Hard disk may be failing ...

[dragnil]

Hello,
Twice in two days my Hummy has frozen with a green screen and could be recovered only by switching off and on, the first time was recording the Six Nations and the second was simply playing a recorded programme. The second time I saw there was an error code but like a dimwit I didn't write it down and now I can't remember it. I think it might have started M=8 but ...

Before I start any serious testing I am copying all on the HD to a USB external HD and, so far, that seems to be going OK, fingers crossed.

From the forum I'm guessing a possible HD failure, but it may respond to a format. However, before I get to that, I have a couple of questions.

If a HD format sorts it out, or, indeed if I replace the HD, can I simply (?) copy back all the programmes that will soon be safely backed up on my EHD? Can I do that through the Hummy or do I have to do it with the PC?

If the HD has to be replaced, I might as well put a 1TB in considering the small difference in price but can I use any HD or does it have to be a specific model?

Thanks in advance.

David

 

[MartinLiddle]

From the forum I'm guessing a possible HD failure, but it may respond to a format. However, before I get to that, I have a couple of questions.

Far and away the best course of action would be to install the custom firmware and have a look at the hard drive SMART data which will give a good indication of the state of the hard drive.

If a HD format sorts it out, or, indeed if I replace the HD, can I simply (?) copy back all the programmes that will soon be safely backed up on my EHD?

Yes

Can I do that through the Hummy or do I have to do it with the PC?

Either.

If the HD has to be replaced, I might as well put a 1TB in considering the small difference in price but can I use any HD or does it have to be a specific model?

I think best practice is to fit a drive designed for PVR usage; both Seagate and Western Digital offer suitable drives. Personally I chose a Seagate and have had no problems with the replacement in eighteen months.

 

[dragnil]

Far and away the best course of action would be to install the custom firmware and have a look at the hard drive SMART data which will give a good indication of the state of the hard drive.

Yes

Either.

I think best practice is to fit a drive designed for PVR usage; both Seagate and Western Digital offer suitable drives. Personally I chose a Seagate and have had no problems with the replacement in eighteen months.

Thanks, Martin, that's very helpful. I do have the custom firmware installed and was about to ask where the SMART data could be found but I've just found the diagnostics. I'm a bit hesitant about running the disk test while copying to the EHD is going on so I'll do it when I've got all the data backed up. I idly pressed the Humax Portal button a while ago and it crashed so I'll just leave it alone and let it do the copying thing without any annoyance.
Thanks again.

 

[Black Hole]

The disk test / repair operations can only be performed in what we call "maintenance mode", during which all other disk accesses are shut out.

Quick Guide to Disk Recovery (click)

 

[dragnil]

All is safely backed up now and to my inexperienced eye the HD reports seem ok. Shall I just carry on and make a note of any error messages if another failure occurs? Strangely, the crash log shows only 1 this month so it may be terminology, I wouldn't say the Humax crashed the other day - it didn't die and restart it just "hung" with a green screen and wouldn't respond to any input except the power off/on switch. I'm puzzled.

 

[MontysEvilTwin]

They do lock up occasionally. Sometimes you just have to switch them off and back on again!
The hard disk looks OK to me based on the SMART statistics (I am not an expert). The thing that struck me is that you have never run a disk check. This means that you have never run fix-disk either. I know this is in the non-customised section, but it would be a good idea to run fix-disk as you may have file system errors.

 

[MartinLiddle]

All is safely backed up now and to my inexperienced eye the HD reports seem ok.

Yes I would say that looks perfect. I agree with MontsEvilTwin that running fix-disk to check the logical file structure would be a good idea.

 

[dragnil]

I would be quite confident with this if the disk was in my PC but I'm floundering somewhat here. Does this mean I've got to go into the Maintenance Mode - for the first timer it seems that "there be dragons" ;o) Can you walk me through it please?

 

[Ezra Pound]

Have a look at the WiKi Maintenance Mode Disk Check Page HERE

 

[MartinLiddle]

Does this mean I've got to go into the Maintenance Mode - for the first timer it seems that "there be dragons" ;o) Can you walk me through it please?

The Wiki is your friend try http://wiki.hummy.tv/wiki/Maintenance_Mode

 

[dragnil]

Many thanks to you both. I've not used Telnet for donkeys years but it's all done, Fixdisk ran in about 20 mins and completed with no alarming messages and Hummy should now be restarting out of Maintenance mode. Fingers crossed that this was just one of those transient events which come along to trim just a few off our ration of heartbeats. Thanks again to one of the best forums I know.
David

 

[MartinLiddle]

Many thanks to you both. I've not used Telnet for donkeys years but it's all done, Fixdisk ran in about 20 mins and completed with no alarming messages .

Good; at least you should no longer have the nagging doubt that the hard drive is about to expire.

 

[Black Hole]

It doesn't seem to have been mentioned specifically: for other readers' benefit, note that the disk SMART stats record physical disk problems, whereas "fix disk" examines the consistency of the information the the operating system constructs on the disk to create the storage structures. The data structure can become corrupt without the disk being physically compromised, and fix-disk attempts to restore the structure by analysis, redundant information, and best guesses.