0 byte HMT files

[spatz]

Hi,

Long time lurker, first time poster needing help please.

Running Raydon 4.1.2 and recently installed Newk at the start of December... over Christmas I've ended up with a bunch of "New" recordings in the flat folder that can't be deleted and don't have thumbnails. If I try to delete from the Humax remote it appears to work, but then the entry comes back into the media list. If I try to play any of the files it simply returns back to the live view.

I've telnetted to the box and can see 0 byte .HMT files that match the name of the supposed recordings but no .TS and no .nts files for these problem recordings. If I delete the problem hmt files from CLI, they keep reappearing. I don't have Mediatomb or Twonky installed and I have uninstalled Newk. Previous to this I thought the HDD was on the way out, so I've run a repair from maintenance mode and it completes without errors and the SMART values look good.

In all other respects the box is working file. Live timeshift, instant recordings, other scheduled recordings all working ok.

Any ideas please?

Thanks,
Stuart

 

[Black Hole]

I can't understand why the .hmt files would reappear, presuming the rm command completed successfully.

A zero length .hmt indicate a failed recording (in HDR-FOXland), probably one which didn't get triggered because the start flag was not received during the required window.

 

[Dino]

Do the programs that were 'newk'd' play ok ?

I don't use Newk, but I have seen 0 byte .hmt files in the Video directory. Not sure how they get generated, but it seems to be associated with file sets being moved. After checking that the full file set appears in the expected place, I tidy them up by using filezilla delete. Not had any problems with them re-appearing

 

[spatz]

Do the programs that were 'newk'd' play ok ?

I don't use Newk, but I have seen 0 byte .hmt files in the Video directory. Not sure how they get generated, but it seems to be associated with file sets being moved. After checking that the full file set appears in the expected place, I tidy them up by using filezilla delete. Not had any problems with them re-appearing

Here where it's weird. I have files for the newk'd versions but they don't appear in the media list:

Foxsat-HDR/mnt/hd3/Video# ls -al A\ Killer*
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 5679 Nov 27 03:01 A Killer Makes a Call_20251126_2303.hmt
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 17470656 Nov 27 00:34 A Killer Makes a Call_20251126_2303.nts
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 6517874496 Nov 27 00:35 A Killer Makes a Call_20251126_2303.ts

All that appears is an entry with "New:" of 91 minutes but no thumbnails.

For sure, rm at the CLI removes the zero byte file for a period of time:

Foxsat-HDR/mnt/hd3/Video# ls -al New_\ A\ Killer*
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 0 Dec 29 18:20 New_ A Killer Makes a Call_20251126_2303.hmt
Foxsat-HDR/mnt/hd3/Video#
Foxsat-HDR/mnt/hd3/Video# rm "New_ A Killer Makes a Call_20251126_2303.hmt"
Foxsat-HDR/mnt/hd3/Video#
Foxsat-HDR/mnt/hd3/Video# ls -al New_\ A\ Killer*
ls: New_ A Killer*: No such file or directory
Foxsat-HDR/mnt/hd3/Video#

Pressing "media" then causes the file to be recreated:

Foxsat-HDR/mnt/hd3/Video# ls -al New_\ A\ Killer*
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 0 Dec 30 10:55 New_ A Killer Makes a Call_20251126_2303.hmt

I can't see any other persistent process from "ps aux" that might be causing the files to be created, and there is no crontab entry for a process that gets invoked periodically, so it's probably the code from UI that is responsible. Next option might be to try maintenance mode, mount the partition and delete there (but I don't think it will do anything)...I think it's more likely that pressing "media" causes the box to scan all of the files to generate the media list and something it's scanned is causing something in the code to erroneously recreate the .hmt file.

 

[prpr]

so it's probably the code from UI that is responsible. Next option might be to try maintenance mode, mount the partition and delete there (but I don't think it will do anything)...I think it's more likely that pressing "media" causes the box to scan all of the files to generate the media list and something it's scanned is causing something in the code to erroneously recreate the .hmt file.

I don't think MM will change anything. I think the Humax software is doing it. The reboot might make it forget what file was last in use though, as would playing a different recording or perhaps changing to a different folder. Try it and see what happens.

 

[Black Hole]

There's obviously some kind of process (within the Humax "blob") consulting some kind of table/database of what it thinks should be there (the recording with title unaltered) and generating a place-holder when not, and not registering the altered version because that's not what got recorded. I don't think this happens with the HDR-FOX; I don't use newk but I'm sure there would have been plenty of discussion if it did!

Has the newk package been ported across from HDR-FOX CF with very little beta testing?

 

[spatz]

I don't think MM will change anything. I think the Humax software is doing it. The reboot might make it forget what file was last in use though, as would playing a different recording or perhaps changing to a different folder. Try it and see what happens.

Well I think I've sorted it. I've deleted the 0 byte .hmt file and renamed the other files (including a non 0 byte .hmt file) as "New_ " and they can be played and deleted.

I've just twigged that for non-series recordings, there is also a hidden directory for each recording. I'm guessing pressing the media button causes it to scan the disk, it sees the hidden folder and assumes there has to be a corresponding .hmt file in /mnt/hd3/Video and creates it. Or under normal circumstances it touches the file that is assumed to be there to update it which has the side-effect of creating a 0 byte file.

 

[Black Hole]

Posts crossed, see above. The "hidden directory" seems to be the manifestation of the table/database I was talking about. The Foxsat CF newk package will have to be modified to take care of it.

 

[spatz]

There's obviously some kind of process (within the Humax "blob") consulting some kind of table/database of what it thinks should be there (the recording with title unaltered) and generating a place-holder when not, and not registering the altered version because that's not what got recorded. I don't think this happens with the HDR-FOX; I don't use newk but I'm sure there would have been plenty of discussion if it did!

Has the newk package been ported across from HDR-FOX CF with very little beta testing?

I don't know. My box has not been online since I moved house 7 years ago as my TV was no longer near my router and out of boredom, I decided to plug it into a Powerline that I recently acquired to see if there were any updates. I then updated the package list, saw Newk there (version 1.1), and decided it was worth installing.

 

[spatz]

I don't think MM will change anything. I think the Humax software is doing it. The reboot might make it forget what file was last in use though, as would playing a different recording or perhaps changing to a different folder. Try it and see what happens.

I'm inclined to agree, based on what I've done/found. It's definitely being recreated on pressing "media".

 

[spatz]

Actually, possibly another nugget I've found... I also have "filefilepaths" and "fixfilenames" installed, which I might have done at the same time. I can say with certainty though that it was only files with "New" prefix that were problematic so maybe something in one of those ran at the same time and threw Newk or vice-versa.

Also, what are the ssh credentials? Dropbear is listening and responding but I can't figure it out. I tried changing the root password from telnet with passwd but that doesn't seem to have any effect.

Thanks!

 

[prpr]

I've just twigged that for non-series recordings, there is also a hidden directory for each recording.

Is that with the "New" or not? I'd forgotten the function of that directory (and I don't have access to a Foxsat any more).

I'm guessing pressing the media button causes it to scan the disk, it sees the hidden folder and assumes there has to be a corresponding .hmt file in /mnt/hd3/Video and creates it.

Exactly.

Also, what are the ssh credentials?

Try looking at this: https://hummy.tv/forum/posts/179670
That's for the HDR Fox-T2 but it's probably/possibly the same.