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250GB Hard Drive in Sky+
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[Deleted User]
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I installed a 250GB hard drive in my Pace v2 SKy+ box several months ago.
Until the recent software download, the Sky+ box didn't "see" more than 137GB, but following the download it now appears to see all of the drive space.
I currently have 62 hours of recorded material and the (now fixed!) free space indicator is showing 43% free, implying that it can "see" enough space to record 109 hours of material (thereby pretty much using up all of the 250GB?).
I'll try and fill up the disk to confirm and let you all know if it works.
Until the recent software download, the Sky+ box didn't "see" more than 137GB, but following the download it now appears to see all of the drive space.
I currently have 62 hours of recorded material and the (now fixed!) free space indicator is showing 43% free, implying that it can "see" enough space to record 109 hours of material (thereby pretty much using up all of the 250GB?).
I'll try and fill up the disk to confirm and let you all know if it works.
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Also i know many people have extra fans etc to prevent overheating, if you could state if you are using and if so how much and easy to install that would be fantastic. 250gb on sky+ would be superb, I know for sure having Sky+ beats having to set up things to record on a DVD Recorder. I also got many footy matches to record on my sky box once that football first comes out!
Just a question, has anyone ever tried connected two drives to Sky+ via a two connector IDE cable? Does anyone know what happens?
Glenn
You have 62 hours of recordings on 57% of your hd but you can get 109hrs on the remaining 43%? Does the sky+ compress differently the more of the hd you use?
Is it a fixed compression, with the Humax its 2 gig per hour of recording - not nit picking but that doesnt add up. Or is it just me???
-Andy
Regards
Mark
As soon as the dust settles (ie., it's clear whether existing boxes with the new software can really use all 250gb), I'll be installing a 250gb QuickVIEW. Thanks to some of you, we'll soon know whether the hardware (controller) in the existing boxes really can't cope with more than 137gb.
BTW, Maxtor are bringing out an external "QuickVIEW Expander" (250gb HDD inside) in the Fall, with 3 attachment possibilities to a PVR - USB or ? or ? - Check out maxtor.com.
Now over 80 hours and still seems ok. I've sampled a few recordings and all seem to play, pause, ff and rewind (all speeds) with no problems - also, no sign of the 17 minute bug.
In response to the query on the fan, I have not done anything other than replace the hard drive, but I have been running the box pretty hard for several months now and have not noticed any abnormal heating.
In response to the query on bandwidth, the recordings are almost exclusively from the Sky Movies channels and there are no radio or low bandwith tv recordings.
Will keep you posted as I fill up the disk.
It's a Maxtor Maxline+2 7200rpm 8MB IDE ATA133.
Somewhere down the bottom of this page. £99.95+VAT so basically £117.50 odd not too bad price at all. See how the drive fills, if there are no problems then i think i shall order one
Once it's full, can you try a few power cycles? Then check the ends of recordings to see if they all play okay. That really would be a great test that the 17 min bug is gone!
Keep up with the updates!
http://forum.digitalspy.co.uk/board/showthread.php?t=30514
Be that as it may: I should have written "Thanks to pokermon2004"! Well done so far; at least one of us is dying to get the next update from you. The 137gb limit should have been reached at about 68 hours (137 divided by 2, since 40gb is supposed to deliver 20 hours), so if you can see and use over 80 hours worth, that's pretty conclusive - especially IF the recordings survive "pulling the plug".
It's so too-good-to-be-true that I won't be able to believe it until it's worked for you a bit longer.
If I had a 250gb lying around, I'd be trying it too. Anyone else?
250gb....yum yum.
I got up to around 95 hours of recordings before the box seemed to think it had ran out of space. I had expected to get to about 109 hours, but I can live with 95 hours - at £120 or so for a 250GB drive, it's a lot cheaper than £399 for a new 160GB box and less usable space
No sign of 17 minute bug issues with recordings made after the software upgrade, although some recordings retained from before the upgrade still exhibited the problem (although, interestingly, not all at 17 minutes - some were later).
Also rebooted several times and performed a Planner Rebuild several times without any problems.
I've now decided to start afresh (as I had nothing particularly important saved) and have deleted almost everything that was recorded (just need the missus to catch up on several missed episodes of Holby City :yawn: ).
I'll then fill up with new recordings and see how much it can take and (hopefully) confirm the absence of the 17 minute bug-like issues on all recordings. Will also power cycle, rebuild planner and anything else anyone wants to suggest (within reason!).
Thanks for the comments - have learned a lot from the forum over the last few months so it's nice to be able to give something back!
Thanks for the update! One suggestion - once you delete everything, you should do a 'Housekeeping'. This will wipe the whole disc, and make sure the format is in its latest version. If you don't, you're likely to see more '17 min bugs', even on later recordings!
Will the PC be able to read the information on the Sky+ HD and be able to play it back
I have Pace V1 and V2 boxes both with 120GB drives in.
I still get the 17 min problem, however I have not preformed Housekeeping on the drives since S/W download.
Do I need to do this to cure 17 min problem ?
Will it cure the 17 min problem for both boxes ?
Also what does the planner rebuild function actually do ?
One more question ! what does the yellow messages button do ?
Sorry the questions are slightly of the thread....
Thanks for your help