501 vs 508

[mpyr]

Hey all,


I just picked up a 501 off of ebay with a yellow card, it has two dt chips and not the gt. I'm just wondering what the difference is between the 501 and 508 receivers? Is it just hard drive size? What is the size limit on this model before i would have to vidmod?

I'm good with jtagging, i already have some knowledge on this subject but this question i can't find a direct answer for.

Thanks very much in advance,

mpyr.

[skinerd]

Only real difference between a 501 and a 508 is the harddrive size, and 501's are earlier models so have a better chance of having DT chips. A 501 can be upgraded to 508 by putting a 80 gig HD in it.

2 DT chips?? You lucked out, no vid mod needed. That's the determining factor, GT chips are locked DT's are not.

[mpyr]

Thanks for that info. Yeah I got excited when i finally got it from u.p.s. and opened the case to find both chips were dt, wasn't looking forward to doing the vidmod.

I found the list of compatible hard drives for these models but here is my second question. I wanted to flip this unit from dish to bev, it has recordings on the drive (they were on the drive when i got it) and it came with a yellow smart card. I know that I can't use the yellow and I have a rom10 that i will use. I know that I have to erase a line in the second flash (i think i know what line but I will make sure before i do it) and then restream with bell to get the firmware. Does it matter that I have dish recordings on the drive if i'm trying to get bev or should i blank the drive or anything before i try? I will be going to an 80 gig once I get it, I just want to play with the unit a bit (want to learn more about them).

thanks in advance,
mpyr.

[skinerd]

Recordings are done in MPEG, don't matter where they came from.

When you go up to an 80 gig, you will need to reflash to virgin firmware to enable the drive to marry.