Data Storage not available on 500GB disk

Luke

Well-Knwοn Мember
I have a 500GB Seagate Pipeline ST3500312CS which I want to have as a spare and wanted to check it worked OK before putting it in storage. The issue is that the Data Storage option on the HDR-FOX T2 is greyed out and so I cannot get the HDR to format the drive.

Any ideas of what I could try?
  • There are no recordings set to record.
  • Swopping that drive out and another in and the HDR-FOX T2 Data Storage is available again. (I.e. no issues with the connectors.)
  • Reinstalling the unrecognised disk to make sure that the connectors are connected firmly still has the Data Storage option greyed out.
  • The disk was formatted NTFS and recognised by Windows. I ran the quick Seagate tools and Windows checks. Both reported no errors.
  • I have also tried the following (without the quick format as it was already 1 partition NTFS) but the Data Storage option remained greyed out:
I have ... had ... issues ...: fix disk finding problems with every inode and the Hummy incapable of reformatting, saying that the disk is too large. I did manage to fix this, albeit in an inelegant fashion. I took the disk back out of the Hummy and connected it to a Windows PC. Using disk management I did a quick format: this only takes a few minutes. This gives a single NTFS partition. Then I used the same tool to convert the partition to unallocated: right-click on the partition and delete it. When put back in the Hummy, the drive could be formatted again. If you try this and it works I recommend installing the customised firmware again before proceeding with installing the full web interface.
 
All I can think of is to try formatting as FAT or Ext3, but I'm not the disk expert. I take it you are connecting this drive internally.

Have you read THIS (click)? It might provide clues.
 
I take it you are connecting this drive internally.
Yes it is internal.

All I can think of is to try formatting as FAT or Ext3, but I'm not the disk expert.
If there is nothing else to try I will try that. But I need a few days to recover from all the disc swapping I have already done!

Have you read THIS (click)? It might provide clues.

I did look at that but didn't notice the picture until now. Next time I'll leave the HDD hanging out initially. I've been full screwing the HDD holder back in each time.

"This version includes several disk management utilities within the firmware itself which allowed me to partition and format the new disk. "
I couldn't find what they were or how to run them or how to work out the appropriate partition boundaries for a standard HDR 500GB. I did try to go into maintenance mode using putty but it didn't reboot and just ignored the option 1 selection.
 
All I can think of is to try formatting as FAT or Ext3, but I'm not the disk expert.
A quick FTA32 format made no difference.

I then tried a factory default which reminded me that there is also a format HDD option that you can do at the same time. (Or perhaps when formatting an internal disk a factory default at the same time is preferable.)
I wonder if when others and I have posted difficulty formatting via the Data Storage menu if formatting via the factory default option would have been available in their circumstances as well.

It's not finished formatting yet but I'm posting now rather than risk others adding suggestions which may not get tried.
 
Has anybody got any other ideas for how to get this standard HDR 500GB recognised by the HDR?

After a factory default with an HDD reformat the disk remains unrecognised by the HDR-FOX T2.
It won't go to media (no response), it won't instant record (invalid command symbol), and it won't ungrey Data Storage.

It took almost 3 1/2 hours to reformat which is what I was expecting for a 500GB.
The only thing I can think of to try next is to install 1.02.32 to detach the cf and then reinstall 1.03.06, but that is clutching at straws.
 
Code:
humax# fdisk -lu /dev/sda
fdisk: can't open '/dev/sda': No such device or address
humax#
 
For whatever reason the disk is not being seen by the operating system. I am not sure how it managed to reformat the disk in your previous post.

Also I do not understand why you were unable to get into maintenance mode. Are you able to get into maintenece mode by selecting the 'cli' option from the menu and then running fix-disk once?
 
I've retried going into maintanence mode and I can now get in . I hadn't tried it again since the 'reformat' and factory default.

Code:
Please select option: 1
Any additional options (or press return for none):
Are you sure you wish to run the hard disk checker? [Y/N] y
Running /bin/fix-disk
Custom firmware version 2.19
Unable to find a disk
Press return to continue:
I'm finding this very perplexing as
(1) I swapped in another ST350312CS which was recognised OK.
(2) before the 'reformat' I connected the awkward ST350312CS to a PC and it was recognised and appeared OK.

Edit:
I've reattached the HDD to a PC and it's reading as a FAT32 still.
I'm tempted to do a full FAT32 format instead of a quick one. Is that worth a go or is there something possibly better to try first?
 
It is not going to matter what format you use. If the Humax can not see the disk it will not make any difference. It is most likely that one of the connectors is not making proper contact.
 
The cables contacts are making proper contact, as I get the same results when using the same cables that I used when connecting to a PC which could see the HDD.

To try out the same cables that were used when successfully connected to a PC I did the following:
(1) Left the data connector and the power supply which were used to connect to the PC connected to the HDD
(2) Connected the data cable to the HDR instead of the PC
(3) To simulate the draw on the HDR’s HDD power supply I connected the HDR’s HDD power supply to an alternative ST3500312CS (soon to be binned due to reallocated sector issues).

Also if I use the alternative ST3500312CS the HDR recognises that.
 
I am suspicious that there may be a service not running on the HDR that is causing the issue.
Having put a working/recognised disk back into the HDR and made some new recordings last night, none of the new recordings are being DLNA indexed ( as shown by Browse within the web-if). I have made some parallel recordings on another HDR (1.02.20) and this one(1.03.06). The 1.02.20 added the recordings to the DLNA index within a couple of minutes., while the HDR I was attempting to format the HDD on is not cataloguing at all, even after a full reboot.

I’m off to work shortly for the DLNA indexing, if it doesn’t fix itself by next weekend I’ll run RMA and then re-install to start from scratch. I’ll follow this by one last attempt to format the HDD disk in the refreshed HDR and if that fails try the HDD in a totally different HDR.

Unless anyone can think of anything else I could try which is quicker or possibly better?
 
Is content sharing still turned on (it can turn itself off under certain ciircumstances). If it is on and not working you may need to delete the database and let it be regenerated.

Clutching at straws for your disk problem. When comparing the two disks, are there any jumpers set in different positions?
When the disk fails to be recognised, I presume that the Humax application is running OK since you seem to be able to access the on-screen menus.

The only other suggestion I have is to try a different kernel with logging enabled. It should show any disk/controller errors during boot up.
 
Is content sharing still turned on (it can turn itself off under certain ciircumstances).
Oops. It was off because of an error on my part.:oops:

Clutching at straws for your disk problem. When comparing the two disks, are there any jumpers set in different positions?
I had checked the jumpers and there were none, which is the same as my recognised disks which are also Seagates with firmware CA13.

When the disk fails to be recognised, I presume that the Humax application is running OK since you seem to be able to access the on-screen menus.
Yes. Everything is OK

The only other suggestion I have is to try a different kernel with logging enabled. It should show any disk/controller errors during boot up.
I have now given up on this disk and drawn a line under attempting to get it to work in an HDR-FOX T2. It will be used as emergency backup if I'm caught short of other backup space.
I may go back and try learning a bit about kernels but for now I want to move on to other things.
 
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