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Can you change a hard disk in a DVD Recorder?


goldenfleece

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I really need a bigger HD in my Panasonic DVD Recorder, I record in XP mode a lot and find I run out of space on a regular basis before I am ready to archive stuff to DVD or watch stuff before deleting. As it runs through a digital vid projector to a large screen, XP mode is the only serious record option.

 

Is a standard IDE or SATA drive fitted inside or are these specialist units that are not user changeable? Does anyone know?

 

Nothing in the manual states it can be changed or not, so was curious before I pulled the top off and poked around a bit.....

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Generally speaking, yes you can. However the manufacturer may have installed firmware which means that the recorder will always see a hard disk as a certain size even if it's actual capacity is much greater. I know it's not exactly the same, but the xbox 360 is a good example of this.

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Some recorders also require that certain "header" files are present on the hard drive, so simply switching one for a new one wont work.

 

Other recorders simply dont care, stick in a new hard drive, and it will use the full capacity without a problem.

 

As I said, it depends on the make and model. :)

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Panasonic DMREX768EBK Black (DVD recorder - with HDMI, Freeview and 160Gb hard drive)

Rather want to stick a 500GB drive in if I can can....I wonder if it needs to be specified make or require 'header' files?

You can format it from within the screen menu, but only if it recognizes it I guess.....

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I can find very little information on Panasonics, there are one or two suggestions that they use a "funny" disk format. (:confused:)

 

It might have to be a case of "try it and see".

 

For starters, try any other hard disk drive, the size doesn't matter, just as long as it is of the same type (IDE, SATA, etc). This is just to check if recorder will accept another drive without problems.

 

If it does, then you need to check to see if it will use the full capacity of a larger drive. If you don't own a larger drive, see if you can borrow one. Of course this will probably mean losing everything on it, so back up anything important on it first. :hihi:

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yeah I will pop off the lid and have a look inside tomorrow and see what make the disk is, and also scan it through the PC to see if any unusual files appear on it....however the recorder will probably insert these when the FORMAT option is used on the main menu....I will try it and see......hopefully the firmware in the recorder will do all the work rather than the disk having to be pre-prepared in any way

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The unit contains an Hitachi Deskstar IDE drive.....160GB........I wonder if I could put a massive size SATA drive in with conversion adaptors, or would it not like this at all? Would the firmware recognize a SATA drive with the adaptors plugged into the power and data leads?

Cant seem to find many large IDE drives available.....any ideas? I want the BIGGEST IDE drive available, but cant find any terrabyte ones....

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