HD PVR Question

[Coach]

Hello all....I have a Motorola HD PVR...I was wondering if it was at all possible to hook up and external hard Drive to the SATA ot USB hub in the back to increase my memory for recorded programs....The family all wants different shows to be recorded but sometimes we seem to have too much going on and it starts to fill up....any Ideas.....

[TheManInBlack]

I'd call motorola

[Evil Monkey]

Motorola hasn't released firmware to allow for drives larger than 160GB, nor have they released firmware that enables the SATA port or USB. There is nothing Shaw can do about this
The USB ports also do not allow for external drive attachments, although they do have power and can be handy for charging devices (like an iPod)
You cannot mount the drive in the STB using the FireWire port, no matter what OS you have. That port, like the HDMI and component outputs, works for live audio/video output only -- what is playing on the PVR is what comes out that port, be it a recorded show, or the current channel tuned on the STB.
You may be able to record output from the FireWire if you have a compatible capture card, the correct drivers, the correct software, if certain broadcast flags are not set. Some people have no problem, for others is seems to be a crap-shoot.

[H.E. Pennypacker]

shaw will soon be offering their PVR Extender for the motorola models, right now it only works on pace pvrs. the expander is 1tb.

there is a LOT of info on it here,
http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=112018

and apparently shaw is working on releasing the ability to add your own sata drive / or the expander in the next firmware release.

hope that helps.

[Coach]

Thanks all....much appreciated...

[Coach]

they were selling the expander 1tb for 150 today...they say it will work on the motorola



FYI

[H.E. Pennypacker]

they were selling the expander 1tb for 150 today...they say it will work on the motorola



FYI

shaw itself, coach? if they must have had a firmware upgrade to allow them to now work with the motorola boxes. awesome

[Coach]

Yep...Shaw was in the mall...selling it