Hard Drive surface test 24 hours

Not at all! What is the receiver model? At this point, if there weren’t any crucial recordings on the hard drive, you can call DIRECTV (number in my greeting below) and tell the agent that the receiver is dead. They will send you a new receiver for $19.95 shipping or free with the Equipment Protection Plan.

Not normal. I would recommend calling DirecTV and requesting a replacement DVR. What model DVR is it?

Yeah, I did that once and it took just as long and with similar results saying how many errors were corrected. I ran the test because the receiver was rebooting regularly. It didn’t make any difference. It continued rebooting after completing the test. If you are to the point of needing to do a surface test, the hard drive is likely gone.

It’s an older receiver, not sure the model, not home right now so can’t check. I replaced the hard drive over a year ago and worked fine. It still works fine as I did the test because my recordings weren’t playing properly. If I watch live tv, it runs with no problem. Any idea why the recordings aren’t working properly? 

Hello @Chico1599,   we want to help you with the situation you are currently having with the receiver.


Let's meet in a Direct Message to take a closer look on this. Please check your DIRECTV Message Inbox (It's the chat icon next to the bell icon in the upper right corner of the Forums)

We'll be waiting for you.

It’s not working properly because the hard drive is slowly dying. Recordings not playing properly means a hard drive on its way out. Since you already opened the receiver, I’m sure you could just get a new hard drive going in there. Although, if the receiver is leased and not owned, it would be against your contract to open the DVR. Please confirm the model number for us when you get home. Thanks

How could it be dying if it starts up no problem and runs great when watching live tv? If it was dying, it wouldn’t be starting up correct?

I’m sure with an older standalone SDDVR or HDDVR it would still start up fine. Any activity involving writing to the hard drive will show you the symptoms. 

If you have important recordings on there and are tech savvy, there is a way to transfer the recordings from one hard drive to another via a program called GParted. This will only work with the EXACT DVR that recorded them. You can’t switch DVRs and expect the recordings from the original DVR to play. Although, being that the recordings don’t play properly, there are slim chances you can preserve them at this point.

The hard drive I replaced the original one with is double the storage space. Is it possible that’s why it could be failing since it’s more storage and holds more recordings. It was brand new when I bought it and has been running with no problem since and still is besides the recordings? Could it be a fan issue?