Questions About BIST

I'll look forward to your post tomorrow as to whether the scan was able to save your drive.  I know how much you enjoy your recordings so I'll keep my fingers crossed for you.  As an aside, I ran the BIST voluntarily on a HR20 a long while ago and it found a file error which it proceeded to repair.  That HR20 continued to run for several years with no other problems, so good things can happen.

dcd,

Thanks for sharing your first-hand experience with this!! I assume you are implying that BIST repaired the file error.....AND....did not wipe out ALL of the recordings on your HR20). Thanks for the encouragement and yeah.....it'll definitely be tomorrow before I know the results(BIST has been running for approx. 7 hours and it is 42% complete.....another "disadvantage" of having a 1.5-2TB eSATA:0)

But it hasn't found any errors yet and I'm hopeful the results will be as good as yours were!!!!

Take care and BTW.....Merry Christmas to you and yours!!!!!!!!!

Well.....the "somewhat" good news is that after 17 hours the BIST utility displayed the following:

A problem has been detected in your hard drive.

This may be a simple initialization error or a critical fault.

Please boot the box now. That may fix the problem.

If that does not work then call Customer Service at 1-800-531-5000 and report the diagnostic code displayed below.

Scan Bar progress bar with 100% COMPLETE 100% Passed

Errors found: 0

Errors corrected: 0

Diagnostic Code: 75-973

Reboot box selection here.

The "somewhat" bad news is that clicking on the reboot box began a reset procedure and after being in the "Receiver Performing Self-Check...." status for a couple of minutes the same error and disk scan began all over again:0(

Soooooo.......what IS Diagnostic Code 75-973??????

And, thinking maybe my eSATA drive was "toast"(even though the 17 hour scan found 0 Errors), I forced another red button reset, immediately turning off the power to my eSATA drive. Voila, the HR20 came up fine on it's internal drive(another "not so good sign":0(

So, just to try one more time with feeling....I hit the red button and unplugged the power to the HR20, powered down the eSATA drive, waited about 5 minutes, powered up the eSATA drive and then re-connected the power to the HR20. This time after still spending several minutes in the Receiver Self-Check step(longer than my memory serves that step running and a lot of eSATA activity indicated on it's light) the HR20 came up fine and all content in the Playlist of the HR20 seemed intact. I'm not sure exactly what prompted the initial BIST scan, but my gut feeling is still that it may have been related to the recording that I described in my initial post that continually "started the movie over" at the 15 minute tick mark. That recording was still in my Playlist as well. Not wanting my HR20 to use the area of the disk(should that have been the root cause for the scan) I decided the best thing to do was mark that recording as "Keep Until I Delete" and NEVER play it again(or ever Delete it)!!!!! My thoughts are that if I deleted it most likely a subsequent recording would attempt to use that area of the disk and my problems could start all over. Was that the best "temporary fix" or would deleting the recording and forcing another BIST scan have been the best thing to do??? I really didn't want to tie up the HR20 for another 17 hours if I could avoid it. But, I'm a little more hesitant than before to trust the reliability of the Antec MX-1 enclosure/Western Digital 1.5TB sata drive setup I am using on the HR20(has been working fine for over two years up until now). Any thoughts/additional advice/suggestions????

75 - External hard drive error at bootup. Surface scan will attempt to solve problems.  Disconnect external drive and try booting from internal drive. Replacing receivers won't solve this issue; it's usually due to a failed external drive.

litzdog911,

Thanks for the Diagnostic Code info. That "sounds like" it may be a bad spot on the hdd in the "DirecTV partition" where settings, etc. are stored when a restart/bootup is performed or it could be generally a failure in a "connectivity check" between the eSATA and the DVR during startup. I checked the eSATA cable connection at the hdd enclosure but not at the back of the DVR. I may want to check that since historically the eSATA-to-eSATA cables are known to be prone to touchy cable connections. Aside from that, looks like I'm playing Russian Roulette with this eSATA setup and I should probably try to archive any content on it I want to retain before it hit's another "loaded chamber";0) I hate it when user dcd is right, but relying on external eSATA drives as "permanent storage" is indeed an exercise in futility(as we all know, there are two kinds of hdd's....those that have failed and those that haven't failed......YET:0)

Boy, I'm sorry to read your news DJ, and I take no solace in the fact I warn folks.  One might look on the lighter side, as in nothing ventured nothing gained.  Look at all the good you have gotten from your external drives.  And, a happy holiday back to you and the Mrs.

dcd,

Thanks for the comforting words(I was just kiddin about hating it when you're right:0)

But, yeah, for the investment I made in the eSATA and getting 2.5 years of good service out of it I think I got my money's worth(probably recorded between 300-400 good quality DVD's off that puppy over the years). I'm gonna clean it out and prepare for it completely going out and will most likely format it and retire it as additional storage for my desktop. But I'll also most likely replace it with another 2TB eSATA on the HR20 to resume my HD movie hoarding until that one dies. Guess I'm a glutton for punishment:0)

P.S.

And you'll notice I never chime in and refute when you advise users to be wary of relying on the external eSATA's Because it's the right thing to do. Whenever a user posts that their HD DVR has died and they lost all of their eSATA recordings when they connected it to the replacement DVR or like in my case the eSATA reaches it's end-of-life you can't help feeling a little sorry for them yet they always seem to want to "blame DirecTV" for their inability to "permanently" retain recorded content. Unfortunately permanent is not an option(I even recognize that content recorded on VHS and yes, even DVD's have a lifespan of being able to be played back and give good video/audio reproduction). I already have some really old VCR tapes that when played back are pretty poor quality if not unviewable. And I think I read somewhere that DVD+R/DVD-R blank DVD's have something like a 15-25 year data retention lifespan. So most likely if my grandkids(or great-grandkids) end up inheriting my DVD collection it probably won't be of any real value to them!!!

thanks dj, because of people like yourself is why we have HDCP.........

glad you did not loose your precious movie collection.

Let's see, I think the warning at the beginning of these HD programs calls for a $25,000 fine for reproduction.  Golly, my calculator won't display the total, it says 75 10 to the 5th.  Thank goodness Directv has no such restriction.

dcd,

It's been a long, long time since I've been on the forums!!! Well, some folks never learn(why I'm posting to this old thread:0(

The HR20-700 video started pixelating/jittering/freezing up for a split second. Once, the video froze(playing a recording) and the DVR became unresponsive and had to RBR it. I noticed the Receiver Self-Check process took a long, long, long time. Began troubleshooting and found that the live TV had begun doing the same thing(I assume it was the "buffer" pixelating), the HR24 also did it when playing somtehing from the HR20 over Whole Home. RBR'ed and turned off the eSATA drive and it came up on the internal drive normally(no extended Self-Check) and video problem disappeared. Next step, tried different eSATA cable...no joy. Next step, tried a different eSATA enclosure...no joy. RBR'ed and went into Diagnostics(BIST). SMART Short Test=(3016)FAIL. SMART Long Test=(3016)FAIL. File System Verification-PASSED. Surface Test-After 10 Minutes got 0.56%(3002)FAIL...Errors Found:154...Errors Corrected:0...not good looks like the 2TB Western Digital WD20EURS AVG(Audio Video Green-specifically designed for 24/7 Video Streaming) is TOAST after approximately a year of use:0(

Good news(I guess) is that it is still under Warranty until 03/30/2015 so I'll get it replaced free. BTW, there is another Menu Selection I cannot figure out what it is for. When you go into Hard Drive Utilities it lists:

1. File System Verification

2. SMART Short Test

3. SMART Long Test.

4.LBA Fix

5. Surface Test

Soooo, what is #4-LBA Fix????? Should I try that?????

UPDATE........When the Surface Test Failed(see above) it highlighted Return To Previous Menu, so I hit Select. Just for grins, I ran another (1)File System Verification=PASSED, the (2)SMART Short Test=PASSED....wait a minute...PASSED:0)

I am running another SMART Test Long now to see if it = PASSED......could the Surface Test actually have repaired the bad sector(s)(even though it showed (3002)FAIL and Errors Corrected:0??????

It's late...I've been working on this most of the day so I will give an update on my troubleshooting tomorrow. Wish me luck, and any explanations of the SMART Tests (3016)FAIL errors, Surface Test (3002)FAIL error or what the #4-LBA Fix is for would be welcomed at this point.

Welcome back dj.   While the hard drive diagnostics may have repaired the damage, in my experience that's at best a temporary fix.  Best to record off or watch any valuable recordings ASAP and request a replacement DVR. 

litzdog911,

Thanks...yeah I was tired last night and didn't notice that when I went back to the BIST menu from the Surface Test it defaulted back to the "Internal" drive and that's why it PASSED the SMART test:0) The WD external is toast and I'm getting it replaced. Soooo, do you have any idea what that "LBA Fix" selection in the Hard Drive Utilities does??? And are the SMART 3016 and Surface Test 3002 erros just generally confirming the dying drive?

I made a "retirement investment"(retiring this coming October) in a Commercial Zero Turn lawn mower and I've been participating in a forum dedicated to that since last summer getting "educated" before the purchase and now assisting others. Haven't had time to participate in the D* forum. But, like user dcd, when I retire I will have time to get back involved and assist others here and on other self-help forums. I miss you guys and look forward to returning!!!!

Nice to hear from you DJ and sorry you're having drive problems.  Of course as you know, any saved programming is vulnerable so don't save anything you can't afford to lose.  I'm with Litzdog on this one, I'd replace the drive.  The only "fix" I think can have long term good results is the file fix that the file verification test occasionally finds and repairs.

Here's some reading on the "LBA" question

http://superuser.com/questions/166177/hard-drive-lba-error-how-to-proceed

dcd,

Thanks for the link...just out of curiosity I went ahead and tried the #4 LBA Fix selection. Since I was going to return the drive to Western Digital anyway I figured I didn't have anything to lose. I deleted the series that first "froze up" the HR20(my wife has gotten into The Client List on LifetimeHD). Then I went back through the File Verification, SMART Short Test and then tried the LBA Fix. It displayed Repairing......8/7, and after maybe 5 minutes displayed (3020)FAIL. This must be yet another hard drive utility that DirecTV added to BIST that may sometimes fix a "few" bad sectors. In my case, it didn't help and I think the drive's head seek mechanism was going bad(movies that I had recorded months ago and had successfully watched several time wouldn't even play without pixelating.). I submitted a warranty repair request on WD's website and "gave them down the road" about what was purported to be a drive designed specifically for "24 X 7 video storage and streaming" and for "storage intensive AV applications such as PVR's, DVR's, set top boxes, and surveillance video equipment". I told them they could have a market buy these for their survellance cameras and if they happen to have a robbery...that hard drive better not fail a year aftter purchasing it:0(

I know these external eSATA drives should be viewed as "temporary"(and I am no longer in denial of that:0), but I really expected this drive to go several years without a problem!!! In my "scathing" return description I added a comment that I hoped that the replacement drive would have better longevity and reliability than the original one. They shipped my replacement drive just a couple of hours after I completed the RMA online and it appears to be a different "series" of the WD20EURS AV-GP drive. Maybe my complaining got me a "commercial" drive instead of a "consumer" drive. We'll see:0)

P.S.

Another tidbit about using eSATA drives on DirecTV HD DVR's....it seems that Antec has discontinued the MX-1 enclosure for some reason. I had one that I had bought for my WDTV LIve Media Hub where the internal fan started making noise. I went to their website and they no longer list the Veris MX-1. I found out that the enclosures(actually all Antec products) have a 3-Year Warrany so I called their Customer Service. He confirmed they had been discontinued, but thought they would be introducing another eSATA enclosure soon. They had no problem sending me another internal fan module at no charge. It's a shame, though, because the Antec MX-1 was one of the few eSATA enclosures that we could recommend to forum users and we knew that the eSATA interface would work with any DirecTV HD DVR. Some brands don't as we have discovered. I've actually got 4 of the MX1's..2 for my DVR's one for my WDTV Live and one on my PC. The "only" problem I've ever had with them in almost 5 years is this one's fan making noise.