Dish Network DVR Upgrade - Dish Network DVR Hard Drive Upgrade - Add Recording Time to your Dish Network DVR

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Dish Network PVR System The Echostar Dish Network PVR / Dish Network PVR system is based on the UltimateTV platform and can be upgraded to a larger hard-drive, just like the Tivo/ReplayTV and UltimateTV PVR systems.

A Dish Network PVR Hard drive upgrade will allow a much greater amount of recording time. By default, the Dish Network PVR ships with small hard drives that usually limit your recording time to 40 or 60 hours. Some new models are shipping with much larger capacity hard drives however people with older models can also enjoy the benefits of to to 250Gig hard drive upgrades.

As a general rule, a single Gig will record approximately 1 hour of programming. So a upgrading from a 40 gig drive to a 120 gig drive will add approximately 80 hours of recording time to your Dish Network PVR.

Before you begin, its important to remember that any receiver upgrades will void your factory warranty. Most warranties are only for a year anyways, so if yours is older, its a moot point. Its also important to remember that you are potentially risking damage to your receiver by modifying it. Static electricity, liquids or physical damage is a possibility if you are not careful.

Compatible Hard Drives

First of all, it is important to remember that most Dish Network PVR systems all use a kernel that has a 137GB barrier. This means that under no circumstances will you ever be able to have more than 137GB of recording capacity. The exception to this is the latest models of Dish Network PVR such as the 921 that allow a much greater recording capacity.
For this reason, most people opt for a 120GB upgrade. You can also use a 140GB which will use up 137GB of the drive and the rest will be unusable. Typically, 120GB drives are much less expensive then the 140GB ones.

Hard drive for Dish Network PVR upgrade It is important to know that not all hard drives will be compatible. Any hard drive you choose MUST support the ATA-3 security. It must also be an IDE style (Ribbon Cable). This is a hard drive protection scheme designed to prevent unauthorized copying/modification of its PVR software.
The following drives are known to work.:

Western Digital IDE 5400RPM with ATA-3 support

Western Digital IDE 7200RPM with ATA-3 support

Maxtor IDE 5400RPM with ATA-3 support

Maxtor IDE 7200RPM with ATA-3 support

Seagate IDE 7200RPM with ATA-3 support

Step 1

You will need a phillips screwdriver to remove/replace the cover on the Dish Network PVR as well as remove/replace the hard drives.
First confirm that your Dish Network PVR is working correctly by running a self-diagnostic. You can do this on most systems through the TV Home-Settings-Diagnostics menus.

Step 2

Unplug your Dish Network PVR as well as all cables. Move it to a clean, dry place, such as a kitchen table. Avoid carpeted areas that cause static electricity. On the back of the Dish Network PVR, there are 4 screws that hold the cover on the unit. Remove all 4 and put them out of the way so you can reuse them to replace the cover. There are also 2 more additional screws on EACH SIDE of the Dish Network PVR. Remove these as well. Then pull the cover back slightly and lift it free.

Step 3

Locate the IDE ribbon cable going to the Dish Network PVR hard drive and carefully remove it by wiggling it from side to side until it comes free, being careful to avoid bending any of the pins on the drive. Note the orientation of the cable and the drive. There is usually a colored strip down one side that marks this. Also remove the power cable going to the drive.
Locate the (3) screws on the side of the drive mount which secure it to the main board of the Dish Network PVR. DO NOT remove the screw on the TOP of the drive. There should be 2 screws to remove on the right side of the drive and 1 on the left.

Step 4

Carefully remove the drive mount and drive from the main board. You will notice (4) screws on the side or rear of the drive mount that secure the drive to the drive mount. Remove them and lift the old drive free.
Get the new, replacement drive and make sure that you have the jumpers set to MASTER/SINGLE mode. Consult the new drive literature if you are unsure. If it is set improperly, it will NOT work!

Once that is done, install the new drive in the drive mount and secure it using the drive screws.

Step 5

Carefully replace the IDE ribbon cable on the drive, making sure that the orientation matches the original drive. (Red strip or notch). Be careful not to bend or damage the pins on the drive when inserting the cable. Replace the power cable to the new drive as well.
Replace the drive mount and secure it to the main board as it was before. Replace the cover on the unit and all (8 screws) in the reverse order as you did before.

Step 6

Plug all the cables back into the Dish Network PVR, including the satellite and phone connectors. The phone connector MUST be inserted to allow the Dish Network PVR to download the software. Plug the unit in and power it up.
The on-screen display will now prompt you that it requires a WEBTV upgrade and it will dialout to get the software. This will take approximately 30 minutes. DO NOT interrupt the download or use the phone during this period!!

Step 6a

In some situations, you might experience a problem in completing the software download or the installation might "hang" after step 1. If that happens, you will need to reset your receiver using the factory reset procedure:

If you have a multi-satellite setup, located the feed coming from the 119° satellite and connect it only at the multi-switch. The 119 satellite LNBF should not be feeding directly into the receiver.

Power the receiver off from the remote.

Press the Menu, 6, 1, 1 on the remote.

Make sure the lights on the receiver flash on and off twice and then power up the receiver.

Use the arrow buttons on the remote to select "Reset Boot NV" and press go several times.

Use the arrow buttons on the remote to select "Reset MT NV" and press go several times.

Use the arrow buttons on the remote to select "POWER OFF" and press Menu on the remote.

Press 3, 2, 7, 6, 8 and check that the lights flash on and off twice.

Remove the smart card from the receiver and replace it after a few seconds. This resets the unit.

Turn on the receiver using the remote.

Go to the dish pointing screen and ensure you are receiving the 119° satellite only without any multi-switches or splitters.

Exit all the menus until the download menu appears.

The receiver should now display an ATTENTION message asking if installation is complete. Select "OK"

Once complete, reconnect the dishes to the multi-switch as they were before and run the multi-dish setup on the receiver.

Step 7

When the WEBTV upgrade is finished, it will ask you if you want to use WEBTV. Turn the receiver off and then back on. It will now finalize the software upgrade.
It will not prompt you through the initial WEBTV setup. Click continue or done to cycle through it all.

The unit will now download the TV listings from the satellite, this will take a few minutes to complete.

Once complete, run the on-screen diagnostics again to check for any problems. If it checks out, you are done and ready to enjoy the many extra hours of recording time.

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