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MagicTV Hard Drive Upgrade (MTV3600TD)

First, this will VOID your warranty so proceed at your own risk. I take no responsibility for any smoke or damage to your device!!

Although this is theoretically possible using the method described below, the 500Gb Hitachi hard drive (HCS721050CLA382) in the MagicTV box is a dedicated media drive designed especially for Digital Video Recorders.

Attempts to install a 1TB WD10EADS drive caused intermittent behaviour (frequent GUI lock ups) probably because it draws too much current so choose your replacement drive carefully. It would be best to stay with the Hitachi CinemaStar 7K1000.C drives to ensure compatibility. These are available up to 1TB as at 15th Feb 2011.

Steps to upgrade the hard drive.

  • Download the latest MagicTV firmware here http://www.magictv.com/nz/support.html (this is necessary even if you don't intend upgrading the firmware)
  • Extract the zip file to the root directory of a thumb drive
  • Power down and disconnect your device ** BE SAFE **
  • Install your new SATA HDD (9 case screws and 3 HDD screws)
  • If your confident, reassemble your device or wait until you've proved that it works
  • Insert your USB drive with the firmware on it into one of the rear USB ports
  • Turn on your MagicTV box and while it's booting, keep pushing the pause button on the remote (don't hold it down)
  • After a few seconds, the device will display RESCUE and advise it has found the firmware on the thumb drive. DO NOT PUSH OK at this stage
  • Enter 1, 5, 9, 0, 0 on the remote keypad and it will ask you if you want to format the HDD. Push OK to format the drive

Formatting only takes around 20~30 seconds and when complete you can simply turn the device off, wait 5 seconds and turn it back on again. Alternatively, you can follow the prompts on the device display and upgrade the firmware.

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