Size of external hard drive

[Hoopsbd]

Does anyone use one that is larger than 2 terabytes

 

[thomasjk]

Some folks have reported success with larger drives. I believe that the receiver will only format them to 2TB.

 

[n0qcu]

I believe that the receiver will only format them to 2TB.

you believe incorrectly

 

[ChadT41]

Only 2TB are supported.

 

[dangue]

I've been using 3 TB for several years now.

 

[brad1138]

It would be nice if Dish had an official statement on this.... (hint, hint, hint, DIRT)

 

[spoiler1041]

It would probably be more helpful if instead if saying you are wrong or I have a larger one (yes, joke intended) if ya'll shared make and model. Just a thought......

 

[JSheridan]

It would be nice if Dish had an official statement on this.... (hint, hint, hint, DIRT)

They've said over and over that up to 2TB is supported. AFAIK that's been the 'official statement' for a long time.

More than 2TB will supposedly format and work but from what I've been told there's a 1000 item limit per disk so using more than 2TB may result in missing titles if you go over 1000.

 

[DWS44]

When I moved from the H2 to the H3, I temporarily used a WD My Book 3TB EHD. Both the H2 and H3 recognized and made available the full 3TB of space. I didn't have more than 1000 recordings to transfer, so I can't speak to how it might have handled that.

 

[thomasjk]

Here is the link from the Dish website that states the requirements https://www.mydish.com/upgrades/products/external-hard-drive

 

[OrangeandBlue33]

I was able to finally get a 3TB drive to work, but I had to jump through alot of hoops to make it so. When I first plugged it in, I couldn't get it to work at all. It said it was formatting, but sometime after 36 hours I decided it was stuck. I ended up cloning one of my smaller drives to this new drive in order for it to be recognized by the Hopper. That was a start, but I was only getting use of a portion of the drive. After much trouble, I was finally able to expand one of the partitions which allowed me to use the rest of the available space.

If I had to do it all over again, I would just buy the 2TB and be done. Not having realized all this before I bought it and started the process, I kept at it until I finally got it to work. Some have been lucky I guess where they get it to work right out of the box. That wasn't my experience. I'm glad I finally got it to work, but I spent alot of time trying to figure it out. Just my 2 cents.

 

[mikeyinokc]

I was able to finally get a 3TB drive to work, but I had to jump through alot of hoops to make it so. When I first plugged it in, I couldn't get it to work at all. It said it was formatting, but sometime after 36 hours I decided it was stuck. I ended up cloning one of my smaller drives to this new drive in order for it to be recognized by the Hopper. That was a start, but I was only getting use of a portion of the drive. After much trouble, I was finally able to expand one of the partitions which allowed me to use the rest of the available space.

If I had to do it all over again, I would just buy the 2TB and be done. Not having realized all this before I bought it and started the process, I kept at it until I finally got it to work. Some have been lucky I guess where they get it to work right out of the box. That wasn't my experience. I'm glad I finally got it to work, but I spent alot of time trying to figure it out. Just my 2 cents.

Thanks for your reply and help.....Mike

 

[Oldandslow]

On another note, the "official line" about no USB drives that don't have their own independent power supply is incorrect, also. I copied my external hard drive (a W.D. My Book Essential 2TB that has 50-60 movies I wanted to keep/backup), over to a Seagate Backup Plus Slim 2TBb portable External Hard drive using Macrium Reflect cloning software. The Seagate is powered off the Hopper 3 hub (no external power supply) and works great. The software makes a "bit-by-bit" clone, so it doesn't care what encryption method is used by the Hopper. I can't, of course, look at the movies that are stored, but I can backup the movies I have. The real reason I switched over to the Seagate was because I kept getting the "media on USB disconnected/connected" message when nothing had been disconnected. I no longer get that message.

 

[JSheridan]

On another note, the "official line" about no USB drives that don't have their own independent power supply is incorrect, also. I copied my external hard drive (a W.D. My Book Essential 2TB that has 50-60 movies I wanted to keep/backup), over to a Seagate Backup Plus Slim 2TBb portable External Hard drive using Macrium Reflect cloning software. The Seagate is powered off the Hopper 3 hub (no external power supply) and works great. The software makes a "bit-by-bit" clone, so it doesn't care what encryption method is used by the Hopper. I can't, of course, look at the movies that are stored, but I can backup the movies I have. The real reason I switched over to the Seagate was because I kept getting the "media on USB disconnected/connected" message when nothing had been disconnected. I no longer get that message.

The 'official line' requiring self powered EHD's is to preserve the Hopper power supply because over time the extra draw on the USB line to power the EHD may cause damage to the Hopper power supply and cause the Hopper to fail prematurely.

 

[ChadT41]

No no. They are officially not supported

 

[Oldandslow]

The 'official line' requiring self powered EHD's is to preserve the Hopper power supply because over time the extra draw on the USB line to power the EHD may cause damage to the Hopper power supply and cause the Hopper to fail prematurely.

Yes, I found that out. Since I had the OTA plugged into the other USB port it must have been too much current draw, total, and the Hopper 3 started acting "wonky" last evening. It wouldn't change channels correctly so I unplugged the hard drive and everything worked again. I was surprised, as the hard drive only has a 5.3 watts rating at maximum activity. I don't know what the OTA adapter draws. Anyway, I connected the hard drive through a powered 4-port hub and it all works fine. Thinking about it, 5.3 watts at five volts is a little over one amp (plus the OTA adapter.) Too much, I guess.

 

[patmurphey]

While Dish does not officially support unpowered EHDs, The USB3 port on the Hopper3 has the available amperage because it is designed to charge the HopperGo. If you get a HopperGo and move the EHD to one of the USB2 ports it isn't guaranteed to work, though it might. Powered hubs do the job, why risk it.