Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Maxtor eSATA on SA8300HD with Cablevision

Collapse
X
Collapse
 
  • Page of 1
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts
Previous template Next
  • #1

    Maxtor eSATA on SA8300HD with Cablevision

    So my dad and I bought external hard drives to expand our DVR space. I got a 250 GB one and my dad got a 400 GB one. Mine has worked perfectly over the past two weeks. My dad's however is all screwy. In the time after we connected the external drive, the DVR itself has randomly shut off on three different occasions and rebooted. This never happened before connecting the external drive. Also, it claims it will be recording an hourlong show but will only record 15 mins or 5 mins and then large chunks of the recording will be completely missing. This also never happened before. We got the occasional graphics glitch or loss of sound (and still do), but never anything like the two things I just mentioned.

    I read online on another forum that the Maxtor drives, if over 300 GB, are unstable. Is this true? Would this account for why his DVR is freaking out and mine is fine? Is something else wrong with my dad's DVR? Is there anything I can do to the external drive to fix these new recording issues and DVR resets? It's been really bad.
    Tags: None
  • #2
    We've never seen our drives cause a cable box to reboot. That's pretty strange.

    Could there be too large a power drain on the outlet with both units plugged in? Have you tried a UPS? More info about a UPS is here:

    http://www.weaknees.com/protect.php
    Been here a long time . . .

    Comment

    • #3
      Originally posted by WK-Michael View Post
      We've never seen our drives cause a cable box to reboot. That's pretty strange.

      Could there be too large a power drain on the outlet with both units plugged in? Have you tried a UPS? More info about a UPS is here:

      http://www.weaknees.com/protect.php
      I just want to make sure it was clear that with Cablevision, the DVR IS the cable box... it's not a separate device like TiVo. So essentially, it IS the DVR that is resetting. Does this change anything? Also, they are plugged into a surge protector, not an outlet.

      Comment

      • #4
        So how can I go about returning my Maxtor external hard drive? Unless there is some kind of solution to my problem...

        Comment

        • #5
          Contact us by email: [email protected]

          But did you try a UPS for their cable box/DVR?
          Been here a long time . . .

          Comment

          • #6
            Originally posted by WK-Michael View Post
            Contact us by email: [email protected]

            But did you try a UPS for their cable box/DVR?
            I told you I have a surge protector. I also told you I didn't have a TiVo. You ignored my previous post completely.

            Comment

            • #7
              OK - I don't see that I mentioned your TiVo. I mentioned your DVR, which is what you have, correct? If not, the drive you're referencing won't do anything.

              Next, a UPS is very different from a surge protector. I understand that you have a surge protector. But I'm asking if you tried a UPS.
              Been here a long time . . .

              Comment

              • #8
                Originally posted by WK-Michael View Post
                OK - I don't see that I mentioned your TiVo. I mentioned your DVR, which is what you have, correct? If not, the drive you're referencing won't do anything.

                Next, a UPS is very different from a surge protector. I understand that you have a surge protector. But I'm asking if you tried a UPS.
                My mistake. I referenced the TiVo because the UPS description mentions how great it is for TiVos. I assumed that is why you were recommending it. I think I may have resolved the situation, I'll be receiving an upgraded model hard drive soon. Thank you for your assistance. If the problem still occurs, perhaps I will consider a UPS. Would you care to explain how it is different from a surge protector? They look the same and appear to be for the same purpose.

                Comment

                • #9
                  A surge protector protects the unit from receiving too much current - definitely a potential problem.

                  A UPS does that, and also adds current if the power source drops (brownouts, blackouts, other appliances on the circuit doing heavy draws). This is a potentially bigger source of problems.
                  Been here a long time . . .

                  Comment

                  • #10
                    e-SATA drive pain

                    Several weeks ago I bought a 500 gig Seagate drive with a NexStar3 enclosure. While all this extra capacity was wonderful, the frequency of audio/video sound drop/pixellation "glitches" (1 to 2 every couple of minutes) was very annoying.

                    So after re-visiting a couple of sites that discussed/documented these glitch issues, I bought the 500 gig Maxter Quickview Kit from WeaKnees. Result is glitches still happen.... maybe a little less often, but still distracting. And I've yet to encounter a fix.

                    I can't contact Rogers Cable about this, since they don't officially support external drives for the 8300. And my 8300 generally works fine...the odd inexplicable reboot, but not often enough to worry about.

                    I just wish that Scientific Atlanta would get moving on a larger capacity PVR.
                    20 hours of HD recording just doesn't cut it.

                    Comment

                    • #11
                      You should just convince them to swap out the DVR. Most cable companies have no problem with a simple swap. The problem is most likely in the DVR if both externals create the same issue.
                      Been here a long time . . .

                      Comment

                      • #12
                        You're right...I should give it a try. But dealing with Rogers Cable is very painful even for the most routine request.


                        I also wonder why this glitch problem is so common across different cable companies on 8300s with different firmware revs.

                        Comment

                        • #13
                          We don't have as much experience with that unit as we do with TiVo DVRs, but it really sounds like a hardware design issue.

                          Of course, the people who have problems are the ones who post online. There may be many, many happy users out there that we just don't hear from.
                          Been here a long time . . .

                          Comment

                          Previous template Next
                          Working...
                          X