# Hard Drives - SOLD OUT - WD20EURS



## bill4d (Oct 21, 2011)

I'm currently looking for a Western Digital WD20EURS. They seem to be sold out everywhere. There's even a statement on Amazon.com mentioning the recent natural disaster in Thailand affecting their stock. It looks like the flooding in Thailand may be delaying the production or delivery of drives to the US.

Does anyone know of any sources for these drives?


----------



## sigma1914 (Sep 5, 2006)

http://www.americanesuperstore.com/mbhd-w20eurs.html
http://www.officedepot.com/a/produc...-411F-E011-AD27-0019B9C043EB&mr:referralID=NA
http://www.cdw.com/shop/products/WD...S - hard drive - 2 TB - SATA-300_WES-WD20EURS

Found more on Google Shopping. http://www.google.com/products/cata...a=X&ei=RW6pTtypE8yNsALHjY3dDw&ved=0CGsQ8wIwAA


----------



## MysteryMan (May 17, 2010)

CompUSA.com has them in stock for $139.99.


----------



## RunnerFL (Jan 5, 2006)

http://www.amazon.com/AGI-Western-D...PU/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&qid=1319726757&sr=8-10

Be warned though the prices of drives has nearly doubled in the last week and availability for all drives is very low. The EARX models went from $79.99 to $140 on amazon.com just the other day.


----------



## sigma1914 (Sep 5, 2006)

RunnerFL said:


> http://www.amazon.com/AGI-Western-D...PU/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&qid=1319726757&sr=8-10
> 
> Be warned though the prices of drives has nearly doubled in the last week and availability for all drives is very low. The EARX models went from $79.99 to $140 on amazon.com just the other day.


The link says the drive is:
"Currently unavailable.
We don't know when or if this item will be back in stock."


----------



## dpeters11 (May 30, 2007)

I wouldn't expect it to get better for quite a while...I think the flooding has affected about 23,000 square miles.


----------



## bill4d (Oct 21, 2011)

MysteryMan said:


> CompUSA.com has them in stock for $139.99.


No they don't.

Their web site does not even list the item.


----------



## RunnerFL (Jan 5, 2006)

sigma1914 said:


> The link says the drive is:
> "Currently unavailable.
> We don't know when or if this item will be back in stock."


That was fast then. When I posted the link it said 19 available.


----------



## RunnerFL (Jan 5, 2006)

You don't have to go with the WD20EURS, the WD20EARX works too.


----------



## Chuck W (Mar 26, 2002)

I "thought" I read where this won't affect Seagate drives. So if there are any Seagate drives confirmed to work, maybe take a look there.


----------



## dpeters11 (May 30, 2007)

Chuck W said:


> I "thought" I read where this won't affect Seagate drives. So if there are any Seagate drives confirmed to work, maybe take a look there.


Seagate themselves aren't having any issues at their plants, but I believe they said that wasn't the case for some of their suppliers of components. They said that it was expected to cause a significant impact on their production levels.


----------



## armophob (Nov 13, 2006)

I imagine barfines have doubled in baht as well. Back to topic


----------



## bill4d (Oct 21, 2011)

So the only difference between the EARX and the EARS is the transfer rate.

EARX = 6 GB/s
EARS = 3 GB/s

Will the HR24 benefit from the 6GB/s transfer rate, or is there no point in a drive having that ability?

I'm not what differences there are from the EARS / EARX to the EURS. Other than the EURS being listed as an AV specific drive.

The power usage ratings on the EARS / EARX are actually slightly less thna the EURS.


----------



## CCarncross (Jul 19, 2005)

I dont believe the sata chipsets being used in these dvrs are capable of 6GB data rates yet, so you should see no benefit.


----------



## P Smith (Jul 25, 2002)

DTV doesn't use SATA chipsets (how many times I should post it ?), the functionality exist inside of Broadcom main chips 7038/7401/7402/7400 what mostly used in DVR/STB.

So far, I've not seen support 3 Gbps in those, for sure 1.5 Gbps is the 'gold' standard for the DVRs. Forget about 6 Gbps support.


----------



## RunnerFL (Jan 5, 2006)

bill4d said:


> So the only difference between the EARX and the EARS is the transfer rate.
> 
> EARX = 6 GB/s
> EARS = 3 GB/s
> ...


I have an EARS in one HR21 and a AVDS, the precursor for the EURS, and I see no difference in performance between the 2.


----------



## P Smith (Jul 25, 2002)

Yes, you must. Because of fixed speed at main chip [for sure 1.5 Gbps], perhaps newest support 3 Gbps (?).


----------



## matt (Jan 12, 2010)

Try looking at Seagate. D* uses those in a lot of DVRs so they should work well.

I hope this is an owned receiver you are going to put it in because changing the internal hard drive of a leased receiver is against the TOS!


----------



## Davenlr (Sep 16, 2006)

I have a 2TB Seagate 5900 rpm drive in my HR24-500, and it works perfect.


----------



## RunnerFL (Jan 5, 2006)

matt said:


> Try looking at Seagate. D* uses those in a lot of DVRs so they should work well.


Except Seagates don't work with HR24's, inside or out.


----------



## RunnerFL (Jan 5, 2006)

Davenlr said:


> I have a 2TB Seagate 5900 rpm drive in my HR24-500, and it works perfect.


I tried 3 different Seagates in my HR24 and none worked internally or externally.

5900 or 5400?


----------



## Davenlr (Sep 16, 2006)

RunnerFL said:


> I tried 3 different Seagates in my HR24 and none worked internally or externally.
> 
> 5900 or 5400?


Its a 2TB Barracuda 5900 rpm drive. Forget the exact model number. Only works in the -500 tho, it wont fit in the other ones I dont believe.


----------



## matt (Jan 12, 2010)

RunnerFL said:


> Except Seagates don't work with HR24's, inside or out.


Naw, I just know the OP is a seagate lover. They are crap actually.


----------



## bill4d (Oct 21, 2011)

matt said:


> Naw, I just know the OP is a seagate lover. They are crap actually.


:nono: Nope. Not a Seagate lover. The original post is specifically about Western Digital models.


----------



## RunnerFL (Jan 5, 2006)

Davenlr said:


> Its a 2TB Barracuda 5900 rpm drive. Forget the exact model number. Only works in the -500 tho, it wont fit in the other ones I dont believe.


Interesting, I've never seen a 5900rpm drive. Most common are 7200 and 5400. I tried several Seagate 5400rpm drives, of varying sizes even, in my HR24-500 and none worked. The crazy thing is that the 500gb that came in my HR24 is a Seagate, not a Barracuda though.


----------



## MysteryMan (May 17, 2010)

bill4d said:


> No they don't.
> 
> Their web site does not even list the item.


You are correct. After checking again the site shows the WD20EARS, not the WD20EURS. My bad.


----------



## hitokage (Jan 19, 2010)

Seagate may not be affected as much because many of their drives are being made/assembled in China (probably why they've become crappy - I think this was Maxtor's factory). The rest come from Thailand.

Samsung may also not be affected as their drives are made/assembled in either (South) Korea or China.

Western Digital and Hitachi are probably both completely affected as it appears all their drives are coming from Thailand.

I've seen problems from almost all the manufacturers for over a year - enough that I'm pretty much weary of everyone. Someone needs to tell the manufacturers that in the case of data, people will pay more (most people anyway) if the drive will last three plus years. They have to remember that most people don't upgrade their drive all the time (gamers, etc.), they usually replace the whole machine, so having drives that last only a year or two (if that) will drive them away.


----------



## JonW (Dec 21, 2006)

Another factor may be that Verizon's new FIOS DVR firmware that supports eSATA is making its way across the East Coast. I thought it odd that both Amazon and B&H were down to one unit in stock of the WD20EURS when I placed my order last week. Fortunately, I got in before price gouging set in.

It looks like stock on hand is evaporating and demand is only rising.

btw, I've used a standard 2TB WD Green Power drive with my DirecTv boxes. The AV-GP drives are preferable because they're optimized for DVR applications, but other drives will work too.


----------



## SFNSXguy (Apr 17, 2006)

I bought two WD20EURS from B&H a couple of weeks ago... believe they were $95.

EDIT: Hmmm they seem to be sold out too... and price is now $139. Guess they've gotten popular! They DO work well.


----------



## longrider (Apr 21, 2007)

I just noticed this thread, and do I ever have good timing. I was not aware of the issues but just yesterday I bought a WD20EURS at MicroCenter in Denver for $99.99, they had 6 in stock. I did notice that they were limiting purchases to 1 per person. Today it is $149.99!! They still have 3 left but it is in store pick up only, no shipping


----------



## luckydob (Oct 2, 2006)

"hitokage" said:


> Seagate may not be affected as much because many of their drives are being made/assembled in China (probably why they've become crappy - I think this was Maxtor's factory). The rest come from Thailand.
> 
> Samsung may also not be affected as their drives are made/assembled in either (South) Korea or China.
> 
> ...


Seagate, while not assembled much in Thailand, receives components in their drives that are made in....Thailand. It will affect all drive manufacturers in some way. Expect it to last until very early 2012 at this point.


----------



## hitokage (Jan 19, 2010)

Which is why I said "*may not be*" .

Maybe this will get drive manufacturers to spread their operations back out again (at least a little bit) - because consolidating like this has created a single point of failure.


----------



## Prngr44 (Nov 7, 2011)

I bought one of these drives with an eSATA enclosure.

Does the drive need to be jumpered in any particular way? I thought I just plugged the drive in "as-is" and connected through the esata port and it just did its thing.

The Antec MX-1 was OOS but a handful of the reviews for the Vantec enclosure I did purchase indicated they worked with DTV DVRs.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions on configuration. I've searched through lots of threads (particularly the esata FAQ and the recommended drives thread and still can't seem to locate my answer.)


----------



## RunnerFL (Jan 5, 2006)

Prngr44 said:


> I bought one of these drives with an eSATA enclosure.
> 
> Does the drive need to be jumpered in any particular way? I thought I just plugged the drive in "as-is" and connected through the esata port and it just did its thing.
> 
> ...


No special configuration needed. I'm using the Vantec cases on 2 units and they work great.


----------



## Prngr44 (Nov 7, 2011)

So I suppose my next question is... why doesn't the DVR see the drive? I don't have any other eSATA devices to try, I guess I'll try to get a few eSATA cables from work to see if that's the culprit.

Thanks for the reply.


----------



## P Smith (Jul 25, 2002)

try to see it on your PC/Mac


----------



## Prngr44 (Nov 7, 2011)

P Smith said:


> try to see it on your PC/Mac


That's kind of why I was wondering about configurations. To view it on a PC, you have to jumper the drive and I have to use the USB cable (I have no other devices that can attach to it via eSATA.)

I thought to use it in the DVR, it could be jumperless. I don't think you can view it on the PC without jumpers.


----------



## JonW (Dec 21, 2006)

Prngr44 said:


> That's kind of why I was wondering about configurations. To view it on a PC, you have to jumper the drive and I have to use the USB cable (I have no other devices that can attach to it via eSATA.)
> 
> I thought to use it in the DVR, it could be jumperless. I don't think you can view it on the PC without jumpers.


If you got the same Vantec case I did, there isn't anything you need to do other than to plug it in via the USB port to your PC.

You will need to initialize the disk before creating a partition. Under XP they made init'ing the disk kind of hard to find because you need to get in to the disk manager and right click the drive icon itself. The option isn't in the menu.


----------



## P Smith (Jul 25, 2002)

it's simple test - if your drive(s) inside the box are OK; use USB, try to get properties of raw drive(s) ...


----------



## Prngr44 (Nov 7, 2011)

10-4. Thanks. I'll give it a shot again. 

Btw, here's the case I'm using:

Item # N82E16817392002 on Newegg.

(Can't link the URL directly, I'm too n00b.) 


Hmm. Plugged in the USB cable, it recognizes the USB to SATA bridge, but I don't see any way to access the drive to format, etc.

If I choose to "Display device components" I see the drive. Properties of the drive look fine. "Device is working properly" , under the Volumes tab, when I 'populate' the volume info I see 3 unnamed partitions. 518MB, 15367 MB, and 1891842MB.

I see no way to format, name the partitions, etc. No drive letter shows up in My Computer either.


----------



## Prngr44 (Nov 7, 2011)

Ok... 

Wow, what a massive pain in the rear! I got the drive recognizable to my PC (had to go through disk manager, delete the 3 pre-partitioned spaces, create a new single partition, then format it.)

5.5 hours later the formatting was complete! :hurah:

Hook it up to the DVR via eSATA, pretty sure it isn't getting recognized. I still see the handful of programs that were on the DVR by itself.

Any settings I need to change on the DVR to see the external drive? I expected my list to be blank if it DID see it.

Again, thanks for all help so far.


----------



## CCarncross (Jul 19, 2005)

So are you actually powering down the dvr by doing a menu restart, and pulling the plug when the lights go out?

then connecting up the eSATA enclosure, powering it up, then plugging the dvr back in?

External drives are not just plug and play when connecting to your dvr.

BTW the issues you had getting the drive to be recognized by Windows was 100% perfectly normal for a drive with linux partitions on it.


----------



## Prngr44 (Nov 7, 2011)

CCarncross said:


> So are you actually powering down the dvr by doing a menu restart, and pulling the plug when the lights go out?
> 
> then connecting up the eSATA enclosure, powering it up, then plugging the dvr back in?
> 
> ...


Thanks much. The hard reboot did it.


----------



## CCarncross (Jul 19, 2005)

Sounds like you didnt read any of the posts related to connecting an external drive to your dvr before you started this endeavor....


----------



## Robmoo (Jun 12, 2011)

It apperas WD is not currently manufacturing the WD20EURS. What alternatives are out there?


----------



## P Smith (Jul 25, 2002)

Searching for you .... Waiting response ... Processing the list ... Done.

http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=160800&highlight=recomended+drive



Spoiler



when ppl will do same without reminding ?


----------



## Robmoo (Jun 12, 2011)

A list of 3 HD's from 2009. Very useful to the person looking for a 2TB drive in 2012.

Thanks!


----------



## Davenlr (Sep 16, 2006)

Robmoo said:


> It apperas WD is not currently manufacturing the WD20EURS. What alternatives are out there?


I am using a Seagate ST320005N41A1AS-RK 2TB 5900 rpm drive 32MB cache in my server (2), my Tivo Premier (1), and an external case for my HR34, as well as internally in my HR24-500.
Quiet, cool. No issues.

http://www.amazon.com/Seagate-Barra...1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1331080294&sr=1-1

$119 on Amazon, and made in China, not the flood zone.


----------



## El Vato (Oct 17, 2010)

Best Buy currently has the WD Caviar Green 2tb at $129.99, Model #WDBAAY0020HNC-NRS (which I think is the retail equivalent of the WD20EARS). Just last week this same one was going for $149.99.

Also, the Seagate Barracuda Green 2tb is going for $119.99.

I too have been using the Seagate Barracuda Green 2tb in my HR24-500 with no issues at all. But at this price, I'm thinking about getting a WD 2tb to put into one of my HR24-200s.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olstemp...SP&sp=-bestsellingsort+skuid&usc=abcat0500000


----------



## inkahauts (Nov 13, 2006)

Robmoo said:


> It apperas WD is not currently manufacturing the WD20EURS. What alternatives are out there?


Honestly, unless you need it right now, I'd probably wait as long as you can till prices come back down. I don't think they have stabilized and are back to normal yet.


----------



## El Vato (Oct 17, 2010)

Inkahauts (and all others),

When do you think the prices will begin to drop back down towards pre-flood levels?


----------



## inkahauts (Nov 13, 2006)

Who knows. I haven't looked real close lately to see how stock levels are in stores or anything like that, but based on the prices I see posted here, they are not back to where they where yet. Plus we have no idea how much demand there is n the eom side, and they are likely to fill those customers first before they start flooding the consumer market with hard drives again, and since we have no idea of what those backlogs look like, I wouldn't even wild a guess. Could be next week, could be a few more months. That's why I say just wait as long as you can if it's not something you really need immediately. I am sure we will eventually see prices back to where they where.


----------



## Robmoo (Jun 12, 2011)

I ask for an AV speciffic model because I tried a WD20EARS and the recorded video had frequent spots of skipping and hesitation. I read where the AV drives just keep running when there is an error, but the regular drive go into a correction mode. Since the internal drive works fine and my WD20EARS passes even the long test I figured this must be my issue.


----------



## inkahauts (Nov 13, 2006)

I would get av drives, that's what I have, and that's what directv uses in their machines. The hr34 uses wd10eurs drives, or newer variants.


----------



## rsblaski (Jul 6, 2003)

I'm guessing it will be quite a while before "normal" supplies and prices return.
I recently had a warranty replacement for a green 2 Tb drive and after a few weeks WD sent me a green 3 Tb drive as even they had no idea when they would get a supply of the 2 Tb models.


----------



## kevinturcotte (Dec 19, 2006)

rsblaski said:


> I'm guessing it will be quite a while before "normal" supplies and prices return.
> I recently had a warranty replacement for a green 2 Tb drive and after a few weeks WD sent me a green 3 Tb drive as even they had no idea when they would get a supply of the 2 Tb models.


Can the HR2x and HR34 use a 3TB drive (I realize it would would only see 2TBs)?


----------



## bobcamp1 (Nov 8, 2007)

Robmoo said:


> I ask for an AV speciffic model because I tried a WD20EARS and the recorded video had frequent spots of skipping and hesitation. I read where the AV drives just keep running when there is an error, but the regular drive go into a correction mode. Since the internal drive works fine and my WD20EARS passes even the long test I figured this must be my issue.


No, you just got a bad hard drive.

The number of retires is supposed to be lower for AV drives. It usually isn't, or is just a bit lower and the difference isn't noticeable, but it lower so that they can claim it as a feature on a datasheet.


----------



## Robmoo (Jun 12, 2011)

Strange that the drive checks out on every test. I have a WD15EADS just sitting around. I'll have to give it a try.

I bought a WD30EURS. I'm running Acronis true Image to image over the 2TB drive. I'll see if the DVR will recognize the 3TB drive as a 2TB after this operation is complete. If it recognizes it as a 2TB drive I might try Acronis Drive Extender to see is I can get the other usable space. Has anyone tried this before?


----------



## RunnerFL (Jan 5, 2006)

Robmoo said:


> Strange that the drive checks out on every test. I have a WD15EADS just sitting around. I'll have to give it a try.
> 
> I bought a WD30EURS. I'm running Acronis true Image to image over the 2TB drive. I'll see if the DVR will recognize the 3TB drive as a 2TB after this operation is complete. If it recognizes it as a 2TB drive I might try Acronis Drive Extender to see is I can get the other usable space. Has anyone tried this before?


It won't see the 3TB, the limit is 2TB.


----------



## P Smith (Jul 25, 2002)

Robmoo said:


> Strange that the drive checks out on every test. I have a WD15EADS just sitting around. I'll have to give it a try.
> 
> I bought a WD30EURS. I'm running Acronis true Image to image over the 2TB drive. I'll see if the DVR will recognize the 3TB drive as a 2TB after this operation is complete. If it recognizes it as a 2TB drive I might try Acronis Drive Extender to see is I can get the other usable space. *Has anyone tried this before?*


Yes, we did. Developed correct procedure and supporting long thread(s) How-To.

Just read it before try your idea.


Spoiler



It will fail miserable. Twice. First: the 3 TB will be rejected as a drive. Second: Acronis resizing. Do you know what file system on the drive ? Do you know if Acronis support its resizing? Anyway - read more here !


----------



## CCarncross (Jul 19, 2005)

I also recommend against using the Acronis imaging app, people have reported bad results. Use the approved gparted boot disk method if you want sure-fire outcome.


----------



## RunnerFL (Jan 5, 2006)

CCarncross said:


> I also recommend against using the Acronis imaging app, people have reported bad results. Use the approved gparted boot disk method if you want sure-fire outcome.


Agreed, the gparted method is the only tried and true method. If you're going between the same size drives then dd will work but if you're increasing size the gparted method is the only way to go.


----------



## P Smith (Jul 25, 2002)

It's not 'GPartEd' method, the method of DVR HDD copy did develop here and more complicated then name it that way - you could use any Linux OS with XFS support but for easy/please non techy ppl - used gparted.


----------



## RunnerFL (Jan 5, 2006)

P Smith said:


> It's not 'GPartEd' method, the method of DVR HDD copy did develop here and more complicated then name it that way - you could use any Linux OS with XFS support but for easy/please non techy ppl - used gparted.


It is commonly referred to here as the "gparted method" because that's the example given. Yes, those of us who know our way around Linux can do it with other distros but for those that aren't Linux Savy it's the "gparted method".


----------



## bobcamp1 (Nov 8, 2007)

Robmoo said:


> Strange that the drive checks out on every test. I have a WD15EADS just sitting around. I'll have to give it a try.
> 
> I bought a WD30EURS. I'm running Acronis true Image to image over the 2TB drive. I'll see if the DVR will recognize the 3TB drive as a 2TB after this operation is complete. If it recognizes it as a 2TB drive I might try Acronis Drive Extender to see is I can get the other usable space. Has anyone tried this before?


To me (who has experience here  ), a good test is to run a random access test 24/7 for a minimum of 3 weeks. Throw in some butterfly tests in there as well.

There is a trade off between test accuracy and usability, so all "tests" you'll encounter as an end customer just do a quick check to see if the heads and platters haven't completely died.

My sources tell me the WD20EURS and WD20EARS are more or less obsolete at this point. It is unknown if their production will ever be resumed. Even if it is, it will quite some time.


----------



## rsblaski (Jul 6, 2003)

kevinturcotte said:


> Can the HR2x and HR34 use a 3TB drive (I realize it would would only see 2TBs)?


Yes indeed. The dvr is working fine and I assume it is only using 2 Tb, as others, with ways of confirming this, have stated.
I imagine that someday the dvrs will be able to use all of the space in higher capacity drives.


----------



## P Smith (Jul 25, 2002)

rsblaski said:


> *Yes indeed*. The dvr is working fine and I assume it is only using 2 Tb, as others, with ways of confirming this, have stated.
> I imagine that someday the dvrs will be able to use all of the space in higher capacity drives.


Really ?
Have some proof ?


----------



## inkahauts (Nov 13, 2006)

"bobcamp1" said:


> To me (who has experience here  ), a good test is to run a random access test 24/7 for a minimum of 3 weeks. Throw in some butterfly tests in there as well.
> 
> There is a trade off between test accuracy and usability, so all "tests" you'll encounter as an end customer just do a quick check to see if the heads and platters haven't completely died.
> 
> My sources tell me the WD20EURS and WD20EARS are more or less obsolete at this point. It is unknown if their production will ever be resumed. Even if it is, it will quite some time.


Are they going with the sata3 av drives only now as the main product for their av drives?


----------



## Robmoo (Jun 12, 2011)

My WD15EADS is working just fine. The WD20EARS even though it passes tests must be a bad drive. As I was told the WD30EURS didn't work. Even formated in MBR with my other drive imaged to it the DVR refused to recognize it.

I can either use the WD30EURS in my HTPC or eBay it.

Now I just have to decide if I want to stay with the 1.5 or buy another 2TB and hope it works. I'm leaning towards sticking with the 1.5TB until prices go back down.


----------



## Chuck W (Mar 26, 2002)

P Smith said:


> Really ?
> Have some proof ?


See his post here about using one now because he was sent it on replacement by WD for his 2tb one he had: http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?p=2976550#post2976550


----------



## P Smith (Jul 25, 2002)

I'm surprised - no one with whom I disputed using bigger then 2TB drives in DTV DVRs didn't smashed there ... 
So many from that cohort told many times -THE DTV KERNEL DOES NOT SUPPORT BIGGER THEN 2 TB DRIVES.
Also, the claimer could take the drive to any Linux PC and check partitioning, wait a sec - the sizes could be taken from any Windows PC.


----------



## rsblaski (Jul 6, 2003)

P Smith said:


> Really ?
> Have some proof ?


Really?: yes.
Have some proof?: yes.


----------



## CCarncross (Jul 19, 2005)

There are some using 3TB drives but it only recognizes 2TB...


----------



## bobcamp1 (Nov 8, 2007)

P Smith said:


> I'm surprised - no one with whom I disputed using bigger then 2TB drives in DTV DVRs didn't smashed there ...
> So many from that cohort told many times -THE DTV KERNEL DOES NOT SUPPORT BIGGER THEN 2 TB DRIVES.
> Also, the claimer could take the drive to any Linux PC and check partitioning, wait a sec - the sizes could be taken from any Windows PC.


You're confused.

Put in a blank drive, part of the DVR sees the entire drive, the other part tries to format the entire thing and runs into the 2 TB bug.

Put in a 3 TB which already holds a 2 TB image (1 TB of unused space), and the DVR does not attempt to format it. It doesn't even know the drive has been swapped. It just uses the 2 TB image.

I don't think it's a kernel limitation, it's a bug somewhere in the DVR. The left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing. Could be in the BIOS, kernel, or the program that formats a blank drive.
Edit: it's fdisk, it only supports 2 TB partitions. If the kernel supports GPT (not just MBR), then you can use partd to partition and format the 3 TB drive using GPT, stick it in the DVR, and see what happens. In theory, everything else about Linux supports partitions greater than 2 TB. Not sure about D*'s code though.

Old Tivos had a similar problem, it was kernel limitation. But it simply ignored the larger size and just used 137 GB. You could put in an LBA 48 kernel and use the remaining space.


----------



## nsolot (Nov 25, 2009)

bobcamp1 said:


> Old Tivos had a similar problem, it was kernel limitation. But it simply ignored the larger size and just used 137 GB. You could put in an LBA 48 kernel and use the remaining space.


Windows 2000 had a similar limit until LBA48 support was added. I recall at one time having to edit the registry to get W2K to recognize 250GB+ drives.

The 2TB limit, I believe, is a matter of the OS being 32 bit, so we will need a 64 bit OS to support those larger drives. I could be wrong.


----------



## bobcamp1 (Nov 8, 2007)

inkahauts said:


> Are they going with the sata3 av drives only now as the main product for their av drives?


I didn't ask that question. I got the impression that they haven't decided yet. I got the impression that everything was a mess, and they're just now starting to formulate a plan.

I don't expect them to tell me much else, as I don't work there. :grin:


----------



## P Smith (Jul 25, 2002)

nsolot said:


> Windows 2000 had a similar limit until LBA48 support was added. I recall at one time having to edit the registry to get W2K to recognize 250GB+ drives.
> 
> The 2TB limit, I believe, *is a matter of the OS being 32 bit, so we will need a 64 bit OS to support those larger drives.* I could be wrong.


It is not the matter.
Definitely wrong.


----------

