Possible failing Hard Drive on HR54

[Tom Speer]

I have noticed some brief glitches on my HR54-700 recently. Occasional slow / sluggish responses to remote commands appears to be the main glitch at the current time. That and the program guide on the HR54-700 tends to "freeze" for brief periods of time, when attempting to access and use it.

I have not noticed anything like that with my HR54-200. What you are describing fits what many people have described as their hard drives are failing. I replaced my HR54 hard drive about 7 years ago with a Western Digital Red HDD, which was marketed at that time for video surveillance continuois recording systems. A Genie server is much the same kind of duty. Today the WD Red is marketed for NAS systems with lots of users.
Since the hard drives in a DIRECTV Genie server is spinning continuously, and constantly in use, I don't like SSD's because they have a limited number of write cycles. I expect my WD Red to outlive DIRECTVs satellites.

 

[Tom Speer]

Actually, after a brief internet search a WD Purple drive would be better suited today.

 

[steve615]

Actually, after a brief internet search a WD Purple drive would be better suited today.

Thanks for the replies and information. Do you have any suggestions for any external "plug and play" hard drives? I have had and used the HR54-700 in my setup for a few years. The thoughts of possible hard drive failure definitely makes sense. But, with the HR54-700 just being leased on my end, if I could possibly add an external hard drive via USB connection, that seems to be the best option for me, if possible.

 

[b4pjoe]

Thanks for the replies and information. Do you have any suggestions for any external "plug and play" hard drives? I have had and used the HR54-700 in my setup for a few years. The thoughts of possible hard drive failure definitely makes sense. But, with the HR54-700 just being leased on my end, if I could possibly add an external hard drive via USB connection, that seems to be the best option for me, if possible.

You can only use an external hard drive via the SATA port if your HR54-700 has one. USB will not work.

 

[Tom Speer]

This thread was created by moving some posts in the Cutting Edge Forum out to the DirecTV General Forum because the subject is not related to Cutting Edge activities. The posts have been edited to remove any Cutting Edge information

 

[Tom Speer]

Steve615: Any authorized solution to your failing hard drive will involve the loss of all of your recordings. Some solutions which involve violation of your customer agreement also would cause the loss of your recordings.

1. The simplest authorized way to take care of a failing HDD in a HR54, is to sign up for DIRECTV's protection plan and when it is in effect, and you have definite signs of the failing hard drive, call customer service and have them send you a new HR54, if you canget one. They may try to upgrade you to a HS17 Genie server, with an additional client. That would start a new 2 year commitment AFAIK.

2. Does your HR54 have an ESATA port? I hear that some later models don't have one and can't add an external drive. If you have the ESATA port, you should be able to buy an External ESATa drive, or an External ESATA case or docking station and a high quality 4TB drive like the WD Purple I mentioned. I believe the HR54 is limited to a 4 TB drive size, don't try anything larger. Adding the external drive disables the internal one.

3. I use a couple of different Esata docks. I can't find them online anymore. The only one i see on Amazon is StarTech SDOCK2U33EB. I can't comment on quality of the Esata enclosures, Esata external Drives, or Esata Docks on the market today. THe Esata interface is largely being replaced by the high speed USB ports.

3. Replacing the Internal drive is technically quite simple, but violates your customer agreement. Here is a Youtube video showing how it is done. He uses a bent large paper clip to release the latches. I just used a flat bladed screwdriver on my owned HR54. You do need a torx securiy bit (I got some at Harbor Freight),

We have lost a lot of information on this subject from online forums. Anything that we had at Iamanedgecutter has been lost. If there is anything at the other DBS forum, I couldn't find it.

It is possible, if you remove the original drive to copy it and expand the available space to use the whole new hard drive with a PC booted into Linux and using the GPARTED program. I did it, but I had some instructions.
The partitions on the Genie HDDs are not standard Linux file systems. Copying means you have to connect the old and new hard drives to a computer at the same time.

 

[randycat]

Steve615: Any authorized solution to your failing hard drive will involve the loss of all of your recordings. Some solutions which involve violation of your customer agreement also would cause the loss of your recordings.

1. The simplest authorized way to take care of a failing HDD in a HR54, is to sign up for DIRECTV's protection plan and when it is in effect, and you have definite signs of the failing hard drive, call customer service and have them send you a new HR54, if you canget one. They may try to upgrade you to a HS17 Genie server, with an additional client. That would start a new 2 year commitment AFAIK.

2. Does your HR54 have an ESATA port? I hear that some later models don't have one and can't add an external drive. If you have the ESATA port, you should be able to buy an External ESATa drive, or an External ESATA case or docking station and a high quality 4TB drive like the WD Purple I mentioned. I believe the HR54 is limited to a 4 TB drive size, don't try anything larger. Adding the external drive disables the internal one.

3. I use a couple of different Esata docks. I can't find them online anymore. The only one i see on Amazon is StarTech SDOCK2U33EB. I can't comment on quality of the Esata enclosures, Esata external Drives, or Esata Docks on the market today. THe Esata interface is largely being replaced by the high speed USB ports.

3. Replacing the Internal drive is technically quite simple, but violates your customer agreement. Here is a Youtube video showing how it is done. He uses a bent large paper clip to release the latches. I just used a flat bladed screwdriver on my owned HR54. You do need a torx securiy bit (I got some at Harbor Freight),

We have lost a lot of information on this subject from online forums. Anything that we had at Iamanedgecutter has been lost. If there is anything at the other DBS forum, I couldn't find it.

It is possible, if you remove the original drive to copy it and expand the available space to use the whole new hard drive with a PC booted into Linux and using the GPARTED program. I did it, but I had some instructions.
The partitions on the Genie HDDs are not standard Linux file systems. Copying means you have to connect the old and new hard drives to a computer at the same time.

i've done this a few times:

Removing / Replacing / Copying Hard Drive of HR2*...

This document is intended to aid as a tool for instructional purposes. Please realize that opening your receiver may violate your DIRECTV Customer Agreement if you lease the equipment. The procedure below is only recommended if you actually own the equipment. Before I get into the steps of my...

www.dbstalk.com

 

[Tom Speer]

i've done this a few times:

Removing / Replacing / Copying Hard Drive of HR2*...

This document is intended to aid as a tool for instructional purposes. Please realize that opening your receiver may violate your DIRECTV Customer Agreement if you lease the equipment. The procedure below is only recommended if you actually own the equipment. Before I get into the steps of my...

www.dbstalk.com

That is the information I was looking for. Thank you.