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LeadFoot
join:2012-09-21

LeadFoot to Gutch

Member

to Gutch

Re: PVR Drive Cycling

said by Gutch :

My 8300 has been cycling all morning and it's driving me nuts. Does anyone know how long this will last? The HD spins up (quite noisily), runs for 20-45 seconds and then spins back down. This seems to happen about every five to eight minutes all morning so far.

In November 2010 Rogers pushed out a firmware update for the SA8300HD PVR that caused the internal hard drive to spin up and shut down every few minutes when the unit was powered off. Any hardware Engineer (I talked to Western Digital at the time) will tell you that this cycling of the drive while reduce its life expectancy. It took Rogers 2 or 3 months to admit they had a problem and 6 months (May 2011) until they updated the firmware to fix the HSUB (Hard drive Spinning Up and Down) issue. Their fix was to keep the drive running 100% of the time even when the PVR was powered off. This technique is also used by other manufacturers such as Motorola.

Last week (September 2012) Rogers pushed out another new firmware reintroducing the HSUD problem again. Anyone with a purchased 8300HD should be aware that this is going to cause your PVRs hard drive to fail requiring a replacement and if its a rental you are going to loss everything that you have recorded.

If you have a 8300HD and are experiencing the HSUD issue I advise you to please call Rogers and report the problem. They will not fix the issue until they get a number of complaints. I hope it doesn't take 6 months this time!
...

pmd
join:2012-08-08
Manotick, ON

pmd

Member

I called Rogers just now to report that both my PVRs have the problem of the hard drive turning on and off every few minutes (so it isn't a hardware problem). The problem started right after a firmware update Sept. 13.

Tech support says I'm the ONLY CALL they have had about this problem! The guy hung up on me just now when I insisted there are others with the same problem. Leadfoot - did you call them?
Everyone please call. Rogers will not admit the problem or fix it until they get lots of complaints. I hope it doesn't take 6 months this time!
Rogers Cable Tech Support 1-888-764-3771
Hooter
join:2009-08-17
Scarborough, ON

Hooter

Member

I have called them. My ticket number is C62187902. The problem is, when you speak to someone in level 1 support, they are, for the most part, clueless. Here are a few more ticket numbers you can give them though: C61795473, C61914992, C61801728, C62064926, C61984371, and C62141176. Then there is a master ticket number - PT00063763. Always ask to speak to their supervisor. You might then have at least a 50-50 chance of speaking to someone who knows what they are talking about!

pmd
join:2012-08-08
Manotick, ON

pmd to LeadFoot

Member

to LeadFoot
Sep. 13, 2012 5 am - firmware updated on my 2 SA8300HD PVRs. Hard drive started cycling on and off by itself 24/7. I counted 8 on/off cycles in one hour. (same as 2 yrs ago)
Sep. 14, 2012 - Phoned Rogers tech support - Never heard of it.
Sep. 15, 2012 - Rogers technician tested the signal strength and had "no idea". If it was under warranty he would simply replace it. No one repairs them. All you could try is replace the drive (IDE Seagate 160gb) using a "security torx wrench" to open the weird screws on the box.
I changed cable and swapped the PVRs before I realized it affect both PVRs - so not hardware problem. Phoned Rogers again to report this. He said I was the only person who had called them... I told him the forums were full of others with this problem and living with two pvrs cycling 24/7 was simply not acceptable. He hung up on me! Really.
Both PVRs are now "unplugged" to save them from failure and me from losing sleep.