Sky HD Newbie seeks Advice on 1Tb upgrade

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Sky HD Newbie seeks Advice on 1Tb upgrade

Postby jjirvine » Mon Jun 01, 2009 9:36 pm

Hi Everyone

Some years ago my Sky+ box had its Hard Drive upgraded from its original disk, to a new 250Gb model, and it has worked flawlessly.

Here's my first question in the Forum, and I can only apologise if it has been answered before (I have searched but...)

I have got my hands on a Pace Sky+HD box and a 1Tb Samsung F1 drive. I've tried the Sky HD box to make sure it receives etc and my question is this. As I still have my SKY+ box's original hard drive, can I use this as the source hard drive within Copy+, and just copy its contents (which from memory, is very little) onto the 1Tb drive, so I don't have to open up my Sky+ box again to access the present drive? I was hoping to be able to open only one box, rather than 2. Any help will be very gratefully received :D
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Re: Sky HD Newbie seeks Advice on 1Tb upgrade

Postby pcbbc » Tue Jun 02, 2009 9:29 am

jjirvine wrote:I have got my hands on a Pace Sky+HD box and a 1Tb Samsung F1 drive. I've tried the Sky HD box to make sure it receives etc and my question is this. As I still have my SKY+ box's original hard drive, can I use this as the source hard drive within Copy+, and just copy its contents (which from memory, is very little) onto the 1Tb drive, so I don't have to open up my Sky+ box again to access the present drive? I was hoping to be able to open only one box, rather than 2. Any help will be very gratefully received :D
Hi - Welcome to the forums.
Sorry - But I'm not sure I really understand?

So yes, you can copy from a Sky+ disk to Sky+HD and (assuming you do a data conversion if necessary) this should work. However, if the old drive is very old you may run into problems as Copy+ may not recognise it (old data format) or the SkyHD box may not be able to upgrade it to the latest planner version when it sees it.

But what is really confusing me is why you think in necessary to open two boxes? You will have to open the Sky+HD box to upgrade the drive - So while you have that open, use the 300GB drive already in it as the source disk and copy it to the 1TB destination? Job done, surely? :?:

The only reason why you'd want to open the Sky+ box is if you'd want to keep you present recordings. I would expect most people would want to do that, but sometimes not - each to their own of course!

Anyway, if there is is reason why using the Sky+HD box is not suitable to use as the source please let me know and I can advise further.

Stuart.
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Postby jjirvine » Tue Jun 02, 2009 12:15 pm

Hi Stuart

Thanks for the welcome to the Forum.

I think I must have have had a "senior" moment last night - using the Sky HD drive as the source - DOH!! :oops: Totally went out of my head that there is of course a drive in my new box - Completely obvious!!.

Thanks very much for taking the time to point out something which should have been quite clear to me last night, and apologies for being an idiot! :D
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Postby pcbbc » Tue Jun 02, 2009 12:21 pm

jjirvine wrote:I think I must have have had a "senior" moment last night - using the Sky HD drive as the source - DOH!! :oops: Totally went out of my head that there is of course a drive in my new box - Completely obvious!!.

Thanks very much for taking the time to point out something which should have been quite clear to me last night, and apologies for being an idiot! :D
Sometime the obvious escapes us all!
And you're only an idiot if you don't have the common sense to realise when you made a mistake :)
Or that's what I keep telling myself anyway. ;)

Good luck with your upgrade!
Do not hesitate to report back on progress.
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Postby jjirvine » Tue Jun 02, 2009 2:05 pm

Thanks for trying to make me feel less embarrassed! :D Once I read your reply I thought oops - but ok let's get on with the task in hand - opening up the Sky HD box.

I have a guide which I was going to follow from morlocks.co.uk, but at the first hurdle I have become bogged down. In the guide it refers to Philips headed screws - however, on looking at my box (Pace TDS850B) it uses T10 screws (at least I think that's the term). I have a T10 bit which fits the exposed screw at the back of the box, but unfortunately the handle to which it attaches, has too wide a circumference to fit down the recessed holes. I've tried all the screwdriver attachments that I've got, but none of them em are able to fit within the confines of the recessed plastic holes to allow me to unscrew the other 6- so I'm stuck at the moment. Has anyone else used a particular screwdriver that fits on this type of box - and if so could a link be posted so I can purchase one knowing it's the right size etc. Thanks again for any help.
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Postby pcbbc » Tue Jun 02, 2009 2:23 pm

jjirvine wrote:Has anyone else used a particular screwdriver that fits on this type of box - and if so could a link be posted so I can purchase one knowing it's the right size etc. Thanks again for any help.
Unfortunately Pace seem keen on using T10 rather than Philips as (presumably) an "anti-tamper" measure :roll:
Is it a security T10 (with a little dimple in the centre and hole in the bit to accommodate) or a normal T10?
Sorry, but not had the pleasure of doing a Pace HD box so I do not know exactly what is required to access it.
Maplins sell proper long reaching T10 screwdrivers, not just bits (which as you have found do not fit down holes).

Edit: Guide for Pace here.
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Postby jjirvine » Tue Jun 02, 2009 2:35 pm

Thanks for the updated link to the upgrade for my box - bit more recent than the one I was going to use.

The screws definitely have the "dimple" in the centre. I live in the deepest reaches of South Scotland, so the nearest Maplin shop is over 100 miles away from me - so would I definitely have to mail order, but can't see the screwdrivers on Maplin's web site
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Postby pcbbc » Tue Jun 02, 2009 2:53 pm

jjirvine wrote:Thanks for the updated link to the upgrade for my box - bit more recent than the one I was going to use.

The screws definitely have the "dimple" in the centre. I live in the deepest reaches of South Scotland, so the nearest Maplin shop is over 100 miles away from me - so would I definitely have to mail order, but can't see the screwdrivers on Maplin's web site
Yes, unfortunately that is a bit of a problem. It mentions in the article that they aren't listed on the website. :(
Do you know someone who lives near a store who could post them to you?
If not I would help you out (but not till the weekend when I will be passing a Maplin).
Or maybe screwfix or elsewhere on line now you know it is a T10?
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Postby jjirvine » Tue Jun 02, 2009 3:13 pm

Cheers Stuart - really appreciate the offer of help from you. I think its time to pull in a favour, so I'll see if there's anyone going to, or be near Glasgow, that can call in to one of the stores and get one for me. I'll let you know how I get on.
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Postby pcbbc » Tue Jun 02, 2009 3:27 pm

Ok NP - but the offer still stands if you need it.
BTW - Where in Scotland are you?
Neil the author of Copy+ is in Eaglesham south of Glasgow, and I have an aunt in Edzell Angus and a work colleague way up north in Lairg Sutherland.
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Postby jjirvine » Tue Jun 02, 2009 7:20 pm

I live in Newton Stewart (a small town in Galloway - sort of between Dumfries and Stranraer). Think I've sourced a screwdriver which will be here in a day or so - hopefully then it will all be plain sailing. Mind you, at least by sharing the info, everyone learns - so the next person can be properly prepared with all the correct tools to save all this "faffing" around :lol:
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Postby jjirvine » Thu Jun 04, 2009 9:02 pm

Hi Stuart. Thought I'd give you an up to date sitrep on my Sky+ HD upgrade, and a note of a couple of process changes, which may help someone else - it also gives you some extra info to enable you to carry on the good work!! :D

I ordered a Torx T10 security screwdriver (75mm shaft) from Ebay and received it today. I followed the upgrade guide at Skyuser.co.uk from the link you sent me - thanks for that. One thing I would say is that you definitely need a T10 SECURITY screwdriver. The screws in the recesses under my Pace TDS850B box are T10 security screws, as are the 3 screws on the interior of the box, holding the metal lid to the chassis. Easier to get a screwdriver for the job, than try and nip the dimple out as suggested in the guide - at least I thought it was.
The instructions with the guide are nice and clear and the HDD was out in no time. I used the Copy+ software - and it was a breeze to copy the 300Gb Seagate drive over to the 1Tb Samsung! :D The hardest thing I found was getting the plastic case to fit back on the chassis of the box! Patience definitely required.
Once I had forced the box to update its software, you then need to press Services, then key 0, 3 then Select, in quick succession, to access the Installer menu on the Pace box. This sequence seems to have changed, as have some of the phone numbers to contact Sky (08442-414141 now gets you through to the main switchboard options. Using the New Install option scans for channels - you then press Select to go on to the Callback process, once the channel line up is confirmed. Unfortunately, the Callback didn't work on 4 separate occasions :cry: , so I ended up phoning Sky to pair the viewing card to the box (08442-414111 for Technical dept to pair the card if the callbacks fail). I was passed on to the technical dept eventually, due to the fact that no details had been sent via callback. The guy took the version no, serial no and OS version as well as the manufacturer of the box and added HD to my TV package. It took about an hour for the signal to come through, but I'm now up and running and can definitely see the difference. :D
Thanks very much for your tome and help, to get me over my initial blunder, and also for offering to get me the screwdriver - very much appreciated.
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Postby pcbbc » Fri Jun 05, 2009 9:55 am

That's great. Thanks for all the extra details.
And you're definitely right about the screwdriver. Always best to have the correct tools for the job, and I shall keep this in mind if I ever need to tackle a Pace box myself!
Good luck with your new drive and box and I am glag Copy+ was of use to you.
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Postby jjirvine » Fri Jun 12, 2009 9:28 pm

I've had my shiny new Sky+HD box running with the 1Tb Samsung hard drive for a week now. Question - how much of the disk should be used by a Sky Movies HD film. 3% seems to be getting eaten up by HD movies and I just wanted to check this was roughly the correct amount for the size of drive fitted.
(I had to do a Full System reset to sort a glitch :? , and was concerned this could perhaps of affected the amount of storage recognised by the Sky software)
Thanks for any advice :D
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Postby pcbbc » Fri Jun 12, 2009 10:27 pm

jjirvine wrote:I've had my shiny new Sky+HD box running with the 1Tb Samsung hard drive for a week now. Question - how much of the disk should be used by a Sky Movies HD film. 3% seems to be getting eaten up by HD movies and I just wanted to check this was roughly the correct amount for the size of drive fitted.
(I had to do a Full System reset to sort a glitch :? , and was concerned this could perhaps of affected the amount of storage recognised by the Sky software)
Thanks for any advice :D
Sorry to hear that :(

If you have done a FSR the Sky box will have formatted the disk to only 492GB.
Taking away the 140GB for Anytime, that leaves 352GB user space.
2 to 3% of 362GB is 7.1 to 10.6GB. That seems about right for a HD movie.

I'm afraid you now need to do a backup and restore with Copy+ to achieve full capacity again. :?
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