Dish Wally Receiver DVR Hard Drive

Great question, sorry I can't answer it. Are you thinking of a solid state external drive?? That should really reduce any power requirements and increase the speeds.

All of my installs (3) the last about 10 months ago just use the power from the Wally no outside source. all with no issues. never had any issues even with the old 211's I've had.Ive never used an outside power. My current ones are cheap Toshiba 1g spinning drives( I think I paid 50 bucks at amazon) but I don't think matters

Confusing for sure but, in general, USB standards and specifications for USB 1.1 through USB 2.0 have a max current of 500 MA or Milliamps (.5A).

USB 3.0 has additional expanded current capacity in the specifications provided the port has the additional contacts and the additional current capability of 900 MA or .9A..

Typically a USB 3.0 port can be identified with a blue colored plastic insert in the port..

USB 1.1-2.0 ports are typically a white or black plastic insert in the port..

If USB port is white or black, then most likely best to follow USB 1.1-2.0 power specifications of no more than 500MA (.5A).

There are a few other port color variations possible.

You can read up on what the port colors are and how to identify what version the port is.. HERE

Many of the newer slim external HDs which use a 2.5" Laptop size drive often fall into the 500MA (.5A) or a bit less current draw category. However larger capacity slim drives of 2TB and larger with 2.5" drives can and most likely will exceed the 500MA (.5A) current draw..

External slim drives using SSD (Solid State Drive) technology will most likely exceed USB 2.0 current ratings as these drives are power hungry at about 1A-1.2A..

I kind of doubt that the receiver has USB 3.0 port..

The current rating of the external drive should be on the model number sticker, if it states more than 500MA (.5A) then a external power supply must be used.

There are times even if you are staying within the available current of a USB port that an external drive may not work correctly, sometimes these ports supply too low of a voltage to support a external drive but will support a smaller USB stick..

If in doubt, add in an external power supply for large storage sizes in external drives or External SSD drives.

YC 1 wrote:
Great question, sorry I can't answer it. Are you thinking of a solid state external drive?? That should really reduce any power requirements and increase the speeds.

SSD drives actually can draw MORE current than spinning drives.

Sort of depends on what you are comparing to, if comparing 2.5" SSD to a 3.5" spinner than yeah the SSD most likely will draw less.

However if comparing 2.5" SSD to 2.5" spinning drive then no, spinning drives can draw less than a SSD of similar drive space.

Example 1 1TB Samsung EVO SSD can draw as much as 4W which translates to .8A at 5V

SAMSUNG 1TB Specifications

I have seen 1TB SSDs with 1.1A-1.2A at 5V current rating.

A 1TB 2.5" spinning drive however has typical read/write wattage of 1.6W-1.7W or about .34A at 5V.. Granted, there is "spinup" current draw on spinners but that is typically much less than the 1A that is listed in the specs and that lasts a few milliseconds. Most 2.5" 1 TB spinners will have a 5V current rating of .7A or so.

See HERE

And yes, I have replaced spinners with SSD drives in laptops and the extra current draw DOES reduce the battery life noticeably.

Where SSD excels in is SPEED, not power consumption, the faster things get, the higher the power consumption will be.

For the OP, pretty much any drive of 1TB and over is going to be a "hit or miss" type of thing, the larger storage space and the faster the speed the higher chance that the drive will need an external power source to operate 100% correctly.

A 2.5" USB drive should not be a problem, but a 3.5" USB drive definitely needs an external power source. If you purchase a 3.5" drive it will include the power source.

From the Dish for my RV web site

Record Up To 100 Hours Of Your Favorite TV Shows With The DVR Upgrade Expansion
The Seagate® 1 TB DVR* upgrade is the quick and easy solution for recording your favorite TV shows so you can watch them whenever you want. The DVR upgrade expansion is hassle-free, it has its own built in power supply, which means no extra power cords to plug in. With the DVR upgrade, you can record up to 100 hours of HD programming while connected to a Wally or 211z receiver with a satellite connection. For those who want to watch TV while you're on the road but don't want to spend the money on an in-motion antenna, you can record programming while stationary and watch those programs whenever you want, even when a satellite connection is not available.

Features
Easy-to-use solution that you can take with you on-the-go.
Installs easily by plugging in a single USB cord. You can start recording within
minutes of removing it from the box.
Built-in power management automatically ensures energy-efficient operation.
Records up to 100 hours of HD programming.
AV-optimized for smooth playback on your TV
Technical Specifications:
Capacity: 1 TB
Product Interfaces: USB 3.0
Warranty: 1 year manufacturer warranty
Height: 14.8mm
Width: 80.0mm
Length: 117.0mm


$99.00 dollars

All that said not sure if any good drive would work or not, I am not sure if there is any software need for Dish on the drive. I think I would call and ask (Dish)

JimR

The Wally formats the drive to it own proprietary software when it’s first turned on. There is nothing special about the drive other than a few more dollars.

As best as I can tell, the Wally has 2 USB 1.0/2.0 ports. By specs, a USB 1/2 port will only provide 0.5Ma power to each port/device or 1.0Ma to a single device if only one device is plugged in. An external HD like any USB 3.0 Seagate Expansion HD requires 0.9Ma of power for max playback. Therefor, you will get good performance (no buffering) from any USB 3.0 HD as long as nothing else is attached to the other port. However, if you add an OTA tuner and/or a WiFi dongle, the USB 3.0 HD will periodically pause playback and start buffering. If you want to use a USB 3.0 HD plus the other goodies, you should run them through an externally powered USB 3.0 hub (That's what I have on mine) or get an externally powered HD.

Don't forget, you will have to register your DVR function with DISH for a $40 extra fee.

FYI, Newegg has a sale on now for the Seagate 2TB Expansion USB 2.0/3.0 HD HERE.

Fantastic information Gdetrailer. Thanks for the input. Does not past the "logic" test for me but I can be taught. I'm an old dog with an open mind,

YC 1 wrote:
Fantastic information Gdetrailer. Thanks for the input. Does not past the "logic" test for me but I can be taught. I'm an old dog with an open mind,

Yeah, back when the company I was working for first started replacing spinners with SSDs I was pretty shocked seeing the SSDs having a higher current draw rating than the spinners the SSDs were replacing.. I just naturally thought that SDDs "should" consume less power because they don't have a motor or arm moving about..

Counter intuitive for sure.

On edit..

Rummaged through my junk bins..

Found a 250 GB spinning rust drive and a 256 GB SSD drive to take pictures of..

250 GB spinning rust




256 GB SSD



Yep, Spinner at .45A and SSD at 1.7A..

Granted, much newer SSD drives HAVE improved but the last SSD I installed was a 1TB drive and it was still rated right at the 1.0A rating.