46PFL9706 & USB HDD timeshift issue

[Mariop]

Hi
Have a 46PFL9706 with iOmega eGo 500GB external USB3.0 drive attached for timeshift purposes.
TV has latest f/w 000.014.104.000

Have recurring issues including black screens and sometimes a restart....

Often the Pause key on the remote does not work, however if you then press the play button this will pause the screen, weird... and yes I'm using the original remote that was included with the TV.

Secondly, I understand that you can only record / timeshift the channel being watched (single tuner hardware design). But what I do not understand is that when you go to the Menu (for exampe to check EPG) the timeshift buffer stops working and you loose the content. This is really a poor design implementation.

Anybody else having similar USB timeshift buffer issues ?

Thanks

[chrisham]

Does the HDD have an external power supply, or is it powered through the USB connector?

For some people here (myself included) instability with a connected HDD went away when either using an externally powered HDD, a different HDD (with lower power requirements) or a Y-cable (to power the HDD out of two USB sockets on the TV instead of one.

In my case, I could always hear the HDD restart before a crash of the TV - this whas sort of a 'click - whirrr' sound, of the HDD first shutting down and then powering up again. This cycle would happen between one and three times, and then the TV would crash.

In case you want to try to debug in this direction, some suggestions:
a) Do the crashes happen without a USB HDD attached? If yes, this is *not* the route you need to follow, since it cannot be the HDD in your case.

b) If you want to try finding a USB HDD with lower power requirements, you can use some indications (since unfortunately, the current draw is usually not given in the technical data of the device:
- the slower the HDD turns (e.g. 5400rpm vs. 7200rpm) the better
- USB2.0 is better than USB3.0 (USB3.0 spec allows a current draw of 900mA vs. 500mA for USB2.0)
- a HDD that does not include a Y-cable might have a better chance of working, since the seller is confident that it works
- Buy online from a retailer with a good return policy - you might have to send back the HDD if it doesn't help