SA8000/8300HD - Internal Hard Disk Upgrade Works (Cloning too) See Post 1.

[57]

Lietch As discussed in post 1 of this thread, you can only clone to the new drive if you replace it with a drive of the same size. If you want a larger iHDD, you'll be starting fresh and lose any existing recordings.

If you want a larger drive and wish to keep existing recordings, you can add an eHDD (external), as discussed in another sticky in this forum.

http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=23773

[craig_1]

Originally Posted by Lietch

How do I get the previously recorded programs off my old drive before replacing it with a 500gb drive

You don't.
Roger's fixed that "bug".

[pcharlebois]

I guess it is time to change the HD, again, in my 8300hd as for the last few weeks I have noticed frequent freezes on play back or live while recording.

I have even experience full control freeze, just nothing and unit will not respond to remote input and then all of a sudend all the command sent are processed. Could this also be due to the iHD.

If this is the issue, i belive the best option is the WDBAAV5000 or does any one suggest otherwise.

I have had the unit since Nov 2007 and replace the iHD I think a little less than 2 years ago.

Any advice welcomed.

[AVphile]

Hmm, is that why mine stutters and has dropouts sometimes?
I used to be dead reliable (I've had a PVR since 2005).

Maybe you should test your theory first by running an external drive for a while, so you don't pull the drive for nothing.

[cybercat]

I've had the remote problem you mention on and off - send several commands and nothing, suddenly ALL are processed.
I don't think THAT one is hard drive related.
The other stuff - maybe.

- Bill H.

[BHoward]

Hi everyone

My brother-in-law's 6 year old 8300HD started getting an error message stating that the recording device (hard drive) was no longer working. I replaced the 160gb with a 320gb PATA drive.

Now when I reboot the PVR, it counts down with r--- to 0, shows Proc for a few seconds then shows er.53. I cannot get rid of this error. Tried many reboots. Finally, unpluged the HD power and it boots fine, except no PVR of course.

What is the cause of the er.53? Could there be something else wrong other than the HD?

Thanks

[alebowgm]

Looking at http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=94262 starting at page 9 (post 124 onwards) there is a large discussion of error 53. It seems to be part of the process of reflashing the drive with the right firmware, although it also may indicate a hard drive that is not compatible.

For what its worth, yesterday I reconnected an SA 3200 that had been unplugged from the network for the last 3+ years. It too gave me an error 53 on boot, then it rebooted after a minute or two, took a software upgrade, and all was fine.

[57]

I replaced the 160gb with a 320gb PATA drive.

What's the make/model of the HDD?

[BHoward]

Sorry ... model is Western Digital Caviar Blue (WD3200AAJB) 320GB IDE

I noticed a lot of other people useing it

[57]

Yeah, I just replaced mine in late February (link below). Should work, but you might have purchased a bad drive? faulty connection? Something else in the PVR?. Try connecting it to a computer?

http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/show...51#post1392151

[Tom Neumann]

What is the currently available largest, most hassel-free way of expanding the internal drive? I have an 8300 with 160gig. I had an old Maxtor Expander but that stopped workign with all the software changes a few years ago. I have gone through these posts and it appears the 500gig drives aren't available.

..Tom

[alebowgm]

A quick glance at this thread shows that since the 500GB drives disappeared from the shelves, most people have gone to the Western Digital Caviar Blue WD3200AAJB and have had success. Its 320GB. Canada Comp has it listed at $99 right now, which is a shame considering the 500GB units could be had back in 2009 for $69. You can always try contacting Western Digital directly, although their website shows they are out of stock right now of both the 320GB and the 500GB.

The other option to consider is the 8300HD - Internal SATA Hard Disk adapter Upgrade

[Philber]

Thank you so much for posting these instructions!

My 8300HD started acting up about a year ago. Sometimes it would work fine, but sometimes it would just stop recording, and I would have to reboot. Eventually, the reboots didn't work, and I was getting ER51 and the dreaded countdown every time I tried to boot.

I thought I was going to have to buy a new PVR today. Instead, thanks to this thread, I bought a WD 320GB drive, and 30 minutes later everything was perfect! I lost all my recordings, but that's a heck of a lot better than having to spend $500 on a new PVR!

Thank you thank you thank you!

[DCor]

Just an FYI,

I tried cloning my SA8642's 500Gb eHDD onto a new 1Tb HDD via Win7 & Acronis, but made the mistake of initializing it when the window popped up.
Acronis would not clone it, saying the source disk was empty.

I hooked the 500Gb back up to the PVR, didnt format it and tried to access the listed recorded programs....this didnt work....however, I did a re-boot of the PVR and there were the recording again, and played no trouble.

[Eug]

The 320 GB Western Digital drive is down to under $90 now. However, you can get a refurb 8300 HD now for twice that price. Why would you spend twice as much to get only 160 GB? Because the units are fully warrantied by Rogers, for two years. Plus, you're not gambling that a $90 drive is possibly going to fix your wonky old 8300HD.

I just picked one of these refurb units up and it works great. No hassles for box activation either like we often get when buying a used 8300HD.

That said, if you happen to have an old IDE drive lying around, regardless of the size, it may make sense to just try it in the broken 8300 HD. If that old IDE drive works, then great. If that drive is too small, it's not a big deal, because you can then go out and spend that $90 for the 320 GB drive with confidence.