# Genie Installation & External Hard Drive Questions



## brenta1x (May 20, 2010)

Genie Installation & External Hard Drive Questions

I've always had a great DTV installation experience because I always come here first for advice and I end up teaching the install tech a trick or two so thanks in advance!

1. I currently have 4 HR-22s installed each with 2 tuners active. I am replacing one of them with the Genie. I believe I currently have a 8 line SWIM switch (forgive me if terminology is incorrect). In order to utilize all 5 tuners on the Genie and use 2 tuners on the 3 remaining HR-22s I believe I will need to have the installer put in a 16 line SWIM switch? Or something at least above 8? And other adive

2. I'm going to purchase a 1 or 2 TB external hard drive for the Genie. Any recommendations? (I've had a Western Digital hooked up to one of the HR-22s that has worked flawlessly and I have to keep it on there because my wife will not let me delete her 100s of Oprah episodes that I know she will never watch but it's not worth the "discussion". J)

Thanks in advance!


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## P Smith (Jul 25, 2002)

we have a lot of info what EHD is using better, just use search and read the threads (the question asked many times and answers done already )

second SWM8 or new SWM16 ? your installer will make it right, no worry


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## dpeters11 (May 30, 2007)

The genie isn't limited to 2tb external. However, it still has a single failure point so I wouldn't go crazy.


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## peds48 (Jan 11, 2008)

brenta1x said:


> 2. I'm going to purchase a 1 or 2 TB external hard drive for the Genie. Any recommendations? (I've had a Western Digital hooked up to one of the HR-22s that has worked flawlessly and I have to keep it on there because my wife will not let me delete her 100s of Oprah episodes that I know she will never watch but it's not worth the "discussion". J)
> 
> Thanks in advance!


...and since the Genie already comes with a 1TB internal drive, best to get at least a 2TB drive.


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## brenta1x (May 20, 2010)

Thanks, as usual, for all the great advice! I'm not sure why I will ever need to record 11 shows simultaneously but you never know!


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## brenta1x (May 20, 2010)

Install went well today. It doesn't appear the Genie is recording to the external hard drive. I recorded a few shows and then unplugged the esata cable and the shows were still showing up on the playlist which I assume programming is being recorded on the internal Genie drive. 

I purchased the thermaltake BlacX docking station and a 3TB Western Digital Caviar Green Hard Drive. Unfortunately I just noticed on the box of the docking station that it supports "up to 2TB". So am I correct in assuming that the 3TB won't work in the docking station and therefore programming isn't being recorded? 

Thanks


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## P Smith (Jul 25, 2002)

look around - we had a thread for same config and same 3 TB drive issue ... he did format it first in HR24, then HR44 get it right; detail in that thread


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## inkahauts (Nov 13, 2006)

What exact model genie did you get? and what other receives do you have at home?


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## brenta1x (May 20, 2010)

Solved the problem. It was indeed the docking station for the Hard Drive. Box said it supports only up to 2 TB drive so I just went and bought one and it is all working fine. I just need to return the 3 TB drive. 

And this might be an obvious tip to 99.9% of you but an eSata cable will work in the Genie. I only mention this because the port is labeled as "sata" on the Genie where as the port on the docking station was labeled "eStata" so for a moment I thought I was going to need to order a sata/esata cable but I do not. 

Not that it matters now, but Inkahuts, today I got the HR44-500. I also have 3 additional HR22-100. 

Thanks again to all.


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## P Smith (Jul 25, 2002)

I wouldn't be so sure ... my old TT BlacX working fine with 3 TB with a PC; have you read that thread what I mentioned ? perhaps there is a quirk with HR44's OS , so 3 TB would need to 'prepare'


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## brenta1x (May 20, 2010)

Thanks, P Smith. I was not able to find the thread so just went with the 2TB instead. I still have an additional 2TB EHD on one of my HR-22s so if I have beyond enough recording capacity at this point.


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## ticmxman (Aug 28, 2007)

Newegg says BlacX ST005U does support 3TB

"A designed enclosure from Thermaltake – the BlacX ST0005U -- offers convenience and high performance. Supports any 2.5” and 3.5” SATA hard drives up to 3TB, the ST0005U turns Serial ATA hard drive into an external USB 2.0-and-eSATA storage device."

Reviews: FMNY
12/10/2012 9:42:28 AM
"Other Thoughts: I've owned the older 2TB max model for a long time with no problems. Bought this one since I now have 3TB drives I want to use. Got a shock when it arrived as the box says right on it "supports up to 2TB" hard drives. Thermaltake website also says supports up to 2 TB drives on this product. I was ready to send it back unopened but phoned Thermaltake just to confirm. Tech said it's just old packaging and that 3 TB drives are no problem. So I hooked it up and inserted a 3 TB drive. The dock recognized it right away and it's working fine."


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## Bartman94 (Jan 18, 2012)

Here is the 3TB external hard drive I'm using with no issues. I just installed it internally but if you'd rather keep it more simple just find an eSata enclosure that supports 3TB...

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004W9BKE0/ref=ox_sc_sfl_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER


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