# How to add external drive to VIP 612?



## FenceMan (Nov 21, 2004)

I plugged in my 500gb external drive and it seems to see it, but I guess I have to call up and have it activated.

Questions (before I drop money to activate):

1. Can I record / playback seamlessly from the external drive (will it automatically expand my recording time)?

2. Can I format the drive with the 612 or do I need to do it with a computer?

Also kind of off the subject but why do they want me to pay a "HD Access Fee" and a fee for not hooking up a phone line? I bought the receiver online so I would own it.

Thanks.


----------



## langlin (Apr 8, 2005)

1. You can playback from the EHD but not record directly to it. You can off-load from the 612 to the EHD and call back to the 612 or play directly from the EHD.

2. The 612 will fromat the drive.

On your other questions, the HD access fee depends on what package you select to pay for, there are instances where you have to pay it but not if you subscribe to an HD package.

You do not have to pay a "phone connect fee" with the 612, it is not a dual output receiver.


----------



## n0qcu (Mar 23, 2002)

The HD access fee was reduced to $0.00 at the begingi of April.


----------



## navy8ball (Mar 23, 2002)

langlin said:


> 1. You can playback from the EHD but not record directly to it. You can off-load from the 612 to the EHD and call back to the 612 or play directly from the EHD.
> 
> 2. The 612 will fromat the drive.
> 
> ...


1.when you transfer a 2 hour movie from the 612 to the EHD does it take like two seconds to do this or 2 hours?

2.you say you can playback shows directly from the EHD does that mean it has its own remote control?


----------



## ChuckA (Feb 7, 2006)

1. It takes more than 2 seconds and less than 2 hours. I believe the transfer time will depend on how busy the receiver is doing other things. Just a guess for a two hour movie is something around 30 minutes. You can copy multiple recordings with one operation and it gives you an estimated time for the copy. Of course you can watch TV, do new recordings, turn the receiver off and go to bed, etc. while the copy is performed in the background.

2. The EHD is not another receiver so it does not have a remote. This just means you can watch a recording that has been copied to the EHD without copying it back to the receiver. You can't record directly to it but you can watch directly from it.


----------



## dmspen (Dec 1, 2006)

A few other items...
The HD will be formatted with DISH proprietary encoding. This means you can't unplug it and use it on your PC to watch the shows. Only on a DISH receiver.
It must be an externally powered HD (I think).


----------



## ChuckA (Feb 7, 2006)

The EHD is formatted to the LINUX EXT3 file system format. However, the recording files are encrypted so even though you could read the file system from a LINUX machine you still can't watch the recordings. And, the drive must supply its own power. It can not be one of those mini drives that pull power from the USB port.


----------



## TulsaOK (Feb 24, 2004)

ChuckA said:


> Just a guess for a two hour movie is something around 30 minutes.


My 722 transfers ~16Gb/hour.


----------



## ChuckA (Feb 7, 2006)

So, how does that transfer rate translate to a two hour movie? It depends on the size of the movie recording of course which depends on HD/SD/OTA and MPG compression. Guess at an estimate is all you can do.


----------



## phrelin (Jan 18, 2007)

navy8ball said:


> 1.when you transfer a 2 hour movie from the 612 to the EHD does it take like two seconds to do this or 2 hours?


I use 5 minutes per GB leaving a cushion when I walk away to let it do it's thing and typically that means 20-30 minutes per HD movie. And that's both with my 612 and 722.


> 2.you say you can playback shows directly from the EHD does that mean it has its own remote control?


No, you use the remote that controls the box you're playing back through. Playback from the EHD isn't always perfect if my 612 is busily recording two HD shows.


----------

