Hard Drive upgrade for Pioneer DVR-520H

[donglejack]

Hello all,

I need your help!

I bought months ago a DVR-520H for cheap. Then, I wanted today to replace its 80Gb HDD with a 300Gb (I've already replaced one before, without any problem).

But this time, it failed

I was not able to rewrite CPRM Id with service disk... (I obtain a frightening 'Rom Write NG!' error after inserting data disk).
I tried with the service disk found over eDonkey I already had (GGV1179 I think), and with GGV1256 vol. 4.1 (sent by hkan few months ago), with no avail ...

Note though that firmware version of this 520H is 2.73.

If ever someone has an idea, it is very welcome, since CPRM Id is deleted and I have no way to reenter it

Option of the last chance: downgrade firmware with multiregion disk (v2.64). But the very last chance, however ...

[donglejack]

Well, it works

In fact, when I dismantled the DVR-520 to clean it (it came from a smoker...), I didn't correctly pushed back one of the two ears of the connector of the lens' flat cable of the DVR-A07 (yes, I even had to dismantle the burner itself due to tobacco smell ). Unability to read disk - every disk - caused this 'Rom write NG!' message, along with a 'No disk' message when a DVD or a CD was inserted.

Anyway, from my experience, several tips:

1- Service disk GGV1256 vol. 4.1 works perfectly to reenter CPRM on a DVR-520 firmware version 2.73 zone 2 (I tested it yesterday!). Another time: thanks Håkan for this service disk!

2- Hitachi Deskstar 320Gb drive works like a charm and is ultra quied, provided you take time to enable Automatic Accoustic Management with help of FeatureTools utility and a PC.

3- Have a noisy HDD and want to have a very silent DVR-520/720? Use 4 littles toric gaskets like those used for faucets, between support plate and HDD, then 4 others between plate and heads of screws, and voila, you've got a silent drive wihout vibrations. Perfect with Hitachi drive above!

4- Want less noise? Use rubber pads in the same way to 'isolate' that noisy rear fan.

5- You have a DVR-108, and plan to use its lens to replace the defective one of your DVR-A07? Forget it!. despite burners look absolutely the same, lens identification is unfortunately NOT the same (square BGA IC near connector on lens). I tried hours ago to swap boards of a spare DVR-107 (yes, I try to be far-sighted) and the DVR-108 of my computer. It does NOT work at all (when powered on, green LED does not lit on neither does the laser of the lens).

Hope that helps!

[guddaddy]

Would something like this work in place of a service remote?

http://www.amazon.com/Startech-com-USB2IR-IrDA-Mini-Adapter/dp/B0000DIEUF/ref=pd_sbs_s...5072979&sr=8-4

[keithec]

Anyone looking for the Pioneer Service Remote. I found a Logitech Harmony 520 today, went to the Logitech website and was surprised to find that I could select the GGF1381 device. I now have a working Pioneer Service Remote, problem is that when inputting the DVD into my Pioneer DVR510h I get the following error: ROM Write NG!

I purchased a Seagate 400GB PATA 7200 RPM for my Pioneer DVR, does the harddrive need to be smaller? Can anyone recommend the largest harddrive that I can use for this unit? I have the jumper on the harddrive configured as cable select, please help.

keithsigr@yahoo.com

[keithec]

Ok, I connected my old WD 80GB harddrive back up, same error message "Rom Write NG!". Here's the specs on my Pioneer DVR-510H-S:

MFG October 2003
Serial #CJPG001357CC R
ARA #15282245

I'm in the United States, the unit was also purchased in the United States. Does anyone have the Pioneer Service DVD for this unit? If you provide the correct Pioneer Service DVD that get's my unit back up and running I'll gladly make a donation to you via PayPal. I'm looking to put in a Seagate Barracuda 400GB 7200 RPM harddrive, model #ST3400620A (the harddrive was manufactured in Thailand, if that makes a difference).

Thanks again.

[KTH]

Try contacting "Hakan" from his Pioneerfaq website. He has helped many people to either replace a defective or upgrade their Pioneer DVD Recorder's HDD. The link is listed below.

http://www.pioneerfaq.info/

[keithec]

Finally successfully replaced the hard drive, I now have approx. 171 hours of recording time on a Seagate 400GB hard drive. I used the Logitech Harmony 520 (Advanced Universal Remote), I was surprised that Logitech had the codes for the Pioneer Service Remote GGF1381. I also had to use the Pioneer Service DVD #GGV1256.

Does 171 hours sound right for a 400GB hard drive?

[wabjxo]

171 hours at what rec. mode?

My 160 GB HDD will get 198 hrs at 6-hr-SLP mode, down to 33 hrs at 1-hr-HQ mode.

[keithec]

I get 171 hours at SP mode. How do I change this to a different mode?

[rosto-warne]

Hello,

as so many before I'm planning to replace the 80Gb HDD of my Pioneer DVR-520H with a greater one. Regarding the required service remote GGF1381 I would like to use the tool OmniRemote together with the .CCF file on my palm.

Is it possible to test in advance (before replacing the HDD) whether the service remote really works, for example by displaying a hidden service menue?

Also I do not have the needed service disk for my recorder (Version 2.69)? Could anyone here help me in getting this disk?

Many thanks in advance.

[Seeker47]

I get 171 hours at SP mode. How do I change this to a different mode?

Assuming that your model 510 is similar to our 520s, there should be a key on the (regular Pioneer) remote called "Rec Mode." When you press that, you should see an onscreen display inviting you to change your default rec. mode setting via the remote's arrow keys. I forget whether it is the Up / Down or the Left / Right arrow keys, as they changed this between the 520 and 640 models -- for no good reason that is evident to me -- just as they capriciously changed whether the Blue or Amber front panel light indicates your being on the HDD vs. the DVD side-of-device operation. Anyway, this should be where you change the current recording mode default, which remains in effect until you choose to change it again. (Any Timer Program event will temporarily override this, with whatever mode you designated for that particular timed recording.)

[Seeker47]

Is it possible to test in advance (before replacing the HDD) whether the service remote really works, for example by displaying a hidden service menue?

Also I do not have the needed service disk for my recorder (Version 2.69)? Could anyone here help me in getting this disk?

Yes, once you've set up one of those "Service Remote impersonators", there are some "safe" commands that don't actually do anything except report some info to you -- such as how many hours you've recorded with the burner -- and this should prove that the pseudo-SR remote is being recognized and is working. These commands are listed in a post or two that you'd find somewhere in this thread, or in one of the Pioneer DVR threads over on AVSforum. I probably saved them to a file for reference, but I would have to go and track down where I parked that file . . . .
If you're in a hurry, try keyword searches on these threads, using keywords: Pioneer, Service, Remote, Command (or Code).

For the Service Disks, your best bet is to contact HKAN at pioneerfaq.info.

[rosto-warne]

Yes, once you've set up one of those "Service Remote impersonators", there are some "safe" commands that don't actually do anything except report some info to you -- such as how many hours you've recorded with the burner -- and this should prove that the pseudo-SR remote is being recognized and is working. These commands are listed in a post or two that you'd find somewhere in this thread, or in one of the Pioneer DVR threads over on AVSforum. I probably saved them to a file for reference, but I would have to go and track down where I parked that file . . . .

Thanks for the quick info. If you could provide the commands to prove the pseudo-SR I would be pleased.
I already had a quick look in the forum, but wasn't successful in finding this info.

[Hkan]

Press [ESC] Press [DISP] Press [Dig/Ana] press [Dig/Ana] to cycle through information pages. Press [ESC] to leave the menu and service mode

[rosto-warne]

Press [ESC] Press [DISP] Press [Dig/Ana] press [Dig/Ana] to cycle through information pages. Press [ESC] to leave the menu and service mode

Thanks for the info. I guess I have then to look for a different ccf file. The one I tried out doesn't provide the keys
[DISP] and [Dig/Ana], only the ones required for the replacement (such as [SEARCH], [STEREO], [ESC], [CLEAR] and [STOP]).

[kofola]

Pioneer service disc GGV1179
http://www.dvdboard.de/forum/showthread.php?t=121319

[guddaddy]

Would something like this work in place of a service remote?

http://www.amazon.com/Startech-com-USB2IR-IrDA-Mini-Adapter/dp/B0 ... amp;sr=8-4

[abc32453]

I found the guide (and this site) on how to upgrade the HDD for a Pioneer DVR-533H.
I downloaded a service DVD (1.8GB) not sure which one it is exactly, and acquired a Palm Vx and have the service remote loaded.

Now before buying a new hard drive I wanted to test it out with an old drive I had laying around (which might be the cause of the problem I'm having).

I went through all the steps and put in my old 120GB drive (replacing the 80GB that failed, fixed with spinrite, and then failed again) and deleted the CPRM ID and reprogrammed the CPRM ID and inserted that Data ID Disc when asked and everything looked fine.

Powered Off recorder and it sounded like it started up on its own, I heard the hard drive spin up, but nothing else... front panel (and remote) were unresponsive. I unplugged the recorder and when I plugged it back in, the same thing I heard the drive start up but nothing else. I left overnight and still nothing (except for a really hot drive). Power supply fan did not come on at this time either.

I unplugged the HDD power and started the recorder and it of course complained of HDD error. When I put the drive back in, same thing... no response.

Has anyone seen this issue? Do I have the wrong data disc? (would I not see an error message then)?

Or is my old hard drive just bad? I think I'll try running it through spinrite to see if it finds problems.

I had just did a quick format to wipe out the FAT and then removed all the partitions on the disk before placing in the recorder.


Thanks!

[orsetto]

It sounds like the "old" drive you are testing the 533 with has issues. Assuming you went thru the CPRM wipe-install successfully (after inputting the number the unit displayed "ROM write successful" on your TV), you should have some sort of display on the units front panel and some sort of output on your TV.

A common mistake people make during this process is manually closing the disc tray after seeing "ROM Write OK!" on their TV. This is *incorrect* and will screw up the whole upgrade. Once you see "ROM Write OK!" on screen, DO NOT close the tray- instead, remove the service disc, leave the tray open, and press the Power button to turn the unit off. It will close the tray on its own, then "reboot" itself much like a computer. After it reboots, it should come back with a menu saying the hard drive needs to be formatted and give you the option to format it. Agree to the format, the unit should complete this in a matter of seconds and tell you it was successful. From that point all should work normally, unless the used drive you installed has an issue. In my experience the 531-533-633 series is more picky about hard drives than the other Pioneers- it has a decided preference for brand-new drives, previously-used and erased computer drives sometimes give inexplicable problems, as you are now having.

Note also that the TVGOS timer software needs to be installed on your replacement drive using a PC running Unix or Knoppix, per the Pioneer.faq website, BEFORE you place the hard drive into the recorder. Not having TVGOS on the drive also causes "rejection" or glitches. The 531-533-633 are GREAT recorders, but they are much more difficult to upgrade due to the necessity of having the timer software loaded onto the replacement drive. Overall, though, your description does not tally with any of the errors I've experienced doing these upgrades- it sounds likely your drive is simply no good, or the IDE or powercable is not seated properly. Try putting the original Pioneer drive back in and see if you get the same dead results.

[abc32453]

I haven't done Step 4 yet according to the guide. But I figured after step 2 I would at least get a hard drive error on the screen or something.

I will try checking the hard drive for errors (probably the issue here) and follow the instructions exactly.

I pressed Clear on the service remote and the device seemed to have turned off on it's own, should I be pressing the power button as well?

I will also try loading the TV Guide as per step 4 in the guide before trying this again, as maybe that is the issue.

[orsetto]

Yes, on most of these units after you remove the service disc and press "clear" on the service remote, you need to turn the recorder off using the power button on the unit, after it shuts down completely it may or may not restart itself automatically (some do, some don't). Wait ten seconds after you power it off, and if it does not turn itself on again press the power button to reboot it manually. You should then see the "initialize hard drive" screen on your TV and be able to proceed.

The 531-533-633 are temperamental during service mode. Depending on the model and its firmware, the service procedure can vary slightly from that shown in the faq. Also they seem to have a real hatred of second-hand hard drives taken out of a Windows PC, something in the Windows erase/reformat process munges the drive in some invisible way that makes the recorder reject it and act very weird (no display on the panel, etc.) This fussiness is exaggerated if you don't copy over the TVGOS software before installing the 'refurbished' drive in the recorder.

I have done this drive upgrade on 8 of these models this past year, and found it goes MUCH more smoothly if you use a brand new drive. No idea why, but using a second-hand drive always causes difficulty. If you can get your hands on a truly new, unused drive, try installing it and see if it "takes" better than your erased PC drive. Even if you hold off on the TVGOS software temporarily, the unit should initialize the drive when you tell it to and be usable. The display will flash "HDD ERROR" until you copy over the TVGOS, which is annoying, but otherwise you should be able to make test recordings on the hard drive from the line inputs. It is extremely odd that your refurbished drive is making noise, overheating, and shutting down the recorders display panel- either the drive is very incompatible or something is shorting inside the cabinet when you put the drive in. Be sure to put the foil grounding tape back on the drive exactly as it was before. Also double check the termination plug position between the power and IDE connectors on the drive: it should be in the CS (cable select) position on Pioneer recorders. If the drive was a slave or master in your PC, the termination plug could be in the wrong position or perhaps missing altogether. Easy to overlook, many of us have had some frustrating hours until we remembered this little plug setting!

[abc32453]

I found a utility to "zero out" the drive and now I have the hard drive working.

Now that I know I have the right tools to replace the drive I'll go and get a larger one.
The recorder came with an 80 GB drive. What is the max size? Can I put a 500 GB in there?

[trhouse]

Yes, I have installed 500 GB Seagates in 531's.

[Seeker47]

Y
The 531-533-633 are temperamental during service mode. Depending on the model and its firmware, the service procedure can vary slightly from that shown in the faq. Also they seem to have a real hatred of second-hand hard drives taken out of a Windows PC, something in the Windows erase/reformat process munges the drive in some invisible way that makes the recorder reject it and act very weird (no display on the panel, etc.)

I have done this drive upgrade on 8 of these models this past year, and found it goes MUCH more smoothly if you use a brand new drive. No idea why, but using a second-hand drive always causes difficulty. If you can get your hands on a truly new, unused drive, try installing it and see if it "takes" better than your erased PC drive.

Haven't there been some brand new drives that came out of the box already prepped for Windows in some way ? (Partitioning ? Formatting ?) If so, wouldn't that also be a problem ? You are talking about a pristine drive that has absolutely nothing on it or done to it. I hope that most of the HDDs I've purchased have been that way, but some occasional problems I've run into -- getting them set to work for non-Windows operating systems, leads me to wonder about this. There have definitely been cases where if Windows touches something, it is just screwed up for other uses, until and unless you take some corrective action.

[mrmazda]

Corrective action is easy. Assuming you don't already have a favorite tool for wiping a drive, burn a CD from http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/ and wipe whatever you wish to install first using your PC. If your PC is so new it doesn't have PATA, when put the new drive in a USB enclosure, or use a PATA to SATA adapter to do it.

[orsetto]

Haven't there been some brand new drives that came out of the box already prepped for Windows in some way ? (Partitioning ? Formatting ?) If so, wouldn't that also be a problem ?

Actually no: the fresh Windows or Unix formatting on a "virgin" drive does not seem to bother the Pioneer 531-533-633 at all. The drives that cause problems are used ones harvested from your PC: erasing them with the Windows setup program and even some wipe utilities leaves invisible debris files that choke this Pioneer model series. If you have time to experiment and want to save the cost of a new drive, you could try various wipe utilities until you find one that clears your used drive to Pioneer's satisfaction. Otherwise, just buy a new HD and make life easier for yourself. I recommend getting a leftover new-old-stock Western Digital 160Gb if you can find one, otherwise a 250Gb. Larger drives can be used, but over 160Gb they become unwieldy to navigate and at a certain point the recorder OS runs out of file slots anyway. Also, the larger the drive, the larger the temptation to not back up to DVD discs. It is rather more difficult to find replacement optical drives for these units than HDs: if you have an enormous HD full of titles you haven't backed up, and the optical drive fails, those programs could be trapped on your oversized hard drive for quite a long time .

[abc32453]

ok, now I'm having trouble getting the TVGuide and Timer recording working. I have a DVR-533H with firmware version 1.30. Do I use pion533.iso or newpio.iso?

I tried both as well as copying from the original drive but I think I must have been doing something wrong.

if my old drive is hda and new drive is hdb can I just use this command for the copy? or do I need to transfer the sectors into an .iso file on the filesystem and then on to the new drive.

dd if=/dev/hda of=/dev/hdb seek=4 bs=512 count=8000

or

dd if=/dev/hda of=/ramdisk/home/knoppix/test.iso count=8000 bs=512
dd if=/ramdisk/home/knoppix/test.iso of=/dev/hdb seek=4 bs=512

[Corona]

ok, now I'm having trouble getting the TVGuide and Timer recording working. I have a DVR-533H with firmware version 1.30. Do I use pion533.iso or newpio.iso?

I tried both as well as copying from the original drive but I think I must have been doing something wrong.

if my old drive is hda and new drive is hdb can I just use this command for the copy? or do I need to transfer the sectors into an .iso file on the filesystem and then on to the new drive.

dd if=/dev/hda of=/dev/hdb seek=4 bs=512 count=8000

or


dd if=/dev/hda of=/ramdisk/home/knoppix/test.iso count=8000 bs=512
dd if=/ramdisk/home/knoppix/test.iso of=/dev/hdb seek=4 bs=512

For machines with firmware version 1.30, you must use Pioneer4(1.30).zip. The download is available at

http://www.pioneerfaq.info/english/dvr630.php?player=DVR-630H&question=replace_hdd

Read though Part 4 of the Faq and follow the procedure exactly.

I know of no way to copy the recordings on your old drive to a new drive. After copying the .iso to your new drive and going through the install procedure, the new drive is reformatted, whatever was there is gone, the TVG and Timer Record functions are restored.

Corona

[orsetto]

In reply to "abc32453" who is having difficulty formatting the TVGOS and Timer software onto a replacement drive for a Pioneer DVR-533:

Aside from making sure you are attempting to install the correct timer software for your particular unit, as recommended by "Corona", it is necessary to understand that the excellent instructions on Pioneerfaq for this procedure are not absolutely reliable for everyone, they are more of a starting point: if at first you don't succeed, you may need to go thru some tedious trial and error attempts before you get the new drive working properly.

The various versions of Unix or Knoppix, when used on various PC boxes containing different CPUs and other hardware, will each identify connected hard drives differently (and not always correctly) for this TVGOS firmware install procedure. In performing these upgrades myself, I was incredibly frustrated by Knoppix failing to properly identify and copy the Pio TVGOS to my selected drive when it was installed inside the computer using IDE, as recommended by Pioneerfaq. It simply would not work: no matter how many times I adjusted drive termination and other settings, Knoppix kept inventing spurious "phantom" drives instead of solidly connecting to the actual IDE target drive. Eventually in desperation I installed my target drive in a spare USB2 enclosure and connected it to my PC externally. FINALLY, Knoppix identified it correctly and allowed proper file transfer of the PIO.iso firmware. (I did need to edit the "copy" command line to reflect the new USB target drive name, which ends up being "hdc" or "hdd" or "hdf" : this varies with different drives for some reason).

I have now upgraded 8 drives in this manner, on three different PCs (my own, one at work, and one belonging to a friend). In 2 of the 3 PCs, it only works when I connect the target drive externally via USB, the third PC allows the transfer via internal IDE. So if you are having great difficulty getting the TVGOS/Timer install to work following the Pioneerfaq instructions exactly, try experimenting: your particular PC hardware may require workarounds or modifications to the standard procedure.

[Corona]

Procedure 4 was written for use on a computer using two IDE drives, since then many more computer configurations have arrived on the scene. Linux recognizes IDE drives as hda, hdb, etc. SATA drives and USB drives are recognized as sda, sdb, etc. That leaves Procedure 4 open to some interpretation, if you were to connect a SATA drive as the slave drive, it would be sdb and you would have to modify the command line in the procedure to reflect that. Since computers are constantly upgraded with new devices, it would be very difficult to list all those variations in Procedure 4. The important thing is knowing your own drive configuration and correctly labelling the drives when using the dd command.

Note from Linux tutorial:
Linux refers to hard drives as either “hdx” or “sdx” where x is a letter, starting with a, which represents the order in which the drive was added to or detected by the computer. The “hd” prefix is used for IDE and PATA (formerly just ATA), and the “sd” prefix is used for SCSI, SATA, and USB drives. Usually a number is also put at the end of “hdx” or “sdx” to denote different partitions on the same physical drive.

Corona