katie77

with the HD removed, can you still view the cameras? If so I suspect the HD is shot. Mine kept doing a similar thing. I could still see all the cams, but trying to do anything with the HD and I got the 'please wait' message. In spite of these HD's being made for the units, they still run hot. I have changed the position of mine, plus raised it so that air can circulate under it. Formatting on your PC and it probably won't work in the unit. They use some type of Linux system I believe. Did the HD work in the PC?

You format the HD in the unit. There is a command for format. Let me know if you cannot find it and I will walk you through getting to it. I think navigation could be easier with this unit.

Have you tired to reformat the HD? I tried that with mine and it kept giving me the 'please wait' message. In the end I replaced the HD and now it works perfectly. There seems to be no way to check that the HD is actually working. I think part of the problem is that my unit was getting too hot. I have changed the location and also raised the unit so that there is more air circulation.

Thank you so much for the help. I have pretty much decided it is the HD so will replace that. Do appreciate the comments as they were much more helpful than the Q-See techs.

I am having no luck with Q-see techs so hope someone here can help. OK I know this unit is a cheapo but all I could get. It keeps trying to re-boot about every 2 minutes. I am trying to find out if this is the failure of the HD or a firmware problem. The cameras (running 6 of are viewable. Firmware that I was offered by Q-See gives me error message "no device or valid file". If it is the HD, I can replace myself. If it is firmware then I do not know how to get it to recognize the files. There does not appear to be a way to check the HD while in the unit. Q-See told me to 'put it into a PC and format it'. My PC has IDE while the HD in question is SATA. ANY help greatly appreciated. Katie