FiOS HD-DVR crashing since adding external eSATA drive

[Fis1]

After the recent firmware update, I added an 2TB external eSATA drive to my FiOS DVR.  I'd really been looking forward to this because our DVR had been perpetually 90+% full.  After a couple of reboots, the drive was recognized and showed as a second DVR at 0% full in the DVR Status menu.  Just to make sure everything worked, I scheduled a bunch of recordings to make sure it was utilizing the new drive.

A few days later, we found that the DVR had erased several of our recordings because it was out of space.  Checking the DVR status again, the new drive had disappeared. 

After a couple of reboots, it appeared in the status menu again, and the DVR started recording to the external drive.  But a few days later, my wife couldn't find the recordings.  Turns out it had disappeared again. 

This pattern has repeated itself several times over the last couple of weeks.  On two occasions, the DVR has completely frozen while we were in the middle of watching something, necessitating a complete reboot in order to watch TV, and interrupting any recording that was going on in the background.  Each time, at least 2 reboots has been required before the eSATA drive appears. 

Needless to say, this whole thing is a disaster.  I spent a ton of money and the result is poorer service quality.  What can I do to fix this?

[Fis1]

Nobody?

[annsera]

I am also very interested in this -- I want to make sure that the eSAta support actually works before I buy into getting this service.

[hockeyusa81]

I am currently using a 2 TB e-SATA drive in an enclosure and, after experiencing the same initial issue as Quaker did, I replaced the e-SATA cable and stopped having any issues at all with it. I'm using a 5900 RPM drive and making sure both the set top box and e-SATA drive get plenty of air. To date, I've recorded probably 50 hours of HD programming and the drive is roughly 18 percent full. I haven't experienced any playback issues so far after changing the e-SATA cable so it seems I'm good at the moment.

[smartaleck]

When you add an external eSATA drive are there any costs added to your Verizon bill?

[Fis1]

No fees from Verizon.  Just aggravation.

[Iiyama]

Quaker - did you use one of the dives that Verizon recommends?

[Pstreicher11]

Does anyone have a link to the recommended drives by Verizon?

I want to try adding an external drive also. Maybe if we all report what other drives work and don't work it will save us all some aggravation. I bought a new Seagate Barracuda 1tb drive that I'm thinking of trying. It's to be put into an older external box made by Simpletech. I'm thinking it is not going to work but I'll let you all know if I try this. Otherwise, I'll be looking for a newer external box with the latest firmware. I can find no website for updating this older Simpletech enclosure's board.

[Pstreicher11]

After a few minutes searching I found the link of recommended drives.

http://www22.verizon.com/ResidentialHelp/FiOSTV/Other+Hardware/eSATA/129841.htm

Here's a snipet from that page...

Which Verizon FiOS TV DVRs are compatible with eSATA devices?

The following FiOS TV DVRs are compatible with eSATA devices:

• Motorola QIP 7216
• Motorola QIP 7232
• Cisco CHS 435 HDC

Which eSATA external storage devices can I use with my FiOS DVR?

Verizon recommends the eSATA hard drives below for use with FiOS DVR. Customers choosing to install other drive types will assume the risk of compatibility with FiOS DVR and Verizon will not assist with compatibility or performance issues should they arise.

• Western Digital – WDBACS5000EBK-NEVZ – 500GB
• Western Digital – WDBACS0010HBK-NEVZ – 1TB
• Western Digital Retail – WDBABT0010HBK-NESN – 1TB

I'm not sure why this happened...'Your post has been changed because invalid HTML was found in the message body. The invalid HTML has been removed. Please review the message and submit the message when you are satisfied.'

I'm assuming that the above drives were the only one tested at the time. We users can add to this list if we want. Anyone game?

[Fis1]

No I did not use their recommended drives because I prefer to use an open enclosure which is MUCH less prone to failure. I've been told by many FiOS customers that they've done this without a problem.

The drive I'm using is a "green" drive.  I don't know why that would be a problem but perhaps it is.  Instead of posting a tiny list of just two compatible drives, Verizon should post required minimum specs in terms of throughput etc.