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View Full Version : Are Hughes SD-DVR40 and Samsung S4040R hardware compatible?

MikeHerbst
12-10-2008, 02:25 PM
Hello all, quick question: Are the SD-DVR40 and S4040R hadware compatible? i.e., can I swap the harddrive(s) and access card out of an S4040R into a DVR40 and just hit the ground running?

I have a Samsung S4040R that seems to be failing. I've already replaced the power supply, hoping that was the issue, with no success.

I suspect that one or both of the Harddisks might be failing, but since I have a spare (known working) DVR40 that's just sitting in a closet, I'm sort of keen to try to just swap the hardware and keep the disks intact. This would both (a) help me diagnose whether its the disks or the motherboard that's failing, and (b) let me keep my recordings, etc. and move forward right away without having to purchase any new hardware.

So, is it possible?

I assume that simply swapping the drives alone wouldn't work because the Conditional Access is probably tied to the access card, but since I wouldn't be wanting to keep the failing hardware online anyhow, I could swap over the card as well...

Thanks for any advice!
rbtravis
12-10-2008, 03:40 PM
If you hacked the units the answer may be yes. If the units are unhacked the answer is no. The units are encrypted. The parts are interchangable. you would have to use Instantcake from DVRupgrade to replace the Image on any size PATA drive of 40gb or larger. the access card has to be remarried to another machine by directv CSR. good luck
John T Smith
12-10-2008, 09:16 PM
Actually, I don't think you need a new image from anyone... but you WILL have to run a Clear & Delete Everything to mate the swapped drive to the motherboard

At least, that is what I had to do when I swapped a drive between units
MikeHerbst
12-10-2008, 10:40 PM
Actually, I don't think you need a new image from anyone... but you WILL have to run a Clear & Delete Everything to mate the swapped drive to the motherboard

At least, that is what I had to do when I swapped a drive between units

That's what I was afraid of. I really want to try to keep the recordings, so I guess I'll pursue a copy to new harddisks first, then I can always fall back to the other unit if problems persist...
John T Smith
12-11-2008, 10:06 AM
Every DirecTivo has an ID chip on the motherboard (this is summing what I've read here) and every recording on a hard drive is encrypted with that chip, so it will only play in the unit that created the recording

The clear & delete everything resets everything... and you would need to do this even with a "blank" image that you might buy from a vendor, since that blank image was not made specifically for your unit and ID chip

Check http://mfslive.org/winmfs/ for a fairly easy way to copy an existing drive