I think my Humax is dying 😭

My trusty and faithful Humax, which I’ve had for years and hasn’t given me a moment of trouble is sick.

It takes ages to do anything which requires the HDD to be used and there’s often jittering in the picture. I love the customised firmware and I’d be lost without it.

I noticed an error message on the web interface and it took me to the screen I’ve attached below.

Does anyone know a) whatever it all means?, and b) is there anything I can do to save it?

Thanks hopefully. 36C84A11-43BC-48E9-8A24-1751AB301286.png
 
The orange means that a single sector of the disk is giving problems. If you have the custom firmware installed (or are prepared to install it) then try running fix-disk and see if that corrects the problem.
 
The orange means that a single sector of the disk is giving problems. If you have the custom firmware installed (or are prepared to install it) then try running fix-disk and see if that corrects the problem.
Thanks for that. I’m either blind or stupid but I just cannot find where to run fix-disk from. I’ve gone to the drop-down menu in diagnostics and just can’t see it.
 
If you have the custom firmware installed...
How could he not have, given that display is only produced by the WebIf, and he already said he did?
I’m either blind or stupid but I just cannot find where to run fix-disk from.
Use the Maintenance Mode icon in the Utilities section on the Diagnostics page. Once you've rebooted, you will need to Telnet (or SSH or Webshell) into the box to actually run fix-disk.
 
It isn't really. I would suggest you install the Webshell package, reboot, then go to Diagnostics, Maintenance Mode. Everything is handled in the browser, which I think you might be happier using.
 
It isn't really. I would suggest you install the Webshell package, reboot, then go to Diagnostics, Maintenance Mode. Everything is handled in the browser, which I think you might be happier using.

Great! Thanks for that! I’ll have a look when I get in.

I suppose if all’s lost, and the HDD can’t be saved, I could always install a new one.
 
I suppose if all’s lost, and the HDD can’t be saved, I could always install a new one.
From what you posted, I think there is a good chance of recovery here.
In addition to Black Hole's guide, there is an old one on the wiki at https://wiki.hummy.tv/wiki/Maintenance_Mode_Disk_Check which I find easier to read. Although that pre-dates webshell - just use that as prpr suggested and you'll see the menus in your web browser instead of having to use a dedicated telnet client (which is just a piece of software).
 
Right...

Firstly- a huge thanks to you guys for your help and advice.

Secondly, my Humax is as snappy and responsive as if it was a newborn babe straight from the factory.

Thirdly- it has stopped doing that weird jittering thing that I thought was due to a bad signal during certain shows.

Now- some notes I’ve made that may help other users:

The webshell thing is excellent. Thanks to whoever coded it.

I tried initally to enter Maintenence mode from the web interface. It turns out that if you just click the Command Line icon, it will switch it for you.

Now, here’s where I had a problem. I’d switch to Maintenence mode, the Humax would reboot, display a TV picture, the display on the box would say “entering Maintenence mode”, then change to “wifi”, display an IP address of 192.0.2.200 and then promptly crash completely. It wouldn’t respond to anything. I tried using that IP to access it, but my browser told me that “the server has stopped responding”.

I tried repeating this over and over. I unplugged the external HDD I use, that didn’t work, I ran fix flash packages and that didn’t fix anything either.

Anyway, my Edimax WiFi adapter was what was causing the crash. I connected the Humax using the Ethernet and it behaved impeccably from there on.

Fix disk was able to find and repair a couple of bad sectors and it threw up an error about a missing file belonging to redring.

So- anyway. I hope something here may be some use to someone, and thanks again!
 
I tried initally to enter Maintenence mode from the web interface. It turns out that if you just click the Command Line icon, it will switch it for you.
The option is available on the Telnet Menu (also accessible via Webshell), but it won't just switch it for you.
 
From what you posted, I think there is a good chance of recovery here.
In addition to Black Hole's guide, there is an old one on the wiki at https://wiki.hummy.tv/wiki/Maintenance_Mode_Disk_Check which I find easier to read. Although that pre-dates webshell - just use that as prpr suggested and you'll see the menus in your web browser instead of having to use a dedicated telnet client (which is just a piece of software).

This has just saved my bacon after the disk developed a bad sector. Two slight issues: For some reason, it gave the date as 16 November. And at one point, it said

The following file contains a corrupt block and can not be fully recovered.
You may wish to delete it or recover from backup.

debugfs 1.42.13 (17-May-2015)
Inode Pathnam

but no file was named.

Both the webif and the box's native hd diagnostic both report that the disk is now ok, but I's be grateful if you could cast an eye over the telnet transcript below for potential problems.

Code:
Maintenance mode is initialising... Please wait...                                                                                                                 
.....                                                                                                                                                             
Menu version 1.23                                                                                                                                                 
Enter system PIN: ****                                                                                                                                             
                                                                                                                                                                  
      /---------------------------------------------\                                                                                                             
      |  M A I N T E N A N C E   M O D E   M E N U  |                                                                                                             
      \---------------------------------------------/                                                                                                             
                                                                                                                                                                  
  [ Humax HDR-Fox T2 (humax2) 1.03.12/3.13 ]                                                                                                                       
                                                                                                                                                                  
 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 (-h for list or press return for none):                                                                                                     
Are you sure you wish to run the hard disk checker? [Y/N] y                                                                                                       
Running /bin/fix-disk                                                                                                                                             
                                                                                                                                                                  
Checking disk sdb (512 byte sectors)                                                                                                                               
                                                                                                                                                                  
Unmounted /dev/sdb1                                                                                                                                               
Unmounted /dev/sdb2                                                                                                                                               
Unmounted /dev/sdb3                                                                                                                                               
                                                                                                                                                                  
                                                                                                                                                                  
Running short disk self test                                                                                                                                       
Error at LBA 2175084
Do you wish to attempt repair of the bad block? [Y/N]: y                                                                                                           
                                                                                                                                                                  
/dev/sdb:                                                                                                                                                         
re-writing sector 2175084: succeeded                                                                                                                               
                                                                                                                                                                  
Running short disk self test                                                                                                                                       


No pending sectors found - skipping sector repair                                                                                                                 
                                                                                                                                                                  
Checking partition tables...                                                                                                                                       
                                                                                                                                                                  
MBR Status: MBR only                                                                                                                                               
GPT Status: not present                                                                                                                                           
                                                                                                                                                                  
Using superblock 0 on sdb1                                                                                                                                         
Using superblock 0 on sdb2                                                                                                                                         
Using superblock 0 on sdb3                                                                                                                                         
Dev: /dev/sdb LBA: 2175084                                                                                                                                         
LBA: 2175084 is on partition /dev/sdb2, start: 2104515, bad sector offset: 70569                                                                                   
dumpe2fs 1.42.13 (17-May-2015)                                                                                                                                     
Using superblock 0                                                                                                                                                 
Block size: 4096                                                                                                                                                   
LBA 2175084 maps to file system block 8821 on /dev/sdb2                                                                                                           
                                                                                                                                                                  
Checking to see if this block is in use...                                                                                                                         
debugfs 1.42.13 (17-May-2015)                                                                                                                                     
Block 8821 is marked as in use                                                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                                                  
Searching for inode...                                                                                                                                             
debugfs 1.42.13 (17-May-2015)                                                                                                                                     
Inode: 8                                                                                                                                                           
                                                                                                                                                                  
The following file contains a corrupt block and can not be fully recovered.                                                                                       
You may wish to delete it or recover from backup.                                                                                                                 
                                                                                                                                                                  
debugfs 1.42.13 (17-May-2015)                                                                                                                                     
Inode   Pathname                                                                                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                                                  
                                                                                                                                                                  
Wed Nov 16 12:43:29 GMT 2011: Checking partition /dev/sdb3...                                                                                                     
e2fsck 1.42.13 (17-May-2015)                                                                                                                                       
Pass 1: Checking inodes, blocks, and sizes                                                                                                                         
Pass 1: Memory used: 240k/0k (157k/84k), time: 12.30/ 5.58/ 2.63                                                                                                 
Pass 1: I/O read: 165MB, write: 0MB, rate: 13.41MB/s                                                                                                               
Pass 2: Checking directory structure                                                                                                                               
Pass 2: Memory used: 340k/0k (259k/82k), time:  0.03/ 0.00/ 0.01                                                                                                   
Pass 2: I/O read: 1MB, write: 0MB, rate: 38.81MB/s                                                                                                                 
Pass 3: Checking directory connectivity                                                                                                                           
Peak memory: Memory used: 340k/0k (260k/81k), time: 12.95/ 5.85/ 2.69                                                                                             
Pass 3A: Memory used: 340k/0k (259k/82k), time:  0.00/ 0.00/ 0.00                                                                                                 
Pass 3A: I/O read: 0MB, write: 0MB, rate: 0.00MB/s                                                                                                                 
Pass 3: Memory used: 340k/0k (259k/82k), time:  0.00/ 0.00/ 0.00                                                                                                   
Pass 3: I/O read: 0MB, write: 0MB, rate: 0.00MB/s                                                                                                                 
Pass 4: Checking reference counts                                                                                                                                 
Pass 4: Memory used: 340k/0k (53k/288k), time:  1.20/ 1.18/ 0.00                                                                                                 
Pass 4: I/O read: 0MB, write: 0MB, rate: 0.00MB/s                                                                                                                 
Pass 5: Checking group summary information                                                                                                                         
Pass 5: Memory used: 340k/0k (53k/288k), time:  3.05/ 2.34/ 0.03                                                                                                 
Pass 5: I/O read: 1MB, write: 0MB, rate: 0.33MB/s                                                                                                                 
                                                                                                                                                                  
          17 inodes used (0.00%, out of 655776)                                                                                                                   
           2 non-contiguous files (11.8%)                                                                                                                         
           0 non-contiguous directories (0.0%)                                                                                                                     
             # of inodes with ind/dind/tind blocks: 5/2/0                                                                                                         
      629054 blocks used (23.99%, out of 2622611)                                                                                                                 
           0 bad blocks                                                                                                                                           
           1 large file                                                                                                                                           
                                                                                                                                                                  
           6 regular files                                                                                                                                         
           2 directories                                                                                                                                           
           0 character device files                                                                                                                               
           0 block device files                                                                                                                                   
           0 fifos                                                                                                                                                 
           0 links                                                                                                                                                 
           0 symbolic links (0 fast symbolic links)                                                                                                               
           0 sockets                                                                                                                                               
------------                                                                                                                                                       
           8 files                                                                                                                                                 
Memory used: 340k/0k (53k/288k), time: 17.24/ 9.36/ 2.73                                                                                                           
I/O read: 167MB, write: 1MB, rate: 9.69MB/s                                                                                                                       
Wed Nov 16 12:43:47 GMT 2011                                                                                                                                       
                                                                                                                                                                  
Wed Nov 16 12:43:47 GMT 2011: Checking partition /dev/sdb1...                                                                                                     
e2fsck 1.42.13 (17-May-2015)                                                                                                                                       
Pass 1: Checking inodes, blocks, and sizes                                                                                                                         
Pass 1: Memory used: 140k/0k (62k/79k), time:  0.72/ 0.20/ 0.37                                                                                                   
Pass 1: I/O read: 17MB, write: 0MB, rate: 23.70MB/s                                                                                                               
Pass 2: Checking directory structure                                                                                                                               
Pass 2: Memory used: 140k/0k (72k/69k), time:  0.01/ 0.00/ 0.00                                                                                                   
Pass 2: I/O read: 1MB, write: 0MB, rate: 112.88MB/s                                                                                                               
Pass 3: Checking directory connectivity                                                                                                                           
Peak memory: Memory used: 140k/0k (72k/69k), time:  0.85/ 0.23/ 0.38                                                                                               
Pass 3A: Memory used: 140k/0k (72k/69k), time:  0.00/ 0.00/ 0.00                                                                                                   
Pass 3A: I/O read: 0MB, write: 0MB, rate: 0.00MB/s                                                                                                                 
Pass 3: Memory used: 140k/0k (71k/70k), time:  0.00/ 0.00/ 0.00                                                                                                   
Pass 3: I/O read: 0MB, write: 0MB, rate: 0.00MB/s                                                                                                                 
Pass 4: Checking reference counts                                                                                                                                 
Pass 4: Memory used: 140k/0k (50k/91k), time:  0.10/ 0.10/ 0.00                                                                                                   
Pass 4: I/O read: 0MB, write: 0MB, rate: 0.00MB/s                                                                                                                 
Pass 5: Checking group summary information                                                                                                                         
Pass 5: Memory used: 140k/0k (50k/91k), time:  0.36/ 0.25/ 0.01                                                                                                   
Pass 5: I/O read: 1MB, write: 0MB, rate: 2.74MB/s                                                                                                                 
                                                                                                                                                                  
          14 inodes used (0.02%, out of 65808)                                                                                                                     
           0 non-contiguous files (0.0%)                                                                                                                           
           0 non-contiguous directories (0.0%)                                                                                                                     
             # of inodes with ind/dind/tind blocks: 2/0/0                                                                                                         
       13419 blocks used (5.10%, out of 263064)                                                                                                                   
           0 bad blocks                                                                                                                                           
           1 large file                                                                                                                                           
                                                                                                                                                                  
           2 regular files                                                                                                                                         
           3 directories                                                                                                                                           
           0 character device files                                                                                                                               
           0 block device files                                                                                                                                   
           0 fifos                                                                                                                                                 
           0 links                                                                                                                                                 
           0 symbolic links (0 fast symbolic links)                                                                                                               
           0 sockets                                                                                                                                               
------------                                                                                                                                                       
           5 files                                                                                                                                                 
Memory used: 140k/0k (50k/91k), time:  1.33/ 0.58/ 0.39                                                                                                           
I/O read: 17MB, write: 1MB, rate: 12.78MB/s                                                                                                                       
Wed Nov 16 12:43:48 GMT 2011                                                                                                                                       
                                                                                                                                                                  
Creating swap file...                                                                                                                                             
Setting up swapspace version 1, size = 1073737728 bytes                                                                                                           
UUID=529c25b2-968d-4d0d-87c4-4c403e0a2761                                                                                                                         
                                                                                                                                                                  
Wed Nov 16 12:44:12 GMT 2011: Checking partition /dev/sdb2...                                                                                                     
e2fsck 1.42.13 (17-May-2015)                                                                                                                                       
Pass 1: Checking inodes, blocks, and sizes                                                                                                                         
Pass 1: Memory used: 620k/4672k (455k/166k), time: 1211.50/650.44/81.86                                                                                           
Pass 1: I/O read: 7519MB, write: 0MB, rate: 6.21MB/s                                                                                                               
Pass 2: Checking directory structure                                                                                                                               
Pass 2: Memory used: 620k/9344k (441k/180k), time:  2.72/ 0.67/ 0.14                                                                                             
Pass 2: I/O read: 5MB, write: 0MB, rate: 1.84MB/s                                                                                                                 
Pass 3: Checking directory connectivity                                                                                                                           
Peak memory: Memory used: 620k/9344k (441k/180k), time: 1232.64/668.97/82.06                                                                                       
Pass 3A: Memory used: 620k/9344k (453k/168k), time:  0.00/ 0.00/ 0.00                                                                                             
Pass 3A: I/O read: 0MB, write: 0MB, rate: 0.00MB/s                                                                                                                 
Pass 3: Memory used: 620k/9344k (435k/186k), time:  0.06/ 0.03/ 0.00                                                                                               
Pass 3: I/O read: 1MB, write: 0MB, rate: 15.59MB/s                                                                                                                 
Pass 4: Checking reference counts                                                                                                                                 
Pass 4: Memory used: 620k/0k (382k/239k), time: 46.62/45.96/ 0.04                                                                                                 
Pass 4: I/O read: 0MB, write: 0MB, rate: 0.00MB/s                                                                                                                 
Pass 5: Checking group summary information                                                                                                                         
Pass 5: Memory used: 620k/0k (369k/252k), time: 119.80/90.83/ 1.16                                                                                               
Pass 5: I/O read: 29MB, write: 0MB, rate: 0.24MB/s                                                                                                                 
                                                                                                                                                                  
        9746 inodes used (0.03%, out of 29860704)                                                                                                                 
         268 non-contiguous files (2.7%)                                                                                                                           
          14 non-contiguous directories (0.1%)                                                                                                                     
             # of inodes with ind/dind/tind blocks: 707/207/5                                                                                                     
    59927451 blocks used (50.27%, out of 119209984)                                                                                                               
           0 bad blocks                                                                                                                                           
          39 large files                                                                                                                                           
                                                                                                                                                                  
        8101 regular files                                                                                                                                         
         405 directories                                                                                                                                           
           2 character device files                                                                                                                               
           0 block device files                                                                                                                                   
           0 fifos                                                                                                                                                 
           2 links                                                                                                                                                 
        1229 symbolic links (1227 fast symbolic links)                                                                                                             
           0 sockets                                                                                                                                               
------------                                                                                                                                                       
        9739 files                                                                                                                                                 
Memory used: 620k/0k (369k/252k), time: 1399.20/805.79/83.26                                                                                                       
I/O read: 7553MB, write: 1MB, rate: 5.40MB/s                                                                                                                       
Wed Nov 16 13:07:32 GMT 2011                                                                                                                                       
Removing extra swap space.                                                                                                                                         
                                                                                                                                                                  
Finished                                                                                                                                                           
fix-disk: session terminated with exit status 0                                                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                                                  
Press return to continue:
 
That looks fine to me - just a single block on the disk that had been flagged as 'suspect' and has now either been repaired or reallocated (you can tell by checking the count of reallocated sectors in the disk diagnostics screen).
 
it gave the date as 16 November.
What did?
Code:
Searching for inode... 
debugfs 1.42.13 (17-May-2015) 
Inode: 8 

The following file contains a corrupt block and can not be fully recovered. 
You may wish to delete it or recover from backup. 

debugfs 1.42.13 (17-May-2015) 
Inode Pathname
Inode 8 is to do with the filesystem journaling, and doesn't relate to any particular file, which is why it didn't find it.
This presumably sorts itself out with a reboot anyway.
 
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