If you have a hard drive that is working well for you (or one you tried unsuccessfully) please contribute to this thread.
Please try to use this format:
CONFIRMED GOOD/BAD BRAND NAME (ie Seagate, Western Digital, Toshiba) PRODUCT NAME (ie Backup Plus)
SIZE (1 TB etc.)
LINK (doesn’t matter from where, but just a link to an online store where it’s available) COMMENTS (anything you care to share about the drive… ie - was on sale, works great, didn’t work etc.)
CONFIRMED: BAD BRAND NAME: Seagate PRODUCT NAME Backup Plus (STDT2000100)
SIZE: 2TB
LINK: http://www.amazon.com/Seagate-Backup-Desktop-External-STDT2000100/dp/B00HFRWXV0/ref=dp_ob_title_ce COMMENTS: Wasn't recognized during setup (due to sector size supposedly). Note, this is the newest mode of this drive that came out in early 2014. I am using it now for backing up my PCs, and it's working great for that.
CONFIRMED: GOOD
BRAND NAME: Seagate PRODUCT NAME Backup Plus Slim (STDR1000101)
CONFIRMED: GOOD BRAND: Western Digital PRODUCT NAME: My Passport Ultra 1TB Portable External Hard Drive USB 3.0 Backup - Black (WDBZFP0010BBK-NESN) SIZE: 1TB LINK: http://amzn.com/B00E83X9P8 COMMENTS: $69 and free shipping with Amazon prime. It's small too & fits right on top of Tablo
BRAND NAME: Seagate PRODUCT NAME: Backup Plus 2TB Desktop External Hard Drive USB 3.0 (STCA2000100)
SIZE: 2TB
LINK: http://www.amazon.com/Seagate-Backup-Desktop-External-STCA2000100/dp/B00829TII6/ COMMENTS: At first, it was not recognized. I then did the Tablo firmware update, restarted the Tablo and tried again. The second time it was recognized and has been working great. Notice that this model is just slightly different (STCA instead of STDT) than the one listed above as confirmed bad.
@danwa, here is the info that was in that blog. It really wasn’t much, which makes this thread even better:
What do we recommend?
We’ve had excellent success with portable USB powered hard drives from Seagate (especially the Backup Plus line) and the Western Digital (Elements line only). WARNING - We don’t reccomend the Seagate powered 3.5" drives as they can report the wrong sector size or the Western Digital MyPassport line due to frequent USB disconnects.
COMMENTS: After NOT reading the blog post and getting a Backup Plus Desktop (which of course didn't work), I went to get the 2TB slim. This drive works great so far.
CONFIRMED GOOD BRAND NAME Seagate PRODUCT NAME Backup Plus or Backup Plus Slim part # STDR2000100
SIZE 2 TB
CONFIRMED BAD BRAND NAME Adata HV260 PRODUCT NAME Adata 2TB USB3.0 2.5" External Hard Drive AHV620-2TU3-CBK Black Size 2TB
The Adata initially appeared to work OK. It formatted and worked for a few recordings. But an over night test with several back to back recordings and I ended up with several failed recordings. It was worth a try I already had the drive.
@andersonas25 - Sounds like a disconnect problem. We’ve seen it with a few drives where they connect and format initially but then have random and frequent disconnects which result in failed recordings.
Yeah probably some sort of power saving spin down mode. Documentation for the Adata drive is sparse. I don’t see any utilities to disable a power savings mode it if that is the issue. I wonder if just touching a file every 60 seconds or so would be enough to keep the power savings spin down from activating. Does the tablo have anything like cron?
I have a Seagate Backup Plus Slim 1TB drive, using the Seagate Dashboard software I set the drive to spin down after 10 minutes. The drive spins back up when necessary - have not had any problems with missed or failed recordings. I had to attach the drive to my PC temporarily to do this; I powered off the Tablo, disconnected the drive, connected it to my PC to change the sleep time, and then re-connected the drive back to the Tablo and powered everything up.
@andersonas25 - Maybe Adata has something similar to the Seagate Dashboard software that would allow you to set a sleep time.