I've been contemplating upgrading the DVR drive for awhile and did some research (which, ironically, most results are at BBR). This is quick review of what I experienced:
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1: what drive? After reading several threads ( http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,23408866? ) I decided to take a different direction rather than platter speed and go for a HDD meant for DVRs and read a little closer to what uid://659143 remarked on (AF drives). I selected a 1TB Seagate Video 3.5 HDD. I could not find any reference to 4096-byte sector, so I took a chance on it.
2: keep recordings and settings? Well, since my wife left me during my deployment, I had no recordings; however, I did setup some schedules. I was going to follow this thread: http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r28194634-U-Verse-DVR-hard-drive-upgrade-while-keeping-the-recordings ; however, I had nothing, but I'd imagine the procedure is still valid.
3: how to disassemble? Easy: I followed http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r22820411-How-to-open-disassemble-IPN4320-DVR ; however, I went to Home Depot and bought a $6.00 set of security torx bits. Who knows when/if I'd need them again (hard to find, look for the higher end bits near the actual drills). This made the disassembly super easy.
4: actual replacement procedure? After disassembly, there is a stability bar that connects the drive to the DVR cage AND three (regular) torx screws connecting the drive to actual cage. HIGHLY RECOMMEND taking the far end stability bar screws off first; 3 screws from the drive; hold the bar for stability and disconnect the SATA data and power connectors. Once free from the cage, continue to take the rest of the stable bar. Reverse the procedures to install the new drive and re-assemble the DVR.
5: what next? Turn on your devices (TV and/or HT Receiver); plug in the DVR to your cables; finally, plug in the power. You'll be able to follow the format and ATT setup procedures and it'll let you know when its done. For me, took less than 15min.
6: did it work? As far as I can tell, its working flawlessly. Recording space after upgrade states: Up to 811 hours SD; up to 296 hours HD. My scheduled recording settings were intact and I really didn't need to do anything else. Last night, I had 2 x scheduled recordings and all went well.
7: worried about violating TOS? Not really. I've had the same DVR since 2010 and I'm pretty sure that I've paid for the thing about 50x over. If/ever I quit U-Verse, I'll recover my 1TB drive and put the 340GB back in.
8: do you really need all that space? Probably not; however, since the wife left, I'll be recording more of MY shows/sports to watch at my leisure.
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This is just my experience and YMMV, but it was really a non-event. As far as the performance of the drive - no issues so far - and it MIGHT be a bit quicker than the old drive (subjective, based on replay and Ffwd).
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That's "MISTER" Kafir to you Mr. Munafiq
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