Deleting Loop

[RiCkY_]

So i did read here and other places

My Mums HDR-Foxsat T2 was doing the Deleting message thing non stop . did the usual firmware downgrade it did nothing still says deleting , back to newest firmware , same thing tried a few even lower firmware all the way back , nothing , all the way back up ,

then i tried the custom firmware as the poster said you can try the Fix disk option in maintenance . now i thought the maintenance thing was a thing that would show up on the actual freeview box in the menu some were .

anyway i put the custom firmware on , all goes well but now i just get stuck in the boot loop reset thing . only way to stop it , is to disconnect the hard drive ,

so then i find out the maintenance thing you have to hook your box up to a PC and do a load of linux type stuff . So i decide i might as well just get a new hard drive but then find out if you are on custom firmware you have to still hook up to PC .

So i flash back to retail firmware were it says as long as its not over 1tb the freeview box will format it for you . no problem. I got this WD Purple thing . As there is nothing really important on the old hard drive .

I do have a sata usb dongle thing to connect to my pc were it will show up as a external drive , Just for fun as this hard drive is really really old now i mean the freeview box was already bought second hand and this was at least 6 or 7 years ago , maybe longer ,

If i just format the old drive in the pc and if i put it back in the freeview box will it format ok and carry on as usual ? I also did the dim screen mod were you take out that orange plastic cover . and its a lot clearer to see now . Or shall i just wait for the new HD to show up ?

 

[Black Hole]

So i did read here and other places

But it sounds like you didn't read this: Quick Guide to Disk Recovery (click)

so then i find out the maintenance thing you have to hook your box up to a PC and do a load of linux type stuff

No, you don't have to do "linux type stuff", just get a command session so you can access a set of menus. You can do that in Windows.

i thought the maintenance thing was a thing that would show up on the actual freeview box in the menu some were

Nope, can't be done.

So i decide i might as well just get a new hard drive but then find out if you are on custom firmware you have to still hook up to PC .

No you don't. Wherever you're getting your information from, it's either not authoritative or you're not reading it carefully enough. You only need to hook it to a PC if you want to create specialist setups.

So i flash back to retail firmware were it says as long as its not over 1tb the freeview box will format it for you . no problem. I got this WD Purple thing . As there is nothing really important on the old hard drive .

I do have a sata usb dongle thing to connect to my pc were it will show up as a external drive , Just for fun as this hard drive is really really old now i mean the freeview box was already bought second hand and this was at least 6 or 7 years ago , maybe longer ,

If i just format the old drive in the pc and if i put it back in the freeview box will it format ok and carry on as usual ? I also did the dim screen mod were you take out that orange plastic cover . and its a lot clearer to see now . Or shall i just wait for the new HD to show up ?

Just to be clear, you should just connect up a fresh drive and the HDR-FOX will offer to format it for you. Failing that you can go Menu >> Settings >> System >> Data Storage and format it from there. If the drive isn't listed in that menu, then there's something wrong with it. If you're going to reformat anyway, you might as well reformat the original drive.

 

[RiCkY_]

So yes i forgot to say by the time i decided just to format the disk again / factory reset / using the normal firmware way . It had gone past the deleting loop , i was now stuck on the boot loop with or with out custom firmware only way was to unplug the hard drive power and the freeview box stayed on . so that's were i am now at . waiting for my new hard drive , I would have to still format the old drive in a pc . the only way i know how would be to just format it in windows ntsf or would i need to also get rid of the linux partition stuff ? and then try and put it back in the freeview box ?

 

[/df]

That's a different problem: https://hummy.tv/forum/threads/start-up-fails-when-hdd-connected.10164/

If you didn't have that problem, you'd be able to format the disk on the box. That's the way to go.

To format the disk elsewhere, you'd need a PC that can write filesystems in ext3 format, for which a Linux OS is recommended, perhaps booted from a Live CD/USB to avoid affecting the PC's normal OS (although I see that some Windows freeware, untested, now claims to do this). Then you'd need to replicate the three filesystems that are expected (which is ofc documented in a thread here).

 

[RiCkY_]

Yes . But even when stuck in Deleting loop you have no access to the hard drive from the freeview box .

Anything in the menu to do with hard drive is grayed out .

 

[Black Hole]

So yes i forgot to say... i was now stuck on the boot loop with or with out custom firmware only way was to unplug the hard drive power and the freeview box stayed on .

So you are probably buggered then (short of a hardware fix). That was a critical point to have forgotten to say.

Steps for Resolving HDR-FOX Crash/Reboot Issues (in particular, see section 3Ba). Exactly when the restart occurs in the boot cycle is diagnostic.

For information: under normal circumstances, the HDR-FOX is able to perform any formatting it needs – the exceptions being custom hacks to utilise HDDs in excess of 2TB or optimise the disk structure.

when stuck in Deleting loop you have no access to the hard drive from the freeview box .

Anything in the menu to do with hard drive is grayed out .

I'm not sure we knew that, I certainly didn't. It's not something I can easily test. Anyone confirm?

 

[RiCkY_]

Yes when i was at the deleting loop , after i tried everything else i thought sod it and went to try to format the hard drive , but like i say i was not able to access those options ,

now as for the boot loop , when you say hardware fix you mean a new hard drive , like i say i have already ordered one , i dont really care about the old one at this point , as its already very very old ,

will i be ok with a new hard drive , ?

i also flashed back to stock firmware think it said 2021

one more thing i was getting the plastic hard drive caddy case out i could not remove the fan plug i did not want to force it and snap it , so i just un screw the 4 fan screws and slide it out , i cleaned it a little , but when i go to put it back in i forgot which way it was , is it the sticker showing to the outside or inside , in other words , does the fan blow on the hard drive to keep it cool , or is it an extractor of hot air fan ? i guess i mean does it blow cold air inside the box ?

 

[Black Hole]

when you say hardware fix you mean a new hard drive

No, much worse than that. You didn't read what I referred you to. Excerpt:

3Ba: We have become aware of a common fault developing on ageing HDR-FOXes where the unit won't boot with the HDD connected but will boot without it. While this might seem to indicate a faulty HDD, in some instances it has been shown to be a deeper problem on the main board (not the PSU). The main diagnostic symptom is that the boot process continually restarts the moment "start system" (or the custom firmware announcement, if installed) disappears from the VFD (front-panel display), which is when the HDD gets powered up (but before it has had chance to be accessed). If the restart occurs later than this, it is more likely to be a HDD fault (see 3Bb). Diagnosis is confirmed if the problem remains when a different (known working) HDD is fitted, or the original HDD is shown to work in a different HDR-FOX (or when tested on a PC). Repair might be effected by the relatively simple replacement of a capacitor on the main board. For more information see https://hummy.tv/forum/threads/start-up-fails-when-hdd-connected.10164/.

one more thing i was getting the plastic hard drive caddy case out i could not remove the fan plug i did not want to force it and snap it , so i just un screw the 4 fan screws and slide it out , i cleaned it a little , but when i go to put it back in i forgot which way it was , is it the sticker showing to the outside or inside , in other words , does the fan blow on the hard drive to keep it cool , or is it an extractor of hot air fan ? i guess i mean does it blow cold air inside the box ?

Oh FFS. Why are you fiddling around in the dark? HDR-FOX Commissioning, Disassembly, Repair (click)