Recording onto DM600 harddrive

erukus

Hi there,

I am considering buying a harddrive for my Dreambox 600! Is it possible to watch one channel while recording another at the same time? Also is it possible to do record using timer so i can set the box to record at a certain time ?

Thanks

compufunk

Unfortunately the answer is no, the tuner can only handle one stream at a time.

Yes, you can set the timer manually or, by pressing the red button while viewing the EPG program info of any program (this will set the time + channel for you). I bought myself a cheap 40G HD from Ebay and its fine for me, I can record around 20 (ish) hours to it.

C

compufunk

Theoretically, there is no reason why you couldn't watch one recording from the disk while making another recording, although this would probably push the hardware beyond its limits, I haven't tried it, Yet!

Most programs are repeated so often anyway. What I do if programs clash is to check the EPG for an airing at a time when I am not likely to be home, or asleep and set the timer for then.

erukus

thanks for your help by the way

erukus

Hi,

I have just purchased a hard drive off Ebay. Thankfully for once something has actually worked first time with my dreambox. However I do have a question it is a toshiba hardrive from a spares company it is quite noisy is this usual or is it because maybe it came from an old computer? Anyone know its kind of annoyning that kind of ticking noise?

compufunk

I wouldn't worry about it, This first drive I had installed in the dreambox was the same, Older drives are generally noisier.

compufunk

Just to note,

I tried the above and its works fine. So yes, you can watch one recording while making another.
And, I cant edit the post quoted here, so here is a revised answer.

You can watch some other channels while recording, other channels on the same frequency as the channel being recorded can be viewed while a record is in process.

Just use the up + down arrows on the remote to see whats available.

erukus

Ok I think it is a good point to make anyone considering buying a hardrive if you are buying refurbished off Ebay or if it is coming from an old computer there is a good chance it is going to be noisy. In my opinion its not the type of thing you want constantly noising as you are watching t.v. regardless of whether your recording or not it keeps noising so be informed.

compufunk

It should not be making any noise when its not in use, It should go into standby after a few minutes and stop spinning (about 5 by default). You can set the idle time before standby in the menus somewhere.

If its not going into standby then there is either a problem with the disk, or the drivers on the Dreambox are not completely computable with that drive.

erukus

Ok my bad i didnt realised I had left it recording I was doing some testing and had obviously left it recording. So yes your right it does not noise unless its recording.

erukus

Can someone please clarify which exact hard drive is suitable for the DM 600
Compufunk i know you have talked about this before but my roommate is confusing me by saying all hardrives are ide and there is PATA and SATA version so can u or anyone clarify the exact specifications of the type of hard drive that is compatible with a DM600 Thanks

compufunk

PATA = Parallel Advanced Technology Attachment (Same as IDE)
SATA = Serial Advanced Technology Attachment

The difference in the above is how they talk to the main board in the PC. One uses Parallel communications the other Serial communications (Think of it as two different languages).

Apart from that, the connectors are also different..

For a DM-600, you need what everyone else in the world, apart from your friend commonly knows as IDE (Or PATA if he wants to be picky about it).

There are probably ways to get a DM-600 to recognize an SATA drive, but that would be a whole world of trouble, and I guess you would want to avoid that.

erukus

Ok Thanks for clearing that up Compufunk he was throwing a spanner in the works and confusing me