Backup files from HUMAX HDD to External HDD?

Trev, and any other poor soul who happens to have been helping…


The problem:


The Main Issue: I am unable to record any programs but there is def plenty of space.

The Second issue is I really would prefer to not loose my recorded (Many unwatched) programs


As Trev says they are only programs but I am quite passionate about may and not seen them such as rock progs about Pink Floyd, Doors, Eagles, Black Sabbath, science such as about astrophysics and astronomy and educational progs form my 7 year old son many of which are excellent.

One for the road: At some stage I would like to back up my saved programs to a HDD but that is not an issue, short to medium term, unless it was needed but it now seems to not be needed to resolve the not recording problem. One step at a time.


Other “symptoms”, which are not major problems but may be of interest / use to you all for you knowledge database:


1) I can delete programs but the available space doesn’t change;

2) The system, when I select video, always shows “deleting” but HAPPILY it does NOT delete anything so my programs are not going down like nine pins. It does nothing;

3) I can watch recorded progs without problems but if I have to stop (not pause) when I turn the system back on there is no resume play option and I have to watch from the start;

4) When watching live progs via the system (not recording), I can not go back if I miss something but can with recorded progs;


The reason that I set off on this tack of saving off progs etc was , as mentioned in an earlier post, the HUMAX tech support (Said to be useless but I was not to know) said that:

I needed to downgrade to old version and then the upgrade back to the most recent;

My recording would all be lost unless I save them and then restored them.

Then he sent me a protocol (posted somewhere earlier in this thread) and this is when the Fat32 issue arose: A Pegasus in the land of Ancient Martian Gobble De Gook (to me) followed by Telnet and Ethernet cables and other mysteries that I am sure it is all simple enough once you are in the know and apologise, again, for lack of knowledge or brain power!

There was no mention by HUMAX that a FR would leave the recordings intact unless I reformatted the HDD and I have no desire to reformat the HDD unless there is abs no choice. Also, I have no idea how to do that.


Additional Info (all rambled on about elsewhere): The HUMAX is not “on-line” via my router. Not sure if I failed or if I whimped out and didn’t try. So doing anything from this laptop is not an option but MAY NOT ????? be necessary anyway?


So (i) do I “simply” oh oh oh need to FR the T2 and NOT chose the format HDD option (ARGH) and (ii) is the FR protocol already been covered in this thread and is my mind to addled to remember / find where that info is?


As for saving programs to a HDD for archiving purposes, as I said above one timy step at a time!


THANKS
 
I thought all this was pretty clear from what you posted before.

To clarify for you (and anyone else late to the party):

I think the reason you can't record is because your HDD has a file system error which makes it "read only" - ie it can't be written to. The only remedy Humax can offer you is a HDD reformat, which is available either as a direct operation from the menus, or as an option in the Factory Default operation. Needless to say, a HDD reformat will delete existing recordings (a Factory Default will only preserve your recordings if you decline the HDD format option - but this will not have the desired effect of returning the HDD to operation).

To archive the existing recordings prior to reformatting, you will need an external USB drive that meets several criteria. As noted in Things Every... (click) section 12 (and without CF enhancements), although the HDR-FOX can read an NTFS-formatted USB drive, it cannot write to it. FAT32 can be read and written, but cannot handle files larger than 4GB - and if you have any HiDef recordings of any reasonable length chances are that you do have files of this kind of size. The only reasonable alternative is to format the drive to Ext3 (which can be done through the Humax menus), which will cope with large files and can be written to, but can only be accessed on a Windows PC if you install a utility. (Note that HiDef recordings copied to the external drive will not work on the PC or anything else unless there is CF intervention before the copying.)

By networking the HDR-FOX and installing CF (even if only temporarily) so that you can access the Telnet menu, you will have access to tools which can recover the HDD without reformatting it, and thus without the need to archive the recordings first. Humax support cannot offer this.

It is up to you to decide which of the above options (archive to external drive and then reformat, or use CF to recover the drive without reformatting) is least inconvenient according to your circumstances. If you do not have any HiDef recordings you wish to preserve, you may consider that using a PC to format the drive to FAT32 and then archiving is the best for you.

Don't worry about forum arguments - there are various personalities aboard who rub against each other from time to time, and will do so without any encouragement from you.
 
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Twll Du,

Thanks again and you are all so helpful.

Too tired to re read and act

Best wishes

The night mare will probably return

Pedr
 
Twll Du.

I have become addicted re the thirst for knowledge and answers to the main questions of the universe....so sleep can wait ....

1) what is IIRC (sorry if it was explained elsewhere and I missed it - maybe, I do need the sleep!)
2) What is the utility that would be needed to read files on a Ext3 formatted drive, sorry if I missed it in your guide or elsewhere
3) Will formatting a drive to Ext3 be quite easy, even to me, do you believe? I have only ever formatted floppies via a PCand that was ages ago and it was all default! I will look at the HUMAX menu when I get a moment.
4) Would you guess that my having not networked the HUMAX (2 years ago) was that I was a whimp or plonker rather than it couldn't be done? i.e. is it a normal / do able option?

None of my recordings are HiDef but some Rockumentaries can be up to 2 hours long. Usually 1 hour. I will look to see if the size is quoted on the recorded videos menu. If the important recording are all < 4 GB, I may go for the option of saving them one at a time and then storing them on the laptop, Hours of work may be but a whimps solution?I don't have a external HDD spare. Only one that is half full with important files. Not keen on buying one but will consider it for future HUMAX backups and storage.

As for being a self admitted whimp .... the option involving networking, CF and Telnet makes the hairs on my back stand up. One equation with three unknowns! WOW. I have indeed presented my research to upto 250 people including many professors and was not at all stressed. The difference re to whimp or not to whimp, is that I knew (or thought I knew) what I was talking about! LOL

Winter Solstice happened here about 75 mins ago I think. All very astronomical.

Pedr
 
IIRC=If I Remember Correctly
If all your recordings are SD and less than 4GB then there is no need to worry about ext3 formatting and your points 2 and 3 are no longer a problem.
Does your external drive have sufficient space to allow the copying of your stuff to it. I see why you want to save them. I would too ;)
 
Weakly-Interacting Massive Particle? You'll be claiming they've discovered the Higgs Boson next!

Formatting to Ext3 is easy: plug drive into HDR-FOX, then Menu >> Settings >> System >> Data Storage >> Storage >> (select correct drive), >> Format Storage.

Networking the HDR-FOX is easy, you just plug it in and reboot. If the cable from your router to the back of the HDR-FOX is going to be unsightly there are other options, but for "simples" and "temporary" it's the easiest way. Accessing iPlayer (or just the TV Portal front page) is simply a way of confirming that the network is connected correctly (which it will be). After that it's only a case of bringing up Telnet on the PC, accessing the HDR's address (which you find from the Humax menus - instructions are provided in the sources) and typing a few characters at the prompts. Do it!

IIRC (now removed from the relevant post because I have confirmed what I was remembering): see entry "Netiquette" in the Glossary (click).

ybontargoll said:
2) What is the utility that would be needed to read files on a Ext3 formatted drive, sorry if I missed it in your guide or elsewhere
Click to expand...
Covered in Things Every... section 12.
 
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Healing Hands / Shivers me timbers Jin lad(s),

I went over to look how large were the files were and lo and behold the problems had gone with the wind!

The never ending delete icon (circle) was no longer saying deleting of going round in, dare I sat it, circle.

I can record, when i deleted it shows more space available, I can go back when watching a live prog and need to check something, etc.

So FOR NOW things are "sorted" BUT, as a professional pessimist, I know they will return and need to be ready for action.

The files seem to be no larger that 1-3 GB, as I have deleted a few (30-90 min long) and teh available space increase by 1-3 GB.

ONE PUZZLING POINT IS THE PIE CHART RE SPACE A VIABLE SEEMS TO BE MUCH LESS ACCURATE / INFORMATIVE AS THERE IS CURRENTLY 78 GB AVAILABLE AND THE CHART IMPLIES THAT IS ABOUT 1/6 TH OF THE DISC AND i CANT BELIEVE IT IS ALMOST 500 GB LARGE? I DON'T KNOW THE SIZE.

ALSO, I HAD BEEN DELETING FILES THESE LAST FEW WEEKS AND THE SYSTEM SHOWED 57GB AVAILABLE WHEN I FIRST NOTICED THE PROBLEM AND IT STILL SHOWED 57 AVAILABLE WHEN THE PROBLEM HAD DISAPPEARED TONIGHT BUT I HAD DELETED ABOUT 7 HOURS OF PROGS THESE LAST FEW WEEKS SO IT COULD NOT BE THE SAME, This number did increase to 78 when i deleted many more more tonight.

Thus, The Nightmare will return to the Forum have no (every) fear and the recording nightmare will very prob return to the HUMAX!!! I will have to get into saving to a HDD and learning more about HDD formats, Ethernet, Networking Telnet etc etc but for now I will Rock Off

Bring back the Abacus, carrier pigeons and quill pens and parchment paper? Anyone like to join the campaign?

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
 
I don't remember you saying anything about a continuously deleting problem, we are aware of that and the Telnet process could have sorted that out for you as well. I am surprised you have any recordings left.

Be aware that if you delete a lot of recordings, the deletion will take some time (it's a much more involved process than deleting files on a PC). It just catching up does not count as the "continuous delete loop" problem.

Yes, your HDD is indeed about 500GB in capacity (a bit less, actually). That's quite small as things go these days (typically a few terabytes).

If you would care to record TV programmes for me by sketching them with pencil and paper, I'll back your campaign.
 
ybontargoll said:
So FOR NOW things are "sorted" BUT, as a professional pessimist, I know they will return and need to be ready for action.
Click to expand...
Glad to see your problems have gone (for now), if you feel brave enough to install the Custom Firmware you will be in a much stronger position to fix any future problems such as the one you had. For a guide to the Custom Firmware take a look a the WiKi overview page here :-
http://wiki.hummy.tv/wiki/Custom_Firmware_Overview
You can also find a link to the WiKi at the top of every forum page
 
Glad you have sorted out your problems. No criticism since you are a self confessed newbie, but can you please refrain from using CAPS in any future posts. In forum netiquette, it is interpreted as SHOUTING, and frowned upon. Unless, of course, you deliberately intend to shout at someone. It's also more difficult to read. Thanks.
 
Thanks again to all.

Thanks Raydon, re pointing out what should have been obvious about not using capitals. Not a capitol idea, was it, and thank heavens that I didn’t throw in coloured text and varying font sizes. What a naive plonker, to say the least. Will also refrain from bold and will try to check the Netiquette for any other points.

Black Hole: Sorry re not mentioning the continuous deleting initially or camouflaging the info my long and windimg messages. My posts tend to be long and rambling (sorry) but as for you being surprised that I have any files left …. the odd, very odd and fortunate, point is that (point 2 of a recent post) when I selected video, the small circle (top RH corner) went round and round and round in circles and it stated it was “deleting” but happily (lower case this time) it did not delete anything so my programs were not going down like nine pins i.e. It did nothing! That had been going on for week and may be 8 to 9 weeks.

I was getting desperate re Christmas and not being able to record progs for the family so my newbie (or not to be) was made worse by the more haste less speed jump in without thinking approach.

Best wishes to all over the a festive time.
 
I think maybe the saving grace was that the drive was also read-only and therefore preserved the recordings from the delete loop! However, that said, I do not understand why it has started working again.
 
Thanks again to all. Our Christmas, or more accurately, my son's, was much the better for my being able to record s few films. He is 7 and doesn't watch much TV but it is good to have the choice as to what we watch.

I hope that you all had a Nadoleg LLawen and that you and your HUMAXes have a Blwyddyn Newydd Dda

Y Bont
 
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