Can I use an external SATA hard drive to my DVR8-3000 to increase recording capacity?
We have 2 revisions of the DVR8-3000
The eSATA connection will have a different role depending on which revision you have.
It is important to establish the revision you have in order to determine the procedure needed to prepare the DVR for an eSATA HDD.
To find out which revision you have, go into the Menu, click System and click on the System Information tab.
Pay attention to the Detail number.
If the detail number begins with 58 (Revision 1 – chipset 8147), then your eSATA is to be used for backup.
If the detail number begins with 57 (Revision 2 – chipset 8107), then your eSATA HDD is to be used to increase the recording capacity of the DVR.
REVISION 1 :
The eSATA HDD is to be used for backup (i.e. the detail number of your DVR begins with 58).
Unless the original File System of your Drive isn’t NTFS by default, the eSATA drive will need to be formatted with your Windows computer first.
Click on the Windows' Start button, right click on Computer, left-click on Manage.
Left click on Disk Management, select the external SATA HDD in the drive list.
Right click on the Drive space and select Format. (Pick NTFS for format)
REVISION 2:
The eSATA HDD is to be used for live recording (i.e. the detail number of your DVR begins with 57), it is imperative to format the eSATA HDD in the DVR itself.
If it has already been formatted in a Windows computer, you will usually need to clear the partition prior to being able to format it in the DVR.
To clear the partition of the eSATA HDD, connect it to your Windows computer.
Click on the Windows' Start button, right click on Computer, left-click on Manage.
Left click on Disk Management, select the external SATA HDD in the list.
Right click on the Drive Space and select Delete Volume.
The eSATA HDD will then be ready to be formatted in the DVR. To do so, open the Menu, then go to Device. Select the eSATA HDD in the HDD list and then click Init (format). (The eSATA HDD will be the second one in the list under label. You need to tick its box to select it. If there is none, then it is not detected. )
