topic Re: Adding an external hard drive to PVR 9500 in TV & Streaming

Adding an external hard drive to Satellite receiver

dannyboy — Wed, 09 Oct 2024 14:47:14 GMT

I hooked up an external drive to the 9500. It formatted the drive. I moved some PVR programs to the hard drive (I thought the transfer would be quicker with the new drives but took 5 hours to transfer 20 one hour shows) and then tested them. Very quick to access external drive. Playback was no problem. restore was no problem. Deleting programs was difficult. They would not delete using just the menu. It would ask to confirm deletion, but would not delete. However, if I pressed "play" and then fast forwarded to the end of the show, and then delete, it would work.

Anyone know why this would happen? Also should external hard drive be plugged in to a wall outlet. This one powered on from the USB to the PVR. It was a Seagate 1 TB external drive.

Thanks for any assistance.

Re: Adding an external hard drive to PVR 9500

tech_junkie — Wed, 10 Aug 2022 14:55:43 GMT

Did you follow these steps?

Re: Adding an external hard drive to PVR 9500

dannyboy — Wed, 10 Aug 2022 15:06:34 GMT

Yes I did. I've been using on my old 9242, WD My Book A/V, for quite a while. But it has shows on it that I did not want to lose if I hooked it to the 9500. So the link you gave me, I am quite familiar with. I tried the Seagate on the 9242 to test the deletion, but the Seagate is not compatible with the 9242. I'm trying a different version of the Seagate and will let you know if deleting from the menu works.

Re: Adding an external hard drive to PVR 9500

dannyboy — Wed, 10 Aug 2022 17:14:50 GMT

No. The new Seagate does the same thing with deletion. Plus it will NOT allow you to 'resume" playback. It always starts from the beginning.

Re: Adding an external hard drive to PVR 9500

dannyboy — Thu, 11 Aug 2022 19:04:14 GMT

It looks like to get an EHD that is no more than 2TB and plugged in is to go with a power bank and an internal disc drive. I'm wondering if anyone out there with an HD receiver has made their receiver into a PVR.

Re: Adding an external hard drive to PVR 9500

dannyboy — Wed, 14 Sep 2022 19:16:51 GMT

THIS ONLY WORKS IF YOU HAVE ACCESS TO AN OLDER BELL PVR. No matter what you do, it will never work just on the 9500 alone. Yes you can transfer programs to the external drive but it will ALWAYS start from the beginning if you stop the show.

I have solved the above issues. It is NOT any external drive I hook up but the actual 9500 that is causing problems with the external drive that is hooked up. First, you MUST use a powered drive that is plugged into an outlet. Best is an external holder with power and then hook up an internal drive to the holder. This allows me to run it on my 9242 whereas if I use a straight external hard drive to the 9242 it won't work.

After when all my programs that I transferred to the external drive is done, I move the external drive from the 9500 to my 9242 and it allows easy deletion and allows to resume playback instead of starting over again when stopping the show before it is over.

I've lost all my PVR recordings

Mark1 — Mon, 17 Oct 2022 20:49:01 GMT

I've lost all my PVR recordings 2X now because receiver issues. Can I save on hard drive for backup?

Transferring Recorded programs from 9242 receiver

rkl — Wed, 09 Nov 2022 00:49:33 GMT

I have had the same 9242 receiver for several years and last week my component output stopping working. After calling Bell support on Friday, they were quick to send me a replacement 9242, I received it today, Tuesday. I have a question about transferring recorded program.

Am I able to transfer my recorded programs to the replacement 9242 by using the Archive function on my existing 9242?

If not, are there certain external hard drives that are recommended for use with the 9242 and what size would be recommended?

Is there a way to move programs off PVR SD 5900 to PVR HD 9400

JosephTaylor — Sun, 19 Mar 2023 14:20:58 GMT

Is there a way to move programs off PVR StdDEF 5900 to PVR HD 9400? No USB port on 5900.

how to backup saved pvr pgms model 9241

Rick-b-45 — Mon, 11 Dec 2023 15:36:07 GMT

PVR 9241 - I have many hours of saved tv pgms. Is there a way to download them to my computer. I would sure hate to lose all of them - my pvr IS getting old!!

Transfering recordings to usb

Brad8 — Sat, 30 Dec 2023 19:48:26 GMT

Are you able to use a usb to save recordings or are the files to large and require a external hard drive. I have one however, it asked to reformat and i would lose all my data on it.

Re: Transfering recordings to usb

BMan33 — Thu, 25 Jan 2024 01:28:26 GMT

You are not able to save recordings on a usb stick. You can save them on an powered external hard drive following Bell's recommendations. I have a 9500 and the link below worked for me. My suggestion is to buy a computer internal drive and a powered case for it.

https://support.bell.ca/tv/receivers/how_to_turn_my_bell_hd_receiver_into_a_pvr

External drive with 9400

Need help kat — Sun, 25 Feb 2024 19:03:37 GMT

I have 9400 pvr with 2 external drives attached.

One stopped working (not connecting) to pvr the other this morning started chirping and is not connecting to the pvr.

I tried turning everything off including pvr - letting it sit for a few minutes and turning everything back on - no change

i have tried changing the cables - that didn’t work - no change

my questions are:

is there anything else I can try to get the external drives to reconnect with the pvr ?

if the drives have given up - can I get the items taped off of them? If so, how can I recover the taped items?

if I can’t retrieve the information from the drives and get them working - how can I attach a replacement ? I did try to replace the first one when it acted up - I receive a message saying the maximum number of drives is reached. Can the pvr be reset to recognize new external drives ?

thanks for any information-help you can provide

Re: External drive with 9400

WelshTerrier — Sun, 25 Feb 2024 20:24:08 GMT

Your problem may not be just with the external drives. If they both went one after the other in such a short period of time, leads me to believe there may be other issues. Are you experiencing any error messages related to your 9400 HD PVR PLus? Are you renting the PVR from Bell or did you purchase it outright?

There are any number of companies that check & test both of your drives to see if they are damaged beyond repair & recoverable.

The problem with this is the cost to do this work. It may be more advantageous for you to scrap the drives purely from an economic perspective. If the external drives are damaged or corrupted then they are not worth anything,

You can try to reset your 9400 PVR back to Factory defaults & see if this will make a difference.

How to reset my receiver on Bell TV (9400 HD PVR receiver)

If you are not experiencing any issues after this with the the PVR, then I would leave well enough alone. You can contact Bell Satellite TV & discuss purchasing a refurbished 9400 or 9500 HD PVR.

Satellite TV Receivers | Bell Canada

Take care.

Hard drives for a 6131 or 6141 satellite receiver

jojosama — Wed, 09 Oct 2024 14:40:13 GMT

Will an SMR type hard drive work with a 6131 or 6141 satellite receiver?

Re: Hard drives for a 6131 or 6141 satellite receiver

WelshTerrier — Wed, 09 Oct 2024 15:05:24 GMT

Good Day & Welcome to the Bell Community Forum.

The external hard drive needs to be able connect to your receiver via USB and allow you transfer recorded content from your PVR.

Many major external hard drive brands are compatible. The minimum requirements are:

7200 RPM rotation speed
Between 50 GB and 2 TB of capacity
Holds a single hard drive (enclosures holding two disks are not supported)
Plugs into an AC power outlet
USB 2.0 connection
No sleep mode (cannot power down when idle)

Note:
The external hard drive can only be connected to one receiver. On a different receiver, the hard drive may need to be reformatted. You can move an external hard drive from one receiver to another receiver of the same class (i.e. or PVR) and on the same account.

If the PVR does not recognize an attached external hard drive, you may need to reset the hard drive to its factory default state. This can happen if the hard drive was previously used with a computer. Please contact the hard drive manufacturer for instructions on restoring factory defaults.

If you have a Bell Satellite TV 6131, 6141 or 6400 receivers, learn how you can turn your receiver into a PVR.

Take care.

Re: Adding an external hard drive to Satellite receiver

Beso — Thu, 29 Jan 2026 23:19:24 GMT

I am getting a new receiver as my old one is acting up. I have a lot of programs stored on the pvr and want to save a lot of them. I was told on a Bell chat that I could do this by archiving the programs on an external hard drive and then putting them on the new receiver. Even the forum says you can move programs from your receiver with an external hard drive. The specs on the external hard drive are quite limiting so I went to Bell chat for clarification and was told I cannot move programs from the receiver and put them on the new one. My question(s)...can programs be archived on an external hard drive and, if so, can anyone tell me what hard drive to purchase??

Re: Adding an external hard drive to Satellite receiver

WelshTerrier — Fri, 30 Jan 2026 12:15:15 GMT

Good Day & Welcome.

It is somewhat difficult to answer your question based on the limited information you have provided.

Which Bell TV service do you subscribe to? Fibe TV or Satellite TV?

What is the make & model of you existing receiver and your new receiver?

You cannot transfer or archive Bell Fibe TV recordings onto an external hard drive nor move them from one HD PVR to another one. E.g. VIP5662w, VIP2262, etc.

You can transfer & archive Bell Satellite TV recordings to an external hard drive. You may not be able to do so If you are experiencing issues on your existing receiver.

Your new receiver may also not recognize the external hard drive. The external hard drive can only be connected to one receiver. On a different receiver, the hard drive may need to be reformatted. You can move an external hard drive from one receiver to another receiver of the same class (i.e. or PVR) and on the same account.

How to transfer content from my PVR onto an external device (9500 Whole Home PVR)

How to archive your recordings

How to choose the correct external hard drive to use with my HD receiver

Take care.