Hard Drive upgrade for Pioneer DVR-520H

[jerry62]

(discussion with marquis6461)
I upgraded my Recorder using the Pronto config file posted on here and the original pioneer service dvd. I sent you a PM in regards to the Pioneer service dvd; I have no need for it now, and have no problem selling off the dvd for what it cost me.

it's been done.

[robpiggott]

its been done with the original pioneer service disc but not even sure if the one on the donkey is the real thing??

[pit]

Did everyone successfully upgraded his pioneer520-recorder with the donkey nero-image "pioneer_service.nrg"? Or is it the wrong image file?

[Andreotti]

Why should it be a fake?
Nero is capable of making copies of a disc that Windows can't read.

When you put an audio CD in your PC drive the size of the audiotracks is 44 bytes, isn't that funny. You need ASPI drivers to rip the complete audiotracks.

Nero reads the disc on a low-level, like ASPI does.

I have burned a DVD copy from the eDonkey download, and when I make an image-file with Nero of that DVD, I get the exact same image as the download.
By the way, when you put it on an erased DVD-RW there's a change that your home-made image is bigger than the original. Nero also saves the erased data because it doesn't recognise the end.

This is why it could be a fake:
The strange thing is that when I put the DVD in the recorder, it doesn't do anything with it. May be it can only read the disc when the commando's on the remote are executed. May be someone with the original disc can confirm this?

Should the copy be made in a special mode?
Like Mode 1 (blocksize 2048 bytes) or Mode 2 (raw-mode, blocksize 2352 bytes) or doen't it mather what mode is used?

I also opened the image file with an hex-viewer, there's no readable stuff in the file except for 2 lines: #### SHEEP #### and #### DEEP ####.

By the way, who made this image? Can he tell us something about it?

I have the pronto file also, and a PDA to use as a remote. I am going to buy a BIG harddrive soon and try it out. When it failes I can always use the new drive in my PC.

[robpiggott]

andreotti

let us know how you get on. it would be very interesting to see if the image on the donkey is a clone of the original.

good luck with your hard drive swap

[DeadVideoStar]

This eDonkey stuff sucks.

I've watched several sources that the network claims to have 100% of the image come on and sit idle while mine send and send and send, it's been sitting at 98.68% for a day now, at least bitTorrent works.

What I'm really interested in with the Pioneer is any modifications that might be forthcoming to automatically ad a chapter marker at points where there are fades or shifts in broadcast. That way you could flip through them and if commercials are already masked out, you can delete the chapters when you want to write archived stuff to discs.

But that's another topic. First the hard drive needs to be changed.

[Hobgoblin]

Hi everyone, I'm relatively new to the process of upgrading the drive, however I did download the whole image from Donkey, as well as the pronto file and the Omni remote through Donkey, it took approx 30 minutes to remove the original 80 gig drive and install a new 250 gig Maxtor drive.
The image on Donkey IS operational but it took almost a week of continuously being online to get the whole file. I used Nero to create the DVD from the image file.
All in all it was much less painfull than I thought it was going to be

[flybyu]

One week, wow, I am presently at 65% using donkey and have been
downloading for 2 days now, hope I get past the 98% hump faster
then 1 week.

Hobgoblin, did you incure any other problems in the process?
Did you follow the instructions exactly listed in this thread?
What was the final record time in HQ that you can record now?
What Maxtor HD part# did you use?

I want to try this soon as i get the download.

Thanks for the help!
fly

[Hobgoblin]

I didn't check the part# but I think that it's irelevant, I suspect that any drive will work, as for "exactly" one item that appears to be missing is that after you've writen down the 9 digit ID you need to clear the entry by using the clear key on the Pronto/palm remote.
Once it's clear enter in the 9 digit code again and press "enter" on the remote this is actually the stop key which doesn't appear on the same page as the rest of the entries, it's on a previous page not under the service heading.
Once that's done it asks for the disk, if you've entered the code correctly the next entry you'll get is ID Data OK, press the clear button and turn off the pioneer.
When you restart the pioneer you'll get the same error message "invalid disk" just hit esc and go into the initial setup screen on the normal remote, initialize the drive will appear, initialize it and your done
On the 250gig drive at MN32 I get 57hours
Hobgoblin

[Andreotti]

I bought a Maxtor 250 Gb harddisc that I wanted to place in de recorder. I compared the original 80 Gb with the new one, and there are some major differences.

The original is a Maxtor QuickView, this is a special disc for recorders, low power consumption, low noise, fast error recovery and optimized for videostreaming. Look up the Maxtor QuickView at google or take a look at this: http://www.weaknees.com/maxtor_quickview.php

My new Maxtor uses 3 times the power then the original one, that can't be good for the powersupply. I was ready to do the swap, the new disc was allready in, but I changed my mind. At first: 80 Gb is more then enough, second: If you want a bigger disc, buy a Maxtor QuickView type, they almost cost the same.

P.S. My download from the eDonkey also took one week, but it was almost 2 Gb.

[Hobgoblin]

The power consumption is nothing to speak of, todays drives use next to no power, the power supply in the DVR-510H is more than capable of handling the load.
Hobgoblin

[steve2713]

I could have sworn that I'd read somewhere that these Pioneer recorders use at least 3 different brands of HDs, I'm not sure that Western Digital and whatever the other brand (could have been Seagate) even have these 'special' drives intended for recorders, or if they just use a standard HD. As I said, I THINK I'd read that they used multiple different brands, of course it's possible I'm thinking of something else...

[sync]

Once it's clear enter in the 9 digit code again and press "enter" on the remote this is actually the stop key which doesn't appear on the same page as the rest of the entries, it's on a previous page not under the service heading.

Are you using the ccf file that was posted in this thread? It has only one page and the 'stop' key is on it.

[Hobgoblin]

Yes I'm using the ccf file, it's possible that when I converted it it wasn't done in exactly the correct format, anyway with a little browsing it worked out fine
HG

[jerry62]

What I'm really interested in with the Pioneer is any modifications that might be forthcoming to automatically ad a chapter marker at points where there are fades or shifts in broadcast. That way you could flip through them and if commercials are already masked out, you can delete the chapters when you want to write archived stuff to discs.

That would be great, although I have my doubts that Pioneer will explore this update to the 510/520 line. Since that would be quite more involved than just updating the firmware of a dvd reader/writer, I wouldn't expect someone outside of Pioneer engineering to want to undertake that project.

[Hobgoblin]

Is there some way of getting the pioneer to create chapter marks during online recording from cable or satelite?
It looked like it was automatic when I went through the menu, but hitting the advance button simply moves to the next recordng
Hobgoblin

[nc30]

WOOHOO!!!!! I just finished putting in a 250gig HDD in my 510H. I get 55hrs on Fine now

The only weird thing was it didnt see the DVD with the service image on it the first go. It only worked when I already had the dvd in the tray and opened and then closed the tray.

I got lucky because edonkey sat on 99.95% for ages so I used Metafileregenerator to finish it and it worked.

[baktech]

Hi All,

This forum is pretty informative. I have a Pioneer DVR-510H-S and you guessed it - I "GOTTA" upgrade the hard drive to 200,250 or 300MB. I am a Techie, however I can't get a grip on the Service DVD.... I spent the last 5 (24x7) days on eDonkey and am presently @ 42% complete. At this rate I should have the download by the end of 2005!?! If anyone can help me out.... (kindness can get rewarded ) Please email me: backtech@cogeco.ca If I can get it I would provide some FTP space for its download for any user that emails me for a download login & temporary pass....... In Canada, I can't order the DVD....

Now I have some more questions for all you fellow Guru's.... has anyone upgraded the DVD-RW burner to another new Pioneer such as the A08???? I believe that mine has the A07? Or has anyone removed the A07 installed it in a Computer and flashed the firmware (from Pioneer's site) so that it can handle the latest media etc. and reinstalled it? Would the Recorder be able to read/record dual layer disks if you installed the A08???? Does one have to then re-initate the hardware with the service disk? Has anyone done the hardware upgrade and retain the contents on the old drive(my wife has like 30 hours of ER on it and no time to watch)....? has anyone tried cloning the drive with Linux (Knoppix)? I have had sucess cloning/upgrading NAS snap server drives to bigger drives for all those "unreadable" partitions that Ghost or Windows can't read.....???

I appreciate any help from anyone.... I will share and share alike with my results. Keep it up guys... this is a great forum.

Thanks in advance!

Boris

[Frobozz]

I suggest selling the 510 when the 633 comes out and upgrade that way. I can't answer any of your questions other than I'm certain DL burning is not possible regardless of what drive is in it.

[Harpmaker]

has anyone tried cloning the drive with Linux (Knoppix)? I have had sucess cloning/upgrading NAS snap server drives to bigger drives for all those "unreadable" partitions that Ghost or Windows can't read.....???

How do you clone a drive with Knoppix? If it is a true bit-for-bit clone it could be the answer for a lot of machines!

[baktech]

Knoppix is a Linux based OS that comes on one convienient bootable cd. I have used it to copy "non-windows" readable partitions such as Fat X (Xboxes) and specialty partition formats like those used on NAS snap server drives. For example I upgraded a Snap Server (the OS for the server is contained on a 32M partition of the Hard drivewhile the rest is available for data storage) using this utility at a command line prompt, reinstalled the drive, the OS recognized the old size of the drive (ie. reported that a 120 GB upgraded drive was only 30 GB in size - old drive) until I reininalized the drive and ran the server's reformat and check utility to get the full capacity of the drive. It was impossible to do this with Ghost or any other windows based utility..... I can give you detailed instructions on how to do this......

It is FREE for download and you can read more about it at http://www.knopper.net/knoppix/index-en.html

It is my theory that you can clone a Pioneer 80GB drive with all your movies on it to the new 300GB drive however, I feel you still might need the Service Disk to install the code. I do not know if the DVR "sees" the embedded hardware info of a hard drive or exclusively relies on the code that exists on the 80GB. Perhaps if you copy the drive to a larger one, that code is cloned to and is independant of the new drive. Once the code from the 80 GB hard drive is on the new one, when you reformat the drive, only the "invisible non-OS" partition is formated to realize the entire size of the new disk....

What do y'all think??? Possible or am I nutZ.......... LOL. I would like to try it, however I wish I had a Service DVD incase this goes South on me

Boris

[Harpmaker]

Knoppix is a Linux based OS that comes on one convienient bootable cd. I have used it to copy "non-windows" readable partitions such as Fat X (Xboxes) and specialty partition formats .... It was impossible to do this with Ghost or any other windows based utility..... I can give you detailed instructions on how to do this......

Thanks for the fast reply! Yep, I tried Knoppix about six months ago and almost installed Debian Linux on my system, but "something came up" and I never got back to it.

Yes, please give detailed instructions on cloning a drive with Knoppix. I don't have a Pioneer DVD recorder yet, but plan on getting one in the near future to replace my current LiteOn 5045. I know some guys over on the TechoLio DVD forum that would love to try this. 80GB is enough for me, but I would like to know I can make a clone of a good Pioneer HDD and have the clone "on the shelf" in case the Pioneer drive fails. If the cloned drive could be larger than 80GB, that would be icing on the cake.

[nc30]

I spent the last 5 (24x7) days on eDonkey and am presently @ 42% complete. At this rate I should have the download by the end of 2005!?!

I had the same issue with Edonkey until I had a look in the settings for the network and it shows 2 i.e. emule and Edonkey networks. When I selected to download from both it went much faster.

[baktech]

nc30

Thanks, I will give it a try............ I will let you know if it helps.

Boris

[baktech]

HarpMaker,

Well I had some time t kill on Saturday so I tried Knoppix. Since it is copying it in 1M blocks it took 6.93 hours to clone an 80 GB drive full of movies. End result is: YOU DEFINATELY NEED THE SERVICE DISK. Now the interesting part would be if I inserted the service disk, would the drive initalize the entire disk with data or would I have to format it????

I realized that I typed my email address wrong in my earlier post..... It should read: please email baktech@cogeco.ca

If you still need/want the knoppix cloning instructions, please advise. I can email them to you.

Meantime is there ANYONE that help me out with the Service Disk!? Please email me before I retire!!! eDonkey is STILL at 60%. IMHO the golden age of Internet file sharing died with Napster..... It was the fastest, most convenient downloader....

BTW, HarpMarker from your handle are you a musician?

Boris

[Harpmaker]

baktech,

Thanks so much for testing the Knoppix cloning procedure. I'm sorry I can't help you with the service disc.

Nope, I'm not a musician. I don't play harps, I make them; 29 string 4 octave Neo-Celtic. Haven't made many since 911, the bottom fell out of the market like someone activated a trap-door.

[baktech]

Hey Harp...

Just curious... Why the heck would 911 pose a barrier for the importation/export of musical instruments? What country do you live in and what country is your predominate market? BTW what would a hand crafted harp cost? How long to make? And how did you every get into such a neat business?

This eDonkey stuff is killing me. I REALLY want this upgrade and everytime I get up in the morning it has downloaded less than 4-5% per day!!!!!!!!! All the other guys on this forum figure that since they managed to upgrade their equipment, the heck with helping others... That is ashame... the true spirit of a Tech forum is to help all - Nubees, Pros etc. Man, it would be so easy to place this stuff on a private FTP. If I could have bought it from Pioneer in Canada, than I would have!

Boris

[Hobgoblin]

To all you guys in Canada, I ordered the DVD service DVD from Argo 416-465-5430 there were no issues getting the disk it arrived in the mail about 10 days later. The disk was $39.60 plus $5 shipping
Yes Donkey is a pain but then again you are getting copyright material for FREE.
As for changing the DVD drive, I can only assume that it would be done in a similar way to the hard drive, Pioneer of course say it can't be done, no suprises there, someone must have a service manual to show how the unit has to be prepped following failure of a DVD drive, you definately cannot just replace the drive, tried that, the unit wouldn't even start.
HB

[baktech]

Hobgoblin,

Thanks for the info... Is ARGO the Authorized parts distributor for parts through the consumer channel? Or are they a supply house for service centres? I call Pioneer Canada two weeks ago and they referred me to a place in Toronto (it also began with an "A").... I gave them the Part Number and it came up as not available. The lady said that she would email her boss to see if it was orderable.... They never called back, I touched base with her twice... I will call your number tomorrow...

Does anyone have any information (ie. from the service manual) for changing out the DVD-RW drive or flashing its BIOS???? I would love to shoe-horn my A09 in her!!!! (that acually sounds kinda dirty!?! - LOL)

Boris

[picrthis]

What is strange here is they are selling the DVD cheaper than "Pioneer USA", I wonder how that is??

As for changing out the burner, can't be done; it's hard coded into the bios. Firmware would have to be completely re-written, and that is never going to happen. So the machine won't recognize anything else.

Consider the fact the machines are no longer even in production anymore. Factory is currently busy cranking out the new models due to hit the stores in May.

To all you guys in Canada, I ordered the DVD service DVD from Argo 416-465-5430 there were no issues getting the disk it arrived in the mail about 10 days later. The disk was $39.60 plus $5 shipping
Yes Donkey is a pain but then again you are getting copyright material for FREE.
As for changing the DVD drive, I can only assume that it would be done in a similar way to the hard drive, Pioneer of course say it can't be done, no suprises there, someone must have a service manual to show how the unit has to be prepped following failure of a DVD drive, you definately cannot just replace the drive, tried that, the unit wouldn't even start.
HB