Hard drive upgrades

Forums › Sky, Neon, Lightbox › Hard drive upgrades

numberonekiwi

144 posts

Master Geek

#106269 20-Jul-2012 14:08

I am considering upgrading the Hard drive in TDS850NNZ Pace box from the standard 320 GB to a 3 TB.

Having done some goggling and looking at UK websites they mention certain software to do this ( not sure if I can say what here ) to transfer existing recordings over. But I am also not sure if a 3 TB would work with the current software in the MySky unit or I would need to wait until sky upgrade their boxes to Darwin ( if this is planned for NZ ).

While I am on the topic of changing hard drives I have discovered that you can indeed use the eSATA plug on the back if there is no hard drive connect internally but not both at the same time unless I need both to be connected when preforming a full reset but I have not tried this yet.

It would be very handy to have the hard drive externally mounted so that some recordings can then be transferred to DVD to be watched latter with the correct software.

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BitSignal

Lifetime subscriber

#659104 20-Jul-2012 14:18

I imagine Linux's dd would do a fine job of cloning 1-to-1. Then it's just a matter of resizing the partition using Gparted.

Can we get a ruling from the mods about whether discussing the software is allowed? (I believe it is -- feel free to delete this post otherwise)

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Wills1

710 posts

Ultimate Geek

#659134 20-Jul-2012 14:46

numberonekiwi: I am considering upgrading the Hard drive in TDS850NNZ Pace box from the standard 320 GB to a 3 TB.

Having done some goggling and looking at UK websites they mention certain software to do this ( not sure if I can say what here ) to transfer existing recordings over. But I am also not sure if a 3 TB would work with the current software in the MySky unit or I would need to wait until sky upgrade their boxes to Darwin ( if this is planned for NZ ).

While I am on the topic of changing hard drives I have discovered that you can indeed use the eSATA plug on the back if there is no hard drive connect internally but not both at the same time unless I need both to be connected when preforming a full reset but I have not tried this yet.

It would be very handy to have the hard drive externally mounted so that some recordings can then be transferred to DVD to be watched latter with the correct software.

Why would you do that? It's not your property to modify.

Niel

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#659186 20-Jul-2012 15:54

There is either a 500GB or a 1TB model in the works. I've seen the 500GB model being tested somewhere (can't say where) for a couple of years now. It is as if they are not interested in launching it, but to be ready for a launch when they have to.

You can never have enough Volvos!

neoprint

136 posts

Master Geek

#659715 21-Jul-2012 21:45

You mean like this which has been available for over a year?

https://skytv.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/1331/~/what-are-the-features-of-my-sky%2B%3F

Niel

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#659785 22-Jul-2012 09:22

neoprint: You mean like this which has been available for over a year?

Wow, time flies. I've worked out I saw it on long term test 18 months ago. It is still on "long term test" so that means it never went back to Sky.

You can never have enough Volvos!

numberonekiwi

144 posts

Master Geek

#660899 24-Jul-2012 11:39

My main Question which was probably not asked correctly is will the sky box use the full capacity of a 3TB drive or only part of it .

Niel

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#661151 24-Jul-2012 17:49

Opening the box is against your contract with Sky, so the T&C of this forum will probably not allow its discussion.

You can never have enough Volvos!

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blair003

557 posts

Ultimate Geek

#661162 24-Jul-2012 18:14

If you purchase the mysky hdi box outright, surely you should be allowed to do with the hardware what you wish? (obviously opening it would void any warranty you may have).

surfisup1000

5288 posts

Uber Geek

#661176 24-Jul-2012 18:37

Niel: Opening the box is against your contract with Sky, so the T&C of this forum will probably not allow its discussion.

Which T&C?

Not illegal as far as I know.

Wills1

710 posts

Ultimate Geek

#661181 24-Jul-2012 18:46

blair003: If you purchase the mysky hdi box outright, surely you should be allowed to do with the hardware what you wish? (obviously opening it would void any warranty you may have).

Its never your property though. Even if you pay the lump sum to avoid the rental charge, the unit still has to go back to sky when you terminate the service. You never actually own the hardware.

stuzzo

534 posts

Ultimate Geek

#661182 24-Jul-2012 18:46

blair003: If you purchase the mysky hdi box outright, surely you should be allowed to do with the hardware what you wish? (obviously opening it would void any warranty you may have).

I don't think you actually buy the mysky, it's just a one off payment for the right to use. If you cancell your subscription it goes back.

stuzzo

534 posts

Ultimate Geek

#661190 24-Jul-2012 18:48

Snap.

blair003

557 posts

Ultimate Geek

#661375 24-Jul-2012 23:33

So you pay an up front fee of $500 just for the right not to pay $15 a month?

I assumed the $500 (I'm pretty sure it was $500, it was pretty expensive) was to buy the thing. That actually makes me want to open mine up and put a larger hard drive in just as a protest. Skytv certainly know how to maximise profits, that's for sure.

JimmyH

2886 posts

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#661382 24-Jul-2012 23:57

It would be nice if the disabled eSATA port on the box (which the user manual lists as "for future use") was enabled - which wouldn't be too hard. They could easily encrypt files on it, and tie the encryption to the specific STB that recorded them, if they were worried about aiding copyright infringement. Then there would be no need to look at drive upgrades.

Being able to plug in a dirty great 3TB+ eSATA drive system would be terrific, and might make me move to MySky. At present I get more recording capacity using a standard STB and my venerable pre-Freeview hard-drive DVD-recorder - although it means no HD picture does give me ad-skip and, by virtue of being able to burn DVD-R and DVD-RW disks, effectively uncapped storage.

A firmware change to allow use of an eSATA drive to expand storage might be enough to make me plunk down cash for MySky and the HD ticket.

Still, I guess they figure it might damage the ludicrous premium they can extract from subscribers for boxes with a larger drive?

Kyanar

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#661421 25-Jul-2012 07:59

blair003: So you pay an up front fee of $500 just for the right not to pay $15 a month?

I assumed the $500 (I'm pretty sure it was $500, it was pretty expensive) was to buy the thing. That actually makes me want to open mine up and put a larger hard drive in just as a protest. Skytv certainly know how to maximise profits, that's for sure.

That's exactly what the $500 is. Of course, if you open it you're actually breaking the law (it's not just breaking the terms, it's actually vandalism since it's not your device you're disassembling and the owner didn't give you permission). If you have the device for more than about 3 years I think it is, paying the $500 is actually cheaper than paying $15 per month.

I don't see the point of wanting the eSATA enabled either - you can't put the recordings on DVD. Besides the fact that it's illegal, they are not in any format that you could realistically use.

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