So I wanted to thank the forums for your help and insight on other users experience with upgrading the multi-room DVR's. I wanted to post some feedback because most of the reviews were focused on the newer cisco multi-room dvr boxes but not necessarily the motorola QIP7232-P2 with IMG1.9.1 software loaded. I tested several external hard drive solutions. I am one of those people who want the most drive space i can get.
Motorola 7232 P2 Hd Dvr External Hard Drive
I will note this, I learned this lesson, whatever you do make sure you buy a Western Digital 24/7 AV drive. Why? Because most hard drives are setup to spin down or stop rotating when idle. This is bad for the DVR, the DVR will start having problems with freezing up, clipping on the videos and just a boat load of other issues that comes with this. The 24/7 AV Series is setup to never spin down or shut off and it's fine tuned to stream HD video up to 12 streams and other drives are setup to stream more data and not necessarily focused on video.
Just know, if you build your own drive and dont use the "approved hard drives" by verizon you are at your own risk and they will not support you if that drive doesn't work for some reason or has issues. However, for most people reading this we have already accepted that risk because we know how to work around these things, to me it's not a big deal at all.
I hope that this post finds to be helpful to someone else and that my experience can help someone who was in my situation trying to figure out if the motorola's were ever upgraded with a DIY hard drive solution.
I also upgraded my 7232 storage with eSATA - an acomdata pdhd1000-72. It had been used on a computer and didn't have the correct formating, so it wasn't recognized initially. I formatted it to exFAT and it worked. Following other forum advice I read, I waited to plug it into the 7232 until prompted by the "Expand Storage" routine in the 7232. I turned it on first, and then plugged it in, and then waited until the "to activate press OK" screen was overwritten by an "external drive recognized" screen and its successors. I think it is important to avoid jumping the gun - wait for several seconds while the 7232 talks to the external drive. Pressing the OK to activate is about the last thing to do in the process.
Is it possible to transfer the recordings from my DVR to my new external Western Digital esata hard drive? I'm needing to replace my existing Motorola 7232 DVR with a new 7232 DVR and the Verizon rep on the phone told me to get one of these external hard drives and transfer all my stuff to it. I have the external hard drive connected to the receiver and working properly, but I don't see how to transfer my existing recordings onto it. Please tell me this is possible and Verizon didn't just cause me to waste another $80.
Is it also true that when I move my external hard drive to the replacement DVR, I will lose everything that is currently on the external hard drive? So the bottom line is anytime you have to replace your Verizon DVR, you lose everything, even though I have an EXTERNAL device that holds all my shows, but Verizon must erase everything on my EXTERNAL device if I want to use it on one of their replacement DVRs? So their equipment fails, but I spent $80+ to keep my recordings safe on my own personal equipment, but then Verizon says they must delete all my stuff off my personal equipment if I want to use it again on their replacement equipment which is the exact same model as the original? Did I miss anything? Does this make sense to anyone?
Is it also true that when I move my external hard drive to the replacement DVR, I will lose everything that is currently on the external hard drive? ... Verizon must erase everything on my EXTERNAL device if I want to use it on one of their replacement DVRs? So their equipment fails, but I spent $80+ to keep my recordings safe on my own personal equipment, but then Verizon says they must delete all my stuff off my personal equipment ... ?
If I'm not too mistaken, this situation has nothing to do with Verizon or Verizon policy. Because of licensing issues among broadcasting companies, the content on an external drive is encrypted in a manner that only allows it to be "married" to a specific recorder. Hence the content cannot be replayed on a different recorder, even if it's an identical model. The reasons for this situation stem from how the media companies and the recording industry (including TV networks) go about protecting themselves from piracy and illegal copying. Verizon is merely following the regulations established to protect the interests of content producers.
If you wish to preserve recorded content from an external drive, there appears to be only one solution and that is to record it in "real time" on another external device (e.g., a DVD-R device). Here is a link and information on that process:
Do you happen to know how to transfer movies purchased through Flex View on to an external hard drive? I've been a customer for a few years, and up until this past February, I've had nothing but headaches with Verizon.
OMG. That is EXACTLY my experience and frustration. Times 2 DVRS and 2 external hard drives. PLUS the DVRs failed when Verizon pushed through their most recent software update. Thanks Verizon! Thanks for erasing all my shows on 2 DVRs and 2 external hard drives for something I didn't ask for! Thanks so much!
An eSATA device is an external hard drive that plugs into a DVR or computer to increase the overall storage capacity of that device. The term "eSATA" stands for "External Serial Advanced Technology Attachment" and refers to the connection on the end of the cable that plugs from the eSATA drive to the DVR or computer.
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.
Once connected, all recordings automatically record on your eSATA device until it is full or disconnected from the DVR. Once your eSATA device has reached recording capacity, additional programs then record to the hard drive of your DVR.
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