Hard Drive upgrade for Pioneer DVR-520H

[alanza]

Hi, Quickbits.
I'm very glad you've been successful in HDD replacement !
Can you please specify tha make and model of the new HDD you're using ?

Thanks and regards.

Al

[quickbits]

Hi, Quickbits.
I'm very glad you've been successful in HDD replacement !
Can you please specify tha make and model of the new HDD you're using ?

Thanks and regards.

Al

Hi Al,

Well, I knew that I would be attempting to copy and replace the HDD before I found this forum, but I did not yet know how dependent (or not) the DVR was upon the HDD's unique signature or performance characteristics. (Read that as: I allowed for the possibility that Pioneer really doesn't want anyone messing with the DVR internals, and might not have tolerated another make/model on the ATA interface.) In order to eliminate all the risk that I could, I ordered the exact same make and model that shipped with the DVR when new to guarantee identical drive geometry and performance. That was, and is again, a Seagate ST3160022ACE. (The CE is a popular designator that manufacturers are using to indicate interoperability with Consumer Electronics - DVRs. MP3 players, etc.)

Interestingly, the new ST3160022A is a lot quieter than the original! I thought that the persistent, annoying ticking sound in EPG mode was just bad design because it started almost immediately after I unboxed the new DVR and got it set up. The other problem that seems to be gone now is that the TV Guide program guide would often report "no data" even after the DVR had been powered off for days. Maybe all this was just the HDD trying to navigate around existing HDD platter damage? Bottom line: the DVR is much quieter and more reliable now than it has ever been.

Knowing what I know now (thanks to this forum) about successes with other makes and models, I would have gone with a Western Digital as a replacement. I'm certain there are folks out there who have WD horror stories, but I, personally, have only experienced one WD failure in all my time and I've seen a LOT of HDDs in my line of work. Every single HDD manufactured is destined to fail at some point, but I went through a period in my data center where Seagate Fibre Channel drives were damn near jumping out of the servers. The WDs, Hitachis, and Fujitsus all just keep on spinning and delivering. (That said, I'm pretty sure Sun Microsystems was shipping rebuilt HDDs with their servers, so that was surely a contributing factor.)

The service manual indicates that Pioneer shipped this line of DVR with Maxtor, Western Digital, or Seagate drives. The WD that shipped OEM was the WD1600BB. If I were doing it all over right now, I'd probably go with the WD3200JB. The 3200 would upgrade the DVR to 320GB, and the JBs have a nice fat 8MB of cache. (In contrast, the OEM WD BBs have just 2MB of cache, and the ST3160022A only has 1MB.) If you really want to ride in style, I'd wait until spring of 2007 when Western Digital releases their cool, quiet, cavernous WD5000JB.

http://www.wdc.com/en/partners/PDF/2278-001010.pdf

Hope this helps.

[alanza]

Thank you very much for your detailed answer.

Ad maiora semper !

Al

[sequestre]

Hi All! I have a Pioneer DVR-633H-S that just bit the dust; hard drive failed.
I'm looking for anyone that has the Pioneer Service Disk for sale. Thanks!

[Gypsy898]

My Pioneer 520HS has died. So I need some clarification. I don't want to upgrade the HDD, I just want to replace with the same Seagate 80GB I used before. Do I STILL have to get all these service codes/manuals and stuff or could I just buy the hard drive and install it?

[sequestre]

Yes, unfortunately no matter what drive you go with, you will need to initialize it using the Pioneer directed procedures. You are also limited to the type of drive you put in; for example you could not install a SATA drive, it must be IDE. The good news is that the size can be increased substantially especially since drives are much cheaper than they used to be. I just successfully replaced my 80 GB drive in my Direct TV Tivo DVR with a WDC 400 GB drive for only $150. That's only 37.5 cents per GB!

[trhouse]

Do I STILL have to get all these service codes/manuals and stuff or could I just buy the hard drive and install it?

It will not work if you buy a hdd and just install it. It requires all the steps of replacing the drive. I took the good hdd out of my 531H. After I put it back in, it said "hdd err" and did not recognize it. I had to use the service remote and disk to put back in the CPRM ID just to get the 531H back to normal.

[Gypsy898]

I'm in a jam in a couple of ways. Hopefully one of you guys can clue me in...

I'm an American and bought my Pioneer 520-HS when I still lived there, now I live in Trinidad. Now, less than 2 years later, the HDD has failed and I want to replace it. I called Pioneer US here from Trinidad (not a toll free call, and I had to wait a while to get an agent) they say to get a replacement it would cost $290.86 US, and they would have to ship it to a US address. That isn't a problem for me it's just I was so surprised to see how expensive it was. I know that the HDD is a Seagate, so I search online and I find the exact HDD for between $50-$60 US at several online computer stores. So I email Pioneer customer service to ask them the difference, and they tell me I have to call them. I really don't want to shell out more $$$ to my long distance provider. Does anyone happen to know why the price is so high and what I am getting?

[InXess]

You'll be getting YOUR OWN used recorder with a new or refurbished 50$ HDD at the cost of 290 USD (which equals the price of a new recorder) together with the best wishes from Pioneer staff (a value of 200 USD alone).

[urundai]

Has anyone successfully upgraded region 1 533H-S with 1.31 firmware? I have so far failed as I keep getting HDD ERR. Many of the successes that are reported seem to be on the 1.27 firmware.

Also, does anyone have a copy of the GGV 1273 Type 2 that you can sell me?

[Gypsy898]

So if I buy the new hard drive from a computer store, and then buy the service remote and disk from Pioneer would that be cheaper? How much is the service remote and disk anyway???

[gshelley61]

Pioneer won't sell you the service remote or service disc. They are for Pioneer repair technicians only.

You can get a copy of the service disc through p to p download (read this thread thoroughly) or possibly from another forum member directly. You can replicate the service remote with a programmable Pronto remote control (the file to do this is available, too). Again, read through this thread carefully and you will discover how to do the hard drive swap yourself.

[Gypsy898]

I only have dialup here in Trinidad. How big are these downloads?

[evil_lives]

I only have dialup here in Trinidad. How big are these downloads?

I think there is 4 or 5 (100meg) downloads.. Dialup would take a loooooong time..

Peace.

[InXess]

PM Hkan and try to sort it out by mail perhaps... Forget dial-up.

[nixie]

Dialup will take about 6 hours per file on a 56k line and there are 20 files.

Hkan's the man.

[KTH]

If you want to purchase a copy of the GGV1273 Data Disc in the U.S. check out the link below. The disc is labeled GGV1273 Type 2 Vol.2 and is about 1.2gb in size. Even though the site says it's out of stock the disc arrived in just over a week when I ordered one. I have a 640 but haven't tried the disc out yet.

Forgot to mention when doing a search for this part make sure to enter a order quantity or the search engine will report PART NOT FOUND instead of NOT IN STOCK.

http://www.pacparts.com/part.cfm?CFID=691999&CFTOKEN=15029120

[KTH]

Update: The GGV1273 Type2 Vol. 2.0 ID Disc does work on the U.S. DVR-640H-S. I just tried it today and it works just fine. I also found out something interesting and that is once you get your NEW drive identified and working if you unplug the NEW drive and plug in the OLD one the Pioneer will recognize the OLD DRIVE as valid and you don't have to re-enter the ID to get the old drive to work again. Seems like Pioneer relaxed the restrictions on the 640's a little.

[akakak]

the step 1 "press ESC then STEREO"
do step 1 before "the display show HDD error" or after "the display show HDD error" do step 1

[Gypsy898]

Does anybody have any suggestions on what HDD to put in my 520-H when I upgrade it? I don't want to put in one that is known to have a short life. I would like more than 80GB but I don't need the 700GB either, somewhere in the middle is fine. I appreciate any recommendations you may have.

[madsharpei]

hi,
I got a palm z22 pda from ebay last week tried the omniremote pro program.The software refuses to work with z22 so i tried noviiremote deluxe and it works.I need the pronto ccf to work on noviiremote deluxe program.Anyone have this file?(the ccf to pdb converter does not work)

[Jeffcb]

Hi,
I have taken the time to read this great forum and you all deserve a Big THANK YOU for all your time you have put into finding out how to change the hard drive in the Pioneer dvr. I see the hardest part to get is the Poineer ID disk. I have been using bit torrent and have only 25 days to go. Can anyone else seed this file pioneer_service.nrg so this newbe can get the hard drive changedin my DVR 531.

[evil_lives]

hi,
I got a palm z22 pda from ebay last week tried the omniremote pro program.The software refuses to work with z22 so i tried noviiremote deluxe and it works.I need the pronto ccf to work on noviiremote deluxe program.Anyone have this file?(the ccf to pdb converter does not work)

Try This... Got it from this forum..

pronto.zip

[Cordaz]

Hi. I've got a DVR-433-H-K (made in April 2005 - UK Version) which gave me a HDD error when I tried to delete some stuff on the hard drive I've got 35+ hours of recordings that I really do not want to lose! Luckily I found this thread and all the necessary information. I'm still unsure if I can recover the data but after reading quickbits posts I know it's almost possible. I was thinking of trying Spinrite, it's a great HDD recovery program which is supposed to work miracles! Not sure if it will work in this instance but it's worth a shot.

I've still yet to get a replacement drive (looking to get 160 GB or bigger), service disc, service remote emulator and IR transmitter (probably get a cheap Ipaq off ebay). I just want to make sure I've got my info correct before I do or buy anything. For my DVR-433 I need:

- GGV1179 Pioneer Service Disc (hopefully from Hkan)
- GGF1381 Service Remote CCF file

Is this correct?


Thanks in advance.

[sequestre]

Hi Folks, I have been trying to replace my failed hard drive in my Pioneer DVR-633 and to date I have not been successful. I bought the data ID disc from Pioneer and managed to get the service remote codes. I have a new Seagate 400 GB drive that I installed.

My problem is, I can't get a successful ID to write to NVRAM. Everything goes smoothly until it gets to the point where it tells me it is "Writing to NVRAM" at which point it errors out with, "NVRAM Write NG!". Not sure what is going on here. Anyone have any ideas? Thanks!

[Hkan]

If you get a NVRAM Write NG, you have eighter written a wrong ID number or the disc your using is faulty. But most of the time when you get this message it is becouse you have written the wrong ID#

[sequestre]

If you get a NVRAM Write NG, you have eighter written a wrong ID number or the disc your using is faulty. But most of the time when you get this message it is becouse you have written the wrong ID#

I wrote down the ID number before I cleared the old one from memory and it also matches the number on the back of the unit. I have tried numerous times checking very carefully each number that I input and I always get the same result. I guess it is possible that the disk I received from Pioneer has a problem.........

[sequestre]

Btw, the disk that I am using is not the Type 1 (GGV1179). I have the Type 2 GGV1239 which I acquired directly from Pioneer.

[Hkan]

What I know is that the Type 2 discs are for the DVRs that was released last year! The DVR-530/531/533/630/633 needs to use the GGV1179 or later, latest i got is GGV1256. maybe Pioneer have 2 discs that are named GGV1239 and one is a Type 2 disc. the Type 2 disc I got is GGV1273

[sequestre]

What I know is that the Type 2 discs are for the DVRs that was released last year! The DVR-530/531/533/630/633 needs to use the GGV1179 or later, latest i got is GGV1256. maybe Pioneer have 2 discs that are named GGV1239 and one is a Type 2 disc. the Type 2 disc I got is GGV1273

Hmmm, interesting. Well it's obviously not happy with what I'm feeding it. I'm going by the service manual which states on page 68 the following (quote):
"DDV1239 will be released on July 2005. Until new disk(GGV1239) will be released, use GGV1179."
(unquote)
(DDV1239 is what it actually states in the manual. Typo I guess?)

It leads me to believe that either will work. Btw, I have the manual as PDF if anyone needs it, although it may be of more harm than good if the information is incorrect.....