Approved eSATA drive just disappeared!!!
BurtonRW
Newbie

Installed a 1TB WD DVR expander (the one on the approved list) to my QIP7216 DVR several months back.  After the second attempt at installation it has worked flawlessly.  I've used it regularly and although I have no idea how the DVR decides where to record what program, I haven't had any issues at all.

About a week and a half ago, for no apparent reason, the drive no longer appears on my DVR status menu and the programs which were recorded to it don't appear in the recorded programs list.

I've gone through the "expand storage" menu several times and rebooted the STB to no avail.  It's just like it decided to disappear one day.

HELP!  Oh, and I'd like to be able to recover it without reformatting, since I probably had a dozen hours or so worth of programming on it that I really wanted to see.

Thanks in advance for any ideas or suggestions.

-Rob

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Re: Approved eSATA drive just disappeared!!!
AtomicRooster
Contributor - Level 1

Have had it happen several times. Here is what worked.

1. Power down STB.

2. Unplug the e-sata cable from back of STB

3. Unplug power supply to Expansion drive. Wait 30 seconds.

4. Plug E sata cable back into STB.

5. restore power to Expansion drive.

6. Turn on STB.

Hope this works for you!

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Re: Approved eSATA drive just disappeared!!!
BurtonRW
Newbie

I'll try it as soon as I get home this evening and report back.

Thanks.

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Re: Approved eSATA drive just disappeared!!!
abhi_col
Contributor - Level 3

No matter what, DO NOT disconnect the harddrive while stb is powered on.

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Re: Approved eSATA drive just disappeared!!!
AtomicRooster
Contributor - Level 1

Did your recordings get hosed by doing this?


abhi_col wrote:

No matter what, DO NOT disconnect the harddrive while stb is powered on.


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Re: Approved eSATA drive just disappeared!!!
BurtonRW
Newbie

I tried it exactly as suggested.  It worked perfectly!  Recordings in tact.

.

.

.

.

And then less than 6 hours later, it disappeared again. Smiley Mad

Now, the same solution does not seem to want to work again.  I wish I at least knew whether it was the STB or the drive.

Any ideas?  Other options?

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Re: Approved eSATA drive just disappeared!!!
armond_in_nj1
Master - Level 1

@abhi_col wrote:

No matter what, DO NOT disconnect the harddrive while stb is powered on.


Not strictly true.  In the Main Menu under Settings, locate DVR and then choose External Drive Settings.  Choose "Eject," and you can then safely unplug or remove the external drive while the STB box is still powered on.  Also, it's often easiest to turn on the external drive while the STB is powered on, so that you can see the drive become recognized.

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Re: Approved eSATA drive just disappeared!!!
armond_in_nj1
Master - Level 1

@BurtonRW wrote:

I tried it exactly as suggested.  It worked perfectly!  Recordings in tact.  And then less than 6 hours later, it disappeared again .  Now, the same solution does not seem to want to work again.  I wish I at least knew whether it was the STB or the drive.  Any ideas?  Other options? 


It's probably neither the drive, nor the STB.  Many users have learned that the eSata cable supplied OEM by Western Digital is troublesome.  The reasons for this are not clear, and the easy test is to purchase a new cable (3 or 6 feet as desired) and determine whether that solves your issue.  Such has been the case for many users on this forum.  BTW, try Monoprice for cables that are both good, and relatively inexpensive.

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Re: Approved eSATA drive just disappeared!!!
AtomicRooster
Contributor - Level 1

I bought my expansion drive as a used unit, and so it did not have any eSATA cable in the box. I purchased a startech 6 foot cable from Amazon.  It might be worthwhile to try a new cable, just don't get fleeced at a local BigBox store. $6-10 not including shipping is fair.

The reason it might be your cable as almond_in_nj suggested is that you had recently unplugged it and the connection may have been interrupted even after apparently re-connecting.   


@armond_in_nj wrote:


@BurtonRW wrote:

I tried it exactly as suggested.  It worked perfectly!  Recordings in tact.  And then less than 6 hours later, it disappeared again .  Now, the same solution does not seem to want to work again.  I wish I at least knew whether it was the STB or the drive.  Any ideas?  Other options? 


It's probably neither the drive, nor the STB.  Many users have learned that the eSata cable supplied OEM by Western Digital is troublesome.  The reasons for this are not clear, and the easy test is to purchase a new cable (3 or 6 feet as desired) and determine whether that solves your issue.  Such has been the case for many users on this forum.  BTW, try Monoprice for cables that are both good, and relatively inexpensive.


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