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TCC

Replacing Hard Drive in DVMRe-16CD

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I have a customer with several DVMRe-16CD. GE does not support these anymore and i need to replace a hard drive. When I placed the new hard drive in, It comes up with the firmware page and shows the 137.4gig for the new drive. I let the system sit for a day and the progress bar has barely moved.

 

Has anybody successfully replaced and hard drive and how?

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What size drive was in it before, and what size did you put in?

 

This sounds like a common problem with older motherboards and Windows pre-XP/SP2. There's more info on how and why this happens here: http://www.48bitlba.com/

 

In the case of a standalone DVR, without a firmware update, there's probably no way to get around the problem... and since the unit has been orphaned by its manufacturer, the chances of a firmware update are slim to none.

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The DVR had a 80gig hd, but as you know they are hard to find. I was replacing the drive with a 160gig. The Mux Firmware is 3.2 and the PPE is 3.14.

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I can live with the 137gig, but having problems with the DVR starting up.

 

Right now the system is setting at the first screen showing the firware verson and hard drive size. It's been sitting on this screen for a day or so now. The hard drive lite is on, but cannot tell is it is doing anything. I would like to know how the system is suppose to act during the new hard drive install.

 

Thanks

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1-Delete any partitions on the hard drive - it must be a 100% empty drive - no partition tables at all.

2-Make sure there is only 1 7200rpm drive (PSU originally only support 2x5400rpm drives)

3-Set single drive to master and if second drive in set that to master, make sure cables are correct also.

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I can live with the 137gig, but having problems with the DVR starting up.

 

Right now the system is setting at the first screen showing the firware verson and hard drive size. It's been sitting on this screen for a day or so now. The hard drive lite is on, but cannot tell is it is doing anything. I would like to know how the system is suppose to act during the new hard drive install.

 

Thanks

 

TCC, unless if you can find newer version firmware for this unit, you will be stuck with maximum 140G storage per channel... I will suggest to contact GE and get the latest firmware and I am sure they will provide it... You may have to create an account with their website and chances are good that the latest firmware may be found there, or GE tech support can e-mail it to you... If so, be very careful how to upgrade the firmware - it is easy only if you know how to perform this task.

 

As for the above problem of system not booting... When you are replacing the drive, the system first recognizes and then formats to its own... regardless if the hard drive contains any data or not. However, I have seen this problem when even after you change the hard drive, it sort of trying to boot, but does not.. What we confirmed the problem being is that the power supply is not providing enough power... and GE power supplies had problems in the past even when they were shipped brand new.

 

All initial power supplies sent with GE recorders (all series of CBR, DSR and DVMRe) came with 5A external power supply... much later they confirmed that this power supply did not really performed well, as provided power was not enough for all the components. It was not that obvious initially, but over time, they started failing more often than usual... It has gotten worse when someone was trying to add more storage or add the second drive.. As a solution, GE came up with 7.5A version of the same power supply and all known problems pertinent to limited power supply went away...

 

Here is the power supply that I am referring: [edit by mod-store link removed, please pm them the link] - This power supply actually helped us tremendously in fixing too many problems associated with adding more internal storage and up to 1.5TB in some models...

 

Good luck and let us know the outcome...

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