[soneman]

I just bought the Sony RDR-HXD790 DVD Hard Drive Recorder from Argos for £149.99 (reduced from £249.99) a few days ago.

I was just wondering if there is possible upgrade options available with this Recorder? I specifically want to know if I can do a DIY Hard Drive upgrade at some point in the future.

I've been using it for a few days and it seems like a pretty good recorder. It allows up to 348 hours of recording onto the Hard Drive and up to 13 hours of recording on a Single Layer DVD which is fine for the time being.

I was just wondering if a Hard Drive upgrade can be achieved if the factory-fitted Hard Drive should fail at some point in the future. And if so, how easy or difficult is it to do a DIY Hard Drive upgrade because I can't seem to be able to see an Engineer's menu for Hard Drive formatting and diagnostics?

[ramjet]

you wont see any engineering menu as you need a service remote or harmony etc

read this http://www.avforums.com/forums/dvd-r...ies-dvdrs.html

[soneman]

Originally Posted by ramjet

you wont see any engineering menu as you need a service remote or harmony etc

read this http://www.avforums.com/forums/dvd-r...ies-dvdrs.html

I've just read that link you posted it seems to be for the RDR-HXD890 model.

I've read the sticky thread at the top of this forum. It says that the RDR-HXD790 is one of the upgradeable models. But it looks like I need a Service Remote to upgrade the Hard Drive.

So where can I get a Service Remote from in the UK?

[ramjet]

most ppl seem to get them from america , so check the other long thread for the x70 range , which is the 770/870/970/1070

the fact I pointed you at a thread saying 890 is irrelevant as they are all x90 models , which includes the 790/890/990/1090 , its only the size of advertised hdd that is different , nothing else

and as I said earlier , you can use other methods as well as the pioneer service remote , namely a pda or laptop with irda , or a harmony like I use on the x70 models

I suggest you read around the forum now I have given you the bare bones of the details you need

I also wouldnt recommend going below MN15 which is ESP mode

[soneman]

Originally Posted by ramjet

most ppl seem to get them from america , so check the other long thread for the x70 range , which is the 770/870/970/1070

the fact I pointed you at a thread saying 890 is irrelevant as they are all x90 models , which includes the 790/890/990/1090 , its only the size of advertised hdd that is different , nothing else

and as I said earlier , you can use other methods as well as the pioneer service remote , namely a pda or laptop with irda , or a harmony like I use on the x70 models

I suggest you read around the forum now I have given you the bare bones of the details you need

I also wouldnt recommend going below MN15 which is ESP mode

I didn't know that the HXD 790, 890, 990, 1090 range were all the same. I'll do a search here then and see what comes up.

I've used MN1 compression and it seems fine. The picture quality using MN1 is comparable to video recorded onto VHS tape which isn't bad I suppose.

One last question, I noticed that this Recorder has 2 USB ports on the front. I've tried connecting up a USB flash drive to it and it only seems to allow me to copy files from the USB drive and onto the Hard Drive but not the other way around.

Is there any way of transferring files from the Recorder's Hard Drive and onto a USB flash drive? I can only see an option to Dub from the Hard Drive and onto a DVD but no option for transferring or dubbing onto a USB flash drive.

[ramjet]

if you check your manual all 4 models should be listed on the front cover and probably inside as well as its also on my page 4 too, they are on my x70 manuals for my 770/870/970 as its the same manual for all the models in the family , so I dont think you have read the manual properly

and no the dvdr wont allow transfer of files to the usb from the hdd , its there for transferring pictures and music to the hdd from the usb , and I think you can view or listed to the same files on the usb as a source, again its all covered in the manual

the times when ppl struggle are when they try to do things not allowed on the receiver and havent checked the manual , or its expressly forbidden in the manual , which is why the manual is so thick

if you do what is stated in the manual you should be fine , its when you try to do more than is allowed when you get into difficulties

[soneman]

Originally Posted by ramjet

if you check your manual all 4 models should be listed on the front cover and probably inside as well as its also on my page 4 too, they are on my x70 manuals for my 770/870/970 as its the same manual for all the models in the family , so I dont think you have read the manual properly

and no the dvdr wont allow transfer of files to the usb from the hdd , its there for transferring pictures and music to the hdd from the usb , and I think you can view or listed to the same files on the usb as a source, again its all covered in the manual

the times when ppl struggle are when they try to do things not allowed on the receiver and havent checked the manual , or its expressly forbidden in the manual , which is why the manual is so thick

if you do what is stated in the manual you should be fine , its when you try to do more than is allowed when you get into difficulties

Yeah I noticed that the manual has other models listed. So I suppose I'll have to make do without transferring to a USB flash drive.

I've just been searching for a Harmony remote, am I right to assume that this is a Logitech Harmony All-In-One remote control? I can buy those quite easily here in the UK. Which model is the correct one for use as a Service Remote for the Sony x90 range? And how does one program it as a Service Remote?

[ramjet]

I bought one from e bay , a harmony H628 and programmed it for this purpose of hdd upgrades on the x70 models , and that thread I linked you to was for the more modern x90 , so you need to read through the x70 upgrading thread which was what started all this off , as it was the previous models where the learning was done , and the x90 thread is a continuation of the same theme but for the newer models

so like I said earlier , its all on here if you go and search it out , but look for x70 threads as the work was all done on those , and has spilled over onto the x90 with the extra details of changing the model number which you dont do with an x70

[soneman]

Originally Posted by ramjet

I bought one from e bay , a harmony H628 and programmed it for this purpose of hdd upgrades on the x70 models , and that thread I linked you to was for the more modern x90 , so you need to read through the x70 upgrading thread which was what started all this off , as it was the previous models where the learning was done , and the x90 thread is a continuation of the same theme but for the newer models

so like I said earlier , its all on here if you go and search it out , but look for x70 threads as the work was all done on those , and has spilled over onto the x90 with the extra details of changing the model number which you dont do with an x70

Okay then. I'll have a look at Ebay for a Logitech Harmony remote (there are plenty of them available here in the UK) and I'll have a read through the x70 and x90 upgrade threads as well.

Thanks for the help.

[Moonkala]

Hi
There is lots of information on Hard Disk Upgrades, It seems my 970 harddisk about to fail, If i to change from old sata 250GB to new 250GB, is it a simple swap? need any tools, software etc.
Hope someone can help!! thanks

[ramjet]

the x70 models just need the ESC and the PRUN commands from a harmony or service remote or similar method and you can change to 500 gig , 750 gig or 1tb easily enough , I have done two 770 models this way

there is an extensive thread on here detailing the x70 models , and another thread on the x90 models where the model number has to be changed too

so yes it can be done , just find and read the x70 thread about it on here

and note I would recommend putting at least a 500 gig hdd inside if doing this , as they are only about £35 or so

[Moonkala]

Originally Posted by ramjet

the x70 models just need the ESC and the PRUN commands from a harmony or service remote or similar method and you can change to 500 gig , 750 gig or 1tb easily enough , I have done two 770 models this way

there is an extensive thread on here detailing the x70 models , and another thread on the x90 models where the model number has to be changed too

so yes it can be done , just find and read the x70 thread about it on here

and note I would recommend putting at least a 500 gig hdd inside if doing this , as they are only about £35 or so

OK, Not as simple as thought, What is the cheapest remote control i can buy for this task, I heard Harmony costs a lot. Over the weekend will read thought the threads to understand the procedure.
thanks

[sila1999]

One For All remotes are about the cheapest to buy.

[Gavtech]

Is it necessary to have any remote when Nata just wants to do a simple same-size HDD swap?

[ramjet]

Originally Posted by Gavtech

Is it necessary to have any remote when Nata just wants to do a simple same-size HDD swap?

I would have thought so seeing as it partitions and formats the drive using esc and prun

but I havent tested this straight swap theory

I bought a harmony for less than £25 from e bay myself , but if he reads that thread he will see other alternatives such as irda from a laptop , using a psp and several other options like a pda for instance

its not reading the main thread that causes duplication of questions like some of these in this thread and others

so my opinion is yes , a remote will be needed , but its easy as pie once you get a working remote method for ESC and PRUN

the one for all doesnt work as I have one for region free coding and there is no esc or prun functions on it

[ADAMFOULKES]

Hi there,
I have just tried to upgrade the 790 with a 1TB drive using the service remote and doing esc prun but it has formatted as a 120gb drive. Have I done something wrong?

[ramjet]

Originally Posted by ADAMFOULKES

Hi there,
I have just tried to upgrade the 790 with a 1TB drive using the service remote and doing esc prun but it has formatted as a 120gb drive. Have I done something wrong?

I would suggest you read the sticky thread on this and any other thread it points to

once you have done this , you will probably have to change the model to the 500 gig version and use a 500 gig sata hdd as well

the x70 models will take a 1TB hdd , but the x90 models arent that simple

but there are threads on here to help you if you look for them

but at the moment your model number is pegged to the 790 , and therefore any hdd will format to 120 gig