Upgrading Motorola QIP7232-P2 DVR Drive Space? I have feedback that may help

[davehall831]

So I wanted to thank the forums for your help and insight on other users experience with upgrading the multi-room DVR's. I wanted to post some feedback because most of the reviews were focused on the newer cisco multi-room dvr boxes but not necessarily the motorola QIP7232-P2 with IMG1.9.1 software loaded. I tested several external hard drive solutions. I am one of those people who want the most drive space i can get.

First Upgrade Attempt

1. Western Digital 3TB WD30EURS 24/7 AV drive.  - http://www.amazon.com/WD-AV-GP-TB-Hard-Drive/dp/B004W9BKE0/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1359839957&sr=8-4&...

2. Vantec NexStar 3 Super Speed External Drive Enclosure  - http://www.vantecusa.com/en/product/view_detail/479

During the first upgrade attempt, the dvr did recognize the drive as being attached but after several reboots, attempts to run the activation utility etc the DVR would not let you access or format the drive. So this option is out and besides the DVR for sure wont use any drive over 3TB i confirmed this with my testing.

Second Upgrade Attempt

1. Western Digital 2TB WD20EURS 24/7 AV drive. - http://www.amazon.com/WD-AV-GP-TB-Hard-Drive/dp/B0042AG9V8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1359839957&sr=8-1&...

2. Vantec NexStar 3 Super Speed External Drive Enclosure - http://www.vantecusa.com/en/product/view_detail/479

As soon as I plugged the drive in, the system found the drive and formatted it. No problems, it started working immediately and shows I have tons of space available now. This is working and I have tested for several days, no lagging, no video clipping etc.

I will note this, I learned this lesson, whatever you do make sure you buy a Western Digital 24/7 AV drive. Why? Because most hard drives are setup to spin down or stop rotating when idle. This is bad for the DVR, the DVR will start having problems with freezing up, clipping on the videos and just a boat load of other issues that comes with this. The 24/7 AV Series is setup to never spin down or shut off and it's fine tuned to stream HD video up to 12 streams and other drives are setup to stream more data and not necessarily focused on video.

Bottom line, to save yourself the hassle, don't buy anything over 2TB and buy the WD AV-GP series drives, you can buy the 1TB or 2TB doesn't matter but dont go more it wont work. You can also buy the WD DVR Expander drive but just know you can do better with a 2TB and if you decide you want to upgrade to 2TB later on guess what? Your videos are only accessible via the DVR the drive is linked to and once you swap the drive you loose those videos unless you hook it back up to the DVR it came from, there is no utility or any way to clone the drive or move the videos over. Can it be done some other way? I am sure there is a way but if you want to spend month's figuring it out, it may just be better to save yourself some time and go ahead and get 2TB.

The FIOS DVR is awesome with the upgrade, my biggest frown was the 500GB drive and no ability to upgrade before IMG1.9 so verzion is making great steps forward here and I applaud them for allowing the feature to work.

Just know, if you build your own drive and dont use the "approved hard drives" by verizon you are at your own risk and they will not support you if that drive doesn't work for some reason or has issues. However, for most people reading this we have already accepted that risk because we know how to work around these things, to me it's not a big deal at all.

I hope that this post finds to be helpful to someone else and that my experience can help someone who was in my situation trying to figure out if the motorola's were ever upgraded with a DIY hard drive solution.

[Hubrisnxs]

great feedback! 

[gotcha202]

Thanks so much for all your hard work.  Just today found that the dvr I was FORCED to turn in was the only one compatible with the recordings I had made on my WD.  That was just the final straw with the simple transfer from one address to another.  So far I'm on hour 11 (with hold time) trying to finalize this simple mess with Verizon.  Why in the world would they not mention this especially when training in a unit with such little recording space.

 Wish you worked for Verizon.  The only requirement these days seems to be able to say "I'm sorry..."

Thanks again. I'm prepared and informed this time.  No thanks to Verizon.  Reminds me of their totally incompetent General Telephone days.  Except worse.  And that, if you're old enough to recall, is a supreme insult and definition of character of a company.

[Richjt92]

First of all thanks for the input.

I am having issues with the External HD getting recognized by the DVR.  Do I need to format the external drive NTFS or FAT32 prior to plugging it in?

I am not getting the format request and not seeing the both drives on the DVR page.

Thanks for your help....

[Keyboards]

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@Richjt92 wrote:

First of all thanks for the input.

I am having issues with the External HD getting recognized by the DVR.  Do I need to format the external drive NTFS or FAT32 prior to plugging it in?

I am not getting the format request and not seeing the both drives on the DVR page.

Thanks for your help....

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No pre-formatting.  Verizon's DVRs do not use standard PC formatting.  The DVR must format it as this also "locks" the drive to that DVR only.

[Richjt92]

The DVR would not recognize the external drive, so I did format it eFAT32 and the DVR recognized it and allowed me to format it.

Thanks for the Tech advice and help...it worked like a charm!!! 

[Richjt92]

Stupid question...did you unplug the LED on the front or will it blink all the time or just when it is formatting?

[truedg]

I also upgraded my 7232 storage with eSATA - an acomdata pdhd1000-72.  It had been used on a computer and didn't have the correct formating, so it wasn't recognized initially.  I formatted it to exFAT and it worked.  Following other forum advice I read, I waited to plug it into the 7232 until prompted by the "Expand Storage" routine in the 7232.  I turned it on first, and then plugged it in, and then waited until the "to activate press OK" screen was overwritten by an "external drive recognized" screen and its successors.  I think it is important to avoid jumping the gun - wait for several seconds while the 7232 talks to the external drive.  Pressing the OK to activate is about the last thing to do in the process.

[AngryBlackMan]

truedg, Thank you!  Your detailed explanation helped me to get my DIY expander up and running! I had a random eSATA enclosure i pulled out of the closet and stuck a WD Caviar Black drive into it. I first made sure my PC could detect it, and it did, it was just unallocated. It wasn't until i formatted it as exFAT and did exactly what truedg said that i got it connected. Once it (Motorola 7216 HD DVR) detected the drive, i didn't even have to reboot for it to be recognized. Here's a few screens for you:

 

[AngryBlackMan]

as it turns out, you don't even need to be on the "activate" screen for this to work. if your drive can be detected, the dialog box will pop up anyplace.