Welcome to the Cox Community
Our community is a collaborative place to learn about Cox products and services. Jump into the conversation today!
Messages
Selected Messages
New Contributor
•
Adding an external eSATA hard drive to SA 8240HDC DVR
I just purchased a Buffalo 2TB sata drive to expand my SA 8240HDC DVR capacity. I read a previous post by Vegas14 that said they were able to use this exact same drive. I formatted to NTFS and hooked it up to my DVR but I don't get the splash screen telling me it recognizes an external drive and asking me if I want to format it. But when I turn off power to the external drive or disconnect the eSATA cable, a screen pops up on the TV alerting me that an external drive was disconnected. What's the proper procedure for adding an external drive to the 8240HDC? Do I need an eSATA to SATA cable? Thanks!
Domino
Valued Contributor III
•
The 8240HDC required a firmware update to make it accept drive expansion. No, I don't remember the version number.
Our Phoenix lurker could probably provide that (if he is still lurking here.)
0
0
Health_Edge
+5 more
Valued Contributor III
•
I think I remeber reading somewhere you need to reboot the DVR with the drive connected and it recognizes it during boot?
I have a feeling Domino is correct, but its worth a try.
0
0
azhurricane
New Contributor
•
I tried many variations of rebooting, unplugging cables, etc. It would not prompt me to format it. And of course when I called tech support (the first level support) they said this box does not have that capability due to copyright issues (which I'm not sure why that would be). But I see many forum posts where an external drive can be used with the 8240HDC. And, I went into a Cox store yesterday and they said it can work but it needs to be the Western Digital My AV DVR Expander. Typical conflicting messages when dealing with Cox. I'm going to call the Tech Support service to get a better answer, but I'd still like someone from Cox to address this forum post.
0
0
Becky
+2 more
Moderator
•
I apologize for the mixed messages regarding the compatibility of eSATA drives. As long as the 8240HDC DVR is running ROVI 3.7 or higher or the Contour Guide, it should accept and recognize an eSATA drive.
I haven't been able to find a specific list of compatible hard drives for the 8240, but I know that for other DVR models Cisco recommends a pre-made DVR expander system like those available from Western Digital.
Connect the external drive to the SA 8240HDC as follows:
1. Turn off & UNPLUG power to the SA 8240HDC box
2. Install an eSATA cable into the port on the SA 8240HDC box
3. Connect the eSATA cable to the SATA drive
4. Plug in the power plug for the SA 8240HDC and wait until it completes rebooting
5. Plug in power for the SATA drive and turn on the power
6. It may take a moment, but an on-screen prompt will appear stating when the external drive has been detected
7. Press the yellow triangle button on the remote to permit formatting of the external drive
Let me know if this helps!
0
0
bryaninphx
+6 more
Valued Contributor
•
A 1TB eSATA Ext HDD is the max capacity the SA8240HDC will recognize, a 2TB HDD WILL NOT work, so just get a 1TB HDD. I recommend the WD Caviar Black HDD.
The SA8240HDC needs Passport OS Version: PowerTV 6.20.75.106sp or greater.
Power on DVR first with TV on
Power up Ext HDD second to get the Prompt to format.
If the Ext HDD is disconnected while both are running, a Reboot of the DVR "may" be required
Here is what I used when I had an SA8240HDC, I now recommend a TiVo instead of a Cox DVR
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B5ROWkwGJipCZjVhNDE4ODQtY2FjMi00OTlmLTgxYTgtYWRmYjQ0YTk2MTg1/edit?usp=sharing
0
0
azhurricane
New Contributor
•
Thank you Becky and Bryan for your replies. Bryan - I was following your posts related to the 8240 a while back. Looks like my issue was the 2TB size. I'll give the WD 1TV AV DVR Expander a try.
0
0
gbtrains
New Contributor
•
Hi Becky,
After I read some posts on this site, I tried attaching an eSATA drive to my unit. I used an enclosure kit and a 4TB Seagate drive. I did get the message to format and after formatting, I observed that my available space had increased dramatically. However, when I tried to record programs and play them back, I found that the recordings all had errors. Also, I was no longer able to use the instant record feature to pause while watching TV in real time. I'm reading on some posts now that only a 1 TB drive is supported by this DVR, but I see others that are successfully using 2 TB drives. Please answer the following questions:
1) Is there a maximum limit on the size of the external drive that will work with these DVRs?
2) How can I determine if my DVR is running ROVI 3.7 or higher?
Thanks,
Jerry
0
0
Domino
Valued Contributor III
•
2TB, IIRC. {EDIT: I'll go with the below stated 1TB limit.}
System diagnostic pages.
0
0
bryaninphx
+6 more
Valued Contributor
•
Unless something major has changed, 1TB is the MAX External eSATA that an 8240HDC will accept.
0
0
gbtrains
New Contributor
•
Thanks, but what are system diagnostic pages and how can I access them?
Jerry
0
0
gbtrains
New Contributor
•
That's interesting. How then did the user who made the initial post above get a 2 TB Buffalo drive to work?
0
0
bryaninphx
+6 more
Valued Contributor
•
In Phoenix the Diagnostic Menu is on channel 1999, scroll through the Guide and look for the channel marked DIAG
If you re-read all the OP's postings, he did not get a 2TB eSATA HDD to work.
0
0
Domino
Valued Contributor III
•
To Enter Diagnostic Mode: Simultaneously press and hold the SELECT and EXIT buttons (on the DVR itself) until "DIAGNO" or "DIAG" appears. Release the buttons, then press EXIT and the the box tunes itself to the multi-page Diagnostics channel. After this process the Diagnostic pages can be accessed by directly tuning to that channel using the remote, once you know the channel.
The Diagnostic pages reveal a great deal about how the DVR is operating. I suggest that you read through them to see what's in them.
0
0
FLSteve
New Contributor
•
0
0