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Next Box 3.0 and PVR Extender

lorne35
I've been here awhile

Can anyone confirm whether the 1TB PVR extender is compatible with Next Box 3.0? When I connect the two, I get a message indicating the Next Box 3.0 cannot format the extender as it is not functioning properly. Thanks for any input

 

 

 

 

***Edited labels***

43 REPLIES 43

Re: Next Box 3.0 and PVR Extender

Glad to hear you got it working 🙂

Unfortunately.. yeah.. unless you have a BIT of technical knoledge.. its not an easy thing to do..

The average JOE USER shouldnt have to have to do this to get it working 😞

And it WAS working before (as mine pluged in and worked fine)... i am guessing a bad batch of pre-formated ones or something from Segate.

Re: Next Box 3.0 and PVR Extender

User14
I'm a trusted contributor

It's Jan 2014 and I had an extender on my 8300 PVR that I want to use on my new 9865HD PVR. (NB3.0) We have already started using the 9865 so I am anticipating problems. We deleted all the saved programs on the extender and on the 8300.

(One of the disk drives died on the 8300 by the way but that is another story.)

I have not started doing this yet, but here is my plan:

1. Unplug everything.

2. Format the Rogers (Seagate) 1 TB extender on my PC. This should get rid of the partition that people are talking about.

3. Plug the formatted extender into the 9865 (SATA connection just below the HDMI for the HDTV on the 9865 box)

4. Power up the extender, then power up the 9865 and turn it on and see what happens.

 

I'll try to describe what happens for the non-techy types.

 

Not having a manual for the NB3.0 9865HD and not getting clear answers from Rogers is pretty sad. Letting clients fubble along trying to get things to work is unbelieveable.  I also have a Western Digital 2 TB storage device that might work in theory, but I am not going to risk trying to connect it at this point.

 

Wish me luck. 🙂

 

Re: Next Box 3.0 and PVR Extender

Gdkitty
Resident Expert
Resident Expert

not sure if the units are designed to read a drive over 1tb.

 

I transitioned from a new IPG 8642 to 9865 with no issues, without having to put into a PC first.. BUT.. the 8300 is running SARA, so may be still formatted differently.
Might be a good idea, to do as you said before hand, JUST to be sure.

And you are just not formatting the drive.  You want to go in, and remove ANY partition that you find there.
Go into control pannel > computer management > disk management, and remove any partitions at all for that external drive.

Re: Next Box 3.0 and PVR Extender

User14
I'm a trusted contributor

Hi again,

 

Well, success!  I found the instruction  below on the Rogers website so I modified my plan a little.

For Step 1 below I had 30.3% full already on my 9865HD PVR and there were scheduled recordings.

I got to step 7 okay and did the reboot until I got the TIME at step 8.

The prompt at Step 8 was Attention you have connected to an external .... etc. etc. You now had to choose:

 Yes, reformat the external device

 No, do NOT reformat the external device

I SELECTED  Yes, reformat the external device  ( no pressing of A )

then you get an "are you sure"  with:

   YES  NO

I SELECTED Yes

At this point there was no indication that anything was happening.

There was a LOADING message but it had disappeared. A little while later I pressed LIST and still nothing, so I waited.

Eventually the recordings list showed up. Poof!

It indicated 15.1% full  with a warning:  There is an External Device hooked .... blah, blah, Do not unhook, etc. etc.  and then it disappeared.

Everything looked ready to go, but I still had not done Step 10.

Just in case something needed to be reset, I unplugged the power from the PVR and plugged it back in after 10 seconds +.

Got the BOOT, then the TIME and then I turned on the PVR and got the LOADING streamer.

Everything looked ok.

With the 8300 there was a message that there is an External Device hooked .... blah, blah... and it disappears.

With the 9865, there was no similar message. 

 

That's it.. I hope this helps someone else.

One little issue, when hooking up the SATA connection to the back of the PVR, I must have done something to the HDMI connection to the TV because during the reboot of the PVR I got a NO SIGNAL on the screen. A little jiggling of the HDMI cable on the back of the HD PVR fixed it. Make sure you are on the right source.

 

 

http://www.rogers.com/web/support/tv/pvr/317?setLanguage=en

 

Installing a PVR Extender.

To install a PVR Extender, follow the steps below. (IMPORTANT: These steps must be completed in the exact order specified)

  1. Press LIST your Rogers remote control. (Note the recording space currently available on your PVR - Digital Set Top Box without an Extender connected).
  2. Unplug the power cable from the back of the PVR - Digital Set Top Box.
  3. Connect one end of the eSATA data cable to the back of the PVR - Digital Set Top Box.
  4. Connect the other end of the eSATA data cable to your PVR Extender.
  5. Connect your PVR Extender’s power adaptor to a wall power outlet.
  6. Connect the power source to your PVR Extender.
  7. Reconnect the power cord to the back of the PVR - Digital Set Top Box.
  8. After the current time is displayed on the front, turn on the Digital Set Top Box by pressing the power button on the front of the box.
    NOTE: A prompt will appear on your TV screen, requesting to format the external storage device.
  9. When prompted, press A on your Rogers Remote to format your PVR Extender.
  10. Reboot your PVR - Digital Set Top Box by unplugging the power cord for 10 seconds, then reconnect.

 

  • After the PVR – Digital Set Top Box reboot is complete and the current time is shown on the display screen, press POWER, then LIST your Rogers remote to see the additional recording space available. The percentage of space used should be less than was noted in Step 1.

 This took 15 minutes to do total and I hope it dispells any misinformation that is out there.  In the future I might try my Western Digital 2 TB External Storage device. Good luck to all. 

 

 

Re: Next Box 3.0 and PVR Extender

sbenninger
I plan to stick around

@User14....by any chance are you using a Sony (or Sony off brand TV)?

 

I had a tech install my NxBx3 yesterday and he noticed my Sony TV and said there are HDMI issues when using the NxBx3 with them. They will lose the connection and need to power cycle the TV or reboot the NxBx3. Perhaps unplugging/plugging the HDMI cable could also resolve. Mine is an older Sony TV and I have not experienced the issue though.

 

Also as an FYI I moved my 1TB extender from my NxBx2 to the NxBx3 and it formatted and is working properly. Now if only I could get the SD letterboxing to go away I would be happy. NxBx2 did not have it but NxBx3 does. 

 

 

Re: Next Box 3.0 and PVR Extender

The HDMI CEC is broken on the NB3.. but from what i have seen/heard, the sonys seem to have the BIGEST issue with it.

Try turing off the bravia sync, and see if that helps (though it will disable the bravia sync features if you are using them with another device)

 

the SD letterboxing.. is part the NB2/3 and part the channel.

I am guessing, your NB2 only had the OLD guide and not the NEW guide, the same as the NB3?
On the old guide on the NB2 and the older boxes.. an SD channel would AUTO scale up to full screen, as its on 480i.
With the new guide, on the NB2 and the NB3.. it is auto scaling everything up to 1080i.. no two seperate modes.

Some SD channels, you will find, will only have the bars on the sides.  Many SD channels now are releasing in a 'false' widescreen, with the bars then top and bottom as well.  Makes it even smaller on teh screen.. but allows then to ZOOM in to make full screen.

Re: Next Box 3.0 and PVR Extender

sbenninger
I plan to stick around

NB2 had the new guide. I got it when the "whole home PVR" was released. I believe I had the setting to "stretch" in the guide settings but for some reason it does not take effect on the NB3. I also have one of the HD(4642HD I believe) boxes with the new guide(a requirement of the whole home setup) and it also displays the SD channels in stretch mode. Not a huge deal as most of the programming we watch is HD and it is an LCD so the burn in issue is not as relavant as it would be on my plasma.

 

Also FYI - I do not have CEC enabled on my Sony so that is perhaps why I have not experienced any issues thus far.

Re: Next Box 3.0 and PVR Extender

User14
I'm a trusted contributor
It's a Samsung TV. I assume you mean the HDMI cable seems to come out of the Sony TV fairly easily.

Re: Next Box 3.0 and PVR Extender

stephenkittle
I've been here awhile
how do you remove the partition?

Re: Next Box 3.0 and PVR Extender

stephenkittle
I've been here awhile
Thank you so much, It worked !!

Re: Next Box 3.0 and PVR Extender

timomunr
I've been here awhile

First let me say, there is no information on Rogers on adding more recording space from Rogers.  This thread is the best inforomation so far.  When I phoned Rogers to ask about this , they told me that the 1TB of recording space on the Nextbox 3.0 should be sufficient for my recording needs.  Don't you love it when a Customer support person assumes to know what your needs are.  Anyway, we like to record a whole seasons of shows and binge watch, and sometimes keep certain programs indefinetly, like how my mother still has a VHS recording of the Diana/Charles wedding !

 

THE GOOD NEWS IS YOU CAN EASILY ADD LOTS OF RECORDING SPACE TO YOUR NEXTBOX 3.0 !!!!!

 

The old 1TB PVR extender is no longer available from Rogers.  It was a just a Seagate external hard drive, that is is no longer available from Seagate.  We were constantly running at around 85% full on our internal 1TB drive in the Nextbox 3.0 , so I wanted to add more space.  All you should need to do this is a drive enclosure that supports eSATA I/II/III , and a suitable Hard drive.

 

I used a Vantec NexStar MX (NST-400MX-S3R)

http://www.canadacomputers.com/product_info.php?cPath=14_207&item_id=050536

with a Seagate 4TB 3.5" internal drive

http://www.canadacomputers.com/product_info.php?cPath=15_1086_210_212&item_id=057970

 

It worked great, after the reboot - install - format procedure, my used space was down to 15.3%.  The only thing that did not work, was since the Vantec can accomodate 2 drives, I tried adding a second 4TB drive.  There is dip switch on the vantec to allow either JBOD or RAID1 spanning/striping of drives to create a single volume.  The Rogers Next Box could not recognize or format the second drive in either configuration.  I ended up setting the dipswitch to "individual drive mode" and it worked fine.  In hindsight, I should have purchased the single drive enclosure of the vantec for cost savings.

http://www.canadacomputers.com/product_info.php?cPath=14_203&item_id=044778

 

Keep in mind, EVERY tim you cycle power on the Vantec/3rd party PVR Extender, you need to cycle power on the Nextbox 3.0.  As soon as you lose the eSATA signal to the Nextbox, it needs the full 5 minute power cycle reboot to recogize the PVR Extender.  However the Nextbox should only need to format the PVR Extender once.

 

GOOD LUCK, AND START PVR-ING TO YOUR HEARTS DESIRE !!

 

Re: Next Box 3.0 and PVR Extender

Correct, you should be able to add any form of ESATA type external hard drive to the unit to exend space.
(obviously the better the drive, and enclousre, the better performance you will get... IE: dont put in GREEN drives, etc)

 

I do agree.. they should not be saying 'its enough' to someone who its not for.

That being said.. it IS a lot of space.. with the newer compression, it should be getting upwards of 200h of HD.

For your AVERAGE user.. (recording and then watching with a week or two) its likely enough

 

 

Just a hint though.. DONT count on it for recording/keeping things indefinately.
PVRs are definately NOT designed for that by any means.
And that they can get accidently wiped by a simple software update, etc...  I wouldnt put my eggs in that basket.

Re: Next Box 3.0 and PVR Extender

mfait
I'm a reliable contributor

@Gdkitty wrote:

Correct, you should be able to add any form of ESATA type external hard drive to the unit to exend space.
(obviously the better the drive, and enclousre, the better performance you will get... IE: dont put in GREEN drives, etc)

 


Any type of external hard drive may have worked with the NetBox 2 and earlier PVR's that were only capable of recording 2 shows at a time.  But the NetBox3 claims to be able to record up to 8 shows, which could be a problem for a standard desktop hard drive.

I would recommend a hard drive optimized for multiple video streams.

 

The NetBox3 uses a Seagate ST1000VM002-1CT162 1TB Pipeline HD.

 

http://www.seagate.com/ca/en/products/media-video-storage/surveillance-drives/video-3-5-hdd/?sku=ST1...

 

For difference between standard desktop HD and video HD see.

 

http://www.seagate.com/files/www-content/product-content/sv35-fam/sv35.5/en-gb/docs/video-vs-desktop...

 

I used to use an external desktop drive in an eSata enclosure when I had a NetBox2, but the NetBox3 has so much more internal storage that I never needed to use it with the NetBox3, so I don't know how it would perform.

 

Edit:  The broken words on wraparound are not me, it's Rogers.  What's up with that anyway.

Another upate to improve the user experience.

Re: Next Box 3.0 and PVR Extender

Gdkitty
Resident Expert
Resident Expert

Yeah, sorry, should have expanded more on my post.
Your absolutely correct mfait.

The better drive you get.. the better the box will preform... a cheaper basic drive, while it may work, may cause slowdowns if using many recording streams at one time.

Re: Next Box 3.0 and PVR Extender

CarolR
I plan to stick around

How did you plug expander into computer? Mine has only power port and SATA port. I'd really like to see what my PC tells me if (probably permanently disabled) expander connected to it.

 

Thanks

Re: Next Box 3.0 and PVR Extender

DrMike
I'm a trusted contributor

PVR Extender questions for 9865HD Nextbox 3.0

 

The PVR extender (Seagate GoFlex - Rogers branded) that I was using seems to be deteriorating and has caused endless reboots of my box.  I took it off and ran some diagnostics on my PC and indeed there are some sector issues. Can't be sure that was the only cause of my issues (TV freezing then rebooting several times per day) but I can say that after removing the Extender all seems fine and stable for several days now.... 

 

If I want to replace it, I see that Rogers no longer sells this product. In the past I used a older SATA drive in an enclosure and that worked OK, but since it was an older drive it eventually gave me issues as well. If I want to replace, this time I'm going for a new unit, maybe a WD Green Drive in an enclosure, or some other all-in-one external drive.

 

My questions are:

 

How big is the internal drive on the 9865HD to begin with?

 

What are the spec requirements for a 3rd party drive to work. Clearly it has to be an eSATA connection, and has to have its own power. Other than that what are my limitations? What size drive does the latest firmware/software on the 9865HD allow? What spindle speed is best - will it accommodate a 7200 rpm drive or only a slower one? I tried @RogersHelps on Twitter but got no useful answers.

 

Any recommendations or advice is welcome. Thanks in advance.

Re: Next Box 3.0 and PVR Extender

57
Resident Expert
Resident Expert

@DrMike:  Let my try to answer your questions.

 

1. The iHDD is 1TB.

2. It used to be that the firmware only allowed a TOTAL of 2TB storage. It appears from a previous post that this limit may be "gone", but perhaps there is a new limit, or the limit on the eHDD is still 1TB (with more allowed for the iHDD?).  Sorry, there have been so few people do this since the 1TB iHDD with media shrink is more than adequate for most people.

3. I do not recommend the WD green drive because the power saving features of the green drives may conflict with the firmware functionality.

4. I suggest either a black or blue WD SATA drive.  I believe any of the latest models will work in an appropriate enclosure, like a Vantec.

 

Additional comments:

 

A. Since the 9865 uses "media shrink" you already have over two hundred hours of programme-recording ability. Most people don't bother adding an eHDD because the internal 1TB HDD is more than adequate for the PVR's intended use.

B. The PVRs are not intended to be utilized as an archiving device. They are time-shifting devices. As you know, it's not a matter of IF a HDD will fail, but rather WHEN, so I'd hate to see you think you've got an archive when a HDD fails, which it will inevitably do.

C. If you wish to have an archive, you would need to consider something like the Hauppauge HDPVR (an HTPC to which your recordings can be copied)

 

D. Some people have reported more issues when an eHDD is present, so I suggest you consider only using the iHDD, perhaps upgrading the iHDD to 2TB if you don't mind losing that programming.

 

http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/61-rogers-cable-tv-hd-pvr-discussion/211002-upgrade-replace-ihdd-986...

Re: Next Box 3.0 and PVR Extender

mfait
I'm a reliable contributor

Be care regarding which hard drive you get.  Some may not work well with multiple streams of videos that you would get when recording multiple shows.

 

See post:

http://communityforums.rogers.com/t5/TV/Next-Box-3-0-and-PVR-Extender/m-p/353321#M37933

 

Re: Next Box 3.0 and PVR Extender

rmunro
I've been here awhile

Attaching an external HDD to a Cisco 9865HD Nextbox

 

Hoping someone can walk me through conflicting information, and possibly configuration. 

Short version: Is it possible to connect an external drive to the PVR for additional storage, and if so, what equipment is required and how do I configure it? I am getting conflicting information from tech support.

Long version:

My wife and daughter frequently max out the PVR, and I am hoping to attach an external hard drive to their Cisco 9865HD Nextbox. (I had a 3TB HDD attached to our Bell PVR which did the trick nicely.)

Problem is that I can't find any documentation, and I am getting conflicting information from the tech support chat line. One tech support associate told me that all I needed was an eSATA external drive, and supplied a link to a how-to (which I unfortunately didn't save.) When I checked back in to confirm that a configuration I was going to use would work, another tech support guy told me that Rogers boxes would not support an external drive, never did, never will, the eSATA and USB ports on the back of the drive were not attached to anything, and assured me that after nine years in the industry, he would know!

Before I shell out the money for another HDD I want to make sure it will work.

Thanks for your help.

Rob

 

Re: Next Box 3.0 and PVR Extender

57
Resident Expert
Resident Expert

@rmunro: Here's a link to discussion of adding an eHDD to a 9865.  This is certainly possible and some people have done it. (Many people used to do it when the internal drive was smaller (as it was on 8300s and 8642s and before the firmware had media shrink available.)

 

http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/61-rogers-cable-tv-hd-pvr-discussion/123790-rogers-8642-9865-hd-pvr-...

 

However, please read my comments regarding doing so:

 

1. Although I'm not sure, the firmware may limit you to a total of 2TB Total (1TB additional, although I've read conflicting reports on this limitation and it may now be larger)

2. Since the 9865 uses "media shrink" you already have hundreds of hours of programme-recording ability. Most people don't even bother adding an eHDD because the internal 1TB HDD is more than adequate for the PVR's intended use.

3. The PVRs are not intended to be utilized as an archiving device. They are time-shifting devices. It's not a matter of IF a HDD will fail, but rather WHEN, so I'd hate to see you think you've got an archive when a HDD fails, which it will inevitably do.

4. If you wish to have an archive, you would need to consider something like the Hauppauge HDPVR (an HTPC to which your recordings can be copied).

 

5. The eHDD on a 9865 doesn't work like it does on the Bell Satellite PVRs.  It doesn't act as an "archive" (you cannot move programming to/from that drive).  The eHDD simply increases the "onboard" storage and is utilized "full time" functioning like a larger internal drive.

 

6. Read the first few and the last few pages of the link regarding procedures and the type of e-HDD (Most people have had success with WD Black, Blue, Red drives. Do not use a "green" drive).

 

7.  There have been some reports of an eHDD causing more issues on a 9865, so I don't really recommend going that route. 

 


rmunro wrote:  When I checked back in to confirm that a configuration I was going to use would work, another tech support guy told me that Rogers boxes would not support an external drive, never did, never will, the eSATA and USB ports on the back of the drive were not attached to anything, and assured me that after nine years in the industry, he would know!

Obviously, this technician is incorrect.  Many people have added eSATA eHDDs, however, it is not an archive, rather it functions as if it were additional internal storage.  The USB port doesn't serve any function on the Rogers PVRs, although there is power to it and you could use it to charge a phone...

Re: Next Box 3.0 and PVR Extender

OLDYELLR
I'm a senior advisor

@57 wrote:


4. If you wish to have an archive, you would need to consider something like the Hauppauge HDPVR (an HTPC to which your recordings can be copied).

 


Interesting. So how does the Hauppauge HDPVR store recordings, if not on a hard drive? Or do you mean writing the recordings to DVD-Rs for archiving. I've seen more DVDs and CDs go bad than hard drives.


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