Please help- can I fix the disk?

MikeJH

New Member
Hi we've had 9 years faithful service from our Humax apart from it getting stuck about 3 years ago possibly in a deleting loop(I can't recall) but it was fixed and the hard disk formatted by a local tv repair shop. Since then it has worked fine except I have noticed that as free space approaches around 50GB glitches might appear in recordings or the machine might freeze altogether(perhaps when being asked to record 2 channels at once or watching and recording at the same time) but return to normal after being switched off at the mains. This didn't seem to happen if I didn't let the free space get lower than say 80 to 100GB. I don't know if this is a sign of one particular patch of the disk being damaged or 'corrupted'?

Anyway, very foolishly, I let the free space decline to 50 and maybe a bit less and it went into a deleting loop, I could still change channels maybe watch recordings I can't recall but not record or pause live tv or even access the menu but again I'm not sure now sorry. Turning it off and on again didn't make any difference. I decided to try leaving it off overnight (might have seen that mentioned somewhere on the web) and was surprised the next morning to find it come on without the deleting loop- but it still wouldn't let me record and possibly wouldn't let me access media. But I was pleased to discover that I could access the menu and the format disk option under the factory default option so I thought this could save me time and money I would lose all my recordings but never mind. 'Processing' appeared on the screen but I didn't hear any of the expected crunching sounds from the hard disk and after about 3 hours after much checking in the meantime I discovered the machine in standby. Now I can still watch tv with it but it still won't record and now pressing media does nothing. On the menu tree the data storage and recording settings are greyed out. I've done the formatting thing twice more just in case to no avail.

I took it to the same local tv repair shop but after trying and failing to fix it he said it must be a problem with the motherboard or firmware. So I would greatly appreciate any advice? Is it worth getting it to Richer Sounds which we bought it from or another tv repair place or even a computer repair shop? Or does it's age and possible damage to the disk mean it would need a new disk but I wouldn't know which disk to buy and wouldn't want to buy one and find that didn't fix the problem.

To cut a long story short it's most likely a disk problem (I'm pretty much a newbie so don't know if it could be some other hardware problem but live tv and epg are working perfectly) and I might have disrupted the disk more with my 3 attempts at formatting it? After a lot of great friendly advice from Martin Liddle, Graham Thompson and Dino on the myhumax forum I was able to install the latest custom firmware from this site (thank you for that). I used an ethernet cable from my Win10 laptop to connect as I don't have a wi-fi adapter for the Humax. The full Web-If wouldn't download saying there wasn't a suitably formatted hard disk available. Via Telnet I've put it in maintenance mode and tried fixdisk but it couldn't find a disk. Following dino's advice I tried fdisk -l which I think brought nothing and then df -h which brought:

humax# fdisk -l
humax# df -h
Filesystem Size Used Available Use% Mounted on
/dev/root 21.6M 21.6M 0 100% /
tmpfs 61.0M 24.0K 61.0M 0% /tmp
tmpfs 61.0M 0 61.0M 0% /media
/dev/mtdblock1 2.0M 504.0K 1.5M 25% /var/lib/humaxtv
/dev/mtdblock2 2.0M 1.2M 812.0K 60% /var/lib/humaxtv_backup
humax#

Then while trying to copy and paste this appeared:

humax# fdisk -l

/bin/sh: humax#: not found
humax# humax# df -h

/bin/sh: humax#: not found
humax# Filesystem Size Used Available Use% Mounted on

/bin/sh: Filesystem: not found
humax# /dev/root 21.6M 21.6M 0 100% /

/bin/sh: /dev/root: not found
humax# tmpfs 61.0M 24.0K 61.0M 0% /tmp

/bin/sh: tmpfs: not found
humax# tmpfs 61.0M 0 61.0M 0% /media

/bin/sh: tmpfs: not found
humax# /dev/mtdblock1 2.0M 504.0K 1.5M 25% /var/lib/humaxtv

/bin/sh: /dev/mtdblock1: Permission denied
humax# /dev/mtdblock2 2.0M 1.2M 812.0K 60% /var/lib/humaxtv_backup

/bin/sh: /dev/mtdblock2: Permission denied
humax# humax#

I don't know what all that refers to are they bits of the disk that can be read? Anyway would really appreciate any advice. I haven't got an adapter for connecting a hard disk to my laptop. I presume I can't use the full web interface because of the lack of a disk rather than the lack of a direct connection to the internet ( I used an ethernet connection to my laptop). Is there anything I can do via telnet? Sorry for the long post. Thanks.
 
Since then it has worked fine except I have noticed that as free space approaches around 50GB glitches might appear in recordings or the machine might freeze altogether
I regularly run much lower than that with no problems.

I presume I can't use the full web interface because of the lack of a disk rather than the lack of a direct connection to the internet
Correct.

After a lot of great friendly advice from Martin Liddle, Graham Thompson and Dino on the myhumax forum I was able to install the latest custom firmware from this site (thank you for that)... Is there anything I can do via telnet?
Talk about parochial. All you needed to do (or be directed to) was read this: Quick Guide to Disk Recovery (click).
 
Type this in at the humax# prompt and report what it prints if anything: ls -ld /sys/block/sd*
I expect it to print an error message, which means your hard disk has not been recognised, and is therefore completely broken and needs replacing.
 
Last edited:
I regularly run much lower than that with no problems.


Correct.


Talk about parochial. All you needed to do (or be directed to) was read this: Quick Guide to Disk Recovery (click).
Thanks Black Hole for the first 2 bits of info. I just thought chances are they were members of both forums and you would know eachother. I couldn't get the custom firmware to download so Martin told me to right click and download in a new window so perhaps this should be made clear on that page. Your Quick Guide does seem to cover what's needed up to the stage of fixdisk not working but I had no experience of Telnet or networking.
 
I had no experience of Telnet or networking.
...all of which are covered in great detail by following the links.

I just thought chances are they were members of both forums and you would know eachother.
I don't know who "Dino" is, the others we know only by them having the same handle on this forum. The reason I said "parochial" is because it is not unusual for forums to get touchy about referring people out to other forums, and frankly information originated here should be paid the courtesy of being discussed here.

I couldn't get the custom firmware to download so Martin told me to right click and download in a new window so perhaps this should be made clear on that page.
That's just basic computer use – how low does the information have to go, where would it end? How you get a download from a link on a web page varies according to what computer operating system (and web browser) you're using, and is nothing to do with working with a HDR-FOX.
 
Last edited:
Type this in at the humax# prompt and report what it prints if anything: ls -ld /sys/block/sd*
I expect it to print an error message, which means your hard disk has not been recognised, and is therefore completely broken and needs replacing.
Thanks prpr it came back with ls: /sys/block/sd*: No such file or directory
 
The reason I said "parochial" is because it is not unusual for forums to get touchy about referring people out to other forums, and frankly information originated here should be paid the courtesy of being discussed here.
He was pointed to your guide by me over at MyHumax.org.
 
...all of which are covered in great detail by following the links.


I don't know who "Dino" is, the others we know only by them having the same handle on this forum. The reason I said "parochial" is because it is not unusual for forums to get touchy about referring people out to other forums, and frankly information originated here should be paid the courtesy of being discussed here.


That's just basic computer use – how low does the information have to go, where would it end? How you get a download from a link on a web page varies according to what computer operating system (and web browser) you're using, and is nothing to do with working with a HDR-FOX.
I'm sorry I didn't mean any disrespect. I'm grateful for your help it seems my only option is to install a new disk assuming that gptf on the maintenance mode menu (which I don't know the consequences thereof) wouldn't help.
 
I'm sorry I didn't mean any disrespect. I'm grateful for your help it seems my only option is to install a new disk assuming that gptf on the maintenance mode menu (which I don't know the consequences thereof) wouldn't help.
gptf is to do with getting hard drives larger than 2TB to work; so it won't help in your case.
 
It occurs to me we don't know where the fault is. If the problem is with the main board's SATA interface, replacing the HDD isn't going to help (and would be money wasted).

Are you willing to take the HDD out and test it on a PC (under instruction)?
 
It occurs to me we don't know where the fault is. If the problem is with the main board's SATA interface, replacing the HDD isn't going to help (and would be money wasted).

Are you willing to take the HDD out and test it on a PC (under instruction)?
Thanks I'm not sure if I've got the equipment I haven't got a USB to SATA adapter I've just remembered I've got an old Windows Vista tower pc but don't know if the disk would slot straight in without any additional caddy. I would need quite a bit of help with installing and using a version of Linux. I do know or it sounds and feels like the disk is being powered it comes on with a scrunching sound and it gets quite warm with a little vibration on the top of the Humax.
 
I've just remembered I've got an old Windows Vista tower pc but don't know if the disk would slot straight in without any additional caddy.
I would expect that it would.
I would need quite a bit of help with installing and using a version of Linux.
You don't need to install Linux; if the tower has a CD or DVD player you can boot a Linux distribution from that temporarily.
 
Just to summarise:
  • Try swapping the SATA cables
  • Try swapping the hard drive (maybe for the one from your old PC - though you'll lose the data on it)
If those don't work your box is probably broken. If you were really keen you could - as I did when I had a vaguely similar problem eight years ago - try swapping the power supply board (I have a spare one from doing so) but that's probably a waste of time. It was for me and it turned out to be the motherboard's SATA interface.
 
Just to summarise:
  • Try swapping the SATA cables
  • Try swapping the hard drive (maybe for the one from your old PC - though you'll lose the data on it)
If those don't work your box is probably broken. If you were really keen you could - as I did when I had a vaguely similar problem eight years ago - try swapping the power supply board (I have a spare one from doing so) but that's probably a waste of time. It was for me and it turned out to be the motherboard's SATA interface.
Thanks could you just explain what you mean by swapping the SATA cables please? I've dug out the old PC from the garage it has a celeron 1.8 GHz processor and a 80 GB hard drive and seems like 2.5GB RAM which I was surprised at for its age. On start-up it recommended I go into start-up repair so I selected that and it's still in that process Windows Vista as far as I know. I wondered about taking it's drive out and trying that. I'm not sure what's on it I wanted to check. If I put it in the Humax and it formatted it I would lose everything on the disk including the copy of Windows Vista I presume? Is this any loss to me or to anyone else if I decide to sell it or give it away to a charity for instance? If I need to install or live run a version of Linux I don't really know where to start it would have to be a USB I don't have any disks apparently. Hallelujah it's just finished starting up. Thank you:)
 
So it's a Celeron 430 @1.8GHz, 2.5 GB RAM Intel 82945G chipset if that's any relevance to the Linux distribution I should try if needed. It doesn't have wi-fi even.
 
Back
Top