Topic: Xbox One External Storage

Anyone had problems with external HDD's disappearing? Mine's been working fine for months but lately the XB1 doesn't detect it. Usually a reconnect of the USB brings it back, but today it wasn't having any of it. I tried connecting to my PC, but this meant Windows decided it was not setup correctly and buggered it up. It's now working again on my Xb1, but I had to reformat it and lost my installed games...GRRR!

@Captain_Chao5: I had a similar sounding problem when I got my first external drive. It would appear for a while and then disconnect (message would pop up on screen saying it had disconnected). It was doing my head in... when it disconnected any games running off it would quit to the dashboard. Worked fine connected to a PC but flaky on the Xbox... anyway the solution turned out to be replacing the USB 3 cable. Has worked flawlessly ever since. Don't know why it was OK with PC, maybe the Xbox is fussier? Worth trying another cable if you can lay your hand one one - also try a different socket... I found it happened less frequently when it was plugged into the side than round the back... but that could have just been a result of the flaky cable being in a different position? Anyway hope you get it sorted!

I had the same issue, I had to replace the usb cable.

I've had my 4TB in the back of my XB1 for over 1 year now and had no issues with it at all.
I'm almost full so i'll have to get a new one soon, I'm using Western Digital and had no problems.

I have a WD too. Seems to be fine again now, i just have the pain of reinstalling games. I usually buy physical copies and after the ridiculous time it took to reinstall GoW Ultimate (digital copy), I'm no more convinced digital is the way forward. I've got a fibre connection and can download HD movies in minutes, so why it took several HOURS to install is beyond me.

@Captain_Chao5: That's good to hear, but if it does it again don't stick it in a PC just get a new cable.

I'm mostly digital and rarely have a problem downloading games... can usually start playing them within 5 to 10 minutes of purchase. The full download usually completes in about 20 minutes. That's for big games... small Indie ones take just from a matter of seconds to a few minutes. I'm on Virgins top broadband package which is 150mbps although I'm supposed to be getting 200mbps shortly. I think the only time I had a problem downloading a game was when the MasterChief collection came out and that took days... think it was too popular or something...

@stylon: Yeah. I thought the HD might have failed, hence connecting to a PC. As for downloads...I've got 80mb fibre but digital games (I dont own many) take hours. Forza 5 took 12 hours to complete installation! I know its not bandwidth as I regularly test speed and get 65-70mb on a cable connection, plus as mentioned, Sky-Q will download an HD movie in minutes not hours.
GoW said it was ready after 12% but refused to load the campaign. I've not had much luck with playing games mid-installation from disc either, so tend to fully install before playing.

@Captain_Chao5: Hey what's Sky-Q like? Worth the upgrade? I've just got the 2TB normal Sky HD box but the streaming to other rooms and being able to record 4 shows sound very tempting...

If you are getting good download speeds then I'm not sure why your Xbox is taking so long to download games... I've got 2 colleagues in work on Sky Fibre and both of them are usually able to download games within a few hours and have no complaints... so much so that I've actually (briefly) contemplated jumping ship as it's a lot cheaper Is your Xbox hardwired into your network or using WiFi? If it's the latter it might be flaky signal quality maybe? I had a PS3 on WiFi and it was rubbish at downloading anything... was like a breath of fresh air when I plugged an ethernet cable into it

@stylon: I've got the XB1 wired direct to the internet hub. It's only downloading games that is slow. Even streaming Amazon Prime on Xb1 is fast. Very odd. Mine is Sky fibre pro unlimited.

As for Sky-Q...I switched as my old 1Tb box was starting to misbehave. The upgrade cost £149 (!!) plus £12 a month on top of subs (but I didn't have multiroom or Sky Go Extra previously, which are now included). I got the Silver package which is 2Tb box with 12 (yes 12) tuners and one mini-box. They do a Bronze package for less £'s, but it's a 1Tb box with 8 tuners. If you want additional mini-boxes, they're £49 each. Apparently you don't own the kit anymore, so I assume no more "its out of warranty" crap when it plays up. I think they're still ironing out the kinks as I've had to reset the box one or twice, but it reboots a lot faster than the old 1Tb box.

Having said all that, it's quite clever. i can record 4 channels at once watch another. You can also stream to up to four devices but only two tablets currently. If you have Sky internet, the hub is upgraded and wifi uses 2.4ghz and 5ghz channels now with some fancy 'mesh' wifi that reduces dark spots. The engineer told me that homeplugs wont work, but I've had my TP-Link ones running fine.

in summary, it's a bit new, a bit expensive but is a big step forward for Sky.

I have SkyQ Silver with just the mini Box and must say its great. Sky+HD was great too but this is a on a different level of great and only going to get better too. Looking forward to the 4k when that comes in the next few months...

Thanks chaps although £12 a month on top of what I'm already getting fleeced for is something I hadn't expected... thought I'd just need to make a one off payment for the box... guess it's more of a Radio Rentals type deal now...

Does it still work with the existing 2 coax cables or do you need to have more run to the dish for the extra tuners?

@stylon: The extra monthly cost is based on what you have already. I didn't have multiroom or Sky Go Extra. I think you can get a 'quote' if you go to your account on Sky.com...or just ring em You may want to check if there are any restrictions for having non-Sky broadband too. I'm not aware of any, but the mini-boxes use WiFi currently (using power lines is on the way).

The coax is the same providing it's still getting a good signal strength. The engineer may replace the dish or just the LNB. He replaced my dish but used existing cables.

@Captain_Chao5: £39.43 extra PER month they want... well they can **** right off with that one... I'm currently on a discounted tariff because I played hell with them a few months ago and threatened to cancel because I was paying £70 odd a month when new customers were paying a fraction of that...

I've chased a good 30' run of the coax cables into the walls too as I can't stand them being visible so new cables would be a deal breaker anyway... :-/

@stylon: HOLY SMOKES! That's a hell of an increase! You must have a good deal with them. I've got movies 1/2 price for another few months, then I'll be phoning them to cancel/negotiate that part of the package.

@Captain_Chao5: I've got everything including Sky Go Extra (but not Multi-room) and they knocked the price down to under £50 for 12 months... I'm guessing that £39 is pretty much my discounted price out the window...

It's annoying that you have to go through this sort of hassle to get a good price... all they care about is new customers and loyal subscribers get shafted...

How weird is that then, my external drive played up today. Swapped cables, ports, no go. Hard reset the box all ok. How many others having issues are in the preview program?

@sorethumbed: Hmm..That's a point. I think I still am. Was there an update recently?

@Captain_Chao5: Can't remember but I'm suspicious by nature.