bigguy6907 0 Posted May 7, 2012 I'm having trouble replacing the hard drives. I've done this before, a couple of years ago, but my method doesn't seem to be working. I format with fat32 with third party software, then copy the Bin directory (zip.cof is inside) and disk.zip files and it keeps coming up with a fat32 error when installed. These are the same files I used a couple of years ago. I can copy the files to an existing operating drive and it works fine. I assume there is something wrong with my fat32 formatting, but I've downloaded the latest version and still have the same problem. I've also tried fat32 -c2 formatting because the drive is 250Gb. Does anybody care to offer some insight? Thanks, Colt Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
leemardo 0 Posted May 12, 2012 I changed the drive on on an old d4 beige unit a while back, I've done several other dedicated micros units in the past couple of years. Here is what I did and it worked fine. Format the hard drive as fat 32 Download the proper firmware from dedicated micros Unzip the firmware to the new hard drive Go into the bootloader folder, copy the bootloader file and then paste it in the top level of the drive Install the drive in the dvr, make sure it's jumper is set for master When the dvr powers up it'll recognize the new drive and install the software. I have had supposedly good drives not work, when I tried a different drive it worked just fine, other than that this method has worked on four or five different dedicated micros units. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bigguy6907 0 Posted May 18, 2012 Thanks for the follow up. I've found out that the Boot Loader is 2.0 (001) which means I'm limited to about 80Gb hard drives. Not only that, but you have to be careful and make sure the Clusters are only at 8K in size. I've been able to install an older 320Gb drive that I partitioned down smaller and set the Clusters to 8K. It's not a simple task. Later Boot Loaders allow for larger drives. I have serveral with dual 320Gb drives in them. I've requested Tech Support send me newer Boot Loader Chips, but no answer yet. My new hard drives won't work. The drive is 80GB, Western Digital WC800AAJB Desktop/Caviar 7200 RPM with 8 MB cache ATA/100 with 40-pin IDE connector The Drive is marked as a PATA Is there an issue with these drives? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
leemardo 0 Posted May 20, 2012 I had a similar situation a few years ago, as I recall the dvr would allow me to use the PATA drive as a slave storage drive but not the primary, the primary had to be a SATA 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bigguy6907 0 Posted May 22, 2012 I've found that the Western Digital hard drives WE 3200AAJB are white and blue. DM tech support indicated that they have customers that have had problems getting them to work as masters. There is an incompatibility with the hard drives controller firmware. They work fine as slaves. I also had DM send me new Bootloader firmware. They did it for free and shipped it over night. Units are up and running with different hard drives. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
breezey 0 Posted November 28, 2012 I am attempting to install the boot loader software on a Maxtor 360 gig drive. When i tcp to the drive it connects but then stalls and a message stating Resolving hostname 192.168.1.99. CONNECT 192.168.1.99 Connecting to 192.168.1.99. Connected. Connection established STOR \bin\zip.cof Starting FTP transfer Transfer complete Syntax error in parameters or arguments. QUIT Disconnecting. Disconnected. Any ideas would be welcome thanks Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bigguy6907 0 Posted November 29, 2012 Try pulling the hard drive and setting it up manually by connecting to a PC with a usb adapter cable. Format with fat32 drive formatting. Copy needed files. Place back in unit and boot up. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
breezey 0 Posted November 30, 2012 Thanks bigguy6907, That was too easy. I did not have to format as this drive was automatically formatted when I installed it as a second drive for extended storage. I did have to clean the files that were automatically installed by the OS for being the slave drive and all works well. No more grinding hard drive. The factory drive can now RIP. Hopefully the new one won't crash as this has been an issue every night lately. I am holding my breath to see if it is the mother board and not the noisy knocking drive that was the issue. It still bugs me I could not tcp to the new drive. I am attempting to install the boot loader software on a Maxtor 360 gig drive. When i tcp to the drive it connects but then stalls and a message stating Resolving hostname 192.168.1.99. CONNECT 192.168.1.99 Connecting to 192.168.1.99. Connected. Connection established STOR \bin\zip.cof Starting FTP transfer Transfer complete Syntax error in parameters or arguments. QUIT Disconnecting. Disconnected. Any ideas would be welcome thanks Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
