I to have a TM-6800HD and was trying to use a standard 3.5" HD in a caddy (using its own PSU) It did not work, I tried with a friends same 6800HD still no good. Also was trying to use a MicroSD memory card still no good. Thats when I found out (other groups) that the TM-6800HD was very picky which drives and memory it likes. I`ve found it works with normal Flash memory sticks (not a micro card used in phones) also I have bought a `WD My Passport Essential 320GB external HD` this is powered by the USB cable. This type of HD needs to be formatted in a special way.
For all USB HDD’s more than 30GB:
1. Connect the hard disc via USB to your PC
2. Right click (with the mouse) on My Computer (found on the Desktop)
3. Go to Manage
4. Go to Disk Management
5. Right click on the USB drive
6. Click on Delete Partition and follow the procedures
7. When this has finished, a new drive will appear. Select the drive with the largest file size and Right click on it.
8. Go to Make a New Partition (it has to be Primary). Assign a drive letter, for example, f:
9. Select: Do not Format this Partition and follow the procedures
10. Right click on the USB drive and set the partition as Active
11. Copy fat32format.exe file to your C: Drive, found in: My Computer > C:
12. Go to Start > Run > enter CMD > OK
13. Enter: cd c:\
14. Enter: fat32format f: (if you used f: in step 8, if not, enter the drive letter you used)
15. The following message will appear: Warning ALL data on drive 'f' will be lost irretrievably, are you sure (y/n)
16. Enter: y
17. Wait until it says Done
18. When this has finished, connect your USB drive to the Technomate TM-6900 HD COMBO or the TM-6800 HD and go to Menu > USB > Management > Format Disk and press OK
19. Do not use the Management menu found in the USB Menu of the receiver
The fat32format.exe file can be found on web sites.
Before I did all this above I could not get it to work, after I did all above it works a dream. Records/plays back on my 6800HD brill. Using the EPG its like having a SKY HD (Sky+) STB.
As long as you get the HDs the TM likes your OK. FreeAgent HDs seem to work as well. I sent an Email to Technomate and they said the WD Passport is good.