# Hughes SD-DVR40 Hard drive switch



## dustinb (Nov 14, 2000)

good morning/ 

I've got a Hughes SD-DVR40 with a bad tuner (certain channels that record very poorly if at all) and was wondering if I buy another Hughes SD-DVR40 on ebay if I could just get away switching the hard drives and access card to the new (used) unit or is that not going to work?

My gut says DirecTv probably is going to make it more difficult than that but thought I would field advice from the user base.

I swear I'm going to be the last person on the planet using series two directivos one way or another.

Thank you in advance, 

Dustin Bailey


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## stevel (Aug 23, 2000)

I think the SD-DVR40 is a "RID" box which means that the access card is married to the box. You'd have to convince DirecTV to switch the card - you may or may not be successful about that.


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## codespy (Jan 7, 2006)

SD DVR 40 is an RID unit for sure. Get an HDVR2 and refresh services and you will be good to go.


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## whitepelican (Feb 15, 2005)

The DSR7000 is another non-RID unit you could use in the same way. But no matter what, if you are swapping your hard drive over from the SD-DVR40 then you're going to have to do a Clear & Delete Everything (unless your SD-DVR40 is hacked), which means losing your recordings & settings. So, unless that SD-DVR40 has a large drive in it, you don't gain anything by swapping the drives out.


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## dustinb (Nov 14, 2000)

Thank you for all the great insight. My current living room box has nearly 500 hours on it but nothing I'm not worried about losing. It was resetting eight years of settings and such that I was trying to avoid not to mention the hassle of not having a home phone any more for guided setup.

What advantages does the HDVR2 have over the SD40 line?


Thank you,

Dustin Bailey


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## stevel (Aug 23, 2000)

No advantage, really, other than less hassle if you want to switch access cards.


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## whitepelican (Feb 15, 2005)

dustinb said:


> What advantages does the HDVR2 have over the SD40 line?


With the non-RID boxes (HDVR2, DSR7000 and maybe SD-DVR39?), you can take an access card out of any active DirecTV receiver and put it in the Tivo unit, and then just call DirecTV and say "resend authorization" at the voice prompts. With a RID box, you would have to talk to a CSR and get them to "re-marry" the card to the new box. This would likely be a struggle, and they would probably tell you you need to pay $20 for a new card.


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## codespy (Jan 7, 2006)

Resend authorization:

https://www.directv.com/DTVAPP/mydirectv/mysystem/mySystemResendAuthorization.jsp?_requestid=683326


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## dlance (Nov 5, 2010)

I have already have two Hughes SD-DVR40, although one has been upgraded to a larger HD. The one with the larger HD is our main one. the other is in a guest room and hardly gets use. The larger one has the bad tuner (of course).

I would like to swap the two HDs without losing any recordings. Is this possible?

I read the thread and it was stated that Clear & Delete Everything would occur, but i was not sure if it was because the original issue was moving from a existing to a used one (that does not have a good DTV activation card).

Neither has been hacked. Both have active DTV activation cards.

Any help would be appreciated.


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## litzdog911 (Oct 18, 2002)

dlance said:


> I have already have two Hughes SD-DVR40, although one has been upgraded to a larger HD. The one with the larger HD is our main one. the other is in a guest room and hardly gets use. The larger one has the bad tuner (of course).
> 
> I would like to swap the two HDs without losing any recordings. Is this possible?
> 
> ...


You can't swap the drives without performing a Clear & Delete Everything. Has nothing to do with access cards.


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## dlance (Nov 5, 2010)

Thanks litzdog911. not what i wanted to hear, but at least, i am clear now.


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