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Re: Amstrad DRX890/895 500GB/1TB Bx Upgrade Guide

PostPosted: Wed Nov 10, 2010 10:27 am
by grnglide
I am planning on using copy+ to copy data from the disc on my Thomson box to a new (hasnt arrived yet!) Amstrad DRX895 box.

From the pictures in this thread it looks as if I can simply uplug the SATA data and power leads from the motherboard and plug them into the appropriate connections in my caddy. It looks as if I will need to cut the tie wraps holding the cables together and I may need a male to female converter for the power lead but this would mean I can stop dismantling as soon as the main cover is removed.

Is it really as simple as this? If not will a standard SATA cable (90 degree bend at the end) and power lead fit the disc without any further dismantling?

Re: Amstrad DRX890/895 500GB/1TB Bx Upgrade Guide

PostPosted: Wed Nov 10, 2010 10:34 am
by adhawkins
grnglide wrote:Is it really as simple as this? If not will a standard SATA cable (90 degree bend at the end) and power lead fit the disc without any further dismantling?

Pretty much, yes. This how I did it. Be careful of the screw near the HDMI connector that you have to remove to get the case off (see one of my previous posts in this thread). Also, getting the case back on can be a bit fiddly.

Also, make sure you're using the latest version of Copy+, and that the box hasn't been upgraded to Darwin before you do the copy.

See the thread in support (about 11 pages!) about problems caused by the Darwin update with older versions of Copy+

Andy

Re: Amstrad DRX890/895 500GB/1TB Bx Upgrade Guide

PostPosted: Wed Nov 10, 2010 10:38 am
by pcbbc
grnglide wrote:From the pictures in this thread it looks as if I can simply uplug the SATA data and power leads from the motherboard and plug them into the appropriate connections in my caddy. It looks as if I will need to cut the tie wraps holding the cables together and I may need a male to female converter for the power lead but this would mean I can stop dismantling as soon as the main cover is removed.
If you purchase SATA power and data cables you do not even need to cut the cable ties.
That would be my personal preference as you can reassemble the box with virtually no signs of any tampering.

Re: Amstrad DRX890/895 500GB/1TB Bx Upgrade Guide

PostPosted: Sun Jan 16, 2011 3:11 pm
by yoda
Hi Stuart

I've put a 1gb samsung in my new currently free HD box. I upgraded from a sky+ pace.
Copy+ did it's thing or so I thought ; on switching on the upgraded box no recordings were visible.
I've done this twice now luckily once the new drive is in place I can connect up by only removing the outer case.
I did convert from little to big endrian in the transfer. I had downloaded the latest sky software and ensured the boc worked before I started however interestingly the original HD drive is not labeled and has a different content structure.

New drive appears to work ok in other areas and there is no additinal noise.

Any ideas on what is going wrong with a copy?

Re: Amstrad DRX890/895 500GB/1TB Bx Upgrade Guide

PostPosted: Sun Jan 16, 2011 3:20 pm
by pcbbc
HD boxes with the new Darwin format are not compatible with Copy+ any more, nor for transfer from SD boxes either - Sorry.

Re: Amstrad DRX890/895 500GB/1TB Bx Upgrade Guide

PostPosted: Sun Jan 16, 2011 5:46 pm
by yoda
Thanks for the swift reply and I've also spotted that this is mentioned in another thread

Will this ever be possible in a future release ?

I've got a lot of programs in SD!

Re: Amstrad DRX890/895 500GB/1TB Bx Upgrade Guide

PostPosted: Thu Jan 27, 2011 11:46 pm
by hairlessheart
Hi

I've just ordered a DRX890 from ebay, to replace my ailing Thomson HD box. I was wondering if it would be possible to simply swap the already upgraded hard drive from the Thomson and just plug it in to the Amstrad, without having to use Copy+ at all? From memory, it's a 500GB in the Thomson anyway.

Any thoughts?

Thanks

Doug

Re: Amstrad DRX890/895 500GB/1TB Bx Upgrade Guide

PostPosted: Sun Jan 30, 2011 11:50 pm
by pcbbc
You would lose 250GB from the 500GB instead of the 140GB for Anytime on the Thomson.
So you'd need an extra 110GB of free space to do this, but it should work.
Remember that the Amstrad 890 will likely have Anytime, and if it does it will convert the Thomson disk on seeing it is back level.
There is no way back to the Thomson after this, just in case it does not work successfully (for example incompatible disk).

Re: Amstrad DRX890/895 500GB/1TB Bx Upgrade Guide

PostPosted: Mon Jan 31, 2011 3:19 am
by hairlessheart
I have plenty spare room on the Thomson drive, but am confused at what you mean when you say the Amstrad will most likely have Anytime - I thought it was a dead cert that it'll have 250gig? Assuming it does, will it not just increase the anytime partition on the Thomson drive and leave the remaining data the same?

Thanks

Re: Amstrad DRX890/895 500GB/1TB Bx Upgrade Guide

PostPosted: Mon Jan 31, 2011 11:01 am
by pcbbc
hairlessheart wrote:I have plenty spare room on the Thomson drive, but am confused at what you mean when you say the Amstrad will most likely have Anytime - I thought it was a dead cert that it'll have 250gig?
Apologies - Anytime+ and Darwin.
Assuming it does, will it not just increase the anytime partition on the Thomson drive and leave the remaining data the same?
It isn't a partition. The whole disk is a single partition shared by user and Anytime recordings alike.
Anytime is implemented as a dynamic quota system where by the OS "holds back" the required amount of disk space and only allows the user a certain amount of recording.
Yes, as long as you have enough free user space on the Thomson (equivalent of 110GB), then the box will dynamically adjust and assign this extra space to Anytime on the DRX890.

Re: Amstrad DRX890/895 500GB/1TB Bx Upgrade Guide

PostPosted: Tue Feb 01, 2011 9:48 am
by hairlessheart
Ahh, right. Thanks. I reckon that there's no problem with there being 110 gig free, so all is well.

To be honest, I've not been on this forum since I upgraded my Thomson a year or two ago, so all this business with Darwin is news to me. Can I just check a few assumptions? If my Amstrad box has been Darwin'd (still don't know how I'd know!), does it mean that swapping the Amstrad drive back into the Thomson wouldn't work? Also, if I chose to keep the existing drive in situ, or indeed upgrade to a bigger one, that Copy+ wouldn't be able to transfer my programmes from the Thomson drive to the existing Amstrad drive, or bigger new drive, and have it work in the Amstrad?

Sorry for all the questions. :)

Doug

Re: Amstrad DRX890/895 500GB/1TB Bx Upgrade Guide

PostPosted: Tue Feb 01, 2011 11:51 pm
by pcbbc
hairlessheart wrote:If my Amstrad box has been Darwin'd (still don't know how I'd know!)
SYSF version on the system details screen, Network option under setup, "Open Source Software" information screen on first reboot after upgrade, Anytime+ functions.

does it mean that swapping the Amstrad drive back into the Thomson wouldn't work?
Yes, there is no way back for disks once upgraded to Anytime+. Or perhaps more strictly no way back for any new recordings made with the new software.
Sky don't seem to have coded a backout plan for this upgrade (it is very extensive changes, so probably wasn't possible).

Also, if I chose to keep the existing drive in situ, or indeed upgrade to a bigger one, that Copy+ wouldn't be able to transfer my programmes from the Thomson drive to the existing Amstrad drive, or bigger new drive, and have it work in the Amstrad?
Copy+ can not currently copy disks once upgraded to Darwin, which happens the first time they are used in a box with Darwin software.
It can still copy from a pre-Darwin source from a HD box (not SD any more) to a destination that does have Darwin. After which the above takes effect becuase the disk is then upgraded.

Re: Amstrad DRX890/895 500GB/1TB Bx Upgrade Guide

PostPosted: Thu Feb 10, 2011 10:25 am
by L16GSY
I recently purchased a new Sky+HD slimline box and noticed how VERY hot it was getting after a short while.

The heat sink does not seem to be dissipating the heat that effectively and I could not see that the fan was ever coming on to assist with cooling the box down. I had similar problems with my previous box, which caused problems with the signal degrading and also the box freezing.

I did not want to wait until the same sort of problems started to occur on the new slimline box, so I've disconnected the fan from the motherboard and with two short wires have connected the fan directly to the power connection for the HDD.

I first tried connecting to the 12V (Yellow lead) but felt the fan was spinning too fast and would be too noisy, so connected it to the 5V supply (Red Lead) so it is running at approx 40% of its designed speed.

The slimline box is now perfectly cool to the touch on the casing above the heat sink and there is no perceptible noise from the fan either in operation or in standby mode.

This might be a way for those of you that have upgraded your HDD and found that the fan is on all the time, to reduce the noise but assist with cooling the HDD, the heat sink and everything else?

Re: Amstrad DRX890/895 500GB/1TB Bx Upgrade Guide

PostPosted: Fri Apr 01, 2011 9:21 pm
by MasterYoda
Just followed the guide here and now have a full set (around 90% full) of old programs from my broken old Thomson on a shiny new 890 with a 1TB WD disk.

Followed the guide with the non removal of the back plate and all was good. Very easy process.

Re: Amstrad DRX890/895 500GB/1TB Bx Upgrade Guide

PostPosted: Fri May 27, 2011 12:37 pm
by hairlessheart
Hi

Finally got around to setting up my new DRX890. Took the 1TB drive out of my old Thomson box and plugged it in to the Amstrad - it worked perfectly.

Question - what do I need to do to put the 500GB drive from the Amstrad into the Thomson, so I can use it in the spare room, or flog it? It has no recordings on it, so I have no issues with wiping it, if that's the solution. Any advice gratefully received.

Thanks

Doug