Using a 2.5 inch or SATA disk in Sky+

Avoriaz

sjc wrote: »

Have a look on AVForums plenty of info on there.

Many people are running Western Digital 1TB Drives without an issue.

Thanks.

There is plenty of information on there about swapping drives and, as above, I have been doing this myself for years.

But everyone normally uses 3.5 inch IDE/PATA drives.

My query was to see if anyone has used a SATA drive with a SATA to PATA adapter cable or a 2.5 inch drive with a 2.5 to 3.5 adapter cable.

There is no logical reason why this wouldn’t work but, before buying the cables, I wanted to check.

SATA drives are cheaper than PATA drives and the Sky HD box uses SATA drives so, if I need to buy a new drive I would prefer to buy SATA and have that available if I upgrade to HD sometime.

PATA technology is slowly disappearing as everyone moves to SATA.



Regarding 1tb drives, yes they can be used but Sky+ can’t format them to full capacity.

You have to preformat them on a PC using Copy+ or something else and then install them.

If you do a format (Full System Reset) in the Sky+ box, it will only see about 500gb.

Avoriaz

gm_xone wrote: »

I don't have Sky+, but it seems that the current limit is 500GB.
XtendedPlay sell upgrade kits (I'm not saying you should necessarily purchase from them), and there's some info on their site which might be helpful.

Thanks for that but I don't need an upgrade kit.

As above, the only thing needed is a suitable disk. You reuse the existing mounting frame and cables etc so there is really no need to buy those rather pricey kits.

Suitable disks are available much cheaper than those prices..

gm_xone

Avoriaz wrote: »

My query was to see if anyone has used a SATA drive with a SATA to PATA adapter cable or a 2.5 inch drive with a 2.5 to 3.5 adapter cable.

As I've said, I don't have Sky+...
but I have a Topfield Freeview PVR into which I have successfully installed a 1TB SATA HDD where I used a StarTech IDE to SATA adaptor with the existing power cable and only replaced the ribbon cable (due to the original not quite reaching). Similar cheaper adaptors don't seem to work in the Toppy.

I don't know if this method works for Sky+, though.

gm_xone

Avoriaz wrote: »

Thanks for that but I don't need an upgrade kit.

That's fair enough.
I was just linking to that site for general information which might help others who may be thinking of doing the same as you. Such as the FAQ...

Good luck with the upgrade.