Vast PVR & HDD

**toyboy11** · 26-02-12, 03:58 PM

Iv'e just purchased a DSD 4121 PVR box and was wondering if anybody has a similar problem with their HDD.

The Drive that i'm using is a Western Digital "Elements" 1 TB . What i would like to know if anybody has a different 1TB HDD that will switch off when shutting down the Decoder. Mine just stays on and the disk keeps continually running.
Short of switching the Drive off at the GPO is the only way to stop it and this is a bit annoying as i have to get out of my comfort zone to turn it back on to watch/record a program.

My Mediastar HDX 9100 dosen't have this problem so would i be right in saying it's software upgrade that's needed, or a different HDD

**mtv** · 26-02-12, 04:13 PM

I think you'll find most external HDD's which have an external power supply require to be turned off separately to the device they are connected to... including computers.

Every external USB drive I have (different brands, capacities and enclosures) are not switched off by the device they are connected to.

**marty 17** · 26-02-12, 04:40 PM

Originally Posted by toyboy11

Iv'e just purchased a DSD 4121 PVR box and was wondering if anybody has a similar problem with their HDD.

:

I set one up for a mate and it has the same problem and is the reason why I would never entertain buying this particular box.

Cannot use a Usb stick only use an external hard drive according to the manufacturer and the testing I done myself .

So you shall use more electricity and wear out hard drives.

An inferior box in my opinion.

**toyboy11** · 26-02-12, 05:05 PM

Originally Posted by mtv

I think you'll find most external HDD's which have an external power supply require to be turned off separately to the device they are connected to... including computers.

Every external USB drive I have (different brands, capacities and enclosures) are not switched off by the device they are connected to.

Well I have the same brand HDD connected to my Mediastar and that shuts down to a point whereas the Drive actually stops, having said that there still is a slight power light visible.

Also i have an old 320 GB Seagate connected to this computer and it has a long strip light that goes out when i turn my computer off, that's why i asked the question.

**LeroyPatrol** · 26-02-12, 05:10 PM

You would think it would go into power save once the receiver was turned off with it realising no USB connection and the drive spinning down. Try another drive. Have you used this same drive with the MS9100?

Leroy

**toyboy11** · 26-02-12, 05:19 PM

Originally Posted by LeroyPatrol

You would think it would go into power save once the receiver was turned off with it realising no USB connection and the drive spinning down. Try another drive. Have you used this same drive with the MS9100?

Leroy

No i haven't used this actual same drive but one that is the exactly the same, in other words iv'e got 2 of them both the same.

**RedXT** · 27-02-12, 08:25 AM

this problem came up during the trial and I thought it worked with the drives they provided.
Heres the report I sent

Is it possible to send the HDD to sleep mode after a certian amount of
inactivity then have it start when a scheduled recording begins.

[reply] [-] Comment 1 Anthony H 2011-05-30 09:41:14 EST

Thanks for your suggestions.

Most drives actually spin down on their own if no data comms have occurred for
a period. On the field trial build, we are forcing the HDD to remain active, so
that it is always immediately ready to begin reading/writing.

Some HDDs can take up to 30 seconds to become fully active again, which would
negatively affect the user experience for any interactions we cannot predict
beforehand (e.g. playback, instant record, and pausing live TV).

For future releases, we are looking at some ways of putting the HDD to sleep.
The most basic implementation would be to spin the HDD down whenever the STB is
put into standby mode. It can spin itself up again a few moments before any
scheduled recording is about to start.

It's a simple task, we just have to ensure that the implementation cannot ever
affect the normal user experience negatively.

Anthony H.

my reply

Thats good news Im sure people dont want the HDD spinning away for a couple of
days waiting for a scheduled recording to begin, great for the electricty bill
also

[reply] [-] Comment 3 Gillian H 2011-06-06 16

27 EST

New release will be available this week and will hopefully address this problem
and the HDD will go into sleep mode when the 4121 is in standby and not
recording.

**Tiny** · 27-02-12, 05:31 PM

& so did the new release fix the problem?

I'm hoping so as I bought a Seagate 1TB that powers down the drive to idle with a quick start up response when needed. Still waiting for OTA PVR upgrade of course.
Living on a stand alone power system, I can't justify having a hard drive running flat out while waiting for a recording & if I have to switch it on & off manually to time for the PVR function it negates the purpose of a PVR!

**toyboy11** · 27-02-12, 05:44 PM

Tiny, no it hasen't even been done yet. I've just bought my box last week so they wrote that on the 30/05/2011, i mean how long is a piece of string

Or maybe my box was in the retailers store before that

What OTA upgrade are you talking about?

**Tiny** · 27-02-12, 05:55 PM

Originally Posted by toyboy11

Tiny, no it hasen't even been done yet. I've just bought my box last week so they wrote that on the 30/05/2011, i mean how long is a piece of string

Or maybe my box was in the retailers store before that

What OTA upgrade are you talking about?

The OTA upgrade of standard UEC 4121 decoders to the PVR version that is coming sooooon, its been mentioned a few times in the VAST forum, you know the one, your in the thread.

Grrrr, I'm no longer looking forward to the upgrade then.

Other Sat box manufacturers have worked this out, WTF.

I'm currently recording VAST using the Auto Tune function & setting my Sony PVR to record at the right times. Not that I record that much of VAST anyway.

Can always use the hard drive for something else.

**RedXT** · 28-02-12, 12:28 PM

Originally Posted by Tiny

& so did the new release fix the problem?

I'm hoping so as I bought a Seagate 1TB that powers down the drive to idle with a quick start up response when needed. Still waiting for OTA PVR upgrade of course.
Living on a stand alone power system, I can't justify having a hard drive running flat out while waiting for a recording & if I have to switch it on & off manually to time for the PVR function it negates the purpose of a PVR!

Yea the trial pvr I had the hdd would shutdown when the box was put ito standby mode

**toyboy11** · 28-02-12, 12:38 PM

Iv'e sent an email to UEC and are awaiting a reply.

I'll let you know the outcome.

**OSIRUS** · 28-02-12, 12:41 PM

Originally Posted by h8fg4

Yea the trial pvr I had the hdd would shutdown when the box was put ito standby mode

Thanks, h8fg4

What was your brand of Hard Drive ?

Did it just "spin down" like in power saving mode when the STB was in Stand by ? (& did the Hard drive light remain on ?)

I think this is what is supposed to be happening....

or did it completely shut down the Hard Drive...?

**RedXT** · 29-02-12, 08:10 AM

The HDD UEC supplied was a Seagate HDD S/N 9vp8fjgk 1TB in a Seagate HDD inclosure S/N 2ghm7zn9, from memory it just spun down but the light stayed on when the box was put on standby, and spunup again when a recording started

thomo

**Tiny** · 29-02-12, 08:48 AM

Cool, thanks for the info Thomo, that's the drive I bought.
Feeling a lot better & I'm looking forward to the upgrade again.

**toyboy11** · 01-03-12, 03:56 PM

Further to thread 12 above uec says that they will be providing an update to allow the HDD to turn off when the stb is in standby, but didn't say when that's going to happen. If thread 7 above is any indication that could be a long time to wait.

**domwild** · 01-03-12, 05:49 PM

Originally Posted by Tiny

The OTA upgrade of standard UEC 4121 decoders to the PVR version that is coming sooooon, its been mentioned a few times in the VAST forum, you know the one, your in the thread.

Grrrr, I'm no longer looking forward to the upgrade then.

Other Sat box manufacturers have worked this out, WTF.

I'm currently recording VAST using the Auto Tune function & setting my Sony PVR to record at the right times. Not that I record that much of VAST anyway.

Can always use the hard drive for something else.

Tiny: Are you connecting your VAST box to a Sony PVR? If so, pls let me know as I have an Olin PVR and external HD. I would have to format the HD for the VAST box and lose all the recordings on it and am also not happy with the 1 TB limit on the VAST PVR box I just bought.

May I ask you for an idiot-proof step-by-step instruction how to connect a VAST box to a separate PVR?

Thanks.

**domwild** · 01-03-12, 05:53 PM

The OLIN PVR, by the way does not have a 1 TB limit from memory and the HD drive light goes off on standby. If the VAST PVR box does not switch off the power to the HD on standby, then that is a mistake.

**Buffalo Bill** · 01-03-12, 07:02 PM

Originally Posted by domwild

The OLIN PVR, by the way does not have a 1 TB limit from memory and the HD drive light goes off on standby. If the VAST PVR box does not switch off the power to the HD on standby, then that is a mistake.

Actually, in a PVR you do not want the drive to be turned off completely. Most new drives run diagnostics on itself when it's been in an idle (spun down) state for a while. It will then do things like check for problematic sectors, and shift data for wear-levelling. If the drive is completely turned off, then it can't perform this housekeeping.

**Tiny** · 01-03-12, 07:05 PM

Originally Posted by domwild

Tiny: Are you connecting your VAST box to a Sony PVR? If so, pls let me know as I have an Olin PVR and external HD. I would have to format the HD for the VAST box and lose all the recordings on it and am also not happy with the 1 TB limit on the VAST PVR box I just bought.

May I ask you for an idiot-proof step-by-step instruction how to connect a VAST box to a separate PVR?

Thanks.

It's quite simple really, have a look here
If you need more help for this, ask me in that thread.