Foxsat HDR will not boot (stuck in limbo)

Marc

New Member
Hi,

I am running the custom firmware version 4.1.3, and this morning the box will not boot up. It doesn't' say BOOT, but goes straight to 'Custom Firmware_4_1_3' on the front panel', and all buttons are unresponsive as is using the remote. I've removed the network, HDMI and satellite aerial cables.

So I've tried:
1. Turning off at the back, leaving for a minute or two, turning back on. I can hear the disk starting then the box stops - just displays as above.
2. Pulling plug out, same thing happens
3. Inserting a USB into the front with the custom firmware load & trying to flash as reinstall. This appears to run successfully, but it doesn't properly go into standby and is back to completely unresponsive & 'Custom Firmware_4_1_3' on the front panel'

Appreciate some help here - based on description - is there any way I can tell if it is disk or unit failure, or something else?

Thanks in advance.
 
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Sounds like a hard disk problem. Custom firmware depends on hard disk access to boot correctly. Reinstall Human standard firmware to eliminate this from the equation.
 
Thank you both. It is disk failure, at least we can watch TV again.

In lieu of new drive, can I record direct to plugged in USB?

I'm going to upgrade the drive capacity. I'm assuming the foxsat is 32 bit / max 2 Tb. Also assume it needs one that says DVR compatible, or are there other recommended disks? The one I've removed is a Seagate Pipeline.

Edit (won't let me post the entire links) - have found that WD AV-GP looks a potential fit - amazon.co.uk/dp/B00DXOJJQQ/
as does the newer Seagate Pipeline - amazon.co.uk/Seagate-ST2000VM003-Pipeline-3-5-Inch-Internal/dp/B008B0RQ1C/

Thanks again.
 
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Thanks @Black Hole
I'm borrowing a caddy and will run diagnostics on the disk. Assuming it is broken beyond repair and I buy either the WD or Seagate 2 Tb replacement, then will need to format the new drive to Ext3 and partition. Can someone point me to the manual partition settings for a 2 Tb drive (or a 4 Tb drive)?

Thanks.
 
Can someone point me to the manual partition settings for a 2 Tb drive (or a 4 Tb drive)?
You can forget anything above 2 TB (not 2 Tb !)
In case it helps you do the maths., here are the numbers from a couple of mine with differing disk sizes:
Code:
Disk /dev/hda: 500.1 GB, 500107862016 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 60801 cylinders, total 976773168 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes

   Device Boot    Start       End    Blocks   Id  System
/dev/hda1               2     4209029     2104514   83  Linux
/dev/hda2         4209030     4417874      104422+  83  Linux
/dev/hda3         4417875   924331904   459957015   83  Linux
/dev/hda4       924331905   976768064    26218080   83  Linux


Disk /dev/hda: 320.0 GB, 320072933376 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 38913 cylinders, total 625142448 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes

   Device Boot    Start       End    Blocks   Id  System
/dev/hda1               2     4209029     2104514   83  Linux
/dev/hda2         4209030     4417874      104422+  83  Linux
/dev/hda3         4417875   572701184   284141655   83  Linux
/dev/hda4       572701185   625137344    26218080   83  Linux
It would seem you just need to work out the size for partition 3 as all the rest are fixed.
 
Thank you all, and @prpr for the partition sizes.

I mounted to PC using a caddy and Paragon software, and successfully checked & repaired hda1 & hda2 (one minor issue on /hda1). Replaced disk in Humax and it booted up fine. From telnet, have reinstalled custom firmware and webif and related packages to be on the safe side. Then ran the fix-disk utility which fixed errors on /hda3 and /hda4. Just running it a second time to make sure no fresh corruption and it that it now runs error free. On failed or failing disks, a second fix usually finds new problem sectors.

If it comes back with fresh errors - buy new disk and restore what I can from backup, if it comes back clean will re-check in a week or two. / rinse and repeat as needed. Maybe a periodic check/ fix-disk is good housekeeping with these boxes.
 
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smartctl -a /dev/hda
but you need the smartctl package, which isn't in the repository (I don't really know why).
 
Thanks @all.
Last few days spent checking this and other disks.
  • Crystal DiskInfo for SMART details - shows caution due to 209 reallocated sectors
  • MiniTool Partition Wizard (older version has more 'free' functions) was used for Surface Testing - problems at 97%
  • SeaTools used for various Seagate Tests and repairs - all successful / passed except 'Long Generic' which froze at 97%
  • And the miracle worker... Eassos Disk Genius (replaces their Partition Guru) - which manages to reset / repair certain types of damage (shows SMART info too). The Humax drive had issues around the 97% marker (118,000/121,601 cylinder) which Eassos seems to have dealt with - rescanned ok. I had hoped to reconfigure but will have to make sure that hd3 doesn't go above about 90% usage pending new disk.
 
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This thread was very helpful and I thought I'd share my experience as it may help others.

I had the same problem with my Foxsat HDR. It would not boot up!
I previously upgraded the HDD to a 2TB drive and it has been working very well for years!
Shortly before the device stopped booting up, it was acting somewhat oddly. It wasn't behaving consistently, you might try to delete a program and it wouldn't, for example.

I removed the HDD (as suggested here) and it showed the problem was most likely the HDD since the device would boot up! ;-)
I took a backup of all the media before I then reformatted the first 2 partitions (leaving partitions 3 and 4 - these contained all the media that I backed up).
Once I had reformatted these 2 partitions it fixed the problem (well after a few reboots, reapplying the wonderful custom firmware).
The device has now been running fine for about a month.

I used an external caddy to host the HDD and plugged it into a Linux machine so I could do the format.
Turns out I didn't need to backup all that media because I didn't reformat those partitions.

My guess is that the device just got very hot indeed. I had (accidently) left another electronic device on top of the Humax with poor ventilation for both. I've moved things around now, so the air can get around it.
I also checked the fan was working fine, and it is, albeit very silently and slow, but it works.

Hope this helps someone, but my lessons learnt is - make sure you've got good ventilation!
I run my Foxsat HDR from a UPS device so to help the HDD from bad sectors and the like.

All the best, Matthew
 
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