WD DL4100 Suitability

Playground Hardware
#1

I’m giving the Channels DVR a trial. My hardware is a Western Digital DL4100 with a HDHR Prime and a HDHR Connect. Also have the SD DVR but it is disabled. My husband hates the SD DVR lack of guide and won’t use the software. That’s why I’m looking at Channels.

Installed the Channels DVR app yesterday on my DL4100 and configured it. At that point I was able to use the Channels DVR app on my iPad Pro. Set up a bunch of recordings and went to prepare dinner. Also activated Comskip.

18 hours later the DL4100 is still churning. Did a manual shutdown and restarted.

Disabled Comskip and started adding season passes and individual recordings. It was fine for the first 6 or so passes but now it’s just churning again.

Would upgrading the RAM from 2GB to 6GB make a difference? I have the upgrade ordered as it was only $25.

Even though this NAS is supported with a Intel Atom C2338 1.7 GHz Dual-core I suspect that it is underpowered.

Haven’t really tried streaming but it kinda works on wireless. I’ll also be streaming through a MOCA wired connection to ATV 4 and probably a couple of FireTVs.

The question is do I need to upgrade my NAS? If so, the easiest for me is to buy a diskless PR4100 and swap out the drives from my DL4100. Then I can either repurpose the DL4100 once I replace the harddrives or sell it.

TIA for any suggestions.

#2

What do you mean when you say it’s churning?

More RAM won’t help, the CPU is the bottleneck. The Intel Atom is decent but not as powerful as a regular pentium/celeron chip. Still I would expect it to work and even be able to comskip, so I’m curious what part isn’t working correctly.

If you do decide to upgrade, the PR4100 is a great choice (quad core Intel Pentium N3710 processor).

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#3

Churning means constant hard drive activity and unable to reach the DL4100. After I posted this I decided to buy the PR4100. Hopefully, I won’t need to upgrade for a while.

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#4

I ran into similar issues with folks balking at SD’s interface and wanting something they were used to. Channels worked like a champ –

My setup uses a PC for Channels with an SSD for the DVR. I use Plex for my library and a collection of WD My Clouds for files.

I’m in the process of bringing a PR4100 on line (bought a Refurb on eBay). The most common thing I have heard is to upgrade the memory on the PR4100 to maximize its capability.

#5

I’ve been using the PR4100 for a couple months now (upgraded from the EX4100) and it’s a beast!! Been working flawlessly.

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#6

Mine’s coming tomorrow, can’t wait!

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#7

I have the PR4100 as well and love it. Really impressed with it.

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