If I buy a DVR Expander Will I be able to watch the recorded shows on TV's WITHOUT DVR

[#1]

I have a Motorola 7216 in one room, and another set top box in the other. Right now I can watch shows recorded on the DVR Motorola 7216 in the room with the set top box. My question is . . .

If I buy the WDBACS5000EBK-NEVZ will I be able to watch the shows recorded on the DVR Expander on the TV with that just has the set top box?

FYI I have been upgraded to 1.9

[#2]

Yes.  The external drive becomes the default and you should be able to access anything recorded on either drive.

[#3]

If you add a hard drive to your 7216 DVR, that's all it does.

It adds more storage to your 7216 DVR, acts like 1 big drive.

So yes, your other box can watch the movies that's on the 7216DVR with the added hard drive.

[#4]

Well, my 500gb Western Digital arrived today. I hooked it up and went through the 1.9 menu activation and it attempted to activate and then said the server could not be connected and to try again later. I tried for over several hours and then finally called Fios. After 20mins of hold, the tech told me that they can't get the HD to work with the 7216. They say it's a mistake that the menu shows the 7216 being compatible. They say only the 7232 works and to order a new box through billing.

What a hassle. Has anyone been able to get an Esata drive to work with the Motorola 7216? If not, I'm gonna lose all my shows from the 7216 box upgrading to the 7232...

[#5]

UPDATE. Disregard. I tried again 2 hours later and it recognized the drive, formatted it and I'm good to go. Thanks FIOS tech; congratulations, you're confused. I'm ok with not knowing information but I'm not good with WRONG information.

7216 IS compatible with the WD drive. Good news but lame experience.

[#6]

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@Binge wrote:
UPDATE. Disregard. I tried again 2 hours later and it recognized the drive, formatted it and I'm good to go. Thanks FIOS tech; congratulations, you're confused. I'm ok with not knowing information but I'm not good with WRONG information.

7216 IS compatible with the WD drive. Good news but lame experience.

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Glad you got it running.  I've been running the WD 1TB on my 7216 since last December (beta testing for 1.9) and was going to tell that the info from tech support was pure dreck.  For others, any of the 7xxx DVR boxes will support an external drive and it may require a re-boot to fully recognize the drive.

Enjoy your increased recording space.

[#7]

Was anything special required to be done to get the drive to reformat and be used?

I "enabled storage" on the DVR menu, the drive is recognized, it says the DVR will reboot, it does so, and then nothing happens. The drive never reformats, it isn't recognized, nothing.

I have tried the process countless times, tried rebooting DVR and then connecting the hard drive, tried powering hard drive first and then the DVR...nothing works. And tech support didn't do anything for me.

Any tips would be appreciated! I'm down to scouring this board for clues so I can actually use this stupid thing.