# Hr-44 not recognizing external HDD



## sfeym (Sep 5, 2010)

I have installed a Western Digital WD AV-GP WD30EURS 3TB into a Rosewill RC358-V2 and cannot get my HR-44 to recognize the drive. I have tried different combinations of reboots and start-up combinations, DVR unplugged, RBR, menu reboot but no luck. Any ideas?


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## RunnerFL (Jan 5, 2006)

Try a different enclosure, sounds like that one isn't compatible. I'd go with the ThermalTake BlacX.

http://www.amazon.com/Thermaltake-BlacX-eSATA-Docking-Station/dp/B001A4HAFS/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1371558396&sr=8-4&keywords=thermaltake


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## Choir (Feb 11, 2008)

I have been using that very drive in a Thermaltake enclosure (ST0021U) for about three months now without any problems.


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## lucky13 (Nov 27, 2006)

I had trouble getting my HR44-500 to recognize a WD30EZRX. I plugged that drive into an HR24, and it formatted it immediately. Switched the 3TB back to the HR44, and it recognized it right away.

If you have another DVR, try hooking the external to that first. You'll want to put it back on the Genie after it's formatted, as the HR2x support only 2TB.

See this post: http://www.dbstalk.com/topic/85623-working-esata-setups/page-108#entry3147864


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## unixguru (Jul 9, 2007)

lucky13 said:


> I had trouble getting my HR44-500 to recognize a WD30EZRX. I plugged that drive into an HR24, and it formatted it immediately. Switched the 3TB back to the HR44, and it recognized it right away.
> 
> If you have another DVR, try hooking the external to that first. You'll want to put it back on the Genie after it's formatted, as the HR2x support only 2TB.
> 
> See this post: http://www.dbstalk.com/topic/85623-working-esata-setups/page-108#entry3147864


And you probably now have a 3TB drive formatted for 2TB.


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## RunnerFL (Jan 5, 2006)

unixguru said:


> And you probably now have a 3TB drive formatted for 2TB.


Yup, I'm betting he does as well.


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## lucky13 (Nov 27, 2006)

unixguru said:


> And you probably now have a 3TB drive formatted for 2TB.


I suppose that could be.
Any suggestions on how to start over?
Should I plug the drive into a PC and let it reformat, and then try the HR44 again?


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## P Smith (Jul 25, 2002)

unixguru said:


> And you probably now have a 3TB drive formatted for 2TB.


That would be intersting to find an answer ... yes, connect it to PC, let's use some program what would show partitiong - take trial UFS Explorer for start


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## lucky13 (Nov 27, 2006)

P Smith said:


> That would be intersting to find an answer ... yes, connect it to PC, let's use some program what would show partitiong - take trial UFS Explorer for start


Will try it tonight, if I have time.
I've never used a program like this before. What am I looking for--I know partition data, but I might need to be pointed to it.


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## P Smith (Jul 25, 2002)

any software what can do detail analysis of non-Win partitioning, we need to dissect XFS type with real-time ext

UFS Explorer is good if you running Win, it will show files/folders/partitions regardless if Win would recognize the partition or not


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## Hotelone (Feb 18, 2008)

I feel for the poor OP...


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## RunnerFL (Jan 5, 2006)

P Smith said:


> That would be intersting to find an answer ... yes, connect it to PC, let's use some program what would show partitiong - take trial UFS Explorer for start


It's been done a few times already. I personally had an HR24 partition/format a 3TB drive. You guessed it, only 2TB was setup.

No need to send someone one another one of your crazy experiments.


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## lucky13 (Nov 27, 2006)

RunnerFL said:


> It's been done a few times already. I personally had an HR24 partition/format a 3TB drive. You guessed it, only 2TB was setup.
> 
> No need to send someone one another one of your crazy experiments.


Thanks, Runner. 
What would be the simplest way to reformat the drive so that the HR44 can try to format it properly?
Is there an easy way to repartition the drive for 3TB?


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## RunnerFL (Jan 5, 2006)

lucky13 said:


> Thanks, Runner.
> What would be the simplest way to reformat the drive so that the HR44 can try to format it properly?
> Is there an easy way to repartition the drive for 3TB?


Easiest thing to do is plug it into a PC and remove all the partitions on the drive then hook it up to the HR44 and see what happens.


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## lucky13 (Nov 27, 2006)

RunnerFL said:


> Easiest thing to do is plug it into a PC and remove all the partitions on the drive then hook it up to the HR44 and see what happens.


What exactly should I do?
Back-click on the drive and click on format?
BTW, the drive shows up as three drives on Windows Explore--maybe the way it's formatted?


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## P Smith (Jul 25, 2002)

yes, that sounds right - Swap, data partition and real-time extension

coud you tell us sizes of all three parts ?

go to Disk Managment for that, don't use Win Explorer; no need to format, just delete each partition


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## lucky13 (Nov 27, 2006)

P Smith said:


> yes, that sounds right - Swap, data partition and real-time extension
> 
> coud you tell us sizes of all three parts ?
> 
> go to Disk Managment for that, don't use Win Explorer; no need to format, just delete each partition


After a while, I realized I had to populate the volume.

Capacity 2861588 MB
Unallocated space 566 MB
Reserved space 0

Volumes
F 572 MB
G 28610 MB
I 2831697 MB
J 143 MB

So doesn't this mean I have 2.83 TB recording space when I plug it back into the Genie, with the other volumes for DirecTV housekeeping?


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## P Smith (Jul 25, 2002)

last one is unknown to me [143 MB ?] and the unallocated chunk [566 MB] ...

BUT ! You got it in full: the 2.83 TB is right on spot; so your HR24 did it right despite other posters told us, hehehe someone (perhaps there are more eaters ?) will eat the crow 

the space would be a sum of 28.6 GB and 2.83 TB

You shouln't reformat/erase partitions on the drive - nothing wrong with it ! Just use it.


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## lucky13 (Nov 27, 2006)

Yes, no need to reformat. Even I understood that. 
Thanks for your help.


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## RunnerFL (Jan 5, 2006)

P Smith said:


> last one is unknown to me [143 MB ?] and the unallocated chunk [566 MB] ...
> 
> BUT ! You got it in full: the 2.83 TB is right on spot; so your HR24 did it right despite other posters told us, hehehe someone (perhaps there are more eaters ?) will eat the crow
> 
> ...


No crow to eat. Clearly something changed recently and apparently HR24's now support 3TB drives. They did not in the past.


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## lucky13 (Nov 27, 2006)

RunnerFL said:


> No crow to eat. Clearly something changed recently and apparently HR24's now support 3TB drives. They did not in the past.


It definitely wasn't working on the 44 until I plugged it into the 24. Is it reasonable that the 24 formatted the drive for 2TB, which allowed the 44 to recognize it, realize it had more capacity, and reformat the drive for 3TB? When the 44 finished the reboot, it showed the start-up messages you see with a new drive or new software.

At this point, I have 3TB on the 44 and 2TB on the 24. I could switch the 3TB back to the 24 as an experiment, and then read the partitions off a PC to see if it's formatted for 2 or 3TB. But everything is working, and my experience with eSATAs tells me to leave well enough alone.


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## P Smith (Jul 25, 2002)

I would do the last experiment in no time ... if I would have all the equipment


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## RunnerFL (Jan 5, 2006)

lucky13 said:


> It definitely wasn't working on the 44 until I plugged it into the 24. Is it reasonable that the 24 formatted the drive for 2TB, which allowed the 44 to recognize it, realize it had more capacity, and reformat the drive for 3TB? When the 44 finished the reboot, it showed the start-up messages you see with a new drive or new software.
> 
> At this point, I have 3TB on the 44 and 2TB on the 24. I could switch the 3TB back to the 24 as an experiment, and then read the partitions off a PC to see if it's formatted for 2 or 3TB. But everything is working, and my experience with eSATAs tells me to leave well enough alone.


It is entirely possible but if the 44 did repartition and format the drive you would have seen a screen that said it was formatting the external device. I'd leave it alone and let others experiment if they are so eager to do so.


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## lucky13 (Nov 27, 2006)

RunnerFL said:


> It is entirely possible but if the 44 did repartition and format the drive you would have seen a screen that said it was formatting the external device. I'd leave it alone and let others experiment if they are so eager to do so.


I was hooking up eSATAs to the 44 and 24 at the same time. I might have missed the formatting message, as I was not always viewing the 44 display. But it got to the reboot so quickly, I was surprised it connected.


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## unixguru (Jul 9, 2007)

RunnerFL said:


> No crow to eat. Clearly something changed recently and apparently HR24's now support 3TB drives. They did not in the past.


Or the HR44 decided to reformat it after it was connected to the HR24.

To know for sure one would need to put a >2TB into an HR24 and then directly to a computer.

Who would be surprised if recent HR2x software was upgraded and they didn't tell anyone? Perhaps in preparation for a new model coming soon.


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## Laxguy (Dec 2, 2010)

unixguru said:


> Who would be surprised if recent HR2x software was upgraded and they didn't tell anyone? Perhaps in preparation for a new model coming soon.


Most would be surprised, as software versions and date of install are easily found in Settings.


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## unixguru (Jul 9, 2007)

Laxguy said:


> Most would be surprised, as software versions and date of install are easily found in Settings.


I used the word "upgraded" in terms of functionality. Obviously.


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## Griff (Sep 24, 2006)

The Rosewill RX-358 U3C supports up to 4tb (according to Rosewill's site); the Rosewill RX-358 V2 only 2tb. I put a WD30EURS (3tb) in a U3C. I had to format first in a PC before the HR44 would see it. 

This was my second attempt to use a 3tb drive. The first drive lasted one week then the HR44 started reporting "problem detected on the external storage device". A reboot or two seemed to fix the issue except when doing a system test, then the error would report. But the DVR continued to work fine. Amazon exchanged the drive, hopefully no more issues.


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## lucky13 (Nov 27, 2006)

lucky13 said:


> It definitely wasn't working on the 44 until I plugged it into the 24. Is it reasonable that the 24 formatted the drive for 2TB, which allowed the 44 to recognize it, realize it had more capacity, and reformat the drive for 3TB? When the 44 finished the reboot, it showed the start-up messages you see with a new drive or new software.
> At this point, I have 3TB on the 44 and 2TB on the 24. I could switch the 3TB back to the 24 as an experiment, and then read the partitions off a PC to see if it's formatted for 2 or 3TB. But everything is working, and my experience with eSATAs tells me to leave well enough alone.


Well, curiosity, plus the possibility of adding at least 1TB more storage to the HR24, got the best of me.

Conclusion: The 24 does indeed support an external drive larger than 2TB.

Details:

Connected WD30EZRX 3TB drive to HR24-100. Thermaltake Blacx dock. The drive had been successfully connected to an HR44-500. See previous posts in this thread.

HR24 displayed the "formatting external drive" notice.

Confirmed connection through External Drive test on Guided Tests menu.

Connected the WD30 to a PC. 
Control Panel/Device Manager/Disk Drives/WD30
Properties box/Volumes tab/Populate volumes:

Partition Style: GUID Partition Table (GPT)
Capacity: 2861588MB
Unallocated: 566MB
Reserved: 0

F: 572MB
G: 28610MB
H: 2831841MB

I surmise from these stats that the drive was formatted by the HR24 for 2.83TB of recording space, with 28.6GB for DirecTV housekeeping space.

Reconnected the WD20EVDS 2TB drive to the HR24, where had been successfully connected prior to this test. 
No "formatting drive" displayed. Guided test showed external drive successfully connected. Test recording placed on drive before the test still in playlist.

Reconnected the 3TB drive to the HR44. 
After I entered diagnostic mode for the guided test, the "formatting storage device" message appeared. Guided test confirmed presence of 3TB external drive. Of couse, no recordings on the local playlist.

So it appears that the 24 supports at least a 3TB external drive.

Remaining questions: Although it formats the drive to capacity, will it actually record past 2TB?

Why does the 24 reformat a drive already formatted? Do the 24/44 not recognize each other as compatible devices? We know from past attempts that recordings on one HR2x will still show on the playlst when the drive is connected to a different HR2x (although the recordings will not play).

Looking forward to comments on this.


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## P Smith (Jul 25, 2002)

> that the drive was formatted by the HR24 for 2.83TB of recording space, with 28.6GB for DirecTV housekeeping space.


It's *one* logical partition (with real-time extension), there are storing system metadata files, logs, etc and recordings.


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## hclarkjr (Feb 18, 2012)

question, i am going to be setting up a new WD AV-GP 2TB in a week or so and am curious if i need to format the drive first on my computer so that the HR44 will see it?


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## Laxguy (Dec 2, 2010)

No!


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## P Smith (Jul 25, 2002)

hclarkjr said:


> question, i am going to be setting up a new WD AV-GP 2TB in a week or so and am curious if i need to format the drive first on my computer so that the HR44 will see it?


How/where you got the idea ?
If you like, go ahead and do format.
The DVR will reformat it anyway.


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## hclarkjr (Feb 18, 2012)

P Smith said:


> How/where you got the idea ?
> If you like, go ahead and do format.
> The DVR will reformat it anyway.


i am basing that on when you first install an unformated disk into computer you have to go to computer management to format the disk before windows will see it.


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## sfeym (Sep 5, 2010)

The HR-44 absolutely refused to see the external HDD regardless of which enclosure was used. I finally got it to work by using a friends HR-34 to format and only then did the HR-44 see the external drive. Itmay only be my unit and believe me tried every type of reboot to get it formatted on the 44.


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## cnr1089 (Nov 14, 2007)

I tried to get my new HR-44 to see my external SATA drive. I tried several reboots with no luck. Finally I formatted it on my Mac, then the next time I attached to my HR44 and rebooted it noticed it.


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## RunnerFL (Jan 5, 2006)

You guys should be reporting these HR44 eSATA issues in the issues & discussion thread so DirecTV is aware of the issues.

http://www.dbstalk.com/topic/205758-genie-0x06db-issuesdiscussion/


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## unixguru (Jul 9, 2007)

hclarkjr said:


> i am basing that on when you first install an unformated disk into computer you have to go to computer management to format the disk before windows will see it.


A full OS doesn't know how you want the drive partitioned or what file system(s) to put on it. A DVR knows exactly what it wants so it doesn't need prompting. If a DVR doesn't find the disk in exactly the structure it wants - partitions and file systems (and probably more) - it will reformat.


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## unixguru (Jul 9, 2007)

lucky13 said:


> Conclusion: The 24 does indeed support an external drive larger than 2TB.
> 
> I surmise from these stats that the drive was formatted by the HR24 for 2.83TB of recording space, with 28.6GB for DirecTV housekeeping space.
> 
> ...


The file system is XFS with real-time extensions; the 28.6GB is metadata and the 2.83TB is the data area.

It's possible that the HR24 will record past 2TB. Although they may not have completed work on that feature. It wouldn't be uncommon for software to be released with partial support for a feature coming down the road. Someone will have to try to exceed 2TB 

I suspect that it may be that the version or options of XFS (and therefore on-disk structure) may differ so the HR44 sees it as incompatible. Or maybe even the contents of the file system may be different.


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## Griff (Sep 24, 2006)

hclarkjr said:


> question, i am going to be setting up a new WD AV-GP 2TB in a week or so and am curious if i need to format the drive first on my computer so that the HR44 will see it?


Try it the easy way first  . If the new drive is not recognized, then format it in a PC  .

My experience......
The first 3tb WD drive in a Rosewill case failed after a week or so (see my earlier post above). Amazon replaced the drive and all is well. But to answer your question, in both installs the HR44-500 would NOT recognize the external drive until after I formatted it in a PC. Formatted out to 3tb each time in the PC. When re-connected to the HR44 the DVR then did its own format, took about 5 seconds. I don't know if this is the way it's _supposed_ to work, but there it is. As it stands, I can only assume it is using the full 3tb, but I have recorded a LOT of stuff and still at 90% free.


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## CCarncross (Jul 19, 2005)

It seems odd that an un-partitioned drive is causing hiccups, but that is probably what is causing the issue. Since the formatting and the partitioning of the drive has to be overwritten to set it up correctly for use in the DVR.


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## Laxguy (Dec 2, 2010)

CCarncross said:


> It seems odd that an un-partitioned drive is causing hiccups, but that is probably what is causing the issue. Since the formatting and the partitioning of the drive has to be overwritten to set it up correctly for use in the DVR.


Wouldn't some drives- maybe most- be formatted just fine with the defaults? Certainly if the drive has been used for other purposes it'd be reformatted by the DVR. Or does it format in order to be able to "mark" it as compatible with only the DVR it's attached to?


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## inkahauts (Nov 13, 2006)

Try it the easy way first  . If the new drive is not recognized, then format it in a PC  .

My experience......
The first 3tb WD drive in a Rosewill case failed after a week or so (see my earlier post above). Amazon replaced the drive and all is well. But to answer your question, in both installs the HR44-500 would NOT recognize the external drive until after I formatted it in a PC. Formatted out to 3tb each time in the PC. When re-connected to the HR44 the DVR then did its own format, took about 5 seconds. I don't know if this is the way it's supposed to work, but there it is. As it stands, I can only assume it is using the full 3tb, but I have recorded a LOT of stuff and still at 90% free.


You could pop it into your pc again and see what size partitions it shows without changing anything.


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## Griff (Sep 24, 2006)

inkahauts said:


> You could pop it into your pc again and see what size partitions it shows without changing anything.


I would do that if anyone wants to know. Otherwise I think I will leave well enough alone :grin:


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## P Smith (Jul 25, 2002)

It would be nice to know what partitions created; it would help other people.


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## P Smith (Jul 25, 2002)

Looks like new partitioning scheme has 4th small partition, while before it was just three:SWAP, XFS and XFS real-time extension.


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## RunnerFL (Jan 5, 2006)

P Smith said:


> It would be nice to know what partitions created; it would help other people.


I'll do what you normally do to others... The information can already be found in other posts on this site, try searching. :righton:


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## P Smith (Jul 25, 2002)

then you read only these posts what you can read ...


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## CCarncross (Jul 19, 2005)

Laxguy said:


> Wouldn't some drives- maybe most- be formatted just fine with the defaults? Certainly if the drive has been used for other purposes it'd be reformatted by the DVR. Or does it format in order to be able to "mark" it as compatible with only the DVR it's attached to?


All new drives come low-level formatted from the factory. What I think is happening currently in the HR44 firmware is that it doesnt seem to be able to correctly partition and format an unpartitioned or formatted drive. As long as you attach it to antoher device, it seems to be able to recognize that the current partioning/formatting scheme is not suitable and it "corrects" itself, but only after the drive is partitioned/formatted by something else 1st. Its probably just a bug in the realtively new HR44's firmware.


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## hclarkjr (Feb 18, 2012)

well i just hooked the drive up straight to the reciever and not in computer first, worked fine first try. formated and up and running already


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## Laxguy (Dec 2, 2010)

To which DVR, Mr. Clark? BTW, that's what _*should *_happen!


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## hclarkjr (Feb 18, 2012)

HR44


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## P Smith (Jul 25, 2002)

and a maker ? I mean "-400" ?


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## hclarkjr (Feb 18, 2012)

500


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## hclarkjr (Feb 18, 2012)

what would cause the screen to freeze then go black? i have to hit button on remote then the screen comes back


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## Laxguy (Dec 2, 2010)

I don't know, but is there enough of a history to say what seems to trigger that?


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## hclarkjr (Feb 18, 2012)

i tried recording something and it froze it too. i went back to the internal drive and it froze again within 5 minutes but has not done it since. so i have no idea what is going on


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## Laxguy (Dec 2, 2010)

When you switch back and forth, it's kinda like a new software and Guide update. I'd wait at least 24 hours before being concerned about any anomalies.


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## P Smith (Jul 25, 2002)

Laxguy said:


> When you switch back and forth, it's kinda like a new software and Guide update. I'd wait at least 24 hours before being concerned about any anomalies.


I would say that would be bizarre idea to procure the issue; the DVR could miss some EPG or icons for fist day, but typical functionality must works, like writing/play events.


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## Laxguy (Dec 2, 2010)

P Smith said:


> I would say that would be bizarre idea to procure the issue; the DVR could miss some EPG or icons for fist day, but typical functionality must works, like writing/play events.


Could you kindly rephrase this??


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## P Smith (Jul 25, 2002)

The idea to define EHDD's problem by reloading EPG and icons from a stream sounds strange at least. I see no connection between the two dots.


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## ticmxman (Aug 28, 2007)

lucky13 said:


> Well, curiosity, plus the possibility of adding at least 1TB more storage to the HR24, got the best of me.
> Conclusion: The 24 does indeed support an external drive larger than 2TB.
> Details:
> Connected WD30EZRX 3TB drive to HR24-100. Thermaltake Blacx dock. The drive had been successfully connected to an HR44-500. See previous posts in this thread.
> ...


Hmmm...I received a pleasant surprise today. I am using the same WD30EZRX 3TB HDD in the same BlacX dock as Lucky13. I had done the same process, the HR44 would not recognize the external drive until I connected it to my HR24 and let it format the drive then connected it to the HR44 and it recognized it and is working well.

The surprise came when I decidedly to connect the drive to my old desktop running Windows XP to check the size of the HDD and the report came back at a little over 2TB. So at this point I assumed the HR24's 2TB HDD limit had been formatted onto the 3TB drive...bummer. After giving it some thought I decided to connect the BlacX dock to my laptop running Vista and what do you know it reported the drive at 2861588 mb, slightly under 3TB. So apparently my PC's XP report on the drive capacity was not accurate while the Laptop running Vista is correct. So do not be fooled by the limitations of XP.

Edit to add info found on a similar WD 3TB Drive at Amazon below.
Microsoft operating systems prior to Vista, 32-bit operating systems, and Mac systems prior to OSX 10.4 may not support volumes greater than 2TB. To recognize the full capacity of this drive, you may need multiple partitions. Check with the manufacturer to verify your system's compatibility.


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## hclarkjr (Feb 18, 2012)

the new dock arrived today. up and running for 2 hours so far with no freezes or lock ups, so far!!


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## P Smith (Jul 25, 2002)

I would say again: for the only purpose (connecting SATA drives to eSATA port of DVR or PC) best choice would be an enclosure or a dock without any controller inside. Totally useless component this time.


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## hclarkjr (Feb 18, 2012)

i just wanted to say thanx to all that replied to me in this thread. all is well now, the new dock worked. been running for 24 hours now with no trouble.


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## trw412 (Aug 12, 2013)

I got the WD AV-GP 3TB AV Video Hard Drive: 3.5 Inch, SATA II, 64 MB Cache - WD30EURS  and a Rosewill RX-358 V2 to attach externally to a DirecTv HR-44 via eSata. At first, the HR-44 did not see the external HD. So, I removed the HD and connected it to a Windows XP machine via USB. Then I *initialized* it (I think this was the key); also formatted it to 2TB (max limit for XP), and re-attached it to the HR-44. The 44 recognized it immediately, re-formatted it and is now using it. All seems GREAT. I have recorded TONS of stuff and still at 81% free. I believe the HR-44 reformatted it to 3TB, but I have not checked on that. (But, you can if you want.) Anyway, it seems from my experience, and other threads, that the HD needs to be initialized and formatted on a PC first, and then connected to the HR-44. It might only require initialization. Happy viewing!


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## Tidalcloud (Sep 18, 2007)

Hey folks. I'll add myself to the list. 3TB WD hard drive was not recognized by new HR44. Tried about a half dozen times. I plugged it into my iMac and formatted it. That's it - just a format, no partitioning. Plugged it back into the HR44 and it was recognized right away. Whatever the cause - glad I read this thread as this was the answer. Thanks all.


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## Bill Broderick (Aug 25, 2006)

Same issue for me HR44-700, a WD30EURS HD and TT Max 5 enclosure. HR44 wouldn't recognize drive. I initialized the drive in my Windows 7 PC and then it was recognized and formatted by the HR44.


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## P Smith (Jul 25, 2002)

Formatting is a process of creating meta data inside of created partitions, what is done by an initialization. How the mac os handling the drive in reverse order is a puzzle for me.


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## RunnerFL (Jan 5, 2006)

P Smith said:


> Formatting is a process of creating meta data inside of created partitions, what is done by an initialization. How the mac os hndling drive in reverse order is a puzzle for me.


What are you talking about? Macs don't handle drives "in reverse order" at all.


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## mrphil (Dec 11, 2011)

Bill Broderick said:


> Same issue for me HR44-700, a WD30EURS HD and TT Max 5 enclosure. HR44 wouldn't recognize drive. I initialized the drive in my Windows 7 PC and then it was recognized and formatted by the HR44.


Ran into the same issue yesterday with the same drive. The HR44-500 diags showed it was connected, just not formatted. (Error 3005) I only initialized the drive in Win7, reconnected it to the HR44-500, did a menu restart. The HR44-500 formatted it and it's good to go.


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## P Smith (Jul 25, 2002)

Tidalcloud said:


> Hey folks. I'll add myself to the list. 3TB WD hard drive was not recognized by new HR44. Tried about a half dozen times. I plugged it into my iMac and formatted it. *That's it - just a format, no partitioning*. Plugged it back into the HR44 and it was recognized right away. Whatever the cause - glad I read this thread as this was the answer. Thanks all.


read this first, then talk



RunnerFL said:


> What are you talking about? Macs don't handle drives "in reverse order" at all.


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## Laxguy (Dec 2, 2010)

Tidalcloud said:


> Hey folks. I'll add myself to the list. 3TB WD hard drive was not recognized by new HR44. Tried about a half dozen times. I plugged it into my iMac and formatted it. That's it - just a format, no partitioning. Plugged it back into the HR44 and it was recognized right away. Whatever the cause - glad I read this thread as this was the answer. Thanks all.


What did you choose for the format?

Did it re-format on first up via the HR44?


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## RunnerFL (Jan 5, 2006)

P Smith said:


> read this first, then talk


Yeah, I read it. It's not possible for a drive to be formatted without a partition setup first, Mac or not. You claim to know a lot about drives, you should at least know that if you know anything. Macs do not handle drives "in reverse" as you so imply.


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## P Smith (Jul 25, 2002)

"reverse" word used for point out: drive's initialization doing by an order 1) create partitions first 2) format the partition(s) next; that poster described it in reverse order

[Windows OS added to that unnecessary tidbit - create a volume 'label' by placing time-stamp data into MBR, naming it as 'initialization' ]

you can't format unpartitioned space on drive, if you've been in IT you should knew that


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## RunnerFL (Jan 5, 2006)

P Smith said:


> "reverse" word used for point out: drive's initialization doing by an order 1) create partitions first 2) format the partition(s) next; that poster described it in reverse order
> 
> [Windows OS added to that unnecessary tidbit - create a volume 'label' by placing time-stamp data into MBR, naming it as 'initialization' ]
> 
> you can't format unpartitioned space on drive, if you've been in IT you should knew that


I do know that, that's my entire point! You're the one who didn't know enough and bought that the drive was formatted without a partition and claimed it was "reverse order". Macs format drives just like anything else that formats a hard drive. The OP was mistaken and you just assumed it happened that way and decreed that Macs did things in reverse.


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## P Smith (Jul 25, 2002)

I did go with poster's wording, not MacOS functioning. 

Perhaps it's time to re-tune to the topic ...


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## RunnerFL (Jan 5, 2006)

P Smith said:


> I did go with poster's wording, not MacOS functioning.


And you'd be wrong. If you know as much as you claim to know then you know you MUST create a label, then a partition before a drive can be formatted. Once again, a Mac is no different.


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## peds48 (Jan 11, 2008)

RunnerFL said:


> And you'd be wrong. If you know as much as you claim to know then you know you MUST create a label, then a partition before a drive can be formatted. Once again, a Mac is no different.


Yup, you are right. here is a screen cap

Click for large view - Uploaded with Skitch


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## P Smith (Jul 25, 2002)

*should we continue digging the hole outside the road ?*

well, the point of creating a LABEL is useless IMO; it's a optional part (just 4 or 8 bytes) of MBR or GPT;

the snapshot above telling you: the OS will create a PARTITION first, then format it (regardless how it presenting to you on the screen)

you are ppl of new generation who are just reading icons and GUI presentation without knowledge how exactly programs/code is working ... perhaps you don't need the KNOWLEDGE


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## RunnerFL (Jan 5, 2006)

P Smith said:


> *should we continue digging the hole outside the road ?*
> 
> well, the point of creating a LABEL is useless IMO; it's a optional part (just 4 or 8 bytes) of MBR or GPT;
> 
> ...


The disk label is not optional at all. Without a label you can't create a partition and without a partition you can't format. And when I say "disk label" I'm NOT talking about the name you give the drive. Try using "parted" on a Linux box and then MAYBE you'll grasp the concept.

And FYI, I've been setting up hard drives before there was a GUI to be found on both PC's and Apples.


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## P Smith (Jul 25, 2002)

tell me that about 3330 200 MB (!) and 3340 Winchester [German 5066 ?] model for IBM-360 ... and a little bit 2314


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## RunnerFL (Jan 5, 2006)

P Smith said:


> tell me that about 3330 200 MB (!) and 3340 Winchester [German 5066 ?] model for IBM-360 ... and a little bit 2314


I believe you mean the IBM S/360. And I'm not here to play your little games and have to pass your silly tests.


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## peds48 (Jan 11, 2008)

RunnerFL said:


> I believe you mean the IBM S/360. And I'm not here to play your little games and have to pass your silly tests.


 !rolling


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## jallis47 (Apr 12, 2009)

Got a new HR44-700 to replace my previous HR44-700 and the new box won't play the recordings on the external HD. They show up in the recording list but when you try to play them you get a message : All or some of the recording was not available at broadcast time. Wait while we scan for viewable content. So you wait and you get the message asking if you want to delete or not. Both boxes have the same software version ( 0xa72 ). Any ideas?


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## inkahauts (Nov 13, 2006)

Yeah it'll never play. All but over the air recordings are tied to the specific box it gets recorded on and you can't take the recordings to another box. Just delete them they are toast. Actually I'd write them all down or what have you for getting them from another source. Like Netflix. A disc subscription will likely get you everything you had recorded. Good luck!!!


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## Bill Broderick (Aug 25, 2006)

jallis47 said:


> Got a new HR44-700 to replace my previous HR44-700 and the new box won't play the recordings on the external HD. They show up in the recording list but when you try to play them you get a message : All or some of the recording was not available at broadcast time. Wait while we scan for viewable content. So you wait and you get the message asking if you want to delete or not. Both boxes have the same software version ( 0xa72 ). Any ideas?


Programs recorded on the external hard drive are only playable on the DVR from which they were recorded. When that DVR died, you lost access to the recordings on your hard drive. One of the most common "wish list" items amongst people here is a change so that hard drives are linked to an account rather than a specific DVR. However, I'm not holding my breath waiting for that to happen.


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