Sky+ Hard Disk Upgrade Question

hello there, i have a pace sky+ box (it reports the model is 4.005 in the service menu) which i've had since 2002/2003 (can't remember exactly) and now that it's well out of warranty i'm thinking of upgrading the hard disk. there are plenty of guides on the telling me how to do this - it looks straightforward, but i'm wondering - does anybody know what size disk my particular model of sky+ box has in?

i've got a 40gb disk from a old computer which if this is bigger than what's already in sky+ box then i'll do the upgrade because it's amazing how quickly i keep filling the damn thing up.

many thanks in advance

I think Sky+ has always been at least 40GB. It's now 80GB/160GB.

If you've had it since 02/03 it'll be a 40GB disk.

Can disk drives in DVD recorders be replaced too? Are they just bog standard ones you'd fit into a PC?

I'm no particular expert on Sky+upgrading, but having read numerous threads on Digital Spy it seems that although this is possible, it can be frught with difficulties. AIUI, you can only use some hard drives made by Maxator (sp?). There is a 17 minute bug which can affect DIY Upgraded machines and of course it'll invalidate any warranties (not that a machine that old is likely to have one anyway).

As for DVD recorders, while some will use off the shelf parts I would doubt that you'd be able to just whack in a drive from PC World and find that everything works.

Depends which one you have. Some may use them, others may be totally non-standard. Bit like buying anything from PC World really Take it apart and have a look.

Sky+ boxes use standard hard drives, I know that much.

There was an article in PCPlus a few weeks back on how to mod Sky+ boxes, and upgrade their hard drives.

Anyone know which filesystem the Sky+ boxes formats the HDD with? I doubt that it's a standard filesystem recognised
by Windows, Mac OS X or Linux/UNIX. I can't imagine it'd work if put in a USB enclosure, and plugged into a PC or Mac.

Aside from that, doesn't Sky+ record the programs in an MPEG video format playable on any suitable PC or Mac?

Most of them are standard PC drives.

The problem is that the firmware will typically only allow a drive of the same size as a replacement. Bigger ones will either only work to the lower capacity, or be rejected altogether.

The no-name Chinese ones tend to allow you to put any old drive in. Making that Yamada 80Gb at Maplins (£150) a bit of a bargain if you have a 300Gb drive lying around.

It's proprietary, and although the video is stored in MPEG (actually the raw datastream of the TV signal which is MPEG2 nearly-DVD-compatible-video anyway) you wouldn't be able to do much with it because the Sky+ records the signals encrypted and decodes on-the-fly. BBC might be possible if the file system was decoded but none of the subscription channels.

Best bet for sat signals to MPEG direct is a cheap satellite DVB card in the PC (these are about £30 from ebay suppliers in Germany). Use one or more of them with GBPVR and you have a Sky+ equivalent (non-subscription) which saves in standard MPEG files.



The 17-minute bug only affects upgraded Version 1 Sky+ boxes now. The V2 (Pace/Amstrad) and 160 boxes are unaffected. Yes you will be restricted as to what discs you can use. Maxtors, Samsungs and IBM/Hitachis work, they recommend you use 5400RPM drives (although I have a Maxtor 120Gb 7200RPM drive in my V2 and it's fine). I think the current favourite drive is the 250Gb Samsung 5400RPM unit, for £75 from Komplett.