# 921 Hard Drive Never shuts down



## rpc981 (Feb 5, 2005)

I've had my 921 for about a month, and the hard drive runs 24/7. I've called support and they said this is normal which baffles me. Why would it be "normal" for a hard drive to run 24/7? Anyone else experience this?


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## madbrain (Dec 10, 2004)

The HD runs 24/7 on my 921 too.

The fact that Dish says it is "normal" shows how poorly designed this receiver is :-(


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## markcollins (Jan 27, 2004)

ya well it's not normal,just the way it is designed.That is one of the bugs reported over a year ago that Dish/Eldon were going to address.Guess they figure it will last a year running constantly (Warranty) and after that it's yours.Not up there on the priority list I guess.You own it who cares if it wears out I guess is their attitude.


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## Allen Noland (Apr 23, 2002)

"Normal" in the fact that they haven't added the feature to have it shut off when not in use like the rest of the DVR's. This feature wasn't added to the 501 and 721 series until later it their life span. My guess is it will be added later on.


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## plumbstar (May 11, 2004)

What would the purpose be for it not shutting down?


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## tnsprin (Mar 16, 2003)

plumbstar said:


> What would the purpose be for it not shutting down?


No spinup delays. And believe it or not less wear and tear on the drive.


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## madbrain (Dec 10, 2004)

Mark,



markcollins said:


> ya well it's not normal,just the way it is designed.That is one of the bugs reported over a year ago that Dish/Eldon were going to address.Guess they figure it will last a year running constantly (Warranty) and after that it's yours.Not up there on the priority list I guess.You own it who cares if it wears out I guess is their attitude.


Well, some of us have an extended dish warranty (long story, see below), so the 921 should be repaired if the drive fails after 1 year.

A few years ago, I was having random signal losses that couldn't be explained even after receiver replacement. I knew it was either the LNBs or the SW64 switch I had at the time, but Dish just wouldn't send an installer to replace them.
I got sick of it, canceled my Dish network service, and waited a week. They ended up replacement all my LNBs and the switch, upgrading them to Dish Pro, at no charge; except they made me sign up for the extended warranty, which would have covered these. I haven't got around to canceling it yet and I'm guessing I'll keep it a while with these 921 problems , just in case they can't fix the bugs and have to upgrade me to a 942 .

In the meantime I'm raising hell with support to get the DVR free for the 921 waived until they fix the major bugs (for me, it's the aspect ratio that bothers me the most - daily occurence). I haven't succeeded yet, though ...


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## tom921 (Jan 21, 2005)

Although I don't like the noise of the always running 921 disk drive, and there is no logical reason to keeping it running in standby, I wouldn't worry about the disk drive failing because of it. As plumstar mentioned, there is actually less wear and tear not shutting it down. My computers always run 24/7 and run SETI screen savers so my computer disks run constantly. I have never had a computer disk fail.


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## JPC (Feb 8, 2005)

[email protected] said:


> I've had my 921 for about a month, and the hard drive runs 24/7. I've called support and they said this is normal which baffles me. Why would it be "normal" for a hard drive to run 24/7? Anyone else experience this?


Bob,
I guess it depends who you talk to in customer support. The woman I spoke with told me that it was _not _ normal (after conferring with one of her associates) and recommended that I contact my dealer for a replacement. Interestingly enough, my dealer contacted his distributor who also said that the 921 is malfunctioning and has offered to replace it.
JP


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## harsh (Jun 15, 2003)

tnsprin said:


> No spinup delays. And believe it or not less wear and tear on the drive.


Actually, assuming perfect AC line power, drive life is a wash. Since few are running their receivers on UPS devices, it is better to spin the drives down. You have to hit a drive with more than 600g to damage it when it isn't spinning but bad power or a 30g impact can destroy a spinning drive (back in the day, these numbers were 40g and 1g respectively).

Today's drives are rated to handle upwards of 200,000 power cycles (significantly more severe than starting and stopping). Spinning a drive up and down is no longer a significant factor in determining drive life. Having the drive spinning when it doesn't need to be spinning is to risk exposure to bad power or impact.

For myself, I only use the receiver for an average of two hours per day and I don't need to leave the drive howling for the other 22 hours. That much of the noise is actually the cooling fan is a topic for another discussion.

On a somewhat related topic, here's what Maxtor had to say about sound, heat and power consumption when discussing 5400 .vs. 7200rpm drives for DVR use:

http://www.maxtor.com/_files/maxtor..._technical/hdd_considerations_white_paper.pdf


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## ClaudeR (Dec 7, 2003)

" Since few are running their receivers on UPS devices, it is better to spin the drives down."

Everyone should, since you can get a cheap UPS for about $20 after rebate. A small price to pay for protecting the sensitive 921 box.


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