SKY+ Hard Disk UPGRADE

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milanlad

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I have one of the early SKY+ boxes which is at the end of the warranty period. I'm looking to upgrade the hard drive to 120Gb or even 160Gb. Has anyone already tried this? I know you should use a fluid bearing drive. What make is the original? Does anybody know whether it works with UDMA100 or UDMA133? All information or comments would be welcome.

Thanks.
 
I don't think you can put any IDE disk in. I suspect it would have to be a ATA100 type interface. Also to consider if there is any boot software on the original, although maybe doing a full system reset may be enough to get going.

Has anyone opened up their box to see the make and model of the exsisting disk?

I do know that there are two different types that Pace used, in the two releases of the SKY+ box.
 
The stock hard drive is a Maxtor 40GB and any upgrades have to be a Maxtor.

The Maxtor 4K080K4 - 80Gb works, so does the 4K080H4 - 80Gb but that model doesn’t have a fluid dynamic bearing motor so will be quite a bit louder.

The Maxtor 4G120J6 - 120Gb works also.

Not sure if the 160GB models work or not.

You don’t have to do anything to the drive (no user pre-format, boot files etc needed) just out with the old and in with the new.

It could/will run hotter so a fan upgrade/more ventilation might be a good idea. Also the disk space remaining indicator will be very inaccurate when the drive is empty.
 
Thanks for that. Just want to check about the two SKY+ box releases. Will the 120Gb hard drive you mention above work in both releases of the SKY+ box? Cheers.
 
As long as the box has an NEC hard drive controller (they ALL should) you should be fine.

One other thing, I don’t know if you have opened the box up before or not. But if you haven’t and plan to use a screwdriver you will get a surprise, to do it ‘properly’ (ie not turn the heads into a scratchy mess by using the wrong tool) you need a ‘Torx 10’ driver. It looks similar to an Alan key but alan keys don’t work well either. Any decent hardware store, or somewhere like Screwfix should have them for under £10.

Also watch out for heat.
 
Some information on this on Martin Pickerings site -: http://www.satcure.com/tech/page18.htm

zansi
 
According to what I've read on other forums some IDE drives don't work in Sky+ due to spin up times and you need to make sure to choose a drive that will not draw more current, so that the PSU doesn't give in and no more heat is created inside the unit.

I'm not a techie, so I ended up buying an upgrade kit from XtendedPlay - http://www.xtendedplay.co.uk

They also set up the acoustic management to 'quiet mode' on the drive, so you don't have to mess around with the drive in a PC.
 
to relieve most fears..... our local TV/vid/sat repair guy has replaced many 40gb (failed) with 'std' 80gb drives, no probs, I would imagine sticking with a similar brand and spec (with larger capacity) you should be o.k, always check the H/D manufactuers web site for spec of the drive you are replacing (more often than not a lot of drives are pysically the same just more capacity!, so you would get a 'X' brand 'XX' model H/D with say 20, 40 and 80GB), I too have read about disc management software to alter parameters of the drive, prolly a DOS proggy setting up the H/D on a PC first, But can confirm 100% this guy does not use any (as he tends to ask my opinion on PC related stuff).
Also, if your drive has failed, check website for warranty info, I got a duff maxtor sky+ H/D replaced under maxtor warranty even though the sky+ was over a year old :)
 
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