2 Nextboxes 9865 with same Hard Drive size yield different recording times by half

[something1965]

One box can only record half of what the other can even though both have a 1TB HD

Both boxes (1 rented and the other purchased on Kijiji) are Nextbox 9865

In the diagnostics (tech version) under HDD Info both show as 9XX GB's

Rogers Rental - Toshiba HD

Purchased - Seagate HD

In testing with 8 X 1 hour recordings each:

Rogers Rental - 6.5% of HD used

Purchased -  12.5% of HD used  

On the Purchased unit I have performed the Restore to factory mode from the regular Menu under it's Diagnostics page and it did nothing.

I am at a loss to this issue.

Is it possible for the diagnostics (tech version) to lie about the HD size?

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[57]

@something1965 : Did you record exactly the same programming on exactly the same channel?  Different channels have different bitrates, therefore take up different amounts of HDD space.  Also, 8 hours may not be enough to be accurate enough to compare, although I can see where you're coming from.

The other item is something called "media shrink" which compresses recordings when the box is not busy. Perhaps the one box had not yet had the opportunity to "shrink" the recordings. Once shrunk, the recordings typically take only about 60% of the original recording space.

You can see if media shrink is working by looking at the HDD space before going to bed, after having recorded a fair bit, and then looking again the next day. There should be more space available after media shrink. Media Shrink is also on one of the pages of the diagnostics:

https://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/30-57s-home-theatre-faqs/17719-57-faq-tips-sa-cisco-stbs-also-pace....

[something1965]

Thanks for reply

"Did you record exactly the same programming on exactly the same channel?"

Yes same time, same channels.

The Purchased one (before I factory reset it) had 26 X 1h hour programs and said it was approx 85% full while the Rental box was about 40% that for roughly the same amount, mostly same programs.

Does the software delete any partitions that were on the HD if any?

[57]

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@something1965 wrote:

The Purchased one (before I factory reset it) had 26 X 1h hour programs and said it was approx 85% full while the Rental box was about 40% that for roughly the same amount, mostly same programs.

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That makes no sense for 26 hours - it's way too much and may have contained a "runaway" recording or something  similar.  You should be able to now test anew.  A one hour new recording should be around 1% and a one hour shrunk recording should be around 0.6%.  I just deleted 9 hours of F1 programming from the weekend and recovered 5% of my HDD space.

[something1965]

I deleted all recordings instead of Factory Reset.

I recorded 2 X 1 hour programs

Soon as recordings stopped it was something like 1.35 % remaining but then rose up to around 1.73%  after 45 minutes then it went back down to 1.06 at the 1 hour mark to right where is should be and where it still remains 2 days later.

Too hard to say what the issue was, maybe the Hard Drive is starting to struggle so next time it happens I will replace it, analyze the old one then possibly re-use it elsewhere if passes testing.

Thanks for replies.

[57]

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@something1965 wrote:

I recorded 2 X 1 hour programs

Soon as recordings stopped it was something like 1.35 % remaining but then rose up to around 1.73%  after 45 minutes then it went back down to 1.06 at the 1 hour mark to right where is should be and where it still remains 2 days later.

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I assume you mean 1% full, not 1% remaining.  Looks like it's working properly now.  With very small amounts recorded, the accuracy of the calculation may be off, but it should increase in accuracy once you have more recorded.

[something1965]

Yes I meant "full" , thanks