Amstrad DRX890/895 500GB/1TB Bx Upgrade Guide

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Re: Amstrad DRX890/895 500GB/1TB Bx Upgrade Guide

Postby Lydart » Fri Jun 17, 2011 1:08 pm

Hi

I am about to receive a new DRX890 and would like to swap out the new HDD for the 1TB Samsung from my old Thomson.
The 1TB Samsung is about 50% full and I would like to retain these recordings.

Am I correct in thinking its just a matter of changing the HDD?

I know this has probably been discussed before, but I just want to make sure I don't lose the existing recordings.

Thanks

Mike
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Re: Amstrad DRX890/895 500GB/1TB Bx Upgrade Guide

Postby Avoriaz » Sun Jun 19, 2011 2:48 pm

Pcbbc, thanks for this excellent and helpful upgrade guide.

I have an “external disk” option to add.

I had a Pace 2 box for many years. I regularly swapped around disks and latterly I used a 1tb 2.5 SATA drive inch via a PATA to SATA adapter. It usually coped with any disk I tried, including the 2.5 inch 1tb Sata. Not bad for a box originally designed for a 3.5 inch 40gb PATA disk.

I have now upgraded to HD TV and my new 500gb DRX890 arrived a few days ago. 250 gb of usable space isn’t going to last me long so I have fitted it with a 2.5 inch 1.5tb drive, following your excellent instructions.

However I didn’t put the 2.5 inch drive inside the machine. I removed the 500gb 3.5 inch drive and ran the SATA power and data cables out of the rear of the box. I then reassembled the box but left the rear panel off. I then connected the 2.5 inch disk outside the rear of the DRX890, just resting it on the glass shelf that the DRZ9890 sits on.

So far it appears to be working fine. I have made a few test twin recordings with no hitches yet.

If it continues to work satisfactorily I will leave the disk attached externally as that will make backups and future disk swaps easy as
there will be no need to take the box apart again.

I will fit a small heat sink for the disk to rest on and keep it cool, although the 2.5 inch disks run very cool anyway. I will also make a hole in the rear panel for the cables and refit the rear panel for tidiness, although of course the open back is not normally visible.

I can’t see any reason why it will not continue to work. The DRX890 does not know that a 2.5 inch disk is fitted externally instead of an internal 3.5 inch disk. It just sees a 1.5tb disk.

Perhaps others may find an “external disk” a useful option, although make sure you protect it from prying hands if you have children etc.

I would welcome comments on this method.
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Re: Amstrad DRX890/895 500GB/1TB Bx Upgrade Guide

Postby mjsjnr » Thu Nov 10, 2011 1:13 pm

im looking to change the hhd on my DXR890-z to 1 tb..... as i have a spare one from my computer... its a ....
hitachi hdt721010sla....


was wondering if this will work ??????
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Re: Amstrad DRX890/895 500GB/1TB Bx Upgrade Guide

Postby tuscaneer » Thu Apr 25, 2013 1:48 pm

Thanks everyone for the excellent guide and tips.

Succesfully upgraded my DRX890 to 2Gb using a WD20EURS,
having copied 298 Gb of data from my old Thomson SKY+HD box (which was previously upgraded to 1Gb)

The DRX890 is a lot more fiddly than the Thomson, but achievable with the right tools, patience and this guide page :-)

Cheers
Den
:P
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