sony RDR-HXD970

[davidspeechley]

I have replaced the HDD IN MY Sony desk top box, and need to format the HDD, but am not sure how to do that.

I may need a service remote (which I do not have) are they available? and is there another way of completing the format?

[Mooly01]

You need the service remote, there is no other way to do this. The good news is that there are some universal remotes for sale that work well. I bought one of these in 2016 and it seems they are still available. You need to be sure that the remote has the buttons 'ESC' and 'PRun'.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00D3MX81A/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 

1/ With the replacement HDD fitted apply mains to the recorder and press the front power on button. You will see error code E01.

2/ Turn off with the front panel button.

3/ Now press ESC on the remote followed by PRun (press one after the other, not together).

4/ Formatting begins. WAIT until 'B Complete' shows on the display. This may take up to 10 minutes.

5/ Switch on with the front power button... and that's it.

Note... some HDD's are more suited to this than others. What you want is a drive designed for continuous data flow rather than a supposed high speed drive. Speed is not important, steady read and write is. Use what you have but if you experience any freezing etc then look for a more suitable drive. Toshiba drives gave problems for me. The Seagate 'Pipeline' drives (back in 2016/17) with their lower than usual spindle speed are optimised for this type of use and have proved superb in daily use.

[HannahEd01]

Hey, the compatible remotes are (RMT-D248P) & (RMT-D250P). Try searching online for those first although I doubt they might be still available (Who knows \ ._. /

The steps for the format are on the manual page 128: https://www.sony.com/electronics/support/res/manuals/3113/31137601M.pdf

[bazzajones]

Will try that when I return home

[Mooly01]

• As long as it is just a faulty HDD then a replacement and formatting will be fine. You can go up to 1Tb (but no higher) for these recorders.  

[bazzajones]

I have managed to sort out the problem with the hard drive using the service remote now it works ok thank you

[Mooly01]

Excellent. Pleased to hear you have it sorted.