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Old HDD as USB drive on new machine

G

GrahamH

New Member
I've had a good search but am obviously not using the correct search terms... Please point me in the right direction if this is a duplicate.

I am trying to watch recordings from my old HDR Fox T2 disk, via USB, on the replacement HDR Fox T2 I've bought, which otherwise seems to be working perfectly.

I connect the drive via the USB ports on the new machine, but it does not "see" the old disk (tried both front and rear ports). I am connecting using a mains powered USB docking station (Winstars Communicator C1).

I believe the USB docking station itself is OK because I use it with normal (non Humax-format) disks on Windows PCs, and see files, move them etc.

I cannot see the files on the ex-Humax disk on a PC, but presumably that's because I haven't installed stuff on the PC to read the alien format of the ex-Humax disk?? I'm not worried about this, but to help the technical experts eliminate possibilities.

I believe the disk from the old machine is OK, because, until the old machine finally died, I was watching recordings on it, using that disk. I can also (very briefly) get the Media menu up on the old machine and see the folders on that disk. However, the old machine crashes pretty quickly (seconds rather than minutes).

I have decrypted all the HD recordings on the old disk, already, on the old machine.

I had hoped I would see the "old disk" files once I plugged it into the new machine via USB. What am I doing wrong?

Is one of these, or similar, a better solution than USB? https://www.amazon.co.uk/kenable-SATA-Power-Splitter-Adapter/dp/B004HTHJWM/ref=sr_1_1?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1500329939&sr=8-1&keywords=sata+splitter+kenable

All advice welcomed, and apologies if I've missed something obvious.
 
You need telnet/ssh/webshell access to the command line. Then issue the command "ls /sys/block" and see whether you get sda and sdb listed.
If not, then you need to fix the hardware problem first.
(Your Amazon link doesn't work.)
 
When I changed harddrives from stock 500GB to 2TB I could mount the old drive as a USB HDD with no issues to transfer recordings so I'd suspect drive or enclosure fault.
 
GrahamH said:
I have decrypted all the HD recordings on the old disk, already, on the old machine.
Click to expand...
What about any SD recordings - they are also encrypted. The auto-unprotect package merely removes the copy-protection flag from the HD recordings but does not actually decrypt the recordings - you also need to have used the auto-decrypt options of the webif to actually decrypt the recordings (HD & SD). Did you do that?

You cannot use you new machine to decrypt programmes recorded on a different machine.
 
GrahamH said:
All advice welcomed, and apologies if I've missed something obvious.
Click to expand...
Please see Things Every... (click) section 12 and 5. As noted by others above, "unprotecting" is not the same as "decrypting", and you need to do the former on HiDef recordings and then the latter on all recordings.

However, your immediate problem is getting the drive recognised at all. Whatever means you use to access the drive, you should be able to "see" the file system and the files within it, even if they then refuse to play. I have never experienced any problem using a powered USB-SATA adapter. Do you have any problem with a USB external disk?

The reference above will also tell you what you need to do to be able to read the drive from Windows.
 
Thanks Black Hole, for asking about other USB drives - I now realise that I was looking in the wrong place to see the drive. I was expecting to see it as a folder in the list of recordings, and had forgotten that I had to go through the blue storage button and all that.

Meanwhile I realise that whilst I unprotected, I didn't decrypt the recordings, after all. And the only ways to decrypt are by copying off to another disk (but the old machine crashes too soon to do that) or by doing something somewhere on the webif as MymsMan points out (but the old machine crashes too soon to do that, as well).

Looks like I'm completely stuffed, unless the old machine comes back from the dead.

So to avoid the same problem again, I need to know how to auto decrypt via webif on my new machine. Think I need a step by step on that one!
 
Black Hole said:
Follow the link to decryption methods from Things Every... (click) section 5. If you have CF and WebIF access, you just need Method 2.
Click to expand...

Thanks Black Hole, wish that had sunk in a few months ago, too!

Black Hole said:
Have you tried any interventions? Steps for Resolving HDR-FOX Crash/Reboot Issues (click)
Click to expand...

Section 1
1A: No effect
1B: can't seem to make the firmware load. I can't get into / out of standby with the remote or front on/off switch. Can only use the rear switch. Seem to need to unplug from the mains each time as well, although sometimes it will come back using the rear switch once, but not a second time. Have got to 91% installation progress on 4 occasions, but the machine then appears to freeze completely or go into a loop - flashing a sort of tartan pattern over the the whole screen, with the progress bar visible behind, or green full screen. This goes on for upwards of 5 minutes until I turn it off before it does itself a mischief.
1C: System flush seemed to load better than the standard firmware, but same symptoms as before - often crashing at the Humax logo splash screen, sometimes getting as far as BBC1 but crashing soon after.

Section 2: Not really applicable, although it is starting on BBC1. Only get about 10 seconds before it crashes though usually.

Section 3
3A: Not convinced fan was working, but unit's only on for about 10 sec at a time at present, plus I've got the top cover off now
3B: No difference with HDD disconnected
3C PSU: No sign of bulges. Would be willing to swap a complete PSU in, but not from my new machine! Are these ebay only, or is there somewhere more official? Don't have any soldering skills to do the capacitors myself.
3D Front panel: Unit seems to respond to remote intermittently at best but front on/off button doesn't seem to work. Are these ebay only, or is there somewhere more official?

Thanks for your help!
 
GrahamH said:
3B: No difference with HDD disconnected
Click to expand...
That's the key point which confirms you probably have a dead duck. You can eliminate the PSU as the cause of the problem by swapping in the other one, even if only temporarily - and if it cures the problem you have a route to decrypting the existing content. Most likely it won't though, and you will have confirmed the motherboard is at fault.

GrahamH said:
Thanks Black Hole, wish that had sunk in a few months ago, too!
Click to expand...
It's not called "Things Every HDR-FOX Owner Should Know" for nothing!
 
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