# Transferring drive from Seagate Free Agent Pro to another enclosure



## ericlhyman (Jul 11, 2003)

Part of an esata cable broke off inside the connection to my Seagate Free Agent Pro and I cannot get another esata cable of the same type to fit into it. The hard drive is fine and I want to preserve my HD-DVR recordings. Can I transfer the hard drive to another type of enclosure (I have a Rosewill) or would it have to be a Seagate? Would the software be required to do this? Any special tools needed? How would this be done -- is it just a simple removal and insertion?


----------



## mjones73 (Jun 20, 2006)

Just a simple remove and install, there is no software installed on the enclosure.


----------



## houskamp (Sep 14, 2006)

should be a simple swap.. the drive is locked to the reciever not the case.. some have even taken an external, removed the drive, and put it inside the reciever with no problems..


----------



## BillPear (Mar 7, 2006)

Does anyone have the instructions for opening the FAP case? I've been considering this for some time.


----------



## mjones73 (Jun 20, 2006)

If you are considering putting your 750 GB drive inside and you lease it's not a good idea.


----------



## cartrivision (Jul 25, 2007)

mjones73 said:


> If you are considering putting your 750 GB drive inside and you lease it's not a good idea.


That's not what he was asking about doing, but that's exactly what I would do if I was him.... no more broken or accidentally disconnected eSATA (or power) cables to worry about.

BTW, regarding the first poster's comment about replacing the cable, since when doesn't the FAP just use a standard eSATA to eSATA cable?


----------



## mjones73 (Jun 20, 2006)

I was referring to Bill Pear's post about houskamp comment about people taking the drives out to put install them internal, sorry I didn't clarify that. 

As for recommending people crack the case open on leased equipment, that's a bit irresponsible don't you think?


----------



## cartrivision (Jul 25, 2007)

mjones73 said:


> I was referring to Bill Pear's post about houskamp comment about people taking the drives out to put install them internal, sorry I didn't clarify that.
> 
> As for recommending people crack the case open on leased equipment, that's a bit irresponsible don't you think?


No more than recommending putting a high end radio in a leased car. I would just recommend that they also hold on to the factory installed radio and put it back in the car before they turn it in to the dealer when the lease is up.


----------



## BillPear (Mar 7, 2006)

mjones73 said:


> I was referring to Bill Pear's post about houskamp comment about people taking the drives out to put install them internal, sorry I didn't clarify that.
> 
> As for recommending people crack the case open on leased equipment, that's a bit irresponsible don't you think?


I never mentioned opening the HR20.


----------



## houskamp (Sep 14, 2006)

BillPear said:


> I never mentioned opening the HR20.


neither did I, just used it for a "should work" (putting drive from external esata in a new case)


----------



## mjones73 (Jun 20, 2006)

BillPear said:


> I never mentioned opening the HR20.


Sorry, you asked how to open the FAP after houskamp posted some people have taken them apart to install the drives internally, I assumed that's what you want to do, you weren't clear on what you've been wanting to do in your post.


----------



## mjones73 (Jun 20, 2006)

cartrivision said:


> No more than recommending putting a high end radio in a leased car. I would just recommend that they also hold on to the factory installed radio and put it back in the car before they turn it in to the dealer when the lease is up.


I can't comment if it's against your auto lease agreement to swap out car stereos, I've never leased a car so I don't know if it's allowed or not. My guess is as long as you return the car as you received it they don't care.

It is against the agreement with Directv to crack your hardware open, if you are going to continue recommending people do so, might want to remind them they are breaking their agreement in the process.

In either case of course if you break something in the process of swapping equipment, it's coming out of your pocket to fix it.


----------



## cartrivision (Jul 25, 2007)

mjones73 said:


> I can't comment if it's against your auto lease agreement to swap out car stereos, I've never leased a car so I don't know if it's allowed or not. My guess is as long as you return the car as you received it they don't care.
> 
> It is against the agreement with Directv to crack your hardware open, if you are going to continue recommending people do so, might want to remind them they are breaking their agreement in the process.


Is it? I found nothing in the lease agreement :contract: that says that I can't open my DVR case. Hell, they didn't even seal mine with a sticker that said that I would void my warranty if I opened it up. And since they had no language in the lease agreement that said I couldn't open it up, after I opened it up, I decided that plugging my replacement disk into the SATA connector that they provide inside the box wasn't materially different from plugging it into the eSATA connector that they provide on the outside of the box.



> In either case of course if you break something in the process of swapping equipment, it's coming out of your pocket to fix it.


I can accept that, just like if I broke my computer while I was installing a bigger disk in it, I would have to pay to fix or replace that too. Life is full of risk/reward tradeoffs.


----------



## BillPear (Mar 7, 2006)

mjones73 said:


> Sorry, you asked how to open the FAP after houskamp posted some people have taken them apart to install the drives internally, I assumed that's what you want to do, you weren't clear on what you've been wanting to do in your post.


I just re-read my original post, seemed pretty clear to me-

"Does anyone have the instructions for opening the FAP case?"


----------



## houskamp (Sep 14, 2006)

From Tivo Community forum (can't post link to specific post, not member) 
Quote:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Originally Posted by deeremj 
Spike,

I want to pull my freeagent apart to put the drive into in an mx-1 enclosure for better cooling...Any tips on how to take it apart without destroying the enclosure?

-Thanks!

-mj
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


It's kind of hard not too but on the bottom of the drive you will see 3 small slits on each side.
Basically, plastic tab is holding the case together. So if you can find a flat objects that can fit through the middle slit, you can press the plastic tabs that is located about 2" down in side the case on both sides to release the cover. 

Cover is the side that has Seagate logo on it.

If it's too hard, you can use a flat screw driver and just pull the cover off, breaking the plastic tabs.

I chose the brute force method and according to Seagate's warranty validation site, hard drive is still covered for 5 yrs. 

If you got BB deal, you are still on top even without the case as bare drive costs more than the eSATA drive.


----------



## BillPear (Mar 7, 2006)

houskamp said:


> From Tivo Community forum (can't post link to specific post, not member)
> Quote:
> 
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> ...


Thanks!


----------



## jahgreen (Dec 15, 2006)

cartrivision said:


> Is it? I found nothing in the lease agreement :contract: that says that I can't open my DVR case. Hell, they didn't even seal mine with a sticker that said that I would void my warranty if I opened it up. And since they had no language in the lease agreement that said I couldn't open it up, after I opened it up, I decided that plugging my replacement disk into the SATA connector that they provide inside the box wasn't materially different from plugging it into the eSATA connector that they provide on the outside of the box.
> 
> I can accept that, just like if I broke my computer while I was installing a bigger disk in it, I would have to pay to fix or replace that too. Life is full of risk/reward tradeoffs.


From the Lease Addendum:

"CARE OF EQUIPMENT. You are responsible for the loss of or any damage to the DIRECTV equipment that you have leased from DIRECTV. You shall have no right to sell, give away, transfer, pledge, mortgage, remove, relocate, *alter or tamper with* the DIRECTV equipment at any time."


----------



## cartrivision (Jul 25, 2007)

jahgreen said:


> From the Lease Addendum:
> 
> "CARE OF EQUIPMENT. You are responsible for the loss of or any damage to the DIRECTV equipment that you have leased from DIRECTV. You shall have no right to sell, give away, transfer, pledge, mortgage, remove, relocate, *alter or tamper with* the DIRECTV equipment at any time."


Thank goodness that disabling the factory installed disk by connecting a bigger disk that you purchased yourself doesn't qualify as altering or tampering with the equipment, otherwise everyone who did that by plugging an external disk into the eSATA port on back of the DVR would be in violation of their lease... as would everyone who does the same thing by plugging a new disk into the SATA connector inside the DVR.


----------

