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'HDD Storage Must Be Formatted' message after running fixdisk

H

Howard S

New Member
Hi

I'm hoping that someone will be able to give me some guidance with the following issue.

I've been reading through the posts on this forum (a wonderful resource btw), but being a Humax/Linux newbie, I'm not sure how to proceed.

An elderly relative has asked me to look at his HDR-FOX T2, which was demonstrating the following symptoms using the manufacturer's firmware:

  • The Pause Live TV feature had stopped working
  • The menu system was intermittently very sluggish (e.g. taking a minute to respond to a button press)
  • Playback of previously recorded material was freezing at intermittent (but not repeatable) points.
  • Unable to make new recordings.
  • The HDD Test in the Data Storage menu reported an error.
  • No abnormal sounds from the HDD.

I did the following:

1. I loaded on the latest custom firmware (3.10), put the box into maintenance mode and ran fixdisk via telnet.
2. I expected this to take some while, but within a second it had come back with an error message (I didn't make a note of it but I think "line 600: arithmetic syntax error", and took me back to the maintenance mode menu.
3. I tried the short/long/check options, but these just took me straight back to the menu with no output.
4. I exited maintenance mode, and after restarting the Humax box threw a message on the TV saying 'The HDD Storage must be formatted to use recording functions. Press OK to go to the Data Storage Menu".
5. In the Data Storage Menu, the disk is showing as Zero size, and I get HDD Test - Fail
6. I took the custom firmware off and re-tried the manufacturer's firmware - but got the same "HDD Storage must be formatted" message.
7. I tried repeating steps 1 to 5 using the 3.03 version of the custom firmware, and got very similar results.
8. I've just re-applied custom firmware 3.10 and just re-run fixdisk. This returns:

Code: 
      /---------------------------------------------\
      |  M A I N T E N A N C E   M O D E   M E N U  |
      \---------------------------------------------/

  [ Humax HDR-Fox T2 (humax) 1.03.12/3.10 ]

  Note: Some areas of the hard disk are not mounted.
        Not all functions will be available.
        (normal if you have just run a disk check)

fixdisk - Check and repair hard disk.
   short - Run short hard-disk self test.
    long - Run long hard-disk self test.
   check - Check self-test progress.
    gptf - Re-format disk using GPT scheme.
     epg - Clear persistent EPG data.
    dlna - Reset DLNA server database.
       x - Leave maintenance mode (Humax will restart).
    diag - Run a diagnostic.
     cli - System command line (advanced users).

Please select option: fixdisk
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 3.10

HDIO_DRIVE_CMD(identify) failed: Input/output error
Could not determine drive sector size, assuming 512

Checking disk sda (512 byte sectors)

Partition /dev/sda1 is already unmounted
Partition /dev/sda2 is already unmounted
Partition /dev/sda3 is already unmounted

/bin/fix-disk: line 600: arithmetic syntax error

Press return to continue:

My relative has several years of recordings on the box (all SD as far as he can tell me), and the priority is to try to get these back for him (in addition to fixing his player).

As I'm in unfamiliar territory, I may need a bit of handholding with any suggestions, but I'm more than willing to look things up and learn.

Many thanks in advance to anyone who is able to help me.

Regards,
Howard.
 
It looks like the disk may have developed a hardware fault affecting the interface, but please try version 3.10k and see if that gets any further.
 
Many thanks for the very speedy reply! :)

We have progress with 3.10k:

Code: 
      /---------------------------------------------\
      |  M A I N T E N A N C E   M O D E   M E N U  |
      \---------------------------------------------/

  [ Humax HDR-Fox T2 (humax) 1.03.12/3.10 ]

  Note: Some areas of the hard disk are not mounted.
        Not all functions will be available.
        (normal if you have just run a disk check)

fixdisk - Check and repair hard disk.
   short - Run short hard-disk self test.
    long - Run long hard-disk self test.
   check - Check self-test progress.
    gptf - Re-format disk using GPT scheme.
     epg - Clear persistent EPG data.
    dlna - Reset DLNA server database.
       x - Leave maintenance mode (Humax will restart).
    diag - Run a diagnostic.
     cli - System command line (advanced users).

Please select option: fixdisk
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 3.10


Checking disk sda (512 byte sectors)

Unmounted /dev/sda1
Partition /dev/sda2 is already unmounted
Partition /dev/sda3 is already unmounted


Running short disk self test
Error at LBA 0
Do you wish to attempt repair of the bad block? [Y/N]:

Should I say 'Y' to the question...?
 
I decided to take the plunge and said 'Y'. Am I stuck in a loop...?

Code: 
Running short disk self test
Error at LBA 0
Do you wish to attempt repair of the bad block? [Y/N]: Y

/dev/sda:
re-writing sector 0: succeeded

Running short disk self test
Error at LBA 0
Do you wish to attempt repair of the bad block? [Y/N]: Y

/dev/sda:
re-writing sector 0: succeeded

Running short disk self test
Error at LBA 0
Do you wish to attempt repair of the bad block? [Y/N]:
 
I progressed from there to messages about the partition table being corrupt, and have ended up back at the maintenance menu. Another attempt at fixdisk has returned me to the same arithmetic syntax error as originally...

Code: 
Running short disk self test
Error at LBA 0
Do you wish to attempt repair of the bad block? [Y/N]: N
Skipped repair of LBA 0

Checking partition tables...

MBR Status: MBR only
GPT Status:

Partition table is missing/corrupt. If the disk has not been formatted by
the Humax, recovery by fix-disk may not be successful.

Searching for partitions...

Partition 1 starts @ 2, ends @ 2104514
Partition 2 starts @ 2104515, ends @ 1932539174
Partition 3 starts @ 1932539175, ends @ 1953520064
Do you wish to attempt repair of the partition table? [Y/N]: Y

/dev/sda:
re-reading partition table
New partition table has been created

/dev/sda:
re-reading partition table
Partition table is missing/corrupt. If the disk has not been formatted by
the Humax, recovery by fix-disk may not be successful.

Searching for partitions...

Unable to find partition 1, exiting...

Press return to continue:
.
.
.

Please select option: fixdisk
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 3.10

HDIO_DRIVE_CMD(identify) failed: Input/output error
Could not determine drive sector size, assuming 512

Checking disk sda (512 byte sectors)

/bin/fix-disk: line 600: arithmetic syntax error

Press return to continue:

Any further suggestions?
 
It looks like your partition table was corrupt and fix-disk has now re-created it for you. Try restarting and then going back into maintenance mode and running another fix-disk.
 
I seem to have got a little bit further by following your advice, but a different error message now:

Code: 
  /---------------------------------------------\
      |  M A I N T E N A N C E   M O D E   M E N U  |
      \---------------------------------------------/

  [ Humax HDR-Fox T2 (humax) 1.03.12/3.10 ]

  Note: Some areas of the hard disk are not mounted.
        Not all functions will be available.
        (normal if you have just run a disk check)

fixdisk - Check and repair hard disk.
   short - Run short hard-disk self test.
    long - Run long hard-disk self test.
   check - Check self-test progress.
    gptf - Re-format disk using GPT scheme.
     epg - Clear persistent EPG data.
    dlna - Reset DLNA server database.
       x - Leave maintenance mode (Humax will restart).
    diag - Run a diagnostic.
     cli - System command line (advanced users).

Please select option: fixdisk
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 3.10


Checking disk sda (512 byte sectors)



Running short disk self test
Error at LBA 0
Do you wish to attempt repair of the bad block? [Y/N]: Y

/dev/sda:
re-writing sector 0: succeeded

Running short disk self test
Error at LBA 0
Do you wish to attempt repair of the bad block? [Y/N]: N
Skipped repair of LBA 0

Checking partition tables...

MBR Status: MBR only
GPT Status:

Partition table is missing/corrupt. If the disk has not been formatted by
the Humax, recovery by fix-disk may not be successful.

Searching for partitions...

Partition 1 starts @ 2, ends @ 2104514
Partition 2 starts @ 2104515, ends @ 1932539174
Partition 3 starts @ 1932539175, ends @ 1953520064
Do you wish to attempt repair of the partition table? [Y/N]: Y

/dev/sda:
re-reading partition table
New partition table has been created
Disk /dev/sda: 931.5 GiB, 1000204886016 bytes, 1953525168 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disklabel type: dos
Disk identifier: 0xc6ad838c

Device     Boot      Start        End    Sectors   Size Id Type
/dev/sda1                2    2104513    2104512     1G 83 Linux
/dev/sda2          2104515 1932539173 1930434659 920.5G 83 Linux
/dev/sda3       1932539175 1953520063   20980889    10G 83 Linux
Using superblock 0 on sda1
Partition sda2 - Unrecognised partition type, aborting...

Press return to continue:

I tried going around the loop again (out of maintenance, into maintenance, run fixdisk) - and got back to "Unable to find partition 1, exiting..."
Then tried again around the loop, and ended up with the same messages as in the code box immediately above. "Partition sda2 - Unrecognised partition type, aborting..."
 
Is this the end of the road using the custom firmware to fix the disk?

I've been reading on other posts about removing the HDD and attaching to a PC to use external tools to attempt to rescue the files/lost recordings. In your opinion, is this a lost cause (given the about errors) or is there still a chance?
 
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