More USB stick problems

Dave W

Member
The stick in question is a 8GB 'Integral' brand.

Problem 1: I started to copy some 7-minute SD recordings from the Humax to the stick. A notice came up earlier than expected that there was no more room. I then put the stick into a PC, which showed that the files totalled only 2.5GB.

So I moved the files to the PC, emptying the stick. I thought maybe the stick was too fragmented for the Humax, so I full-formatted the stick to FAT32 and took it back to the Humax.

This time I was able to copy more recordings to fill the stick fully, so I thought my problems were over. I moved all the recordings to the PC, resulting in an empty stick according to Windows Explorer.

I put the stick back in the Humax to get more recordings, but a notice came up immediately that there was no room, even though it appeared empty, both on the Humax's file program and on Raydon's custom interface when I tried it. So I gave the stick a 'quick' format on a PC, and was then able to continue as before.

Problem2: I wanted to copy a 2 hour HD program to the stick - the custom software had stopped it being encrypted. A notice came up that only 4GB could be transferred at a time. Eventually I realised that this is the limitation of FAT32. So knowing that the Humax runs on Linux, I formatted the stick as Ext3 using MiniTool Partition Wizard in Windows.

I then put the stick into the Humax, but a notice came up saying it was unrecognised, and that the Humax only recognises FAT32 and Ext3. I thought maybe the formatting wasn't right (maybe it had been led astray by the Ext2Fsd program I have running on the PC to be able to see Ext3 files in Windows), so I formatted it again using Gparted in the Linux partition I have on the PC.

This time the stick was accepted by the Humax. I found via the custom firmware that the file was 7.3GB, so went ahead and copied the file to the stick using the Humax's file management program. The Humax only allows you to copy HD recordings once, and shows a black disc with a red cross on the source and destination of all recordings that have been copied. This icon greys out the green Record button on subsequent attempts. I haven't discovered yet whether it can still be copied via the custom firmware, or if the firmware can remove the icon.

I then put the stick into the PC, but the LED in the stick kept flashing forever, indicating file transfer of some kind, and freezing some PC operations. I put the stick back into the Humax, but again it remained flashing forever. While writing this posting I have had the stick in the PC, but now I see it has stopped flashing, and its contents have appeared in Windows Explorer. So "forever" isn't forever after all, just a very long time!

With the file on my PC, VLC plays the sound but freezes the video on the first frame, but Media Player Classic will play it OK at half size. This is quite understandable as it's HD, and I will see if I can convert it to something more manageable.

So in summary, I would like to know (a) why the Humax doesn't always understand the amount of free space on the stick, and (b) can the custom firmware delete the 'has been copied' icon to allow the Humax to re-copy a file, if the copy has been lost or corrupted?
 
The custom firmware can reset the flag in the .hmt that controls the copy once restriction. However if you have the CF you can copy recordings direct to a PC either by mapping the Foxsat as an external drive or by ftp (to any file system the host supports). Unless the HD recordings were made after Nowsters patch was installed HD is still encrypted so can still only be played back from an external source by the Foxsat that actually recorded it (in all cases the support files are required to playback).
 
So how do I use the custom firmware to reset the flag? I can see no reference to it in the web interface. Perhaps it's a Telnet command? Where is the flag stored - I can't see any likely file that has been modified on the date I copied the .ts file to a stick.
What do the various support files and dot-prefixed folder contain?

Yes I can do the copy direct to a PC, but that ties up the PC and is not particularly fast over wifi.

I have made an avi file from a short extract from a ts file, but the Humax doesn't recognise it. If I made a ts version, could I produce suitable support files for the Humax to play it?
 
So how do I use the custom firmware to reset the flag? I can see no reference to it in the web interface. Perhaps it's a Telnet command? Where is the flag stored - I can't see any likely file that has been modified on the date I copied the .ts file to a stick.
What do the various support files and dot-prefixed folder contain?

Yes I can do the copy direct to a PC, but that ties up the PC and is not particularly fast over wifi.

I have made an avi file from a short extract from a ts file, but the Humax doesn't recognise it. If I made a ts version, could I produce suitable support files for the Humax to play it?

Raydons AV2HDR will create suitable sidecar files from compatible file formats (AVI isn't compatible) and if I remember correctly will reset the copy flag in the .hmt file.

https://myhumax.org/wiki/index.php/Humax_PVR_File_Formats

0x0369 1 byte 0x00 Copy Once flag 0x21=Can't copy again, 0x00=No copy restrictions.

.nts is used for file navigation the other .tac file are the chapter thumbnails.
 
Thanks. I already found Raydon's hmt format elsewhere, and was able to use DOS Debug to change the byte and copy the file back.

I wondered if all the associated files were necessary for Humax to play the tds file, so first I deleted the folder containing the tac files, and it still played. I didn't know the tac files are thumbnails so didn't notice their lack. Then I deleted the nts file. After rebooting the Humax, the file still appeared in the menu, but when I tried to play it nothing happened.

So I copied the nts file back, but didn't notice I had got muddled and put the wrong one back. Of course it didn't work. I then tried what would happen if I just changed the name of this nts file to the same as the ts file. After rebooting, I was amazed to find the ts file still played! However, when fast forwarding, the screen showed rubbish instead of speeded up video. The text that displays with the Info button was unaffected, so I guess it gets it from the hmt or ts file, not the nts file.

Thanks also for making me aware of AV2HDR.
 
That is correct. The .hmt sidecar contains all the metadata about the recording, and the .nts contains indexing information that aids trick play.
 
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