# How To Confirm HR24 External Hard Drive Is Active



## Bretman (Jul 30, 2008)

I just installed a 2 TB external eSATA hard drive on a brand new HR24-200 whose internal hard drive was empty. i installed using the directions given in posts on this forum. There did not appear to be any errors shown upon the TV screen upon rebooting the HR24, but I don't remember seeing any confirmation of the external drive.

How do I know for sure if the HR24 is recognizing and using the external hard drive ? When I press the remote LIST button, it tells me 100% free disk space, however, the internal drive also had 100% free disk space, so I cant discern which drive is active.

Do I have to unplug the external drive, reboot and record something that will take more than 1% disk space on the internal drive , verify via LIST button that internal drive is now only 99% free, then repeat the external drive installation and then use the LIST button to tell me that 100% is now free (change in percentage free disk space) and therefore, the HR24 is using the external drive and not the internal one because of the difference in free disk space ??

Or is there a menu option or some other method to let me verify the HR24 is using the external drive ?


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## samrs (May 30, 2004)

You answered your own question and there is no menu option.

It dosn't need to be one percent any partial recording will work.


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## azarby (Dec 15, 2006)

Bretman said:


> I just installed a 2 TB external eSATA hard drive on a brand new HR24-200 whose internal hard drive was empty. i installed using the directions given in posts on this forum. There did not appear to be any errors shown upon the TV screen upon rebooting the HR24, but I don't remember seeing any confirmation of the external drive.
> 
> How do I know for sure if the HR24 is recognizing and using the external hard drive ? When I press the remote LIST button, it tells me 100% free disk space, however, the internal drive also had 100% free disk space, so I cant discern which drive is active.
> 
> ...


Unplug the External drive. Reboot with internal drive. Record anything, it doesn't have too be long. Check the play list to see if the recording shows up. Power down the DVR, plug in and power up the external drive. Power up the DVR. Check the play list again. If the external drive is working, the previously recorded program should no longer be visible.


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## P Smith (Jul 25, 2002)

Mods, do it sticky or add to DVR's FAQ. Ppl asking it on regular basis.


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## upthereinthesky (Dec 31, 2011)

Is there any way to preserve the content of the internal drive before plugging in a new external? I have a full internal, so obviously I'd like to save those shows.

Thanks a lot.

Bill


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## P Smith (Jul 25, 2002)

Nothing will change on internal when you'll connect external. When you'll disconnect ext HDD and reboot the DVR it will get back to your old recordings.


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## phoneman06 (Feb 20, 2005)

On a HR23 you can go here. Not sure if the HR24 is the same.
Settings>Info & Test>More System Info
Internal Temp: N/A, External hard drive in use


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## beforesixbeers (Nov 19, 2011)

Connecting
How to Connect

Unplug the receiver's power cord. 
Don't use the Power button alone.
The Power button doesn't turn off the receiver totally.
Look for the port on the back of your receiver labeled SATA.
For location, see "Rear Panel" in How-To.
Connect the external hard drive with an eSATA cable. 
Make sure the cable is firmly connected on both ends.
Turn on the external hard drive and give it several seconds to boot-up to speed.
Plug in the power cord of your receiver. 
The receiver automatically resets when plugged back in.
When the receiver resets:

It automatically recognizes the newly-connected hard drive.
The internal hard drive inside the receiver is disabled.
The internal hard drive can be used again if the external hard drive is disconnected.
When to disconnect the external hard drive:

To use the internal hard drive, disconnect the external one.
If getting an ERP, inform customers:
Disconnect and keep the external hard drive.
Customers own them and may want to use them again.
If moving the external hard drive to a new, different, or replacement receiver:

Content recorded from the previous receiver isn’t viewable. 
The new receiver displays, "Searching for authorized content," when playing back these recordings.
This is a proprietary agreement DIRECTV has with the content providers to ensure that content can't be copied to external hard drives and used in unauthorized broadcasts.
Reformat the external hard drive to recover disk space by: 
Connecting the external hard drive to the new receiver.
Reset everything in the receiver with the external hard drive still connected. 
This reformats the external hard drive.
It also resets the receiver's factory defaults and Guided Setup needs to be repeated.
If the external drive returns errors, disconnect it and use the hard drive in the receiver as this is the DIRECTV branded and supported drive.
Retail only
You buy it – on your own, at your expense – at electronic retailers. 
Approx cost = $100 - $170.
See also Requirements.
No guarantees: 
We cannot guarantee that your external hard drive will work well for you.
For questions, specs, or problems: 
Refer to the retailer who sold the external hard drive.
DIRECTV does NOT sell external hard drives

Requirements
Only works with: 
HR20 or higher
R22
Recommended external hard drives – depends on what you want: 
Receiver
How much capacity do you want?
Recommended external hard drives

HD-DVR
Up to 800 hrs SD 
Up to 200 hrs HD
To get this capacity, you need a 1 tera-byte hard drive. When you connect it, you will almost double the hard drive. 
Western Digital 1TB (model WDG1S10000)
Seagate 1TB (model ST31000SCA109-RK)

Up to 400 hrs SD 
Up to 100 hrs HD
HR22 or HR23:

Do NOT get a 500 gig hard drive. Your receiver already has that capacity.
HR20 or HR21:

500 gig hard drive will slightly increase size of hard drive.
It you want a 500 gig external drive:

Western Digital 500GB (model WDG1S5000)
Seagate 500GB (model ST30500SCA109-RK)
Western Digital 1TB (model WDG1S10000)
Seagate 1TB (model ST31000SCA109-RK)

Up to 400 hrs SD
To get this capacity, you need a 500 gig hard drive. When you connect it, your hard drive will be twice the size.

Western Digital 500GB (model WDG1S5000)
Seagate 500GB (model ST30500SCA109-RK)


What is an External Hard Drive?
Definition: 
It's a hard drive that connects to the outside of your DVR or HD-DVR.
What is it for? 
It increases the recording capacity of your DVR or HD-DVR.
Depending on the model, it gives you either: 
500GB ("500 gig")
1 TB ("1 tera byte")
For details, see Requirements.
What happens to my internal hard drive? 
It stays there. But the external hard drive becomes your only active hard drive.


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## P Smith (Jul 25, 2002)

Nice ... missed 2 TB drives and TT dock station.


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## Richierich (Jan 10, 2008)

Yes, External Drives have a 2 TB Kernel Limitation so you can use up to a 2 TB External Hard Drive which I have done successfully.


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## CCarncross (Jul 19, 2005)

Just to be 100% clear, it doesnt matter whether its internal or external, the OS only recognizes up to 2TB of storage due to the current OS's kernel limitation. Its no different than it was in the old days when you could only have a partition up to a certain size in many of the older operating systems due to them being on 8-bit, 16-bit, 32-bit, etc....just like Windows 32-bit OS's can only use 4GB of system ram due to the 32-bit addressing limit. It's the exact same concept.


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## P Smith (Jul 25, 2002)

Actually 2TB 'limit' is *not an issue in Linux* world and no reason to use it for current DVR when 3 TB drives selling out there. I'm not telling about many different HW RAID enclosure on the market what could accept two drives, 2 TB or 3 TB; pay more and you could buy four bay or 8 bays enclosures.


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