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Sky+ HD DRX890WL - swapping the HDD for an SSD.
This is a discussion on Sky+ HD DRX890WL - swapping the HDD for an SSD. within the Sky+ HD Supertelly forums, part of the Other Sky help and support category; Hi all. I have just had Sky HD fitted and received the latest 500GB DRX890WL-Z receiver with built in Wi-Fi ...
- 30-06-15, 09:01 AM #1
Sky+ HD Box, DRX890WL - swapping the HDD for an SSD.
Hi all. I have just had Sky HD fitted and received the latest 500GB DRX890WL-Z receiver with built in Wi-Fi and no RF outs. The box itself seems fine, but as a hi-fi enthusiast (fussy git) the noise levels were unacceptable. I wanted to swap the HDD for an SSD and at the same time remove the useless internal fan.
I couldn't find anyone who had fitted an SSD into a Sky box so I tried it. Yes it works! The DRX890WL-Z has SATA 6Gps ports so I thought that a standard SSD would work. I had a Samsung 840 EVO (512GB) sitting around so that is what I fitted. I used the info found here: http://www.skyuser.co.uk/forum/sky-h...ky-hd-box.html to get inside the box and remove the motherboard etc.
Once fitted, I held the backup button down, inserted the power cable and let the box do a full system software restore. Once that was completed I went into Sky engineer menu (Services 0,1, Select) and did a Full System Reset. The SSD was then visible and usable. The box is now a lot nippier and of course completely silent. Rewinding, pausing and playback is a lot faster and smoother.
Whilst I had the lid off, I thought I would take the heatsink off. I am glad I did as the TIM used is the horrible rubber mat type - rubbish. I replaced the supplied TIM with Arctic Silver 5. The removal of the TIM lowered the heatsink by about 1mm, so I checked that the side ridges of the heatsink didn't make contact with any SMD resistors. On my box I ended up filing a few mm from the one side ridge of the heatsink as it was too close to one SMD resistor.
The box seems to be no hotter overall than when it had the fan and HDD fitted. The SSD producing no heat is likely balanced by having no fan either. The internal empty volume of the box is now higher due the removal of the 3.5" HDD and the fan assembly, so I hope that long term reliability is unaffected. I will monitor the situation.
I was surprised to see these boxes using such an old 65nm SOC. The Broadcom BCM7335 was released back in 2007 ( http://master.elant.cz/SAT/VU+/Manual/BCM7335.pdf ). The VU+ Duo uses the same SOC and has a far less efficient cooling solution (just two flat fins). So I am sure that the SOC is designed to run hot and cope with it.
Now that I know that the SSD replacement works, I am going to order a Samsung 850 EVO 1TB drive and fit that :-)Last edited by underzone; 30-06-15 at 07:55 PM.
Advertisement- 30-06-15, 10:07 AM #2
Re: Sky+ HD DRX890WL - swapping the HDD for an SSD.
This isn't recommended.
The SATA interface in the Sky+ HD STBs isn't capable of handling the 6gbs speed that the SSD will pump out and it will cause your STB to fail in due course.
The existing drives in the Sky+ HD STBs are capable of far more that they are currently used for, so there is no requirement at present to increase their performance. Yes you can watch one thing, download a series of other things and record two channels at the same time, but the current drive can still handle more than this without having any problems.
Yes hard drives do fail and periodically you might get a blip in a recording that indicates a drive is beginning to develop faults, but with a standard hard drive the failure is gradual. With an SSD such a failure is pretty quick.
A better option would have been to install a 2TB drive suitable for a PVR system.
Of course this is all just my personal opinion, some of which might come from personal experience as well as from the forums and also chatting with someone who knows a lot more than I.
PlusNet Fibre since Jan 2021
Previously Sky Fibre & Sky BB since 2010.
- 30-06-15, 10:19 AM #3
Re: Sky+ HD DRX890WL - swapping the HDD for an SSD.
I don't think the 6Gbps interface will be an issue. The article linked above (from this site) says that the original HDD is:
"Hitachi HCS5C2020ALA632 could also be known as H3C20003254S
Type DS5SAAD200
Rated 5V 430mA, 12V 350mA
SATA 6.0 Gb/s"
- 10-07-15, 05:28 PM #4
Re: Sky+ HD DRX890WL - swapping the HDD for an SSD.
Samsung 850 EVO 1TB now fitted and working very well. Very nippy! All Samsung SSD's auto-detect the SATA bus speed so no need to set any jumpers or the like. Also they do garbage collection/reallocation themselves automatically. SSD drive lifespan is as Samsung states in their warranty info: 5 years or 150TB data written
.
Last edited by underzone; 10-07-15 at 08:18 PM.
- 18-01-16, 06:41 PM #5
Re: Sky+ HD DRX890WL - swapping the HDD for an SSD.
This is awesome! Is it still OK being 6 months on, Underzone?? Having awfully annoying issues with my month old HD box already out of nowhere getting TF7 issues etc, many resets and many reseated connections and router resets... I have SSDs in most systems in my home so I'd love to fit one to the Sky box or another I find cheap on eBay (because we can). I'd like some further info on how you are currently finding it using SSD in the Sky box. Cheers!
- 02-03-16, 07:13 PM #6
- 22-06-19, 01:09 PM #7
Re: Sky+ HD DRX890WL - swapping the HDD for an SSD.
Underzone, is your SSD setup still ok?
Fancy putting a silent drive in for a sky box in the bedroom and just concerned about reliability over time.