RE: Hacking Sky+

["Paul Gale" <groups@xxxxxxx>]

Anyone got a source for these drives ?

DiamondMax16 120Gb drive (5400rpm)

My Sky+ box already runs VERY hot - had a couple of hanging problems, so
do=
n't want to add more!!!=20

Paul.



-----Original Message-----
From: Simon Coates [mailto:ecolume@xxxxxxx]=20
Sent: 04 September 2003 08:02
To: ukha_d@xxxxxxx
Subject: Re: [ukha_d] Hacking Sky+

Paul,

The Maxtor drives are the best to use - but you might struggle to find a
DiamondMax16 120Gb drive (5400rpm) and have to get a 7200rpm drive.  The
7200rpm drives get hotter than the 5400rpm drives - Heat is an issue with
Sky+ - causing the box to hang etc...but I'm not sure how much hotter a
7200rpm drive will get. Just make sure your box gets enough ventilation -
and don't block the fan at the back and the side vents.  Don't use the box
in a video cabinet with the doors shut and with videos DVDs etc on top of
the box.

The box works OK with auto deleting when the disk is full - it's just the %
remaining figure that displays an odd figure.

Regards

Simon

----- Original Message -----
From: Paul Gale <groups@xxxxxxx>
To: <ukha_d@xxxxxxx>
Sent: 03 September 2003 21:37
Subject: RE: [ukha_d] Hacking Sky+


I'm sure that Digital Home magazine was talking out of it's backside then
;=
)

I may do the HDD upgrade then - recent posts for Tivo drives mentioned a
Samsung SV1204H 120gb 5400rpm. I did see something a while ago that said
some drives were not compatible. Do you know any more about this?

Oh - and you said % remaining figure does not work - what happens when you
run out of space - does the box work correctly (and overwrite old progs
correctly) or not?

Cheers,

Paul.


-----Original Message-----
From: Simon Coates [mailto:ecolume@xxxxxxx]
Sent: 03 September 2003 20:18
To: ukha_d@xxxxxxx
Subject: Re: [ukha_d] Hacking Sky+

Paul,

Adding a 120Gb hard disk to Sky+ is extremely easy!  I recommend that you
d=
o
it ASAP.  Just make sure you have some tamper-resistant torx bits - the
tor=
x
bits with a hole in the middle.  Just swap the hard disk, put everything
back together.  When you power up the box wait a minute or so after
pluggin=
g
it in, then turn on the box and do a full system reset.  The box will say
'Housekeeping' for a while as it recognises the new disk.
You then have 3 times the original storage capacity.  Pages and pages of
recordings!
The only 'bug' is that the % remaining is always wrong.  It's odd - it
starts at approx 25% then goes down to 1% then up to 36% etc....  However,
the bar graph at the top of the planner works fine - and short programmes
are indicated by very, very thin lines :o)

One small downside is that larger disks tend to be a bit noisier, so be
careful on what you get.  I used Maxtor DiamondMax 16 hard disks which are
only slightly noisier that the original Sky+ Maxtor disks.

Regarding hacking an ethernet connection - I've not heard of anything.  The
box is capable of taking one.  There's 2 digital PC card type expansion
slots - however Pace have said that Sky isn't interested in using all of
th=
e
boxes capabilities.  Also Pace said that the RS232 connection is used for
factory setup and can't be used to control the box :o(


Regards

Simon




----- Original Message -----
From: Paul Gale <p-gale@xxxxxxx>
To: <ukha_d@xxxxxxx>
Sent: 03 September 2003 13:33
Subject: [ukha_d] Hacking Sky+


I read with interest in the latest DigitalHome magazine (Set Top Box
Article) that there is information on hacking Sky+ (adding bigger HDD =96
which I knew =96 and adding an Ethernet connection =96 which I did not) on
=
the
Internet. Has anyone seen this info or is the magazine actually referring
t=
o
Tivo???  I=92m not sure I trust the editorial in this mag =96 seems dodgy
i=
n a
number of articles.

Out of interest there were also a number of comments from Sky on why they=
=92re
not adding bigger drives like =93we are not really at the stage where
peopl=
e
can enjoy the benefits that greater storage space will give them=94 =96
B**=
****s
!!!!! =96 I=92m already having to delete programmes I want to keep just to
=
be
able to record new ones =96 40Gb is nothing =96 especially with prices of
1=
20Gb
and above so cheap now!!!   /rant over.

Paul.





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