL (8Mb cache) at a local company called Hard Drives Northwest. They did have a couple more available. I had them open box at store to verify number on drive.
http://shop.hdnw.com/default.aspx 


They have been in business several years and I would trust ordering from them. If you call, ask for Cori as I'm sure she will remember this drive.


----------



## hdonzis




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ZR1Dude* /forum/post/12135560
> 
> 
> Ed -
> 
> I'm in the Seattle area and found the WD2500JBRTL (8Mb cache) at a local company called Hard Drives Northwest. They did have a couple more available. I had them open box at store to verify number on drive.
> http://shop.hdnw.com/default.aspx
> 
> 
> They have been in business several years and I would trust ordering from them. If you call, ask for Cori as I'm sure she will remember this drive.



Seems like it would be a good idea, then, to call them on the phone and ask them to open one up to check the actual drive model number before shipping it to you...


Henry


----------



## replayrob

PC Universe has the Seagate DB35 Series ST3320820ACE 320GB drive in stock (w/8MB buffer- which is known to work in the Replay's).
http://www.pcuniverse.com/product.asp?pid=4162873&m_id= 

Price on the site shows $94.50, but I did a Google checkout and it ended up at $87.50 + $7.97 for ground shipping, total: $95.47 delivered!

My wife's 160GB Maxtor from 2004 is starting to fail, so the 320GB Seagate will be a good replacement.


----------



## replayrob

FWIW...

I just happened to have a Western Digital Caviar SE WD3200AAJB 320GB hard drive on hand that I had ordered last week from Newegg for an upgrade on my kid's computer... I didn't get a chance to put it in yet.

Anyway, I fired up RTVPatch- wrote a good 5X00 image to it, and patched it. Thought I'd give it a go in our 5040 since it's three year old Maxtor 160GB drive was starting to fail. Well after half an hour of trying different drive jumper settings, the Western Digital Caviar SE WD3200AAJB 320GB will not work in a 5000 series replay.This is probably well known, but I'm just posting my results so nobody orders this drive for a Replay. I went and ordered the Seagate DB35 Series ST3320820ACE 320GB from PCUniverse for the Replay.


BTW- one thing I can say, the Western Digital Caviar SE WD3200AAJB 320GB hard drive has to be one of the quietest drives I've used. Would be really nice in a HTPC setup, too bad it's not compatible with our Replay's.


----------



## replayrob

Update- the Seagate DB35 Series ST3320820ACE 320GB drive (from post # 155 above) came yesterday. I prepared and patched it with RTVPatch_2.5.3 and it worked perfectly with out 5040. Nice to know there's still some current high quality drives that work with the old Replay system.


----------



## gweempose




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *replayrob* /forum/post/12177893
> 
> 
> 
> Update- the Seagate DB35 Series ST3320820ACE 320GB drive (from post # 155 above) came yesterday. I prepared and patched it with RTVPatch_2.5.3 and it worked perfectly with out 5040. Nice to know there's still some current high quality drives that work with the old Replay system.



I believe that some drives work fine at first but then have problems after a couple of weeks. Hopefully, this won't be the case with your drive. Please keep us posted.


----------



## Howardwesley

I am looking for replacement drive for a ReplayTV 45xx machine with an ailing 200GB Seagate installed. I have read that Seagate has firmware issues and know that I can go to WD for drives. Local FRY'S has a 500GB MAXTOR L01Y500 on sale for $100 and wondered if anyone has experience with this drive. I don't know if it is part of the DIAMONDMAX family or not, which several posts say won't work. I would appreciate whatever info anyone has. Thanks. If I did this wrong, please understand it is my first post here.... Howard


----------



## hdonzis




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Howardwesley* /forum/post/12367950
> 
> 
> I am looking for replacement drive for a ReplayTV 45xx machine



I'm not an expert on the 4xxx series ReplayTVs, but it is my understanding that series doesn't suffer from the same problems with hard drive models as the 5xxx series ReplayTVs. This thread really has more to do with drives which are compatible with the 5xxx series ReplayTVs as they seems to be the most finicky of all the ReplayTVs (as far as hard drives go). While I'm not positive, I think that most PATA drives work fine in the 4xxx series ReplayTVs...


Henry


----------



## Howardwesley

Thanks Henry for the information. I was not aware the Seagate reboot problem/issues were limited to 5xxx boxes. Perhaps I missed that information in this forum or maybe it is in an archive or something. Perhaps others could verify that is truly the right answer or point me to where I could find out for sure. At least one other user thought the situation affected 45xx boxes or wanted to make sure that it was at least something to check on before spending big bucks on a drive which I wouldn't be able to use. I do know that other users have put MAXTOR drives in their 45xx boxes and all was well but perhaps that might have changed. Or if all Seagate PATA drives have no issues in the 45xx boxes, then I will continue to search for large Seagate drive independent of bios level all the way up to .9 and .10 levels.


Howard


----------



## hdonzis

 This page explains a bit about drives which are problematic to the Replay 5xxx series, such as the Seagate .9 and .10 drives. I'm not sure I've seen any info specific to compatible drives for the Replay 4xxx series. I've read some posts in the past which said that the Replay 4xxx series was not a problematic with hard drives as the Replay 5xxx series...


Hopefully someone with Replay 4xxx series and knows about hard drive compatibility will post something. I think that Mikeyboy surely must have some ideas, and l8er used to have Replay 4xxx's and probably has some knowledge...


Henry


----------



## Mikeyboy

I haven't tried the MAXTOR L01Y500, so I can't state if it's compatible. The 4000/4500 disk issue has always been that some drive models fail to boot the unit. As best I know, if the unit boots from the drive, the unit functions properly. I can tell you the WDxxxAAJB works fine in a 4000/4500 and they're readily available. That same drive will not boot in a 5000/5500.


----------



## replayrob




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Mikeyboy* /forum/post/12375567
> 
> 
> I can tell you the WDxxxAAJB works fine in a 4000/4500 and they're readily available. That same drive will not boot in a 5000/5500.



Yeah, I tried a Western Digital WDxxxAAJB in out 5000 Replay last month... like you said; wouldn't boot up.


----------



## bron




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Howardwesley* /forum/post/12367950
> 
> 
> I am looking for replacement drive for a ReplayTV 45xx machine with an ailing 200GB Seagate installed. I have read that Seagate has firmware issues and know that I can go to WD for drives. Local FRY'S has a 500GB MAXTOR L01Y500 on sale for $100 and wondered if anyone has experience with this drive. I don't know if it is part of the DIAMONDMAX family or not, which several posts say won't work. I would appreciate whatever info anyone has. Thanks. If I did this wrong, please understand it is my first post here.... Howard



I just got a 5040 ReplayTV upgraded with a 500 GB "Maxtor Ultra 16 PATA" hard drive installed and I think it is the same as the L01Y500 (have not opened the RTV yet). Anyway, one site does identify this as a DiamondMax drive.


Not sure yet, but when I try to use the RTV it seems to be fine, but once I begin watching video from the hard drive then within 2 minutes or less the video will freeze and the audio will loop and the unit does not respond to the remote. It will reboot OK if I hold in the power button. If I get to a menu and do something that does not use the hard drive then the unit runs fine. As soon as I do anything using the HD it will reboot or lock up. I have not yet had it go for more than 2 minutes without freezing or rebooting. It did complete a software update, though I did notice it displayed a loading new software message which is something I have not seen in a long time.


Anyway, if you try yours and it works, please post. At this point, I am concluding that the "Maxtor Ultra 16 PATA" is not compatible. The person who upgraded the system said they only booted it up and did a net connect and did not record or watch any video.


I ordered a 320 GB HD (imaged for me by the seller) and I may swap that in and see if it resolves the problem. Then I can confirm the drive part number. (I also have the original HD (40 GB) and I can try that as well if necessary.)


----------



## Howardwesley

I saw BRON's post about the 5040 and the MAXTOR drive and based on the earlier posts, it sounds like the MAXTOR is incompatible in the 5040.


Has anyone had any experience with older units like the 4504, etc to determine if the 4504 has the same problems with MAXTOR or SEAGATE drives, i.e. either hanging up and / or rebooting? I decided not to try the MAXTOR drive because when I went to purchase it, the box said DIAMONDBACK on it and I thought it best to wait, ask more questions, etc.


So has anyone rebuilding at 4504, etc used the MAXTOR DIAMONDBACK or SEAGATE's with 7200.9 or 72000.10 code installed? I am really interested in any experiences with the 45XX series boxes and I would think others would also like to know if the problems mentioned were limited to the 5XXX series only... I know several people with 4504 boxes and old MAXTOR or SEAGATE drive which probably are gonna fail soon!


Thanks for the information. I have enjoyed reading the information already listed here.


Howard


----------



## dstoffa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *replayrob* /forum/post/12177893
> 
> 
> Update- the Seagate DB35 Series ST3320820ACE 320GB drive (from post # 155 above) came yesterday. I prepared and patched it with RTVPatch_2.5.3 and it worked perfectly with out 5040. Nice to know there's still some current high quality drives that work with the old Replay system.



Has this drive been performing well? (It's been over a month now.)


Cheers!

-Doug


----------



## replayrob




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dstoffa* /forum/post/12406507
> 
> 
> Has this drive been performing well? (It's been over a month now.)
> 
> 
> Cheers!
> 
> -Doug



Funny you mention it, I was going to post this AM... but I got a bit busy.

The Seagate DB35 Series ST3320820ACE 320GB drive has been good, I did however have a one day problem with the unit (and I say "unit" because I can't narrow the problem down to the Replay, the hard drive, or a bad net connect) where if we tried to go more than 8hrs ahead of the current time in the channel guide- the unit would reboot. I tried the common fix for this well known issue- change zip code, change provider, change inputs, etc... which stopped the reboot issue, but as soon as I reset with my real zipcode and actual providers (DTV and DishNet)- we again got the instant reboot when we tried to go more than 8 hours ahead in the channel guide. So, we used the unit as normal that day, and it didn't miss any of it's assigned recordings. The next evening (about 36 hours later) I tried to advance the channel guide again... and all was back to normal- I went as far as five days in advance with no problems. So, I really don't know what cause the guide/reboot issue... maybe a bad download from the mother ship, maybe data corruption, who knows. But, that was over a week ago and it's been perfect before and since that one day glitch. All of our shows have recorded perfectly and downloaded perfectly via DVArchive, and even though the channel guide had issues that one day- it's scheduled recordings still executed that night.


This unit has "glitched" before and I think it may be due to the *very large* amount of channel guide data we get... we have two sat boxes (DirecTV and DishNet) hooked up to the two composite inputs which results in hundreds of channels with thousands of programs being listed in our channel guide to cover both providers. I have a theory that this very large amount of guide data sometimes is just too much for the old Replay to handle and she has a mini stroke.


All in all, the Seagate DB35 Series ST3320820ACE 320GB drive has been good for about a month now. No lost recordings and no random reboots- except for the one day guide reboot issue detailed above.


FWIW... I did some testing on the old Maxtor drive which had started to give us problems- the factory test application "SeaTools™ - diagnostic software" did identify the old drive as "failed".


----------



## SeeSpotRun

Just another data point... Last week, I put in a DB35 320 gig drive into a 5040 and it has been working fine.


-SeeSpotRun


----------



## hdonzis




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *SeeSpotRun* /forum/post/12527871
> 
> 
> Just another data point... Last week, I put in a DB35 320 gig drive into a 5040 and it has been working fine.
> 
> 
> -SeeSpotRun



It's more helpful to post either the complete model number or the 7200.x series number to ensure that we know exactly what models are working. With the problems with the 7200.9's and 7200.10's it's important to know if it is a 7200.2 or 7200.3 or something else model...


Henry


----------



## SeeSpotRun




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *hdonzis* /forum/post/12528854
> 
> 
> It's more helpful to post either the complete model number or the 7200.x series number to ensure that we know exactly what models are working. With the problems with the 7200.9's and 7200.10's it's important to know if it is a 7200.2 or 7200.3 or something else model...
> 
> 
> Henry



The drive is a 7200.3 / ST3320820ACE.


-SeeSpotRun


----------



## hdonzis




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *SeeSpotRun* /forum/post/12542929
> 
> 
> The drive is a 7200.3 / ST3320820ACE.
> 
> 
> -SeeSpotRun



That's great to know because there had be some question about the 7200.3 drives...


Henry


----------



## Howardwesley

I took the recommendation of this group when replacing my 45xx drive and got a Seagate 250GB Barracuda drive ST3250623A-RK PN:9Y704G drive which searching comes up with 7200.8 as the level. 500GB drive are about same price but are 7200.9 and 10 level units. I got the 250GB from local Compusa store.


I used RTVPatch program to get operating system from old 2 drive system drive to the new drive. The new drive booted OK.


However, when it recorded one show the system rebooted while in record mode but recorded rest of the show (only lost reboot time) and worked well for several other shows. About a week or so later it did same thing. Last time I watched an already recorded show, it 'stuttered' and rebooted. So somehow I have a problem!!


I went back to read the RTVPatch info and noted that I DID NOT do a low level format on new drive NOR did I do the "PATCH THE ORIGINAL DRIVE 1 of a 2 drive system TO A SINGLE DRIVE SYSTEM" as was noted in the instructions.


By not doing either or both of these things, did I cause the rebooting problem? I assume I need to do the low level format NOW since I have several programs recorded on the drive. Can I do the QUICK FORMAT or do I need to do full format? Is the PATCHING TO ONE DRIVE a critical item; bet it is?


Thanks for all of your help,


Howardwesley


----------



## replayrob




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Howardwesley* /forum/post/12577213
> 
> 
> I used RTVPatch program to get operating system from old 2 drive system drive to the new drive. The new drive booted OK.
> 
> 
> However, when it recorded one show the system rebooted while in record mode but recorded rest of the show (only lost reboot time) and worked well for several other shows. About a week or so later it did same thing. Last time I watched an already recorded show, it 'stuttered' and rebooted. So somehow I have a problem!!
> 
> 
> I went back to read the RTVPatch info and noted that I DID NOT do a low level format on new drive NOR did I do the "PATCH THE ORIGINAL DRIVE 1 of a 2 drive system TO A SINGLE DRIVE SYSTEM" as was noted in the instructions.



I would DL a known good 45XX image ( http://www.replaytvupgrade.com/replaytvdownloads.htm ) and then just prep the new drive as a single drive unit. You don't need to "PATCH THE ORIGINAL DRIVE 1 of a 2 drive system TO A SINGLE DRIVE SYSTEM" if using a new drive in a single drive setup. Maybe the OS you DL'd from your old drive was hosed? Put a known good image on the new drive and start from there...


----------



## Howardwesley

Well, it appears that I have been 'SEAGATED'! I removed the drive installed last week (was supposed to be a 7200.8 drive) with plans to format it and reinstall a new operating system on it as was suggested. When I looked carefully at the drive, and lifted a small quality assurance sticker on the drive, I found that the sticker covered the firmware designator!


It showed 7200.10!


When I looked at the drive part number it turned out to be different than specified on the box. Instead it was ST3250620A instead of ST3250623A.


I was able to return the drive to Compusa (which is going out of business at their present location) for a full refund since the numbers did not match.


I think I have learned that the 45xx boxes ALSO suffer from the rebooting and chattering issues noted on other REPLAY TV boxes such as the 5xxx series.


I reinstalled my old two drive system which is getting noisy - bearings in one drive, it appears - but the drives are still working. I will be on the lookout for a replacement drive after the holidays.


Again, thanks to everyone for the information and great help.


Howardwesley


----------



## gweempose

I upgraded a friend's 5040 with a 320GB Seagate ST3320620AV . It has been working perfectly for nearly two months now.


----------



## icecow

 http://www.google.com/products?hl=en...TF-8&scoring=p


----------



## jwc553911

One Year Update:

Purchased the Seagate DB35.2 250GB ST3250824ACE Firmware 3.ACH

Date Code 07.......on 10 Jan 2007.

It has been flawless (had 1 issue with a CGI FastCGI Error, which was caused by a received show) but was not Drive related.

Have since put the exact drive in 3 of my other units.


My 2 cents....Keep the change


----------



## George Be

Two of my machines are RTV 5160s (160 hours). I got them back when SonicBlue was doing the trade-in thing, so that all your machines could talk to each other. I had a 4320 (320 hours, 2 x 160 gig drives), and at that time, the only option was to trade that in for two 5160s (which was fine by me!) One of my complaints about the 4320 was that it would periodically display a grid of green dots (sorta plaid-looking) on the screen during normal play. I was told by Lyndon Allydice (Replay) that this was thought to be a data-starvation issue at the MPEG encoder/decoder, and he told me that it was one of the reasons why they weren't offering a 5320 unit.


Both of my 5160s are now having what I believe to be disk problems. I would consider upgrading the two 160-gig machines to 320 hours (each), _IF_ it would not put me back to the place where I was getting the grid of green dots on the screen. Do you know if that issue has been addressed, and the 320 gig drives work OK in 5160 machines? (I believe that Replay later produced some 5320 machines, but I don't know if they upgraded hardware or firmware to make that work.) Also, my old 4320 used two 160-gig drives, and I'm assuming that what is currently recommended is a single 320-gig (as opposed to two 160s). Any comments on whether the single-drive approach works better than the two 160s? Two drives are obviously more expensive than one, but in some circumstances the two-drive configuration will produce faster data access and throughput.


Thanks and Happy New Year!

George


----------



## hdonzis

While they didn't offer a 5320, they DID offer a 5532. So, I don't know what problem ReplayLyndon was referring to, but I'd have to assume they thought it was taken care of by the time they came out with the 5500 series. Maybe the problem was using dual drives, which has always been problematic. The 5532 uses a single 320GB hard drive...


I would have assumed that if you had read through this thread that you would have read about lots of people using drive capacities from 250GB all the way up to 750GB. I have upgraded 3 of my 4 Replays, two with 250GB drives and one with a 300GB drive (which is in my 5160 unit). I've certainly never seen any green dots (unless I was drinking or something)










Speaking of seeing green dots, Happy New Yearr!










Henry


----------



## George Be




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *hdonzis* /forum/post/12644799
> 
> 
> While they didn't offer a 5320, they DID offer a 5532.



Yes that's the model I meant.



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *hdonzis* /forum/post/12644799
> 
> 
> So, I don't know what problem ReplayLyndon was referring to, but I'd have to assume they thought it was taken care of by the time they came out with the 5500 series. Maybe the problem was using dual drives, which has always been problematic. The 5532 uses a single 320GB hard drive...



I wasn't sure how the 5532 was configured...

And that STILL leaves me wondering if my 5160 has the necessary memory and guts to handle a 320-gig drive...



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *hdonzis* /forum/post/12644799
> 
> 
> I would have assumed that if you had read through this thread that you would have read about lots of people using drive capacities from 250GB all the way up to 750GB. I have upgraded 3 of my 4 Replays, two with 250GB drives and one with a 300GB drive (which is in my 5160 unit). I've certainly never seen any green dots (unless I was drinking or something)



That's certainly reassuring. I did read through the thread (though not exhaustively), and I hadn't noticed drives as big as 750 GB! And I just wanted to be sure about how people were handling the one-drive -- two-drive question.



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *hdonzis* /forum/post/12644799
> 
> 
> Speaking of seeing green dots, Happy New Year!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Henry



Happy New Year and many green dots to you, Henry!


----------



## hdonzis




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *George Be* /forum/post/12644973
> 
> 
> Yes that's the model I meant.



No, you were correct. They didn't offer a 5320 model, which was the original 5000 series, but then when they came out with the 5500 series, they added it back as the 5532. It could have been that they had come to the conclusion with the 4320 and 4532 than dual drives were bad (although the 5xxx series appears to be designed to support dual drives) and maybe 320GB drives weren't cost effective during the 5000 series manufacturing time versus by the time the 5500 series came out that they felt that using the 320GB drives was OK. They don't change anything about the memory configuration in any of the 5xxx units. That doesn't seem to really factor in because the disk storage capability is in the operating system management of disk clusters and not really in memory...


Anyway, my point was that they dropped the 320 hour model during the 5000 series, which could possibly have been due to problems with the 4xxx series. Then they added it back for the 5500 series, and being that they are the exact same hardware, it seemed to answer your question of if using a 320GB drive in a 5160 was OK. As I wrote, I have a 300GB (Seagate 7200.8) in my 5160...


Oh, one more thing. The biggest problem with using large drives is when you network Replays. Networked Replays can't handle much more than ~140 shows on a remote Replay and cause recordings to break and the Replay to reboot. So, there have been many discussions about not using large drives in the Replays unless you are recording in high quality such that you will still have fewer shows recorded on the Replay, and using large drives on a DVArchive PC instead to offload the shows from the Replay. There's also the point that smaller drives are harder to get and not as cost effective, so you might as well get the larger drive. Just be aware that if you network Replays (since you have two 5160's) that having more than 100 shows on them will start to cause problems (which can happen even with the original 5160 unit)...


Henry


----------



## George Be

I think I got it now! Thanks, Henry.


As it turns out, my third machine is a 5080, and has always been used as the "remote" network machine. The two 5160s sat next to each other in the rack (above my massive 43" Sony XBR700), and rarely consulted each other's recorded-program information. So perhaps I'll keep the 5080 as the "remote"machine (since its drive is still kickin'), and gluttonize the other two with big fat drives! (BTW, I am planning to go all-Mikeyboy for the replacement drives, so I think I can trust his selection of drives).


Still bugs me a bit that I'm pumpin' more money into these boxes that are headed ever closer to Doorstopville, but I guess I better enjoy 'em while I can!


Thanks,

GB


----------



## Howardwesley

--------------------

From REPLAYROB earlier

--------------------

PC Universe has the Seagate DB35 Series ST3320820ACE 320GB drive in stock (w/8MB buffer- which is known to work in the Replay's).
http://www.pcuniverse.com/product.asp?pid=4162873&m_id= 

Price on the site shows $94.50, but I did a Google checkout and it ended up at $87.50 + $7.97 for ground shipping, total: $95.47 delivered!

--------------------


I am still looking for a drive about this size for my 45xx box. Did the drive work out OK? I can not tell if the drives listed are new or used so thought I would buy from same place as someone else.


Thanks,

Howardwesley


----------



## hdonzis




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Howardwesley* /forum/post/12673975
> 
> 
> PC Universe has the Seagate DB35 Series ST3320820ACE 320GB drive in stock (w/8MB buffer- which is known to work in the Replay's).



So far, the DB35 drives haven't had any problems with 16MB buffers...


Henry


----------



## replayrob




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Howardwesley* /forum/post/12673975
> 
> 
> --------------------
> 
> From REPLAYROB earlier
> 
> --------------------
> 
> PC Universe has the Seagate DB35 Series ST3320820ACE 320GB drive in stock (w/8MB buffer- which is known to work in the Replay's).
> http://www.pcuniverse.com/product.asp?pid=4162873&m_id=
> 
> Price on the site shows $94.50, but I did a Google checkout and it ended up at $87.50 + $7.97 for ground shipping, total: $95.47 delivered!
> 
> --------------------
> 
> 
> I am still looking for a drive about this size for my 45xx box. Did the drive work out OK? I can not tell if the drives listed are new or used so thought I would buy from same place as someone else.
> 
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Howardwesley



Yes, the Seagate DB35 Series ST3320820ACE 320GB has worked out very well.

No incompatibility problem with our 5000 series Replay. The particular drive they shipped to me seems to make a buzzing sound if I lay it down on it's bottom- so I just stand it up on it's side and the buzzing sound is 100% gone (my Replay is not in it's original case so I can situate the components as I see fit ). I'm sure it's a physical issue with this particular piece of hardware and has nothing to do with the other 99.99999999999% of the drives they made that day in November 2007. The drive has either a 3 or 5 year warranty so I'll think about returning it for a replacement just before the warranty expires if it still buzzes when laid flat in a few years.


----------



## shahkent

I recently upgraded my ReplayTV 5500 series PVR with a Seagate Barracuda ST3400832A 400 GB hard drive. It is running fine and no longer seems to have the odd 'hiccups' that it had prior to the upgrade.


----------



## Sonyad

Any info on this drive that's for sale at Fry's? ST30204N1A1A-RK. Can't even find it in Seagate database.


----------



## jlv




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Sonyad* /forum/post/12916844
> 
> 
> Any info on this drive that's for sale at Fry's? ST30204N1A1A-RK. Can't even find it in Seagate database.



It's a 7200.10 or 7200.11 -- I think you'd want to avoid that for a ReplayTV.


----------



## jlv

Has anyone compiled a recent summary of this?


I've seen mentions of trying to use a SATA drive with a PATA/SATA adapter, but I'm not sure I've seen any reports of it actually working. Is anyone using such successfully in their ReplayTV?


----------



## rickbrice

I've read this thread with interest. My 50XX Sonic Blue has worked for two years with a 5A300J0 Maxtor MaxLine Plus II 300GB 5400RPM. I've tried the Maxtor L01Y500 and it is a no-joy problem. I'd like to hear more about people who have put in 500GB+ drives successfully. Also if anyone has a "Dead" or "Dying" 5A300J0 Maxtor that still spins up, I'd like to buy it for the circuit board. I have a "Dead" one that I zapped accidentally and it has all the FireFly episodes on it!!!!


P.S. I'm surprised no one has mentioned 2.5 laptop drives as replacements. They are small, low power, and quiet. Adapters are relatively cheap, too. Anyone tried this?



P.P.S. Working on a MythBuntu HD Box if anyone wants to talk about that. Email me. Thanks!!!!


----------



## Walburga




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *rickbrice* /forum/post/12949556
> 
> 
> I have a "Dead" one that I zapped accidentally and it has all the FireFly episodes on it!!!!



Well,


If all you're worried about is Firefly, I can Poopli the whole season (including the un-aired on Fox episodes) for you...


--Walburga


----------



## replayrob




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *rickbrice* /forum/post/12949556
> 
> 
> P.S. I'm surprised no one has mentioned 2.5 laptop drives as replacements. They are small, low power, and quiet. Adapters are relatively cheap, too. Anyone tried this?



Any drive used in a Replay has to be able to withstand 24/7/365 spin.

Most laptop drives are probably designed with spindown in mind. Sure it would probably work in the short term, but most likely not over the long haul.


----------



## replayrob




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Walburga* /forum/post/12954417
> 
> 
> Well,
> 
> 
> If all you're worried about is Firefly, I can Poopli the whole season (including the un-aired on Fox episodes) for you...
> 
> 
> --Walburga



You can buy the much better quality full DVD set for $14 and BJ's at Costco from time to time.


----------



## rickbrice

Thanks for the offer and the information folks. I need to create a poopli account. I did not have DSL at home until the big merger and bellsouth was required to honor $10 DSL service. I'm certain that I zapped the electronics on my dead drive when I shorted out an IDE to 44-pin adapter. It killed the laptop drive as well.There are other things on my dead drive including full length movies. I use VideoReDo to strip commercials from shows I archive. I just haven't got my mind right yet about nice things like poopli which really wasn't practical with dialup. (Way back when HDDs were simpler, I used to repair and refurbish them.)


Maybe we should test that theory about how tough those 2.5 laptop drives are. I think you might be surprised. I ran them in a DEC Alpha Desktop and never had reliability problems.


I have two ReplayTV 3000 class machines. I may try this in one of these.


----------



## Sonyad




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jlv* /forum/post/12947251
> 
> 
> It's a 7200.10 or 7200.11 -- I think you'd want to avoid that for a ReplayTV.



Thanks. I didn't purchase it that day because I didn't want to bother returning it if it wasn't what I needed. I'll just wait for another deal and hope my current drive holds up although it is flaky in some spots.


----------



## jasper2




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jasper2* /forum/post/10636801
> 
> 
> Up till a few months ago I' d have agreed wholeheartedly with you Kwad - Over the years I've seen a lot of failed PC drives most of which were WD. That seems to be changing.
> 
> 
> I have two 5040s which I upgraded with WD3200JB drives, one with a single drive, the second with a pair for a total of 640GB. I was worried about the extra current draw and subsequent heat output of the second drive but have not had any notable problems. Both units have been working very well and are very quiet.
> 
> 
> Just my $0.02
> 
> 
> BTW anyone try a 500 GB WD5000JB in a replay yet?



Update - My 640 GB 5040 with the dual WD3200JB drives is still working fine. I have had the occasional reboot here and there (including during recordings







) but it is very infrequent - cooling issues maybe? I've found as with most replays recoding shows nearly to capacity can aggravate bad behavior but with at least 20GB free space the unit works well. I record everything at medium quality. I've been trying to get ahold of a pair of WD5000JB drives for my second unit with no luck. After buying several WD5000JBRTL boxes only to find AA (or AV) drives inside I have given up. I'm questioning whether the 5000JB drive ever existed in the first place







What is it with this trend of mismatching model numbers on the drives and the boxes they are sold in?


Let's hope it catches on - The next time I buy a Porsche I'd like to find it's been upgraded to a turbo!







...


----------



## gweempose




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jasper2* /forum/post/13073679
> 
> 
> 
> The next time I buy a Porsche I'd like to find it's been upgraded to a turbo!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Or downgraded to a Volkswagen.


----------



## RamblinWreck

Hello folks:


I need a little help with a replacement drive for an old Showstopper.


I tried both BestBuy and Circuit City for the 160 GB WD1600JBRTL. While both boxes had the correct label on the outside (i.e,. WD1600JBRTL), when I opened them they were both WD1600AAJB's....


However, BestBuy also had 120 GB notebook drive on sale for ~ $65. As I had an old 2.5" to 3.5 inch converter at home, I said what the heck. I took it home, patched it with the showstopper software and it's working like a champ (at least for a couple of days).


I will keep you posted on how it goes (have another ~ 3 weeks before I have to take the notebook drive back to BestBuy).


However, I given the previous comment about notebook drive longevity, I must admit that I would prefer an internal desktop drive.


I found two dirves at PC Universe that would appear to be okay:


Seagate Hard drive ( ST3160023A-RK ) => 160 GB - ATA-100 - 7200 rpm - buffer: 8 MB


Seagate Barracuda 7200.7 (ST310011A-RK)100 GB ATA-100 - 7200 rpm - buffer: 2 MB


Based upon what I have read, the Barracuda 7200.7 should work, but I know that I need to call PCUniverse and ask them to confirm the firmware level. I skimmed this thread and searched for information on the ST3160023A-RK drive as this is the drive I would prefer, but I didn't find any information. Does anybody know anything about the ST3160023A-RK drive ?


Thanks in advance !!


RW


----------



## Mikeyboy




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *RamblinWreck* /forum/post/13323941
> 
> 
> Hello folks:
> 
> 
> I need a little help with a replacement drive for an old Showstopper.
> 
> 
> I tried both BestBuy and Circuit City for the 160 GB WD1600JBRTL. While both boxes had the correct label on the outside (i.e,. WD1600JBRTL), when I opened them they were both WD1600AAJB's....
> 
> 
> However, BestBuy also had 120 GB notebook drive on sale for ~ $65. As I had an old 2.5" to 3.5 inch converter at home, I said what the heck. I took it home, patched it with the showstopper software and it's working like a champ (at least for a couple of days).
> 
> 
> I will keep you posted on how it goes (have another ~ 3 weeks before I have to take the notebook drive back to BestBuy).
> 
> 
> However, I given the previous comment about notebook drive longevity, I must admit that I would prefer an internal desktop drive.
> 
> 
> I found two dirves at PC Universe that would appear to be okay:
> 
> 
> Seagate Hard drive ( ST3160023A-RK ) => 160 GB - ATA-100 - 7200 rpm - buffer: 8 MB
> 
> 
> Seagate Barracuda 7200.7 (ST310011A-RK)100 GB ATA-100 - 7200 rpm - buffer: 2 MB
> 
> 
> Based upon what I have read, the Barracuda 7200.7 should work, but I know that I need to call PCUniverse and ask them to confirm the firmware level. I skimmed this thread and searched for information on the ST3160023A-RK drive as this is the drive I would prefer, but I didn't find any information. Does anybody know anything about the ST3160023A-RK drive ?
> 
> 
> Thanks in advance !!
> 
> 
> RW



Pretty much any PATA drive including the WDxxxAAJB will work in every replaytv except the 5000 and 5500. I would buy the WDxxxAAJB.


----------



## hdonzis




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Mikeyboy* /forum/post/13325825
> 
> 
> Pretty much any PATA drive including the WDxxxAAJB will work in every replaytv except the 5000 and 5500. I would buy the WDxxxAAJB.



Yeah, what Mikeyboy said. This thread is about issues with drives in the 5xxx series. The Showstopper series don't really have these issues and only supports a little over 130GB drive capacity, so 160GB or 120GB drives should be good...


Henry


----------



## RamblinWreck




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *hdonzis* /forum/post/13328817
> 
> 
> Yeah, what Mikeyboy said. This thread is about issues with drives in the 5xxx series. The Showstopper series don't really have these issues and only supports a little over 130GB drive capacity, so 160GB or 120GB drives should be good...
> 
> 
> Henry



Thanks for the info guys and sorry for mis-reading the thread....


The WD WD1600AAJB is working great in my Showstopper....


The notebook drive is headed back to BestBuy.


RW


----------



## icecow




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *RamblinWreck* /forum/post/13332927
> 
> 
> ....
> 
> 
> The notebook drive is headed back to BestBuy.
> 
> 
> RW




either that or get the 5 year warranty and use the lemon law


j/k.


----------



## rcroft

The SV35.2 ST3250820AV 250GB has been working just fine in my 5500 for the past 2 weeks. NewEgg had it for $74.99, plus $6.99 for shipping.


I had been planning on using the ST3320620AV 320 GB drive, but NewEgg sent me an SV (a SATA drive) instead of an AV (the IDE drive). When I went to reorder the drive, they were out of stock, so I settled for the 250 GB. I was replacing a 200 GB drive that died, so it was still a step up.


----------



## neumannu47

As I posted in another thread, I may be experiencing problems with a DB35 500GB Seagate drive. There are spits and sputters, albeit it ever so small. Has anyone else noticed? I'm going back to my old drive this weekend (I hope) to see if they are there. After reading the recommendations here, I bought two of them. Hopefully they are not the problem, but I don't know what else it could be.


----------



## johnmagee4

Seagate SV35.2 ST3250820AV 250GB 7200 RPM IDE Ultra ATA100 Hard Drive


Working well for about 5 days now (in a 5040).


Edit: Still working great a few weeks later.


----------



## neumannu47

It seems to me that Mikeyboy and others who should know are using the Western Digital WD3200JB (or WD3200JBRTL) drives, unless they're throwing us a curve with the pictures on their web sites. I'm getting ready to order a WD5000JB because I need to image my 7200.10 drive that does not work to this new one that should work. If it doesn't, I'll stick with my WD1600JB drive and give up on having a larger drive. The big prohibition for WD drives, as I understand it, is to get one that does not have "AA" in the model number.


The hard drive discussions seem to have dried up in most places. Hopefully, if anyone is still updating RTVs for their last hurrah, they will post good and bad experiences in this thread.


----------



## skyshow1

Seagate DB35 Series 7200.3 ST3320820ACE - Hard drive - 320 GB - internal - 3.5"


Working flawlessly in my three 5160's for about 6 weeks now. Available from PC Universe (OEM).


----------



## neumannu47




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *skyshow1* /forum/post/14105428
> 
> 
> Seagate DB35 Series 7200.3 ST3320820ACE - Hard drive - 320 GB - internal - 3.5"
> 
> 
> Working flawlessly in my three 5160's for about 6 weeks now. Available from PC Universe (OEM).



I tried a DB35 in my 5040, and I was getting freezes and blips in the video and in the audio. It turns out that the problem is still there with my 160GB drive. It only seems to happen on one channel to any significant degree, so maybe there is something about that channel that RTV doesn't like. It's strange to consider such an odd happening as that, but something is causing the problem. I'm not home during the time that the show is on the air, so I cannot watch it live to see if the blips are being broadcast. I really doubt it.


When I found out that the DB35s would not function properly if installed in a regular PC, I returned them for credit and have now ordered WD5000JBs. If they don't work out in the RTV, at least I have install them in my computers and not waste the money.


----------



## neumannu47

The two drives that I ordered from J&R Music World arrived today. The boxes are marked WD5000JBRTL. The drives are marked WD5000AAJB. The AA drives are known not to work in RTVs, so I have a request in to J&R for a refund.


Any WD drives in the JBRTL (retail) package are probably going to be AA, unless the stock is old. The chances of a chain taking the time to verify the model number of a drive is a box is zero. Therefore, I would like to know if anyone knows of an OEM (bulk) supplier that might have these drives? This problem is so frustrating that I am about done with it.


The problem would not be so bad if I could shrink the size of the RTV partition and clone the old drive to a newer smaller one. I have several 320GB JB drives that I could use, but since I copied my old 160GB drive to a 500GB (7200.10) drive that is known to have problems in RTV, I have to copy to another 500GB drive.


----------



## hdonzis




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *neumannu47* /forum/post/14152732
> 
> 
> The problem would not be so bad if I could shrink the size of the RTV partition and clone the old drive to a newer smaller one. I have several 320GB JB drives that I could use, but since I copied my old 160GB drive to a 500GB (7200.10) drive that is known to have problems in RTV, I have to copy to another 500GB drive.



Well, you could either just copy the larger drive to the smaller one and whatever shows you still have access to is great and use extract for the missing shows, or go back to the 160GB drive to make a new drive and lose whatever new recordings you have, but, again, use extract to get the new shows. Or, just gen up a new drive and start all over and use extract to get the shows off the 500GB...


Henry


----------



## neumannu47




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *hdonzis* /forum/post/14152771
> 
> 
> Well, you could either just copy the larger drive to the smaller one and whatever shows you still have access to is great and use extract for the missing shows, or go back to the 160GB drive to make a new drive and lose whatever new recordings you have, but, again, use extract to get the new shows. Or, just gen up a new drive and start all over and use extract to get the shows off the 500GB...



I tried copying the 500GB drive to the 320GB drive, and the 320GB drive would not boot. It is a WD3200JB, not an AA. Maybe I did something wrong.


EDIT: After getting two wrong drives today, I went back and checked the 320GB drive that would not boot after I copied to it. Guess what. It's an AA. So, that explains that. Accordingly, I think that I will now copy the 500GB drive to a real WD3200JB and see what shows are there. Maybe I'm closing in on a solution that will last me until these things become door stops.


----------



## johnmagee4




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *neumannu47* /forum/post/14153399
> 
> 
> I tried copying the 500GB drive to the 320GB drive, and the 320GB drive would not boot. It is a WD3200JB, not an AA. Maybe I did something wrong.
> 
> 
> EDIT: After getting two wrong drives today, I went back and checked the 320GB drive that would not boot after I copied to it. Guess what. It's an AA. So, that explains that. Accordingly, I think that I will now copy the 500GB drive to a real WD3200JB and see what shows are there. Maybe I'm closing in on a solution that will last me until these things become door stops.



My drive wouldn't boot when I did a copy but it worked when I loaded a downloaded image.


----------



## hdonzis




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *neumannu47* /forum/post/14153399
> 
> 
> I tried copying the 500GB drive to the 320GB drive, and the 320GB drive would not boot. It is a WD3200JB, not an AA. Maybe I did something wrong.
> 
> 
> EDIT: After getting two wrong drives today, I went back and checked the 320GB drive that would not boot after I copied to it. Guess what. It's an AA. So, that explains that. Accordingly, I think that I will now copy the 500GB drive to a real WD3200JB and see what shows are there. Maybe I'm closing in on a solution that will last me until these things become door stops.



The boot/system partition is a fixed size, 500MB, no matter what size drive you have. That's why the same downloaded image is used on all hard drives. Only the MPEG and Photo partitions vary depending on hard drive size and configuration. So, if you copied a larger Replay hard drive to a smaller one, the boot/system partition would be unaffected and would show all the shows as being available. But, the MPEG partition might not actually have all the shows if they were stored on the larger hard drive beyond the capacity of the smaller hard drive. So, the shows just wouldn't be findable by the Replay. It really shouldn't hurt much, and you could still extract the shows from the larger hard drive...


Henry


----------



## hdonzis




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *johnmagee4* /forum/post/14153963
> 
> 
> My drive wouldn't boot when I did a copy but it worked when I loaded a downloaded image.



That's a common problem when there is something wrong with the source hard drive. However, if the source hard drive is working correctly, then copying it shouldn't be any different that using a downloaded image. The downloaded images were simply taken from Replay hard drives. They should be the same as the source hard drive if nothing bad has happened to it. But, if something has happened to the source drive, then copying it to a new hard drive will simply copy the problem to the new hard drive...


Henry


----------



## johnmagee4




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *hdonzis* /forum/post/14154819
> 
> 
> That's a common problem when there is something wrong with the source hard drive. However, if the source hard drive is working correctly, then copying it shouldn't be any different that using a downloaded image. The downloaded images were simply taken from Replay hard drives. They should be the same as the source hard drive if nothing bad has happened to it. But, if something has happened to the source drive, then copying it to a new hard drive will simply copy the problem to the new hard drive...
> 
> 
> Henry



Right. Just pointing out that he shouldn't give up on a drive because it wouldn't boot when he made a copy from his old drive


----------



## DAS961

Well, I went through all of my research on all of the boards and decided to get a Seagate DB35 series drive to replace the drive that died in my 5516. Unfortunately they were discontinued by Seagate back in December, and so far I can't find anyone that still has them in stock at a reasonable price. Are there any current drives that are still available that have proven reliable in a RTV 55XX?


----------



## pianoman41

I'm having the same trouble--trying to find a new drive for my 50XX. All of the older drives are out of production.


----------



## dstoffa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *pianoman41* /forum/post/15904631
> 
> 
> I'm having the same trouble--trying to find a new drive for my 50XX. All of the older drives are out of production.



I am afraid it's time to start dumpster diving.....


----------



## Reidan

I recently purchased Seagate DB35 Drives from CDW. I just checked their site and it says that they have the 80 & 160 Gb in stock. Lists the other drives as 1-3 days. My company is a corporate customer of CDW and I can tell you that their website inventory is usually fairly accurate. Not 100%, but better than average.

http://www.cdw.com/


----------



## nded

What is the consensus on a ST3160215A Seagate 7200.10 160GB 2MB Cache 7200RPM for ReplayTV 5000's?


----------



## skarydrunkguy

Has anyone tried a massive drive (1TB+)? I'm still running my (ancient) 80GB that came with it... just wondering since all the talk around here has been on sub 500gb drives. Thanks.


----------



## jweinel

If you use the search feature on this forum you'll find a number of threads discussing the problems with high capacity drives. I think the whole system bogs down due to the likely large number of shows and the inability of the OS/application (and RAM and CPU/operating system speed) to handle hundreds of files. Here are just a couple of the discussions:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=909712 
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1008749


----------



## pianoman41




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Reidan* /forum/post/15929038
> 
> 
> I recently purchased Seagate DB35 Drives from CDW. I just checked their site and it says that they have the 80 & 160 Gb in stock. Lists the other drives as 1-3 days. My company is a corporate customer of CDW and I can tell you that their website inventory is usually fairly accurate. Not 100%, but better than average.
> 
> http://www.cdw.com/



Thanks for the tip. I was just about to pull the trigger on the 160GB drive when I found the same drive at TheNerds.net for the same price ($59) but the shipping was a lot cheaper ($10 flat rate vs $17 at CDW) and no tax (vs tax at CDW). So I saved $10 at TheNerds.net. Their online inventory said they have 88 left.


----------



## pianoman41




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *nded* /forum/post/15931755
> 
> 
> What is the consensus on a ST3160215A Seagate 7200.10 160GB 2MB Cache 7200RPM for ReplayTV 5000's?



See my post directly above. That exact drive shipped from TheNerds.net for $69 and someone on here has used one for a while with no issues. Plus this series of drives was listed on the 'approved' list on the ReplayTVUpgrade site if I'm not mistaken.


----------



## hdonzis




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *pianoman41* /forum/post/15939603
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *nded* /forum/post/15931755
> 
> 
> What is the consensus on a ST3160215A Seagate 7200.10 160GB 2MB Cache 7200RPM for ReplayTV 5000's?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> See my post directly above. That exact drive shipped from TheNerds.net for $69 and someone on here has used one for a while with no issues. Plus this series of drives was listed on the 'approved' list on the ReplayTVUpgrade site if I'm not mistaken.
Click to expand...


Actually, ReplayTVupgrade says that model may be problematic. Personally, my recollection was that things started going south with those newer firmware drives. I think if you read through the many different threads that you will find that was when people were purchasing 7200.8 drives marked on the outside of the box and finding that they were 7200.10 drives inside the box and couldn't get them to work. Fortunately, the DB35 drives came out and saved the day. But, between the Seagate 7200.10 drives and the Western Digital AAJB drives, things started going south in a hurry!


Henry


----------



## nded

Pianoman - are you saying DB35 = ST3160215A Seagate 7200.10 160GB 2MB Cache 7200RPM?


There are several drives in the 7200.10 family, and I'm trying to focus on this specific EIDE version which my wholesale supplier has in stock (about 600 pieces).


----------



## nded

On ReplayTV the ST3500841ACE is listed as a DB35 (note the CE on the end). The drive I've located has 2MB cache, which makes it stand out as possibly being a good candidate for our purposes. They have them in 160GB and 80GB flavors.


----------



## hdonzis




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *nded* /forum/post/15942484
> 
> 
> On ReplayTV the ST3500841ACE is listed as a DB35 (note the CE on the end). The drive I've located has 2MB cache, which makes it stand out as possibly being a good candidate for our purposes. They have them in 160GB and 80GB flavors.



The DB35 family started out with no 7200 family, then it was the 7200.2 and 7200.3. The 7200.10 predates the DB35 drives and was the line that was being substituted for the7200.8 drives that were known to work. If you read through the posts, the people who got the 7200.10 drives all said they didn't work. I doubt it had anything to do with the cache size...


The ST3500841ACE would be a 500GB PATA DB35 drive. ACE drives are the designation for PATA DB35 drives. They may be 7200.2's 7200.3's or the early ones (like the first one I got) had no 7200.x designation...


Henry


----------



## pianoman41




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *nded* /forum/post/15942454
> 
> 
> Pianoman - are you saying DB35 = ST3160215A Seagate 7200.10 160GB 2MB Cache 7200RPM?



Well I just ordered that ST3160215A so when it gets here I'll let you know.


----------



## pianoman41




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *nded* /forum/post/15931755
> 
> 
> What is the consensus on a ST3160215A Seagate 7200.10 160GB 2MB Cache 7200RPM for ReplayTV 5000's?





> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *pianoman41* /forum/post/15939592
> 
> 
> I was just about to pull the trigger on the 160GB drive when I found the same drive at TheNerds.net for the same price ($59) but the shipping was a lot cheaper ($10 flat rate vs $17 at CDW) and no tax (vs tax at CDW). So I saved $10 at TheNerds.net. Their online inventory said they have 88 left.





> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *hdonzis* /forum/post/15940367
> 
> 
> Actually, ReplayTVupgrade says that model may be problematic. Personally, my recollection was that things started going south with those newer firmware drives. I think if you read through the many different threads that you will find that was when people were purchasing 7200.8 drives marked on the outside of the box and finding that they were 7200.10 drives inside the box and couldn't get them to work. Fortunately, the DB35 drives came out and saved the day. But, between the Seagate 7200.10 drives and the Western Digital AAJB drives, things started going south in a hurry!
> 
> 
> Henry





> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *nded* /forum/post/15942454
> 
> 
> Pianoman - are you saying DB35 = ST3160215A Seagate 7200.10 160GB 2MB Cache 7200RPM?





> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *pianoman41* /forum/post/15943663
> 
> 
> Well I just ordered that ST3160215A so when it gets here I'll let you know.



Just to let everyone know, I've successfully installed the DB35 ST3160215A 160GB 2MB Cache 7200RPM drive in my 5040. It's been running for about 10 hours without issue so I'm going to guess it should be fine for the long haul. It's a lower profile (thinner) drive than the Maxtor 120GB I had in there, but the mounting holes are all the same. The drive is definitely quieter than the one that was in there. So my Replay TV lives on to see another day!! Woohoo!


----------



## elorimer

Hmmm. I [back]ordered the Seagate DB35 Series 7200.3 ST3160215ACE drive from CDW for $60 + $8 shipping plus $4 tax based on the recommendation here. Seemed scarcer than hen's teeth. This was to replace a 7200.10 ST3160815A drive that was not compatible. Why are the model numbers so confusing?


----------



## hdonzis




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *pianoman41* /forum/post/15990839
> 
> 
> Just to let everyone know, I've successfully installed the DB35 ST3160215A 160GB 2MB Cache 7200RPM drive in my 5040. It's been running for about 10 hours without issue so I'm going to guess it should be fine for the long haul. It's a lower profile (thinner) drive than the Maxtor 120GB I had in there, but the mounting holes are all the same. The drive is definitely quieter than the one that was in there. So my Replay TV lives on to see another day!! Woohoo!



Just to be clear, model number ST3160215A ISN'T a DB35 drive, it's a 7200.10 drive. DB35 PATA drive model number's end with ACE and are generally 7200.2 or 7200.3 drives...


I'm really glad that 7200.10 drive is working for you! Please be sure and let us know how it works out after a week or so...


Henry


----------



## pianoman41




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *hdonzis* /forum/post/15991534
> 
> 
> Just to be clear, model number ST3160215A ISN'T a DB35 drive, it's a 7200.10 drive. DB35 PATA drive model number's end with ACE and are generally 7200.2 or 7200.3 drives...
> 
> 
> I'm really glad that 7200.10 drive is working for you! Please be sure and let us know how it works out after a week or so...
> 
> 
> Henry



Will do. So far so good, after a bunch of recordings, etc.


----------



## tlgs333

So is there a drive to buy these days that isn't "backordered" and definetly works?


That's the question, isn't it?


and by "backordered", i mean models that are still being made, not ones that CDW thinks might magically come back to life...


FYI, I don't need the latest and greatest fastest drives ever, i'm more concerned with a drive that will *just work* that isn't used (i don't trust used drives)

Any old models that are still available from the manufs? 160 gb would be ideal for me.


I see newegg has some WD800BB drives, but they're only 80gb and i've really gotten to like having 160... I also hear that dual drive units suck.


I wonder if there is a sata converter out there that is so very compatible with replay that it can take any of the new sata drives and make them work? That would be a great futureproofing product to keep these things alive.

With your average hard drive lasting 2-5 years in a replay, what are we going to do a few years from now?!


----------



## tlgs333

Worrying about my replay's future, i did some more digging and found that CDW says it has a lead time of 1-3 days on ST3160215ACE drives.

I grabbed two of them, we'll see if they show up.

I also found some WD3200JBRTL drives on buy.com
http://www.buy.com/retail/product.as...26&dcaid=17902 


buy.com seems to have some DB35s as well:
http://www.buy.com/prod/seagate-db35...204687857.html 



so we're not totally dead yet...


----------



## hdonzis




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tlgs333* /forum/post/16149769
> 
> 
> I also found some WD3200JBRTL drives on buy.com
> http://www.buy.com/retail/product.as...26&dcaid=17902



WD JBRLT drives are almost guaranteed to turn out to be AAJB drives, which are incompatible...


By the way, if you search for DB35 drives on Buy.com, you'll see that they have other capacities which say that they are in stock (like the 250GB 7200.3)...


Henry


----------



## tlgs333

Good to know.

I really only need 160gb. Higher cap drives are gonna cost more (duh) and, depending on their platters/density ratio, are more likely to fail (though i don't want to get into that here!)


----------



## elorimer

I ordered the DB35 215ACE from CDW on the 7th, with 1-3 day availability, and then it slipped to the 17th, then to the 31st, before shipping out on the 15th. So they seem to be around.


My thinking is that 160gb is enough, because the stuff I want to keep I move off to DVArchive, where I think I have more flexibility in drives.


----------



## odie34

It's been years since I needed to replace one of my drives, and I was unaware of all of these compatibility issues. I have a 5040 and three 4504s, and a drive just crashed in one of the 4504s.


So my first question is: Are all of these issues related only to the 5000/5500 series, or to the 4500 series as well? (I saw somewhere that the issue doesn't appear to affect ShowStoppers, but I think of the 4500 as closer to the 5000 than the 3000.) If this is not an issue for the 4500 series, are there still drives that I should be staying away from?


Also, the Seagate DB35 drives appear to be the most compatible, but I see a few model numbers that all appear to be 160GB drives. Does anyone know the difference between the ST3160215ACE and the ST3160022ACE? Are there any larger drives (200-320) out there anymore?


Thanks for your input!


-- Mark


----------



## cwpl




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *odie34* /forum/post/16421878
> 
> 
> It's been years since I needed to replace one of my drives, and I was unaware of all of these compatibility issues. I have a 5040 and three 4504s, and a drive just crashed in one of the 4504s.
> 
> 
> So my first question is: Are all of these issues related only to the 5000/5500 series, or to the 4500 series as well? (I saw somewhere that the issue doesn't appear to affect ShowStoppers, but I think of the 4500 as closer to the 5000 than the 3000.) If this is not an issue for the 4500 series, are there still drives that I should be staying away from?
> 
> 
> Also, the Seagate DB35 drives appear to be the most compatible, but I see a few model numbers that all appear to be 160GB drives. Does anyone know the difference between the ST3160215ACE and the ST3160022ACE? Are there any larger drives (200-320) out there anymore?
> 
> 
> Thanks for your input!
> 
> 
> -- Mark



The Western Digital AV PATA Drives will work in the 4000 and 4500's I've seen them up to 500GB.


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## hdonzis




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *odie34* /forum/post/16421878
> 
> 
> So my first question is: Are all of these issues related only to the 5000/5500 series, or to the 4500 series as well? (I saw somewhere that the issue doesn't appear to affect ShowStoppers, but I think of the 4500 as closer to the 5000 than the 3000.) If this is not an issue for the 4500 series, are there still drives that I should be staying away from?



The issues are related to the 5000/5500 series, NOT the 4000/4500 series. I'm not sure what the 4000 is closest to, but it doesn't seem to care too much about the hard drive. I think there may be a couple of posts about incompatible 4000 drives, you can check on replaytvupgrade.com...



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *odie34* /forum/post/16421878
> 
> 
> Also, the Seagate DB35 drives appear to be the most compatible, but I see a few model numbers that all appear to be 160GB drives. Does anyone know the difference between the ST3160215ACE and the ST3160022ACE? Are there any larger drives (200-320) out there anymore?



The difference in that part of the model number is the cache size. '2' means 2K cache. I'm not sure what '0' means, but you can check it out on seagate.com. The '15' and '22' are the series but the don't specifically mean anything without looking up the particular drive model number. They may be the revision number or something like that because in the 7200.3 line the 160GB drive may be '22' whereas the 250GB drive may be '23'...


Henry


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## Bigjohns

Crap!

Guys HELP.

Had a hdd die last night. My spare is actually enroute to Seagate for replacement...


Anyone have a confirmed drive / drive source for 200-300gb drive??


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## icecow




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Bigjohns* /forum/post/16428610
> 
> 
> Crap!
> 
> Guys HELP.
> 
> Had a hdd die last night. My spare is actually enroute to Seagate for replacement...
> 
> 
> Anyone have a confirmed drive / drive source for 200-300gb drive??



On a normal day I'd look it up for you, but I'm physically pooped today. I can tell you.. go to the other HD thread that shows reported working drives and plug some of the model numbers in google, than hit the 'shopping' tab (it might be under 'more'). ...then change price from lowest to highest and look for the first new drive. After you find one you are comfortable with, plug the model number in ebay for good measure.


That's what I've been doing lately.


don't buy from mwave. they are crooks. I bought a few drives NEW from them on ebay. one didn't work and other was used for many hours (I learned from diagnostic tools). They wouldn't send me new ones when I complained (worth a shot, it is what they agreed to), then when I caved because I didn't want to stress, I accepted a refund. The crooks not only didn't refund shipping, they didn't refund tax. I'm out about $30 bucks but dont want to lose sleep over it. I'd like to shiP in their mouths.


I periodically, but rarely get screwed. The amount I get screwed compared to the mad savings I orchastrate is laughable.


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## pencil2man

curiously, when i press 411, i get the info screen but no disk drive info. Tried this on 3 replays with same results of no info,


i did see where someone mentioned using seagate SV35 drives, but they are sata as best i can tell.


its now almosy aug 2009,a nd i am looking for replacement drives. do the 2mb cache 160 gig drives work just as well as the 8mg cache ones? any suggestions of what and where to get today at a reasonable price? i would use up to 400 gigs if reasonable.


also, any clue if this adapter would work on replay 4000's fir sata drive?

http://www.cooldrives.com/sata-drive...rter-mini.html 


thanks


----------



## hdonzis




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *pencil2man* /forum/post/16863437
> 
> 
> curiously, when i press 411, i get the info screen but no disk drive info. Tried this on 3 replays with same results of no info,
> 
> 
> i did see where someone mentioned using seagate SV35 drives, but they are sata as best i can tell.
> 
> 
> its now almosy aug 2009,a nd i am looking for replacement drives. do the 2mb cache 160 gig drives work just as well as the 8mg cache ones? any suggestions of what and where to get today at a reasonable price? i would use up to 400 gigs if reasonable.
> 
> 
> also, any clue if this adapter would work on replay 4000's fir sata drive?
> 
> http://www.cooldrives.com/sata-drive...rter-mini.html
> 
> 
> thanks



If you're talking about a ReplayTV 4000, this thread does not pertain to 4K units, which is probably why your 4-1-1-Zones screen doesn't look the same. 4K's don't seem to have the same problem with IDE drives as 5K's, so it might work fine with a SATA->IDE converter and it might work fine with the different IDE drives that are available. That is, you don't necessarily need to be looking for the DB35 drives to install in a 4K RTV...


Newegg has the SV drives in IDE/PATA in the 160GB capacity, by the way...


Henry


----------



## hdonzis

It looks like ReplayTV.us has done a lot of work for us:



> Quote:
> About RTV5000 and RTV5500 drives
> 
> We are constantly looking for compatible drives for these models and so far everything we tested including the whole line of WD PATA drives have failed. Once our remaining stock of Seagate DB35 drives, we may not be able to offer new RTV5000/5500 replacement drives any longer





> Quote:
> SATA Drives Usable in RTV 4000/4500 Series and some TiVo models
> 
> We have successfully tested one brand of SATA to IDE converter that allows SATA drives to be used in RTV4000/4500 Series and TiVo Series2 TCD649xxx. We have not been able to get the 5000/5500 to work with the adapter.



Hopefully if they find something that works with the 5000/5500 series they will post it on their website. But, it looks like they've answered the questions about using a SATA adapter in a 5xxx and if any of the WD drives work in a 5xxx...


Henry


----------



## dstoffa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *hdonzis* /forum/post/16910055
> 
> 
> It looks like ReplayTV.us has done a lot of work for us:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Hopefully if they find something that works with the 5000/5500 series they will post it on their website. But, it looks like they've answered the questions about using a SATA adapter in a 5xxx and if any of the WD drives work in a 5xxx...
> 
> 
> Henry



Time to start dumpster diving..... and recycling any old hard drive which may be of use. Our ReplayTVs will be like cars in Cuba....


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