Installing 1Tb HDD in Pace (Darwin) HD box

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Installing 1Tb HDD in Pace (Darwin) HD box

Postby scotal » Thu Jan 27, 2011 8:03 pm

Hi,

I decided I wanted to upgrade my Pace TDS850NB HD box from the original 300Gb HDD to a 1Tb. I got the original drive out no problem and was about to copy the original drive to the new drive via Copy+. Until then i wasn't aware of 'Darwin' which i now know my box is. Now I have done some research i'm aware that Copy+ is not compatible with the new Darwin software.

My question is....if i'm not bothered about the recordings that are on my old drive, is it possible to get full capacity from my new drive in my box either by 1) doing a full system reset via the Sky menu with the new HDD installed (I'm aware there has been issues where the box formats it as a 500Gb drive but not sure if this is still the case or if it's box model or box firmware etc dependant????) or 2) somehow format it as a 1Tb drive using Copy+ then install it in my box? Or 3) some other method that i've not thought of?

Sorry if this is posted elsewhere but i've searched the forums and can't find a definitive answer. Any help is much appreciated....first time poster so go easy if i'm asking old/stupid question :oops:
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Re: Installing 1Tb HDD in Pace (Darwin) HD box

Postby 4b4 » Sun Jan 30, 2011 4:08 pm

Hi

This is exactly the same question I have (although my box is a 300G (Darwin'd) Samsung)

ie - can we just stick a new "clean" 1TB disk in our machines, lose our current recordings etc and carry on with an upgraded, bigger disk?

Any replies gratefully received.
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Re: Installing 1Tb HDD in Pace (Darwin) HD box

Postby pcbbc » Sun Jan 30, 2011 11:39 pm

scotal wrote:1) doing a full system reset via the Sky menu with the new HDD installed (I'm aware there has been issues where the box formats it as a 500Gb drive but not sure if this is still the case or if it's box model or box firmware etc dependant????)
Try it and see.

2) somehow format it as a 1Tb drive using Copy+ then install it in my box?
Only if you have a non-Darwin HD box to copy from.
Copy+ requires a donor source disk in order to be able to correctly format a destination.
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Re: Installing 1Tb HDD in Pace (Darwin) HD box

Postby scotal » Mon Jan 31, 2011 11:35 am

Thanks for the reply. I have aquired a blank pre Darwin image although it states that it's for a different box model. Is there anything about the images that would make them model specific?
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Re: Installing 1Tb HDD in Pace (Darwin) HD box

Postby pcbbc » Mon Jan 31, 2011 2:00 pm

scotal wrote:Thanks for the reply. I have aquired a blank pre Darwin image although it states that it's for a different box model. Is there anything about the images that would make them model specific?
Don't know for sure, but I suspect not.
Most HD boxes are Big endian, with just the old Amstrad box Little. That would be the only thing you'd need to worry about.
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Re: Installing 1Tb HDD in Pace (Darwin) HD box

Postby scotal » Mon Jan 31, 2011 2:11 pm

Many thanks! I'll give this a try tonight and report back with results.
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Re: Installing 1Tb HDD in Pace (Darwin) HD box

Postby scotal » Mon Jan 31, 2011 3:36 pm

Hi 4b4. From what I've seen on various forums it looks like you'll lose half the capacity of your new drive if you simply fit it in the box and do a full system reset. However if you have a pre-Darwin blank image then you can restore that using copy+ to keep your full drive capacity (minus the anytime allocation).

I have found an image online and am going to attempt it tonight. I'll post back and let you know how it goes. I can post a link for you to download the image if you want, just let me know.
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Re: Installing 1Tb HDD in Pace (Darwin) HD box

Postby 4b4 » Mon Jan 31, 2011 4:09 pm

Hi scotal

Great - we seem to be getting somewhere now (hopefully) - I just wish I'd sorted out a bigger disk this time last year!

Look forward to hearing how you get on.

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Re: Installing 1Tb HDD in Pace (Darwin) HD box

Postby scotal » Mon Jan 31, 2011 8:17 pm

Hi 4b4.....good news! I removed my 300Gb drive (which i assume has only around 140Gb allocated for recordings). Before I removed it I set 2 recordings of football to record in HD this Sunday, planner said estimated used space would be 19%.

I then restored the pre-darwin image to my new 1TB drive and fitted it in the box. I set the 2 same footie matches to record and the space required was now only around 3% :P

I was a bit worried because i used a 1TB Western Digital Caviar Green which some people have said gave very bad playback on recordings but i've tested and seems ok so far anyway.

Here is a link to the blank pre-darwin image I used. Good luck

http://rapidshare.com/files/426054701/D ... anilla.zip
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Re: Installing 1Tb HDD in Pace (Darwin) HD box

Postby 4b4 » Tue Feb 01, 2011 3:10 pm

Hi scotal

Sorry if I appear a bit thick, but how do I apply the file to the new "clean" disk?

Thanks

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Re: Installing 1Tb HDD in Pace (Darwin) HD box

Postby scotal » Tue Feb 01, 2011 3:56 pm

Hi, you need to first connect your new drive to your PC (either by USB to SATA adaptor, direct to motherboard if you have a desktop, or external HDD enclosure). assuming you've already initialised the new drive in windows disk management, then open copy+ program and under source drive select backup image and browse for the image file that you downloaded (ensuring you've extracted the zip file). Then under destination drive select your new drive. If your drive isn't available it's most likely because it hasn't been initialised but the copy+ should pop up a prompt telling you how to do it if your drive isn't found.

The image should only take a couple minutes to copy, once it's done it may ask if you need to do a conversion, chances are you won't need to but the program basically let's you know which boxes this step is required for.

If any of this is unclear let me know and I'll try to clear up.
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Re: Installing 1Tb HDD in Pace (Darwin) HD box

Postby 4b4 » Tue Feb 01, 2011 4:36 pm

Brilliant - I'll SATA it up to my PC motherboard later & give it a whirl!

Thanks
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Re: Installing 1Tb HDD in Pace (Darwin) HD box

Postby 4b4 » Tue Feb 08, 2011 10:15 am

Update - sorry for delay, I've been in bed with "manflu"!

Swapped everything over yesterday using a Samsung 1TB HD103SJ disk, and all seems to be in order!

Taped Top Gear (BBC2 Standard) + Outcasts (BBC1 HD) + Bedlam (Sky Living HD) and planner still shows 99% free :P - In fact, watched and cleared Outcasts last night, and the planner now shows 100% free :lol:

Only problem I had was that when I test refitted the case to the box, I managed to bend the Infared receiver on the box so it wouldn't take commands from the handset anywhere over two feet from the box. Having removed the case again, I was able to bend the infared receiver back into place, so it all works ok now - just something to bear in mind for anyone else doing a Samsung box.

Very many thanks to scotal for locating the image file and making the upgrade possible.

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Re: Installing 1Tb HDD in Pace (Darwin) HD box

Postby scotal » Tue Feb 08, 2011 1:31 pm

Hi 4b4,

Glad everything went well, i'm loving having this bigger drive....I've got about 12 HD movies plus some other stuff and still have 89% free, wish i'd done it sooner!
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Re: Installing 1Tb HDD in Pace (Darwin) HD box

Postby MrData » Sun Feb 13, 2011 3:57 pm

Have just downloaded the pre Darwin file. Before installing can some confirm the following:-

1. The image only appears to be 633kb is this correct?

2. When I install the image can I just put the drive in the sky box or do I need to do anything else?


Thanks
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