Newbie - how to copy video files to USB storage?

malw77

New Member
Hi everyone! This is my first post, I only got my HDR-Fox 1Tb yesterday. I had hoped to be able to copy recorded programmes to a USB connected memory stick or HDD to watch on my laptop, but from reading some of the threads on this forum I can see it's not as easy as that!

I have connected an external drive to the USB port and the contents are recognised by the Hummy, and can be played. However, when I tried to copy a recorded video file from the int HDD, I wasn't able to do so. Whatever folder I selected or tried to create, the red Copy button was faded out and it just went back to the My Video folder on the internal drive. Then it closed itself down and rebooted, so I stopped trying!

I'm not sure how the USB drive is formatted, I did it some time ago to work with my LG Blu-Ray Player, and so it's probably FAT32 or NTFS, not ext3, which I have to say I've never heard of before. My TV is a relatively new LG full HD 3D model, but as yet we've not switched over to digital, so all Freeview is still SD.

If someone could walk me through how to copy a video file to my USB drive and then be able to play it on my laptop, I'd be very grateful. Many thanks!

Mal
 
Welcome to the Forum.

First let me point you at the general information for newcomers, which can be accessed from the pinned topic at the top of the section listing NEW READERS START HERE (click this link to go straight there).

To address your specific problem, are you copying StDef or HiDef? [Edit: sorry, having re-read I now realise you are still StDef only. The information remains valid for others.] The recordings are encrypted on the internal disk, and HiDef recordings remain encrypted when copied to the USB drive whereas StDef gets decrypted in the process of copying.

The UPD must* be FAT32, NTFS is not writable and might be the cause of your problem. However, FAT32 has its own limitation in that if your recording is larger than 4GB a FAT32 drive can't accommodate it.

Presuming, then, you are trying to transfer a StDef recording less than 4GB (about 3 hours) in size to a FAT32 drive, the steps are as follows - and if they don't work there is something wrong somewhere:
  1. On the handset, press "Media", then used the cursor pad to navigate to the target recording and highlight it.
  2. Press "OPT+" and select "Move/Copy"
  3. You now have to choose where the destination is to be. At the top of the list is "HDD (My Video)". If you don't see this, keep selecting "Upper Folder" until you do.
  4. Below "HDD (My Video)" will be listed your external USB stick (it might be called "drive1"), move the cursor down to it. At this point the red "Move" option will change to "Copy", and pressing Red will start the copy to the root directory on the UPD.
  5. If there are folders on the UPD you wish to use, or you wish to create a folder on the UPD, select "drive1" (or whatever it is called) and you will be given the OPT+ option to create a folder. Highlight the folder you wish to copy into (do not enter it) and the red button "copy" option will be available to start the copy process.
Incidentally, while I was fooling around with the "Move/Copy" options to refresh my memory, my HD-FOX did a hard reset! Aggravating.

* Note that there are ways around the encrypted HiDef copy, and also the non-writable NTFS, which you will find referenced in the link I supplied above. Ext3 is not a good idea for a UPD, Ext2 is possible (but not possible to create with the HDR-FOX, or a Windows system without extra software). Ext3/2 is also not accessible on a Windows system without extra software. Refer to the Glossary (see link above).
 
Welcome to the Forum.

First let me point you at the general information for newcomers, which can be accessed from the pinned topic at the top of the section listing NEW READERS START HERE (click this link to go straight there).

To address your specific problem, are you copying StDef or HiDef? [Edit: sorry, having re-read I now realise you are still StDef only. The information remains valid for others.] The recordings are encrypted on the internal disk, and HiDef recordings remain encrypted when copied to the USB drive whereas StDef gets decrypted in the process of copying.

The UPD must* be FAT32, NTFS is not writable and might be the cause of your problem. However, FAT32 has its own limitation in that if your recording is larger than 4GB a FAT32 drive can't accommodate it.

Presuming, then, you are trying to transfer a StDef recording less than 4GB (about 3 hours) in size to a FAT32 drive, the steps are as follows - and if they don't work there is something wrong somewhere:
  1. On the handset, press "Media", then used the cursor pad to navigate to the target recording and highlight it.
  2. Press "OPT+" and select "Move/Copy"
  3. You now have to choose where the destination is to be. At the top of the list is "HDD (My Video)". If you don't see this, keep selecting "Upper Folder" until you do.
  4. Below "HDD (My Video)" will be listed your external USB stick (it might be called "drive1"), move the cursor down to it. At this point the red "Move" option will change to "Copy", and pressing Red will start the copy to the root directory on the UPD.
  5. If there are folders on the UPD you wish to use, or you wish to create a folder on the UPD, select "drive1" (or whatever it is called) and you will be given the OPT+ option to create a folder. Highlight the folder you wish to copy into (do not enter it) and the red button "copy" option will be available to start the copy process.
Incidentally, while I was fooling around with the "Move/Copy" options to refresh my memory, my HD-FOX did a hard reset! Aggravating.


* Note that there are ways around the encrypted HiDef copy, and also the non-writable NTFS, which you will find referenced in the link I supplied above. Ext3 is not a good idea for a UPD, Ext2 is possible (but not possible to create with the HDR-FOX, or a Windows system without extra software). Ext3/2 is also not accessible on a Windows system without extra software. Refer to the Glossary (see link above).

Thanks for the excellent reply! I've just tried it again and this time a message appeared on the tv screen telling me that my HD is NTFS and therefore it can't be copied to. So, as I've only got a few files on there (which can be copied back from my computer), what's the best way to format the disk to FAT32? Via the Hummy or by connecting to a computer? As my files are StDef, I presume that once I format the drive to FAT32, then they will be playable on my Windows laptop? Thanks!

Mal
 
Mal : The Humax will only format in EXT3 which is a Linux / Unit system, It will handle big files but Windows systems won't do anything with EXT3 without extra programs being installed. The two Windows formats both have disadvantages, The Humax can only read NTFS not write to it, The Humax can read and write FAT32 but there is a 4GB file size limit. If your Humax is networked Via it's LAN connector then FTP is a much better option, Here are some notes that detail FTP, They also show how you can get playable Hi-Def files onto your P.C. when your Freeview goes Hi-Def. Notes HERE
 
Thanks for your reply regarding formatting on my computer. I'm running XP and the only options for formatting are NTFS and exFAT, not FAT32. I understand that this is because the drive is over 32Gb in size (it's 120Gb), so I had a look online and downloaded SwissKnife, but this doesn't give me the option of formatting, as the Create button is greyed out when the mobile drive is selected. Not sure what to do now, any ideas please?

Mal
 

Thanks, that's what I found too! I tried the DOS option, but though it seemed to be formatting the drive, a message then came up that the drive was too large (it's 120Gb), and it wasn't actually formatted. Also tried SwissKnife but it doesn't give me the option to format the drive when it's selected - the Create button is greyed out and not clickable. What now??? :confused:

Mal
 
Have you considered installing the custom firmware? It's when you get to this tangle of incompatible formats that the custom firmware beckons most persuasively. Apart from giving your Humax the ability to write to NTFS file systems, it also provides a whole raft of other ways to get content off the Humax and make it playable on other systems.
 
Have you considered installing the custom software? It's when you get to this tangle of incompatible formats that the custom firmware beckons most persuasively. Apart from giving your Humax the ability to write to NTFS file systems, it also provides a whole raft of other ways to get content off the Humax and make it playable on other systems.

This is the first Hummy I've owned (I have a 5 year old Toppy), and I've only had it for two days, so I've not yet looked into the custom firmware. Does it negate the 2 year warranty? I wouldn't want to do that at this early stage if it does, but will check it out.

My thoughts at the moment are that I'd be better off getting a memory stick (8/16Gb) which is already formatted to FAT32 and using that to copy any SD video files I want to watch elsewhere on my laptop.

Mal
 
Another option is to connect a hard drive and let the Humax format it, then copy recordings to it and retrieve them over FTP. You can access the mounted drive via the standard Humax FTP server.
 
Hi! Just to let you know that I've managed to format my USB drive using a program called FAT32Formatter which can be found here:
http://tokiwa.qee.jp/EN/Fat32Formatter/index.html

It was a bit hit and miss getting the program to do the format, but it did it in the end. I've just copied a video file from the Hummy, so all I need to do now is see if it plays on my laptop. Back in a minute....... ....... .......
Okay, it played on VLC Media Player but not on Windows Media Player 11, but it worked, so I'm a happy bunny!

Thanks guys for all your advice, I'm sure I'll be back with more questions real soon now! :)

Mal
 
[To] Black Hole,
First let me say 1000 thanks for this method - so simple, worked first time and is wonderful.
I have spent months trying to transfer video/audio from the Humax HD using mainly EasyCap amongst others.
The results were abysmal. I was finally at my wits end till I ran into your method. Take 5 *****!;)
P.S. The best food for a Black Hole is a White Dwarf - there's a few in the Andromeda Nebula.

Welcome to the Forum.

First let me point you at the general information for newcomers, which can be accessed from the pinned topic at the top of the section listing To address your specific problem, are you copying StDef or HiDef? [Edit: sorry, having re-read I now realise you are still StDef only. The information remains valid for others.] The recordings are encrypted on the internal disk, and HiDef recordings remain encrypted when copied to the USB drive whereas StDef gets decrypted in the process of copying.

The UPD must* be FAT32, NTFS is not writable and might be the cause of your problem. However, FAT32 has its own limitation in that if your recording is larger than 4GB a FAT32 drive can't accommodate it.

Presuming, then, you are trying to transfer a StDef recording less than 4GB (about 3 hours) in size to a FAT32 drive, the steps are as follows - and if they don't work there is something wrong somewhere:
  1. On the handset, press "Media", then used the cursor pad to navigate to the target recording and highlight it.
  2. Press "OPT+" and select "Move/Copy"
  3. You now have to choose where the destination is to be. At the top of the list is "HDD (My Video)". If you don't see this, keep selecting "Upper Folder" until you do.
  4. Below "HDD (My Video)" will be listed your external USB stick (it might be called "drive1"), move the cursor down to it. At this point the red "Move" option will change to "Copy", and pressing Red will start the copy to the root directory on the UPD.
  5. If there are folders on the UPD you wish to use, or you wish to create a folder on the UPD, select "drive1" (or whatever it is called) and you will be given the OPT+ option to create a folder. Highlight the folder you wish to copy into (do not enter it) and the red button "copy" option will be available to start the copy process.
Incidentally, while I was fooling around with the "Move/Copy" options to refresh my memory, my HD-FOX did a hard reset! Aggravating.

* Note that there are ways around the encrypted HiDef copy, and also the non-writable NTFS, which you will find referenced in the link I supplied above. Ext3 is not a good idea for a UPD, Ext2 is possible (but not possible to create with the HDR-FOX, or a Windows system without extra software). Ext3/2 is also not accessible on a Windows system without extra software. Refer to the Glossary (see link above).
 
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