I had first installed a WD 640GB Blue HDD in a case and that kept disconnecting after 5 days of use. So I gave up and it and went with the recommended Segate backup plus 2TB and since then not one single problem.
Wow, Dock + Bare Drive Combo Works!
CONFIRMED: GOOD
CONFIRMED: GOOD
BRAND NAME: Vantec (dock) + Seagate Drive
PRODUCT NAME: Vantec Nextar Dock NST-D100UFS + Seagate ST1000DM003 Drive
PRODUCT NAME: Vantec Nextar Dock NST-D100UFS + Seagate ST1000DM003 Drive
SIZE: 1 TB
Dock LINK: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817392025&cm_re=vantec_nexstar_firewire_dock-_-17-392-025-_-Product
Drive LINK: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148840
COMMENTS:
Drive LINK: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148840
COMMENTS:
Bare internal hard drive running in a dock. Dock has external power supply of course. Given all the comments about externally-powered drives was surprised this worked. Internal drives are inexpensive (or re-use from upgrading your PC) so may be a great way to store a ton of recordings!
I think this is a rotten shame. I thought long and hard about getting a tablo and considered other brands. After researching the tablo, I decided on it even though it required obtaining a separate hard drive while another brand’s recorder came with the hard drive included. Nowhere in any of the Tablo pages was there any mention of having to get a specific hard drive, only that it had to be 2TB or less. With my tablo due to arrive tomorrow I went to purchase a drive. After finding 2TB and smaller drives nearly non-existent locally (except for Seagate system backup drives which the manufacture had advised me against using for general data storage previously) I was finally able to find a 2TB drive (which cost nearly as much as a 4TB drive.) Now I find this forum while trying to find if anyone’s been able to use firefox with tablo or if I’ll have to run that crap chrome, and find I probably won’t be able to use the WD My Book!!! This is no way to run a railroad.
It is a frustrating constraint but it is in the FAQ #5. I followed the links in the FAQ and bought the hard drive direct from Seagate using the links. It worked out of the box perfectly.
Hope this helps.
@roraniel nice try but the FAQ does not say there are certain hard drives that won’t work (other than those over 2TB), only that you need a hard drive.
Received my Tablo last night. Hooked up the hard drive and …surprise! The hard drive worked.
CONFIRMED: GOOD
BRAND NAME: Western Digital
PRODUCT NAME: My Book (Blue)
BRAND NAME: Western Digital
PRODUCT NAME: My Book (Blue)
SIZE: 2 TB
MODEL: WDBFJK0020HBK-NESN@Doobe. Did you click on the link in the FAQ and read the information provided? In addition to the information pasted below it also has a link to the exact Seagate Drive that tablo says they tested. This is what I did and it worked out of the box. I understand some people have purchased 2TB drives that do not work but the drive in the link is the one they tested that is why I bought that one. I am not criticizing you or your post I am just trying to help others that may not try Tablo based on your post while there is a easy way to find the drive that Tablo tested that works.
So…. What works?
Tablo currently supports external hard drives with the following specifications:
- USB2 compatible - This includes USB 3.0 drives that are backwards compatible to 2.0
- Up to 2 terabytes in size
- USB powered - Some drives powered via AC adapters or in external enclosures have proven to be problematic
We do NOT currently support:
- USB Flash storage – Flash is simply not fast enough
- Networked (NAS) storage – There is too wide a variation in network speeds to support this
- USB hard drives larger than 2 terabytes - These have different partition sizes which cause issues
@tony
I got the Seagate Backup Slim Portable #STDR2000101 from Amazon, have been trying to format (it just hangs there saying it's formatting) and I guess that's what happens when it's incompatible...And I believe you're right about the last number designating color. It seems the black model is okay??? So I guess I need to return this silver unit, was hoping to get going with it. I may try my local Costco for the 1.5TB model invalidprotocal had luck with.@tony & @restlessnative
I was just wondering if anything more come of the Seagate Backup Plus Slim 2TB USB 3.0 Portable External Hard Drive STDR2000102 Bl. It sounds like I have the same one as you tony as it is blue. I don't have my Tablo or HDD yet as I just bought them both online. I was not aware some HDDs were not compatible. I am just wondering if anyone else can confirm that # STDR2000102 is confirmed bad then I can return it to get one on the approved good list.
Thank you to anyone who may be able to provide some insight.
@restlessnative and @wormlips My HD is a Silver STD2000101 and it works fine.
1 thing to note, I formatted my HD while connected to my PC (Windows 8.1) first then I connected it to the Tablo and did my setup.
I know the Tablo setup formats it during setup but I just always format new drives mainly because they always come a bunch of crap software on them.
All,
We’ve removed the all variants of the Seagate Backup Plus series from the recommended drive list. We’ve recently had some reports of new drives disconnecting from the Tablo immediately after a prompt to format. We’re investigating this now to see what has changed with newer models of the Seagate Backup line.
Oh darn. I just bought a 2TB Seagate Backup Plus drive from NewEgg. It was a Black Friday deal for 79.99. I thought this was safe, due to it being the first one recommended. TabloTV really, really has to get this figured out.
I have been using this since September
Seagate Backup Plus Slim 2TB Portable External Hard Drive with Mobile Device Backup USB 3.0 (Red) STDR2000103
I'm not sure you need to upgrade to SSD at this point - for that much $ you can get 1-1.5 TB albeit in a moving parts drive. Give it another couple of years as SSD prices fall and by then Tablo should have a way to move shows from one drive to another so you can retain all of your original recordings and roll them to a SSD.
TechNerd, I understand your point, but it is all about use cases. I do not record a whole lot of shows. My 500 GB HDD has only about 80 GB used. I want to have no moving parts, so I am willing to pay $80 to have that.
So the question still stands. Has anyone been successful with a USB powered enclosure for 2.5" disk and which brand and model?
Or maybe a better question is when will NAS support be available? I don’t buy the argument of there be too many variations of setups and performance. How is this different than the situation with the additional HDD you need? I personally think NAS performance can be tweaked in many more different ways than with a direct-attached HDD, which either works or it doesn’t.
CONFIRMED BAD
BRAND NAME: Seagate
PRODUCT NAME: Backup Plus Slim (Red)
SIZE: 2TB
LINK: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00FRHTTJE/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
COMMENTS: Not working. Drive identifies itself to Tablo as "Seagate BUP Slim RD 0302 (2000 GB)"
Tablo will recognize the drive and begin the format. Once format is completed, the settings page just shows “Hard drive temporarily unavailable.” in red text.
Looks like I managed to score a recommended hard drive with an unsupported (4k) sector size. :( I’m scared to even buy another drive now. How much longer on that firmware update?
@Brettface that link is the same drive I have and it has been good since I installed it in September…
But notice the RD 0143. Not sure the diff
Tablo needs to fix 4k sector issue ASAP
Yeah, @Jestep, I noticed that. Same SKU on Amazon. Same exact model number. Maybe that’s a revision number? Your 0143 predates my 0302 and you’re in business while I’m outta luck. 
@TabloSupport - could you please provide us with a status update on the 4k sector issue? A reasonable time has passed for a known issue and your honesty with whether you are fixing this issue is needed and if you are planning on fixing this what sort of time table are you looking at?
@7up We’re still working on it. Updating a kernel is a fairly major task - that being said, we’ve very close, and we’ll be entering testing soon, but we’ll want to be very, very thorough with testing considering how big of a change this is.
We’re not sure what happened or where with the Seagate drives. They’re not reporting as 4K sector size on our end; they disconnect the moment we try to format. We’ve managed locate a few of them and we’re getting them to the office now to see what has changed, and if we’re able to fix it (or if it will be addressed by the new kernel).