New HDD advice required

gat

Member
Hi,

My HDD is old and knackered so i want to replace it with a 1TB HDD, perhaps larger. Can anyone answer these questions:

- if i backup the encrypted files on my old hdd and restore them on my new hdd, will they work? Is the encryption linked to the drive or to the main pcb?

- i presume that i just drop in the new hdd and select format option in humax menu and job done, if 1tb?

- can anyone recommend a good compatible 1tb drive - is red or green best?

- as above but for >1tb?

- i understand that hdd >1tb requiring partitioning to work? Is this something that can be done using custom fw (which i already have installed)?

Thanks.
 
1. Yes. They will work.
2. Yes. Up to 2TB but larger ones can be used with CF
3. Wait for an expert
4. See 3
5. Wrong understanding. It doesn't. The box will partition as required up to 2TB .
 
Hi,

My HDD is old and knackered so i want to replace it with a 1TB HDD, perhaps larger. Can anyone answer these questions:
Are you sure the old hard drive is knackered; perhaps you would like to post the out put from the hard diagnostic so that we can offer an opinion.
- can anyone recommend a good compatible 1tb drive - is red or green best?
https://www.ebuyer.com/414223-seagate-2tb-pipeline-internal-hard-drive-st2000vm003
I have been running a 2TB Seagate ST2000VMoo3 for getting on for three years now and it has passed 20,000 power on hours without problem.
https://www.ebuyer.com/414223-seagate-2tb-pipeline-internal-hard-drive-st2000vm003
 
All your questions have already been answered here:

Things Every... (click) section 5
Things Every... (click) section 12
https://wiki.hummy.tv/wiki/Very_Large_Hard_Drive
https://wiki.hummy.tv/wiki/2TB_Disk_Installation_Blog (note that the current Humax firmware can now handle drives up to 2TB, but the blog talks about factors choosing a drive)
https://hummy.tv/forum/threads/best-hdd-from-amazon.7582/

...and before any of that:
Quick Guide to Disk Recovery (click)
 
@ GAT I have been using the same drive as MartinLiddle in mine with no problems, so that would be my suggestion (Or the smaller 1TB version). But for ease of fitting etc, just buy one of these and bung it in.
But first, do as Martin said in his first paragraph of post #3, as it's possible that there is not a lot wrong with your drive and just needs a bit of TLC via the custom firmware.
 
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Thanks all. Using the standard Humax gui menu, i have reformatted my suspect old hdd and then ran the hdd test from the same menu. I got error 8 and was instructed to format the hdd again. I reformatted again and the subsequent hdd test gave error 10 and instructed me to reformat. I guess this is proof enough that my hdd is knackered?
 
Using the Humax menus? I thought you said you have the CF installed, so why not give it a try?
 
I guess this is proof enough that my hdd is knackered?
No, but as you seem determined not to run the suggested test routines, then just go ahead and stick a 2TB Seagate ST2000VMoo3 in it and let the box do its stuff. You will of course lose existing recorded stuff, but you should be able to copy it back using a powered SATA to USB adaptor and the standard UI copy facility (if you can work out how the hell to 'drive' it).

But there are better solutions and help is available to 'recover' your existing HDD, should you care to take them up.
 
I guess this is proof enough that my hdd is knackered?
No. Knackered normally means that it can't be fixed.

Black Hole gave you a link earlier at the end of post #4 which includes steps which may fix it. If those steps do not fix it then yes it probably either is knackered or should be treated as knackered.
The process isn't as complicated as it may first appear, especially as you already have a version of the custom firmware installed, (https://hummy.tv/forum/threads/playback-from-nas-drive.7579/#post-103121) , though there might be a newer improved disk fixing version available now.

Having a version of the custom firmware installed will also enable you to post a snapshot of the HDD smart data that can be displayed via the web-if.
 
You seem a bit miffed that i having tried the routines in the cfw.
The hdd is backed up so i don't care if i lose data on the hdd, hence why I tried a more brutal format followed by a hdd test which failed.
Having been a s/w engineer for over 30yrs, experience tells me the drive is on its last legs and any recovery is false economy. I spend all day writing software so i don't really fancy spending my evenings trying to wring out an extra few months of hdd life only for it to fail more severely in a few months time.
My original post was merely asking for advice on which hdd to buy and thanks for the advice on this.
 
If you tried it you would find it’s a quick and simple process. It takes longer to describe than trigger it off. It is the product of hundreds of hours of work, and far more advanced than the Humax firmware has to offer. You may be right, but there’s nothing to lose by running it.
 
I did try fix-disk last night via a telnet session and i got loads and loads of LBA errors and i kept getting prompted for y/n on each one which was frustrating. Eventually it all hanged so tried again and same issue so I had enough of that and opted to reformat and see what happens. I will try once more but i do enough of this stuff at work so its the last thing i want to be doing in my spare time. Besides its a good excuse to give the missus for buying a new hdd and upgrading from 500gb.
 
Not miffed at all, just surprised that you apparently ignored the suggestions that BH or ML indicated.
I did try fix-disk last night via a telnet session and i got loads and loads of LBA errors
But you didn't tell us that.:frantic:
Besides its a good excuse to give the missus for buying a new hdd and upgrading from 500gb.
That's a fine idea and the one that I used to stick a 2TB in mine (and it doesn't really matter whether it is borked or not unless she it=s a HDD diagnostic guru).:D
I believe that there is a fairly recent update to the fix disk package. What version of the custom firmware are you running?
 
The hdd is backed up so i don't care if i lose data on the hdd, hence why I tried a more brutal format followed by a hdd test which failed.
A 'brutal format' as you call it just recreates the filesystem. It does NOT fix any underlying problems with bad sectors, which is why you got the errors again.
Having been a s/w engineer for over 30yrs, experience tells me the drive is on its last legs and any recovery is false economy.
Really? Based on no hardware data whatsoever you have deduced this?
You don't really seem to have any appreciation of the bigger picture.
I hope I never have to use anything written by you. I wonder what other false assumptions you have programmed into things.
 
A simple SMART dump would be more informative than any of the above. However, as the man said, he just wants an excuse to get a new disk.
 
A 'brutal format' as you call it just recreates the filesystem. It does NOT fix any underlying problems with bad sectors, which is why you got the errors again.

Really? Based on no hardware data whatsoever you have deduced this?
You don't really seem to have any appreciation of the bigger picture.
I hope I never have to use anything written by you. I wonder what other false assumptions you have programmed into things.

By brutal, i meant in terms of erasing data - of course it only recreates the fs and i never expected it to fix hdd problems. What makes you think i don't have any hardware data? Don't make assumptions! I have been monitoring the SMART stats over the last few weeks. In my experience once hard disks start to fail then its safest to replace them, especially at today's prices. Data integrity is important.
My original post asked for advice on hdd replacement, not advice on hdd recovery.

Btw -I'm afraid you may well be using software i have written, if you have a smart tv, mobile phone or going back many years, a Triumph Acclaim (remember the voice?). Admittedly, the chances of the latter are very remote, and it was a cr£p car. Oh, and many device drivers too, including SCSI.
 
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In which case, thanks for all your hard work.
My original post asked for advice on hdd replacement, not advice on hdd recovery.
Ok, that's fine, but 'we' don't usually get such learned and skillful people asking the same question here, and 'we' like to help them to possibly save themselves money by helping them diagnose if the HDD actually needs replacement or their symptoms are caused by 'something else'.
As a skilled software writer, you presumably ask people who suggest something's wrong with your product what diagnostic tests they have run or what symptoms they are getting so that you can repeat the symptoms an fix the problem. That's all that's been happening here, but you have been reluctant to come forward with the asked for info, or reacted to the questions
I have been monitoring the SMART stats over the last few weeks.
You didn't tell us that and you also said this
You seem a bit miffed that i having tried the routines in the cfw.
which doesn't really make a lot of sense and certainly doesn't explain the diagnostic procedures that you had actually taken.

Anyway
just go ahead and stick a 2TB Seagate ST2000VMoo3 in it and let the box do its stuff.
:D However there are ways of putting larger HDDs in should you wish to HERE.
 
What makes you think i don't have any hardware data? Don't make assumptions! I have been monitoring the SMART stats over the last few weeks. In my experience once hard disks start to fail then its safest to replace them, especially at today's prices. Data integrity is important.
OK that is fine. If you go back and look at my first post I only enquired (I hope) politely whether you wanted to share the SMART data. We have had cases in the past where users have been replacing hard drives with nothing wrong with them and cases where users have been trying to repair utterly knackered hard drives; sometimes we can point less experienced users in the right direction.
 
By brutal, i meant in terms of erasing data - of course it only recreates the fs and i never expected it to fix hdd problems.
That's not what you implied in post #10.
What makes you think i don't have any hardware data?
Because you didn't say and you tried (pointlessly) fixing a higher level thing without (apparrently) considering the lower level thing. Reformatting is never going to fix LBA errors.
Don't make assumptions!
It's difficult not to when what you said pointed elsewhere.
I have been monitoring the SMART stats over the last few weeks.
So what do they say?

FWIW: I do have a Smart TV, but don't use it as such; I do have a (work) mobile phone but I expect you didn't work for the company that produced those white goods; I have thankfully never had anything to do with Triumph; I used to run SCSI disks but not for at least 12 years (but I doubt you had anything to do with the OS drivers I used anyway) - the last thing I bought made a hideous racket and irritating seeking/parking noises - then cheap, reliable, quiet, simple setup ATA disks came along.
 
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