jhook24

Hi, I know this is an old system but, I have been tasked to repair my company's GE DVMRe CT II's. The main problem with the ones coming in is Hard Drive failure. This is totally understandable for all the work these things do. So, I've read the posts on swapping Hard Drives and the possibility of needing to upgrade the firmware and I have come to a block. I have replaced the drives in the device with ones I thought would be compatable. Each drive is now a Western Digital WD3200AAJB 320GB PATA. However, after installing the drives, (making sure that the master/slave jumpers are correct), instead of it reading 1200GB it only shows 579GB. I upgraded to Firmware 6.29 but, it still only shows 579GB. Any insight? Thanks so much! Joe

Well, I got the new drives. Same deal. Not showing full capacity. I called WD to pick their brain. I am now in the process of writing zeros to an entire drive to see if THAT does the trick. Someone from Experts Exchange suggested that there may be a raid controller on the device. That could provide an answer if the Maxtor drives didn't show a full TB. Since is shows a full TB that I would guess that raid has nothing to do with it. I just don't get why the Maxtor drives work and the Western Digitial drives don't. Hey, is there HD configuration stuff on the DVMR? Maybe the MAXTOR drives were configured on the device.

I got this from Western Digital. "The product we recommend for video recording equipments such as your DVMR is the WD AV. The model number on the drive we recommend is WD3200AVJB." I had the WD3200AAJB. We will be ordering up 4 of the AV models. I will post the results. Thanks! Joe

The DVMRe CT II comes with 4 320GB hard drives. They are 2 bolted to each other by a metal plate there is a piece of thick paper between the the 2 sets. The jumpers are set correctly. Master/Slave for one set of 2, Master/Slave for the other set of 2. I attempted to bootup using only 1 set of 2 and it again reported a 48% drop is Hard Drive space. I really think it's the these Hard Drives because I yanked the ones out a good DVMRe CT II (Maxor drives) and the test unit reported 1200GB. I think my next step is to contact Western Digital and see whats so different about the new drives I'm using. I really am a bit curious about these things. Joe

I really do get that. I understand the loss of some hard drive space I've been in IT for over 11 years, but four times 320 Gig will give me at least 1 Terra-byte. I set up another DVMR using 4 320GB old maxor drives, I booted up and it displayed 1200Gig which equals over 1 Terrabyte. I want to know why the DVMR is pretty much robbing me of 2 hard drives when I use 4 of these Western Digital Drives. 570gb-1200gb = a 48% loss of space, not the normal 10%. The reason I went with the 7amp power as a possible fix was per your recommendation below. I am only and always plugging in 4 Hard Drives, not 2. Thanks for bearing with me.

I was just working with Security and I happened to notice a DVMR connected using a 7.0A Power Supply. The guard indicated that they had a bunch of them in the back. I took one and plugged it in to my test unit. With 4 320GB HDs installed, it still comes up with 579GB not at least 1200GB. This is a GE Power Supply P/N 4010-0028. Now here's the thing. I'm looking at "Output:12.0V___7.0A" is this what I need to be looking at. (I wish I were more electricly technical.) If so. I am now at a loss to know what could be cause the huge drop in acknowledged space. Thanks! Joe

Joe, if the system works fine after changing hard drives and without any hiccups, then you do not have to change the power supply... Most of the time the problem becomes fairly obvious - system will not start up, random restarts and shutdowns, etc... If the system is performing well after replacement of drives, leave it alone. That's just it, I replaced the Hard Drives with new ones. The system booted without a hitch. It just reported the wrong HD capacity. I was talking to one of the security guards about this and he pulled a burnt out 3.5 Amp PS out of the garbage saying, this is the reason we ordered up the the 5 amp power supplies. I'm thinking that once the storage technology becomes unreachable that will be the end of these things. Joe Hook

I found this pretty quickly. http://cctveasy.com/catalogsearch/result/?q=PSU-7.5&x=23&y=7 Joe Hook

Thanks for the reply! I installed four 320G drives. The power supply I am currently using puts out 5.2A. Do you think PSU-7.5 should do the trick? I'm with Angus, I'll start my search for PS for these puppies. We have about 25 DVRs in the field and I anticipate one coming in every other month, but, then again, these things are pretty tough. Joe Hook

Hi! I'm really glad there is a forum for surveillance devices. I have been given the task of supporting the discontinued GE DVMRe CT II from a hardware repair perpective, so I'm hoping I can get some help as well as offer some. Thanks! Joe Hook Movado Group, Inc.