External Hard Drive (now asking for it to be activated)

[kim4]

Bell PVR 9241.  Have been using an external hard drive (Passport) plugged in to PVR to back up tv shows (accessed under "Multimedia" then then "External Hard Drive" then either "Archive Recordings" or "Manage Recordings"). Have been using this feature for over 4 years but now when I attempt to either archive a recording or retrieve a show to watch through manage recordings a message pops up "To manage Bell TV recordings on your External Hard Drive this feature must be activated": and "to activate please call..." I called Bell and they couldn't help or answer my inquiry. I like to use this external hard drive feature after my last PVR quit working with no way to retrieve all the shows I had saved to watch. 

[WelshTerrier]

Good Day & Welcome to the Bell Community Forum.

I can only think of 3 possible causes.

1. The hard drive is failing & may need to be replace. Do you have another hard drive? If so, see if will work.
2. A faulty cable between the hard drive & PVR 9241.
3. A hardware issue with the 9241.
4. Have you tried plugging the hard drive in to a computer to see if you can access the contents?

Take care.

[kim4 · Accepted solution]

UPDATE: I needed a technician to realign the satellite on the roof so I inquired with him regarding the contact Bell to activate external hard drive message. (I had been putting off spending additional money for another external hard drive to test nor had I plugged it in to the computer for fear it would be reformatted). He contacted Bell with his technician ID and within 15 minutes the message disappeared and I was able to archive and retrieve all my programs again. Unfortunately I didn't have access to the external hard drive for months for an issue that was something fairly simple to rectify (for now) on Bell's end. Maybe Bell is switching to a new format where you have to register external hard drives or where they have their own back up systems; but for now it was a "flick of the switch" to get the message to disappear and get me access to archiving and retrieving. I do appreciate your time in responding and the helpful suggestions! 

[SwanSong]

Woke up to this exact scenario this A.M. External drive is recognized because when I unplug the USB I get an on screen message saying the drive has been unplugged...and when I plugit back in it is recognized...but I'm getting a "contact Bell to activate drive" message.

Anyone have any insight into this situation? Thanks.

OP...did the tech provide any insight into what's happening?

[SwanSong]

Have spent an incredibly frustrating 2 hours on the phone with bell tech support and they know nothing about this problem or how to solve it even tho the error message literally says to call them.

[SwanSong]

Ok...well...after a hard reset didn't work...and unplugging the rec didn't work another hard reset did the trick. Bell is also sending me out a new 9241...lol

[BellNick]

Hi there @SwanSong 
Thank you for your post and welcome to the Community.
We wanted to check in to see if you've received your replacement receiver and if you're still experiencing issues?
Looking forward to hearing back.

[SwanSong · Accepted solution]

No...no receiver yet...but I didn't expect it this quickly.

It should also be said that I took a cue from Kim4's post where it was mentioned that the technician called Bell and the problem was solved in 15min. The only thing I could imagine Bell doing remotely was re-hitting the programming/subscribed channels. Even tho I had hard reset the rec...and unplugged it as per the directions of the first tech support worker with whom I spoke...it was only after that "re-hit" and after I got off the phone with the manager that I hard reset the rec and the external drive reappeared.

Something to file away for future ref.