Update of external drive recording compatibility

H

Hounddogman

New Member
Apologies for dragging out this perennial topic. But I've been away from this forum for over six years and I can't find what I need to know now.

Background: about ten years ago when my local broadcasts went digital I bought a Humax T2. Then I moved a few years later to a part of Sheffield where it's just about impossible to get a strong constant TV signal and switched to Virgin cable and started using a TIVO instead. Now, seven years after, I've moved again and I'm in a place where I've got a line of sight reception from the main Sheffield mast a mile away and Virgin won't supply their usual crap service anyway. So I dug out the Humax and reconnected. Just because it's old doesn't mean it's useless: I found a mini music centre with minidisk player in it recently in a charity shop and I use it to play my old MDs from 20 years ago. That is still a very good format for music although there are times when I suspect I've been living in Yorkshire for too long.

Great so far. Things record as clear as a bell. But I'd like to connect up a USB disk to use for extra storage as I keep a lot of stuff like classic movies, Attenborough series (for the wife) and cop shows like Spiral for (re)viewing later. I've also got some stuff left over from 2011-14 that I'd like to hang on to. All of this is in SD not HD. I'm running out of space, so I got a cheapish (£40) 1Tb external drive off Amazon intending to use this as a secondary store. And found out the usual things: it's formatted NTFS (and can only be formatted that way or exFAT) so the Humax recognises it but won't let me transfer recordings to it. I have, however, turned up an old Seagate external drive from c 10 years ago (mains powered!) that I used to use for image backups etc on my PC that I should be able to format to FAT32 I can start using the new one for image backups etc on my current Windows 10 PC. I've gone through a lot of stuff here but I can't find a definitive answwer to my questions. Which are:
  1. Is there now a way to use NTFS formatted external drives to hold video recordings made on the Humax? If so how do I go about that?
  2. Or would I be better off using my old drive formatted to FAT32? And will that still work?
  3. Or is there some workaround to be had by setting up a network and making both the Humax and the HDD parts of it?
All advice gratefully received. Thanks in advance.
 
Hounddogman said:
Just because it's old doesn't mean it's useless
Click to expand...
I'm still using a HD-FOX as a recorder, with a USB HDD (along with three HDR-FOXes). The HD-FOX was originally used in the bedroom as a silent diskless client to the downstairs HDR-FOXes, but I found it convenient to have "local" record capability (especially as my Homeplug network is too slow and unreliable for the server-client model to work for HiDef).

Hounddogman said:
And found out the usual things: it's formatted NTFS (and can only be formatted that way or exFAT) so the Humax recognises it but won't let me transfer recordings to it.
Click to expand...
That's not entirely true, what you mean is Windows will only format it NTFS or exFAT (or FAT32). Just because it's a USB HDD doesn't mean it can't be formatted any way you like - you just need tools that Windows does not support. Ask the HD-FOX to format it and it will be Ext3 - if you want to record to it, it can only be Ext3.

The full situation is explained in Things Every... (click) section 12.

Hounddogman said:
Is there now a way to use NTFS formatted external drives to hold video recordings made on the Humax? If so how do I go about that?
Click to expand...
As you discovered, the standard firmware can only read from NTFS (not write to it). It can read/write FAT32, but FAT32 is limited to 4GB file size max - which isn't very much when it comes to HiDef. However, by installing Custom Firmware (and the ntfs3g package), you will add the ability to write (but not record) to NTFS.

I've never done it, but by adding a powered USB hub you can then fit more than one drive, and nominate one of them as a recording drive. If you just want to swap drives at will, both will have to be Ext3 to record to them.

Hounddogman said:
Or would I be better off using my old drive formatted to FAT32? And will that still work?
Click to expand...
It depends what you want to do - see Things Every... (click) section 12.

Hounddogman said:
Or is there some workaround to be had by setting up a network and making both the Humax and the HDD parts of it?
Click to expand...
I am not sure what you mean. There is no difficulty (using custom firmware) running a NAS as if it were USB storage, and using the HD-FOX menus to copy recordings onto it for archive. This is little different than using a hub to have more than one local USB drive.

Quick Guide to Custom Firmware (click)

The Differences Between HD-FOX T2 and HDR-FOX T2 (click)
 
If it's actually HDR-FOX the OP is talking about, my post above is almost entirely a waste of time and effort. I assumed HD-FOX because of the forum section it's posted in, and because the title refers to "external drive recording".

Now perhaps people who jump on me for complaining when vague terms such as "Humax T2" are used will understand why.

Humax HD-FOX T2 set-top receiver (with recording capability if the user adds a USB HDD):
1611519620463.png

Humax HDR-FOX T2 set-top recorder (with built-in HDD for PVR use):
1611519744919.png
 
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My apologies for a) taking so long to respond and b) creating confusion by insufficient thought before my posting. The device in question is in fact the HDR. My only excuse is, as I said, that the device has been unused for seven years while I have been using a TIVO instead and had forgotten the details and jargon. In my defence though, it should be fairly clear from my post (especially Para 3) what I'm talking about. I use terms such as 'running out of space', 'secondary store', 'transferring recordings' and 'video recordings made on the Humax'. I could have been clearer but if you read it carefully confusion can be avoided. In the meantime I have tried to format an external HDD to Ext3 but the format option on the system menu is greyed out. I will post a query on this matter in the right place.
 
Hounddogman said:
I could have been clearer but if you read it carefully confusion can be avoided.
Click to expand...
Maybe, but you also posted in the wrong section of the forum (now moved). The context of a post is taken from the section it's in, and if there is any lack of clarity the forum section is used to resolve it. You said "Humax T2" - there are lots of Humax PVRs with DVB-T2 capability, and two with "T2" in the title.
Hounddogman said:
I'd like to connect up a USB disk to use for extra storage as I keep a lot of stuff like classic movies
Click to expand...
I read that as meaning another USB disk, being as I was already encouraged to think you were talking about an HD-FOX - it's all very well to say it should have been obvious, but when a mindset is already on a particular path...

So I repeat: you posted in the HD-FOX section, and nowhere in the OP did you say anything to specifically contradict that. It's my time and effort that got wasted, and your dissembling apology isn't very sincere.

Hounddogman said:
I will post a query on this matter in the right place.
Click to expand...
This is (now) the right place.

Hounddogman said:
I have tried to format an external HDD to Ext3 but the format option on the system menu is greyed out.
Click to expand...
Is the drive visible at all? Is the HDR-FOX busy (or soon to be busy) making a recording?
 
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It wasn't making a recording. I did boot the Seagate first, which seems to have caused the Humax to switch on as well. I gather this can cause problems. Both drives are visible and both have greyed out options for 'data storage' on the system menu. I will check this again.
 
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