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DVR not recognising HDD

Paulnthms

New Member
Dear All,
The original factory HDD in my Swann CCTV DVR 4980 failed and stopped recording - "HDD not found" bad disk messages etc.
I replaced the HDD with the equivalent (Swann recommended) and the HDD light will not come on nor will it record.
I have checked the power adaptor voltage, the capacitors are fine and the main board appears intact, but when I examined the supplementary part of the board that connects the main motherboard to the HDD I think a resistor is missing which I think explains why the white circle HDD light isn't illuminating (?) and presumably the overall resistance is too low (?) I am uploading the photograph - please can anyone tell me;
1. Is it the R14 'missing' resistor that is causing the problem ?
2. Is it easy to fix ? Surface mount ?
Swann don't sell replacement parts (built in obsolescence) so it's fix it or pay up and smile for a new one !!!
Really appreciate any help or advice - AND yes I really am a novice - I know it !!
Regards
Paul
 

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R14 may or may not have been installed originally, hard to tell. R2 seems to be feeding D1, which by its symbol, may be a LED.
When replacing a HDD in a DVR, you have to initialize/format it with the DVR, using its own formatting menu. That format menu may be hidden in a "tech" menu somewhere. If you formatted it, and it still does not start up, you need to check the voltages feeding the HDD drive. Most likely it uses +5V and +12V, though some smaller drives may be just +5v.
Verify the voltages first...
 
I agree, you 'may' need to format the drive before it does anything, although some DVR's (usually those that are sold without HDD's) will detect the unformatted drive, and automatically format it. However, as far as I know, Swann only sold complete working DVR's, so there may be no automatic formatting.
 
Thank you to all those who have responded. I am in the process of checking the in and out voltage for the HDD and will come back with a response.
Just to clarify, the HDD is "found' by the DVR and I have formatted it. It will record and playback for a few minutes but then the DVR comes back up with the usual "No disc" or "Bad disc" - this is the same message as when the original went kaput !!
The blue HDD light never illuminates and so my feeling is that something happened to the circuit board once the old original HDD failed - the only obvious (to me) sign is the "missing" resistor in the picture and the inability of the DVR to illuminate the HDD light in the picture.
Thank you all once again.
Regards,
Paul
 
I would suggest theirs a fault on the DVR board, that killed the original drive - and is killing the new one. Most likely reason would be a duff capacitor in the PSU, most probably one of the reservoir capacitors on the secondary side of the PSU. Specifically the one on the rail that's monitored to provide the PSU regulation - meaning the PSU rails are running high - check the supply rail voltages with a meter.
 

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