DM hard drive swap HELP!!

[seiplentz 0]

Alright I have done everything to put new hard drives in a sprite 2 its a DS2P model. I have tried the ftp thing formatting in fat32 copying the files from the other drive it does work, and also using acronis to image it and have had no luck. Basically the drives have a date of 2005 on them and I figure Im on borrowed time till they fail. The drives I bought are wd 160gb 8 mb blue series.

 

When it tries to boot it gets stuck on initializing bootloader.

 

I am about to trash this pos.

 

Any help would be appreciated as I am new to the DM products.

[cctv newbie 0]

hi, i have just got a DS2 dvtu like yours and reading other peoples posts i managed to swap various drive now in the machine, the easiest way i found was NOT to use the FTP method, you will need a 3.5 drive enclosure so you can connect the drive to you pc/laptop. then follow these steps.

1, Connect the hard drive to a PC using the usb enclosure

2, In Windows Disk Management, create a new primary partition on the drive, using all available space. Do not limit partition size use all available space. assign the drive a letter, F if F is not already being used, When asked select "Do not format partition"

3, Use Fat32Formatter to format the disk (Windows format does not work). You can download programme from here: http://www.ridgecrop.demon.co.uk/

Now download a copy of fat32format. Extract the zip file EXE file to C:\.

when you have done this, click start(xp) or the microsoft symbol (Vista,Windows7) then click run and type cmd, this will bring up command prompt

When the command prompt opens, type this CD /D C:\ (is the place you extracted the exe file to), press enter and then type this. fat32format F: You MAY need to replace f if you assigned the drive with another letter

You should see this displayed

Warning ALL data on drive 'f' will be lost irretrievably, are you sure (y/n) type y. drive will now format.

after the drive has formatted in the command line type exit. programme will exit.

 

now you need to down load correct software for your drive go to

http://www.dedicatedmicros.com/software_release/index_firmware.php to check correct version you need it should be on the bottom side of the digital sprite.

 

when you have downloaded the software it will be in a zip file you need to put the file on to the disk you have formatted, i found if you unzip file to the disk you just formatted then you dont lose anyfiles. when you have done this disconect drive from pc/laptop, if you have a 2nd drive ie Slave disk all you need to do is format the disk to fat 32 as explained above, DONT PUT ANY FILES ON IT.

 

now put all drives back in making sure you have put correct jumpers on the master/slave drives and then power up unit.

Power up the DVR at which point it will check automatically rebuild the drive.

 

--- (1) Displays "Initializing bootloader" (about 1 minute)

--- (2) Displays "Initializing boot signature"

--- (3) Displays "Ram tests"

--- (4) Displays Hard Drive Info:

------- Drv. Model No. Size Format Status

------- C: Maxtor 6L100PQ 099 GB Fat 32 OK

--- (5) Loading application from disk (goes through loading software and creating storage areas)

 

11) After a short wait it should boot into the normal menu.

If this does not work check jumper settings again. It should now work

if you have a slave drive it will do a image or video file build on that disk to.

 

any questions just ask,

 

yes it seems abit complicated but it isnt, i have just tried to explaine every step in full,

[seiplentz 0]

I have tried all the steps as mentioned still with no success I used the western digital fat32 formatter and then tried to use the drive as a slave just to see if it works and no luck it just stops at the initializing boot loader screen.

 

I have tried the jumpers in various spots master and slave with no luck. When I put it(new drive) master with the primary(original drive) as the master as well it goes through the ram test the drive screen flashes and I only see the master on the screen and then get a fat32 error use the monitor to correct. Any Ideas may the WD drive not be compatible?

 

Its becoming frustrating I have built many pcs and repaired several dvrs and never this much trouble.

 

I may try another fat32 formatter tomorrow I have vista at home I dont think it likes the ridgecore software I will try it at work with xp.

[cctv newbie 0]

hi, i know other people on here say use the fat32formatter as microsoft fat 32 formatter does not work so could be the same as western digital software, so might be worth a try using fat formatter, and again alot of people on here use xp machine, instead or vista windows 7, so give it a try on xp. i have tried quiet a few ide pata drives all drifferent sizes and some with more that 8mb buffers and all have worked so far,

try just using 1 drive first, set as master, sometimes it can be the slave causing problems, once master has installed you can then try adding the slave.

[seiplentz 0]

Alright I have followed your instructions to the tee and still no luck. Maybe I am using the wrong software i downloaded DS2_DVTX_v165 my model is DS2P-DX16C-320GB ver 3.1 (135).

 

So any other ideas its stuck on the initializing boot loader screen still.

[seiplentz 0]

Ok I was able to use your instructions and got a spare seagate drive I had laying around to work 100gb. I am guessing it does not like the WD drive for whatever reason. So I will have to return these drives I bought and look for another.

 

How large of a drive can you use in these things?

[cctv newbie 0]

hi, i glad things are sort of working at least you know the unit works, as to size of drives some people on here are using 500g ide drives, and others are using sata drives (sata to ide ata converter) 1tb and above. but some dm units can only take 8mb buffer max on the hdd so becareful what you but, i have bought 2 sata to ide ata connectors and are buying 2 sata 1tb drives shortly. the drives are seagate ST31000322CS 1TB 8MB BUFFER SATA DRIVES

 

Manufacturer's Description

Seagate ST3100322CS Pipeline HD hard drives deliver the reliability, capacity and performance needed by the next generation of high-definition DVRs and media centers.Seagate Pipeline HD drives deliver unprecedented levels of acoustic, power and vibration performance for high-definition DVRs. With the ability to support up to 12 simultaneous streams and operate at drive case temperatures of up to 75C, they provide reliable storage that enables consumers to take full advantage of premium services like video on demand. Seagate Pipeline HD drives are the gold standard for high-definition performance and capacity.

 

hopefully they will work i have a couple of smaller spare sata drive i will experiment on first and hope software loads ok.

[Sawbones 0]

I haven't tried anything larger than a 300 Gig drive... but I did manage to upgrade a failed 80GB DM DVR to a 600GB by using two 300 Gig drives in a master/slave configuration.

 

I had some of the same trouble you did, but if I remember right, I booted off the CD drive with an upgrade ISO image, and had it overwrite the drives. Worked well, and it's been working ever since.

 

Another alternative to consider.

[seiplentz 0]

Thanks for all the help. I am glad that it is working I got 3 of these of these for free from a customer that upgraded their dvrs. So I am trying to get one together with fresh hard drives to give to a relative that has an auto shop that the yard gets broken into.

 

Well a have a maxtor 250 drive I am going to try today we will see what happens. I am not trying to invest a lot of money in these things but I need them to be reliable.

 

Just for reference the wd drive I tried is a wd1600aajb and it does not work. The seagate is a st3100011a does work.

 

An update the maxtor drive works installed as a slave all ok and it has 16mb of cache.