Hello, The register and sign-up with Tablo was a success! The guide schedule was successfully down loaded as well. Early on in sign-up/registering, I was given a ‘format hard drive’ screen but I wanted to think about which size external TB hard drive to use. I kept the original external the same from the originally connect. Thought I could get back to the format screen, later in the day, but I can’t find? the tab to format the external to work with the Tablo. Where is the tab or link on the website to ready up the hard drive for recording? I searched this forum for an answer but didn’t find it. Thank you!
From your comment above, I’m assuming that you are attempting to use a harddrive that was previously used on another Tablo. If that is correct, then it is already formatted and you won’t get a prompt to format.
If your harddrive isn’t formatted, then maybe the following instructions from @TabloSupport will help.
First up, I have a few steps to run through just to make sure the drive is being connected at the right time.
- Unplug the hard drive from the Tablo.
- Reboot the Tablo, and wait for the light on the front to stop blinking.
- Once the light stops blinking, connect to the Tablo from the web app http://my.tablotv.com or the Tablo app on a smartphone or tablet.
- Plug the hard drive into the Tablo.
- After a few seconds, you should see a prompt on your screen asking you to format the hard drive.
- Once the hard drive is formatted you should be able to see it in the settings page. It will show you the hard drive name (make and model), capacity, and how much is used (in blue) and available (in grey).
If this doesn’t work, we have a way of accessing your Tablo remotely so we can log in and see what’s going on - we’ll just need you to follow a few steps to put your Tablo in remote access mode. Make sure the hard drive you would like to use is plugged in. If the Tablo can ‘see’ the hard drive, we can format it for you.
Thank you. I will try your suggestions. This HD has not been used from a previous Tablo. I am new to Tablo! The HD is an extra Western Digital 2TB external I had on hand. What I meant is, it was placed on the Tablo before any other connections were placed as instructed in the manual. I cleaned it up earlier and removed all my files(except the drivers) and am ready to dedicate it to this new Tablo. Will the new format take away the WD drivers and make it unusable on Windows in the future?
Yes, the drive will be formatted with the ext4 format which is not natively readable in Windows. It can be reformatted in the future if you no longer wish to use it on your Tablo and wish to use it in Windows again.
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Thank you! One last thing… a hard drive used on Tablo will be wiped clean in the format, even the drivers. If it’s used for many years for the Tablo, it’s probably doubtful those old time drivers will be available to re-format it back at a much later date, correct? I’m deciding between an older 2TB(2014 age still good!) versus a brand new 1TB(2022 age). Thinking future, the drivers on the 2014 aged hd will probably not have drivers available to even bring it back, correct? Where as the new 1TB would have a chance to come back. I plan to dedicate the best choice to the Tablo forever so not that concerned. But just curious…
Yes, the Tablo format will wipe everything from the harddrive.
You don’t need any of the drivers on the disk inorder to format it in the future. You simply use Disk Management in Windows to reformat any harddrive, no matter the age, so long as it is still in working condition.
Thank you 3rdRockOKC. The format worked! It did it’s thing very quickly too! I used the older WD 2TB external as my Tablo storage. Most likely there will not be available drivers for it in the future so thought it the best one to use for now. It is older and could poop out but can always add another HD. I have asked it to record a couple shows later this evening. Can’t wait to see how they record! Thank you for your best help!
Ok. Understand for bringing a HD back to Windows life if necessary. Glad you explained it. Thank you!
If you believe you may need these “drivers” - they are not (as explained) necessary for for basic drive function, it’s very likely you can find them available on the vendors product page. Look for downloads.
Thank you dj44883, thinking/guessing if it’s years out to bring a hard drive back to Windows life, even the vendors and/or makers may not have those drives available. The makers can sell more new hard drives this way. I used an existing external I had on hand(with more space) for the Tablo and will save the brand new external for my files. Thank you! Everyone helpful here!
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