# External Hard Drive with HR21-700?



## intershift (Sep 22, 2008)

Hi, nice to meet all of you guys here!  I just got my HR21 but was surprised how fast the recordings fill up!

I've searched around the forum, but I am wondering what the working Hard Drives would be for HR21-700? I've seen some setups for HR21-100 but I don't know if it's compatible with mine also. I am currently looking at Cavalry 1TB Dual Interface USB 2.0 & eSATA External Hard Drive - CAXE3701T0

Would this work?


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## STEVEN-H (Jan 19, 2007)

intershift said:


> Hi, nice to meet all of you guys here!  I just got my HR21 but was surprised how fast the recordings fill up!
> 
> I've searched around the forum, but I am wondering what the working Hard Drives would be for HR21-700? I've seen some setups for HR21-100 but I don't know if it's compatible with mine also. I am currently looking at Cavalry 1TB Dual Interface USB 2.0 & eSATA External Hard Drive - CAXE3701T0
> 
> Would this work?


Works fine on my HR21-100. No problems at all other than the light on the Cavalry being very bright. Mine now has a piece of electrical tape over it.


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## CorkyMuldoon (Oct 6, 2006)

intershift said:


> ...I am currently looking at Cavalry 1TB Dual Interface USB 2.0 & eSATA External Hard Drive - CAXE3701T0
> 
> Would this work?


That's the eSATA drive I use. No problems to report, although that bright blue light can be a tad annoying.:lol:

Oh - and :welcome_s


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

intershift said:


> Hi, nice to meet all of you guys here!  I just got my HR21 but was surprised how fast the recordings fill up!
> 
> I've searched around the forum, but I am wondering what the working Hard Drives would be for HR21-700? I've seen some setups for HR21-100 but I don't know if it's compatible with mine also. I am currently looking at Cavalry 1TB Dual Interface USB 2.0 & eSATA External Hard Drive - CAXE3701T0
> 
> Would this work?


I use the CAX 750s and I would think any of the Cavalrys with a prefix of CAX will work. Do NOT get one of the Cavalrys in the RAID enclosures. They will not work with the 21s. They do work well with the 20-700s tho. I have two 2TB Cavalrys in the RAID enclosures set to the "big" mode which gives me the full 2TBs of recording space. The 21s are really finicky about the eSATAs. I think the best eSATAs out there are the Seagates, but they won't work with the 21s either.

Rich


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## intershift (Sep 22, 2008)

Thanks for all of your feedbacks. I will order this today and report back here with results/findings.


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## Getteau (Dec 20, 2007)

WD 1T Green Power drive in an Antex MX-1 enclosure. Been running for about a month and I haven't had any issues.


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## ryno2292 (Jul 12, 2008)

Getteau said:


> WD 1T Green Power drive in an Antex MX-1 enclosure. Been running for about a month and I haven't had any issues.


Same thing I have hooked up to my HR21-700, with no problems. I think the enclosure and drive cost me a little over $200 about two months ago.


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## intershift (Sep 22, 2008)

Thanks for all your feedbacks. I've just intalled it and it works right out of the box. :hurah: Total price? $150 including rebate at Buy.com for 1TB eSATA.

This will give some breathing room for sure.


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

intershift said:


> Thanks for all your feedbacks. I've just intalled it and it works right out of the box. :hurah: Total price? $150 including rebate at Buy.com for 1TB eSATA.
> 
> This will give some breathing room for sure.


So you got the 1TB Cavalry?

Rich


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## outlineguy (Oct 4, 2008)

intershift said:


> Hi, nice to meet all of you guys here!  I just got my HR21 but was surprised how fast the recordings fill up!
> 
> I've searched around the forum, but I am wondering what the working Hard Drives would be for HR21-700? I've seen some setups for HR21-100 but I don't know if it's compatible with mine also. I am currently looking at Cavalry 1TB Dual Interface USB 2.0 & eSATA External Hard Drive - CAXE3701T0
> 
> Would this work?


Hi.... I'm in the same boat. This is just the thread I was hoping to find.

Now I'm pretty low-tech, so bear with me.

I just got an HR21-700. A tech guy told me I can go ahead and buy a Sata external drive and hook it up and I'd be good to go. No formatting needed, correct?

I believe he told me that recordings would be stored on the external drive at first and if and when it fills up, recordings would then begin on the internal drive.

Now, I already have some recordings on the internal drive that I haven't watched yet. Can I go ahead and hook up the external drive now? Will I still have my previous recordings?

Do things just go on business as usual but with greatly expanded capacity?

How do I know how much recording capacity I have with the external drive attached? Does the progress bar take the external drive into account?

Sorry for all the questions.... I appreciate the help !!


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## houskamp (Sep 14, 2006)

A list of drives: http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=92029


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

outlineguy said:


> Hi.... I'm in the same boat. This is just the thread I was hoping to find.
> 
> Now I'm pretty low-tech, so bear with me.
> 
> I just got an HR21-700. A tech guy told me I can go ahead and buy a Sata external drive and hook it up and I'd be good to go. No formatting needed, correct?


Correct.



> I believe he told me that recordings would be stored on the external drive at first and if and when it fills up, recordings would then begin on the internal drive.


Wrong. The internal drive doesn't do anything when an eSATA is hooked up. If you fill up the eSATA it will NOT start to record on the internal drive.



> Now, I already have some recordings on the internal drive that I haven't watched yet. Can I go ahead and hook up the external drive now? Will I still have my previous recordings?


Yes, but you will have to disconnect or turn off the eSATA and reboot the HR to access the internal drive's recordings.



> Do things just go on business as usual but with greatly expanded capacity?


Aside from having to set up new Series Links, yes.



> How do I know how much recording capacity I have with the external drive attached? Does the progress bar take the external drive into account?


The Progress Bar will monitor the usage of the eSATA drive when it is active, just as it does with the internal when the eSATA is inactive.

Rich


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## boxster99t (Mar 9, 2008)

STEVEN-H said:


> Works fine on my HR21-100. No problems at all other than the light on the Cavalry being very bright. Mine now has a piece of electrical tape over it.


+1, and I also put electrical tape over the blue light.

Buy.com has a pretty good price on the antec MX-1 enclosure ($29 last week if it hasn't gone back up), if you want to pick your own SATA hard drive. I bought one for future use--waiting until I need the capacity or 1 TB drives go below the $100 mark whichever comes first.


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## CooperTwo (Jan 7, 2008)

So if I buy this:

Cavalry 1TB Dual Interface USB 2.0 & eSATA External Hard Drive - CAXE3701T0

and I have the HR21-700, I'll be ok?


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

CooperTwo said:


> So if I buy this:
> 
> Cavalry 1TB Dual Interface USB 2.0 & eSATA External Hard Drive - CAXE3701T0
> 
> and I have the HR21-700, I'll be ok?


Just make sure you purchase it from a retailer that has a decent return policy. You have the "good" HR and I have had no problems with the new crop of eSATAs starting with the CAX prefix in the model number. I have never tried the 1TB, but I do have several 750 Cavs and two 2TB Cavs that are all working perfectly. And  you get an eSATA jumper cable with each Cav.

Rich


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## CooperTwo (Jan 7, 2008)

Thanks Rich.

J-E-T-S Jets Jets Jets


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

CooperTwo said:


> Thanks Rich.
> 
> J-E-T-S Jets Jets Jets


You're very welcome. You know, I pick the Jets to win the Super Bowl every year and I appreciate your vote of confidence.

Rich


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## outlineguy (Oct 4, 2008)

Okay, I am so frustrated I'm ready to throw the whole thing out my window.

I have a Direct HR21-700. I bought a Western Digital 1 TB External Hard Drive to hook up. I plugged it in to the USB port with the included cable and it does not work.

From reading these boards and trying to understand as best I can, I thought I needed a USB to sata cable to connect the external drive to the DVR through the esata port on the DVR. I went to four different stores and nobody ever heard of such a cable. 

The guy at Fry's sold me an enclosure case which he said is what I need. I understand the concept but I can't get the external drive out of its case to get it into the enclosure case. The external drive case appears to be sealed.

Where am I going wrong????

Please bear in mind that I am NOT an engineer. Please keep it simple.


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## russdog (Aug 1, 2006)

outlineguy said:


> Okay, I am so frustrated I'm ready to throw the whole thing out my window.
> 
> I have a Direct HR21-700. I bought a Western Digital 1 TB External Hard Drive to hook up. I plugged it in to the USB port with the included cable and it does not work.
> 
> ...


I don't know what you read, but nobody around here said to use the USB port.
That won't work. You need to use an eSATA cable to connect the HR to an eSATA drive.

I don't know what WD drive you got, but you want a "bare" drive, one that does not come inside a case. 
The enclosure you want to put the drive in is an Antec MX-1, which comes with the necessary cable.

There is detailed info about HR21's an external drives here:
http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=142735


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

russdog said:


> I don't know what you read, but nobody around here said to use the USB port.
> That won't work. You need to use an eSATA cable to connect the HR to an eSATA drive.
> 
> I don't know what WD drive you got, but you want a "bare" drive, one that does not come inside a case.
> ...


Russ, if that eSATA he bought is a MyBook, it is not gonna work with ANY DVR. And I've seen some reviews about the WD DVR Expander and they don't seem to work with TiVos. Haven't seen any reviews about them working or not working with HRs, tho. Disappointing.

Rich


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

outlineguy said:


> Okay, I am so frustrated I'm ready to throw the whole thing out my window.
> 
> I have a Direct HR21-700. I bought a Western Digital 1 TB External Hard Drive to hook up. I plugged it in to the USB port with the included cable and it does not work.
> 
> ...


OK, simply put, take back the WD and the enclosure and purchase a Cavalry 1TB. That will work with a 21 and comes with the proper cable. Or go the way Russ has suggested. Both ways will work.

Rich


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