# HR44-500 internal hard drive problem



## Lokeymd (Sep 20, 2014)

HR44 keeps on freezing and then resetting. Storage error on blue screen. I spoke with tech support and I was told that receiver will need to be replaced due to bad hard drive but no guarantees that I will get an HR44. I asked if I can just connect an external hard drive to bypass the internal and I was told that it will not work since internal hard drive is bad already. Is this true? Thanks for replying.


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## P Smith (Jul 25, 2002)

Not true,get the drive connected and you'll know the answer for real.


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## litzdog911 (Jun 23, 2004)

An external eSATA drive should work fine even if the internal drive is toast.


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## armophob (Nov 13, 2006)

this may help

http://www.dbstalk.com/topic/213036-4tb-esata-in-an-hr44-500/#entry3271416


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

P Smith said:


> Not true,get the drive connected and you'll know the answer for real.


I ran a 20-700 with a bad 1TB Seagate internal for years using an external drive. Why does anyone listen to the CSRs?

Rich


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

Lokeymd said:


> HR44 keeps on freezing and then resetting. Storage error on blue screen. I spoke with tech support and I was told that receiver will need to be replaced due to bad hard drive but no guarantees that I will get an HR44. I asked if I can just connect an external hard drive to bypass the internal and I was told that it will not work since internal hard drive is bad already. Is this true? Thanks for replying.


OK, I finally looked and I see you're new to the forum. Some advice, if I may? If you call six CSRs with the same problem, you're probably gonna get six different answers, none of them right. Here, we have the knowledge base to answer questions properly. The CSRs are just reading from a script and have little knowledge of anything that's not on that script. You will get different suggestions here too, but most of them will work. What you need to do is read a bit and decide who knows what he's doing and go with that person's suggestions. There's a lot of free help here, but you do need to filter it out a bit.

Rich


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## gandalf239 (Mar 8, 2009)

Had the drive in my HR44-500 fail. Used the lost content argument on DTV to try to get a Genie Go. They didn't budge... Until I took it to social media. It lessens the sting of the lost program a little.  Plus, they replaced the the failed unit with an HR44-700. Prior to setting up that new unit though, and since I can't open the box (it's leased), I'm trying the freezer trick. It's something we do at work (it works about 8 times out of 10) when we have a failing hard drive: put it in the freezer (in a moisture-proof bag) overnight, and then clone it the next day. I'm hoping the drive in the failed 500 comes back long enough to move programming to the Go, and from there to my mobile devices. It will (hopefully) at least give me a little more time to watch stuff.


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## TomCat (Aug 31, 2002)

gandalf239 said:


> ... I'm trying the freezer trick. It's something we do at work (it works about 8 times out of 10) when we have a failing hard drive: put it in the freezer (in a moisture-proof bag) overnight, and then clone it the next day. I'm hoping the drive in the failed 500 comes back long enough to move programming to the Go, and from there to my mobile devices. It will (hopefully) at least give me a little more time to watch stuff.


I used an external that was admittedly a couple years old when I got a new HR24 in May, but 5 months later it went into a scan/repair loop. I rue that decision to be cheap and not start with a fresh drive, as I am about to lose 160 hours of programming (98% of which is backed up).

The code was 75-480. I read that "75-" indicates an enclosure problem, so WTF, I moved the drive into the HR24, but it did not help. I have a new drive coming and as a last-ditch effort I will try to clone to it using a stand-alone cloner. Odds are slim; if the data is corrupted that probably won't work.

But I'm desperate. And thanks, now I have another last-ditch effort to try (freezer trick).

Not sure why the reluctance and associated horror stories here about popping the hood on a HR24; I had the drive swapped in record time. I guess its all about using the credit card strips.

Also, I am leaving the lid off, for better heat control, at least for the PS. It's really only there for aesthetic value, liability issues, and to keep your wife from spilling her carmel macchiato into it.

But your post also raises a couple of questions:

If you clone it, why would you need to be concerned how long it "comes back for"? As long as it lasts through the clone, don't you just then use the clone and toss the original away?

And if it is leased and you can't open the box (something I am not about to lose sleep over), how do you get that HDD into the freezer?


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## P Smith (Jul 25, 2002)

The hr24 is small enough to fit into freezer


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## TomCat (Aug 31, 2002)

But that might make the picture freeze. :disk:


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## P Smith (Jul 25, 2002)

not to worry, CPU and other components will works as usual !


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

P Smith said:


> not to worry, CPU and other components will works as usual !


Really? Have you tried it? I usually take your advice, but this seems a bit iffy.

Rich


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