Get Win7 to recognise HDR-FOX T2 as external hard drive.

[Dave F.]

Hi

Is there a way to get Windows 7 to recognise HDR-FOX T2 as an external hard drive rather than a 'media server'.

The Humax is connected to a BT Hub5 which is connected to a Win 7 PC. All Ethernet hard wired.



When I click on the Fox-T2 icon shown in the image it default loads it into Windows Media Player. If possible I'd like to view the Humax's folder structure in a file viewer, such as FreeCommander, as if it was a standard data drive (memory stick etc) so I could select which file to stream in Media Player Classic.

I can view & play Humax's content within VLC on the PC, but only under its Unversal Plug 'n' Play option.
I can't see a similar way to do this in MPC.

Is this possible or is there another solution for the problem?

 

[Black Hole]

Windows/VLC is currently picking up the DLNA server. That is standard.

You have two alternatives: turn on the FTP server, and I believe Windows will see that as a file access (but I've not tried it) or you can use an FTP client (eg Filezilla), or install the CF samba package which will then provide file server access by SMB. Be aware recordings accessed by either of these methods will not be decrypted on-the-fly (unlike DLNA) and require decryption first (or decryption after they reach the PC).

I have a question: why have you posted in this section of the forum (Free to Air Discussions) instead of the HDR-FOX or (preferably) HDR-FOX Custom Firmware section? Don't worry, we'll move it...

 

[MartinLiddle]

Is this possible or is there another solution for the problem?

Install the custom firmware for the HDR-FOX T2 which then runs alongside the standard firmware and you will have a range of possible ways to access recordings and more importantly to decrypt them so that they are playable on other devices.

 

[MymsMan]

SMB file sharing requires SMB version 1 which Microsoft has been actively trying to prevent and so you would need to enable it on your windows 7 machine

How to detect, enable and disable SMBv1, SMBv2, and SMBv3 in Windows

Describes how to enable and disable the Server Message Block protocol (SMBv1, SMBv2, and SMBv3) in Windows client and server environments.

docs.microsoft.com

Recently it stopped working on one of my Win 10 machines and I haven't found a way of restoring access

 

[Black Hole]

SMB file sharing requires SMB version 1 which Microsoft has been actively trying to prevent and so you would need to enable it on your windows 7 machine

I have never needed to do that in Win7. It's a different story in Win10.

 

[everthewatcher]

I know it's the other way round from what's being discussed here, but just in case Dave F. tries to watch files stored on a Win7 machine a reminder that it needs to be to be told it's acting as a server. I covered it here.

 

[Dave F.]

Hi

I installed Samba, & after about 20 minutes the PC eventually found the connection to HUMAX without any further interaction, & plays well in MPC!

It lists the folder structure as:



I had previously installed beta-ftp & used the humax's hard drive to store backup data files. FileZilla lists the folder as: /mnt/hd2/backup. Is it possible to view that with the Samba setup?

I know it's the other way round from what's being discussed here, but just in case Dave F. tries to watch files stored on a Win7 machine a reminder that it needs to be to be told it's acting as a server. I covered it here.

Thanks for that, could come in useful later to watch ripped Youtube videos.

 

[Black Hole]

Thanks for that, could come in useful later to watch ripped Youtube videos.

For that, you will also need to know about network-shares-automount (see Index of Package Primary Topics).

/mnt/hd2/backup. Is it possible to view that with the Samba setup?

Yes, you will need to edit /mod/etc/smb.conf (eg using WebIF >> Diagnostics >> FIle Editor >> Open):

Go to the bottom and copy the section which starts "[Media]", append a duplicate and edit it thus:

[Backup]
   comment = Backup
   path = /mnt/hd2/backup
   public = yes
   writable = yes
   browsable = yes
   create mask = 0644
   directory mask = 0755
   hide dot files = no

(or you could just make that Root to "path = /")

Save the file, then go back to Diagnostics and reboot.

 

[everthewatcher]

Thanks for that, could come in useful later to watch ripped Youtube videos.

That's exactly what I needed it for here. I download with youtube-dlg from any one of three machines to a disc on a Win7 machine that's on all day for watching later via the HDR on the big TV.

 

[Black Hole]

...or you could use the qtube package to download YouTube (or iPlayer) direct to the HDR-FOX.

 

[everthewatcher]

...or you could use the qtube package to download YouTube (or iPlayer) direct to the HDR-FOX.

Not looked at qtube as the main HDR isn't on until 5pm and the Youtube-DLG method works fine even if it's no longer being updated. Tried Tartube but it's overcomplicated in full mode and its Youtube-DLG mode is broken.

 

[prpr]

Save the file, then go back to Diagnostics and reboot.

You can just restart the Samba service instead of rebooting, which is obviously less disruptive.