DRX890 and WD20EVDS 2TB - Compatible

Which replacement drives can you use and which do people recommend?

Re: DRX890 and WD20EVDS 2TB - Compatible

Postby THeFofS » Thu Sep 30, 2010 3:24 pm

OK All finished. Everything went without a hitch.

Amstrad DRX890
Model No 1.1.270
OS Version 1.32B12
EPG 9.10.13a

Upgraded fromSeagate 500GB to a WD 2TB EVDS

On turning on the box, there was a long delay, longer than it usually takes to boot up, then it sprung into life on channel 998. No EPG reset, nothing required from me. It just worked.

All recordings in tack, tested by playing a couple and recording some others. All works fine. Pause TV works fine too.
EPG is faster on the new disk, or it seems it anyway.

Thanks for the information. Will donate a few spare copper to you for your efforts on this software.
Awesome.
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Re: DRX890 and WD20EVDS 2TB - Compatible

Postby pcbbc » Thu Sep 30, 2010 3:31 pm

Fantastic - Glad everything went okay for you.
Good luck with your new drive and all that extra recording space.
Cheers for the beers :D
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Re: DRX890 and WD20EVDS 2TB - Compatible

Postby THeFofS » Thu Sep 30, 2010 5:35 pm

When Amstrad update the software over the air, will I loose the drive, or have to reformat it with Copy +. Hope its a one stop shop.
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Re: DRX890 and WD20EVDS 2TB - Compatible

Postby pcbbc » Thu Sep 30, 2010 5:58 pm

THeFofS wrote:When Amstrad update the software over the air, will I loose the drive, or have to reformat it with Copy +. Hope its a one stop shop.
Software updates are fine - all your recordings and size of disk remain as set by Copy+.

If you, or the box*, ever full system reset the disk (i.e. re-format it) the capacity may be reset. This was certainly the case with the first gen Sky+HD boxes which could not natively format disks over 508GB. But may NOT still be the case with the DRX890 and certainly is not the case with the DRX895.

This is because the DRX895 obviously knows how to format larger drives as it was supplied with one! The DRX890 may be able to format drives over 508GB also, although it is possible Sky may have deliberately crippled it so as to maintain the competitive advantage of its larger capacity brother.

* It has been known for Sky+ boxes to spontaneously perform a full system reset on the disk. Why they do this is a mystery, but I suspect it is an attempt (some would say misguided) by the software designers to build in some resilience and lower numbers of support calls - For example if the disk gets corrupted, try to fix or recover from the problem, but if all else fails reformat. :shock:

So, in short you will be fine, unless you wake up and find yourself with a blank planner. :oops:
If that happens some remedial work (backup and restore with Copy+) may be required to regain full capacity.
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Re: DRX890 and WD20EVDS 2TB - Compatible

Postby THeFofS » Thu Sep 30, 2010 8:41 pm

Thanks. Lets hope that never happens. I would hate to lose my documenteries and kids cartoon collections. Might have to download them from the net if I loose them. That would be naughty ;)
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Re: DRX890 and WD20EVDS 2TB - Compatible

Postby Jerome32 » Thu Sep 30, 2010 9:01 pm

THeFofS wrote:When Amstrad update the software over the air, will I loose the drive, or have to reformat it with Copy +. Hope its a one stop shop.


My DRX890 previously had the software version that yours has (OS 1.32B12 / EPG 9.10.13a) when I first transferred my old recordings with Copy+. It was all good until the software update (OS SYSF26.28.05/EPG 38.2.1.6_1) whereupon I lost all my previously recorded programmes in the planner. Hopefully when your box undergoes a software update, this won't happen to you.

It is worth mentioning that my old recordings were not transferred from the DRX890 (I never used it with the native 500GB drive but went straight to the 2TB upgrade). The recordings were Copy+'d from a DRX180(!) with a 500GB drive. Since your recordings came off the native DRX890 drive, I think your experience is likely to be different from mine.
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Re: DRX890 and WD20EVDS 2TB - Compatible

Postby jedpause » Sat Oct 02, 2010 1:10 pm

jedpause wrote:Dear Jerome32, tks very much for the offer, I will see how I get along when the box arrives, I will update the software with existing HD, then try a backup from it & restore to 2TB drive... I guess the 10MB backup you have avoids that hassle though! Cheers, Jed

Well, I got the new box (DRX890-C), and decided to use stock 500GB disk for a while as suggested, just to make sure the box worked OK. Thankfully 100% OK, very fast and quiet.

I did not try the FSR with new blank disk to see if it would pre-format at 2TB, didn't feel like dismantling the STB twice!

Today I did the copy with Copy+ ignoring the Anytime+ dross; all worked fine copying to 2TB WD20EVDS. around 19% x 250GB down to 2% of 1,750 :lol:
- Couple of issue/observations a) Error message on copy along the lines of a 'serious problem with your source disk' and b) didn't realise this worked with other devices like STB's in US etc. so was a bit confused with error that file type not recognised... until changed the device type

Anyway, no issues with backup, planner stuff all seems fine. Thanks a ton for the software and advice! :D
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Re: DRX890 and WD20EVDS 2TB - Compatible

Postby jedpause » Sat Oct 02, 2010 2:20 pm

STOP Press.... in fact none of my Planner recordings were viewable, so have had to delete stuff (only annoyed losing 3x Planet Earths in HD :?

It must have been a problem upon backup to XVF file.... anyway, no damage: new recordings are fine
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Re: DRX890 and WD20EVDS 2TB - Compatible

Postby Jerome32 » Sat Oct 02, 2010 2:24 pm

jedpause wrote:Well, I got the new box (DRX890-C), and decided to use stock 500GB disk for a while as suggested, just to make sure the box worked OK. Thankfully 100% OK, very fast and quiet.
I did not try the FSR with new blank disk to see if it would pre-format at 2TB, didn't feel like dismantling the STB twice!


The latest system software does not initialise 2TB drives to full capacity after a FSR. You only get 1TB (750 Personal/250 Anytime). So you'll be glad to hear you did not waste time on a fruitless experiment (unlike me!).

Great to hear that all went well! To satisfy my curiosity, could you please check your system software version and let me know whether it is:
OS Version 1.32B12
EPG 9.10.13a
or
Operating System Version SYSF26.28.05
EPG Software Version 38.2.1.6_1

There are some others who like myself cannot get Copy+ to see the drive once used in the DRX890 with the later software combination. This has implications for use of Copy+ to initialise 2TB drives since you can't image a drive you cannot see! Since you Copy+'d successfully from the native drive, it would be great to hear that your software version is the later one.

Also, when my box was on the previous software, the system fan would run all the time after the drive upgrade. Only after the latest software update did the system fan return to normal behaviour (ie: hardly ever runs now).
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Re: DRX890 and WD20EVDS 2TB - Compatible

Postby jedpause » Sat Oct 02, 2010 3:04 pm

Jerome32

OS Version 1.32B12
EPG 9.10.13a

Fan is on but will check it's pattern and revert
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Re: DRX890 and WD20EVDS 2TB - Compatible

Postby Jerome32 » Sat Oct 02, 2010 3:31 pm

I would suggest you do a forced software update now. You're going to end up with it at some point anyway; might as well get it now and resolve the fan issue. Your 2TB will (?should) continue to function at full capacity after the software update.
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Re: DRX890 and WD20EVDS 2TB - Compatible

Postby baz7795 » Mon Oct 18, 2010 1:39 pm

hi, how do you force the box to do a format?, Can you just replace the drive without copying it, I have the drive out at the minute copy plus cannot read it, but Windows can see data on it, many thanks
Jerome32 wrote:I would suggest you do a forced software update now. You're going to end up with it at some point anyway; might as well get it now and resolve the fan issue. Your 2TB will (?should) continue to function at full capacity after the software update.
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Re: DRX890 and WD20EVDS 2TB - Compatible

Postby baz7795 » Mon Oct 18, 2010 1:46 pm

hi,Just wondered how did you get your drive to read in copy plus, some reason it does not recognise drive
Jerome32 wrote:Swapped the hard drive in my Sky+ HD Amstrad DRX890 to a Western Digital WD20EVDS 2TB drive 2 weeks ago.
As previously reported by others:
1) the factory installed drive was a Seagate Pipeline 500GB.
2) there are no warranty related tamper-proof seals/stickers anywhere in the box. 8)
It was easy enough to do thanks to the excellent guides available on these forums! :)

I used Copy+ 1.2.0.7 Beta to transfer my existing recordings (from an Amstrad DRX180 PVR2 with 500GB) over to the new drive with no hitches. :D Both boxes are Big Endian, so no conversion required. I had 415GB of recordings, now showing up as 77% free on the planner which is what one would expect with 1.75TB Personal recording space and 250GB taken up by "Anytime".

I did not try initialising the 2TB drive with the box alone since it would have meant an extra sequence of plugging and unplugging the box to test this.

I can't really compare to how the DRX890 would normally perform with the factory Pipeline 500GB drive as I never used the box prior to the upgrade. As far as the DRX890 / WD20EVDS combination goes:
1) TV Guide - super fast access and scrolling. This also applies to all other areas of the EPG except "Anytime" and "Planner" (qv. points below)
2) Anytime - up to 2sec lag before fast scrolling is possible
3) Planner - up to 7sec lag before fast scrolling is possible. I suspect that this is likely to get worse as the planner continues to fill up. How much worse, who knows; but at present, I find this more than acceptable. YMMV.
4) Play/Pause/RW/FF - all function smoothly and respond immediately to remote control keypress
5) Hard drive access clicks are relatively quiet and only audible when TV volume is muted. YMMV.
All of the above were tested with 2 recordings going on in the background.
6) Cooling fan - remains off whilst box is in standby. Spins up 1min after box is turned on and remains running. Stops running about 30secs to 1 min after standby. Spins up in standby when "Anytime" is downloading to the hard drive.
It's a reasonably quiet fan and is not audible when audio volume is at normal listening levels. Might be hard to ignore if one had this in a bedroom! I have no idea whether the native Pipeline drive would have similar fan behaviour. I'd be interested to find out, but I'm unlikely to be able to swap the drives once again to test it given how much SWMBO uses the box!!

In summary - an excellent upgrade in my book.

Stuart - Many thanks once again for your truly fantastic Copy+ software. Your charity and dedication to continually updating and providing support for it is commendable! I gave you a small donation back in June 2006 - it's time I sent you a bit more beer money! :)
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Re: DRX890 and WD20EVDS 2TB - Compatible

Postby baz7795 » Mon Oct 18, 2010 1:59 pm

hi,
I am new to this site, please could you send me image for 1 TB and 2 TB many thanks
Jerome32 wrote:
pcbbc wrote:
jedpause wrote:- if I am not copying, how does Copy + initialize the disk? Do I use drop down target disk and find disk? And I guess then it pops up the windows initialization dialogue box?
This has to be the most asked question about Copy+.

You must copy from an initialised disk. Copy+ requires some preinitialised files from a donor disk in order to make a new one - even if the disk is empty it contains some pre-initialised files that Copy+ can not create from scratch.

If you do not have a donor disk, do a FSR on the disk in the Sky box and then a backup and restore with Copy+ to obtain full capacity.


Jedpause's question is more perceptive than he realises!
With the current DRX890 system software (Operating System Version SYSF26.28.05/EPG Software Version 38.2.1.6_1), Copy+ 1.2.0.7 Beta does not appear to recognise the hard drive natively initialised with a FSR - at least this is the case with my recent experience!

He will therefore require an existing donor disk image created from a box running previous software. Once initialised with Copy+, the 2TB drive can then be used with full capacity in the DRX890.

Interestingly, once the Copy+ initialised 2TB drive is installed in a DRX890 with the latest software and any recording is made, removing it and scanning it with Copy+ will find that the drive is no longer recognised! Note that this is my own experience only - it might not necessarily be the case for everyone else.

Jedpause: If you need a "vanilla" xtv image to initialise your 2TB drive, please let me know and I will forward it (10MB file zipped to 650KB - easily emailed). I created this image as a backup on my PC prior to the latest box updates and it contains no recordings. This is the image I used to initialise my own 2TB drive after problems with the recent system software updates. I have had no issues with my DRX890 ever since - all works fine including the Anytime service (qv other postings of Anytime crashing boxes post system updates).
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Re: DRX890 and WD20EVDS 2TB - Compatible

Postby pcbbc » Mon Oct 18, 2010 2:07 pm

I don't think am image is going to help you. You're only risking problems further down the line if you have the Darwin software release.
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