USB not recognised

[ronin4]

Hello
Tonight for the first time, I tried to use a USB stick and nothing was recognised.
Since purchased I have used a Wifi dongle, but tonight in the front, and in the back USB port, I tried to watch an AVI file on a USB stick but nothing was registered.

The USB stick is 64GB 3.0, but once connected to the Humax it doesnt show up. I tried taking out the dongle and putting it in the back slot, but again it wasnt recognised. Like wise it wasnt recognised when I tried turning off and then on again. The strange thing was that when I took the stick out it came up on screen "A USB has been removed".
The instructions suggest its plug and play, but it never comes up anything from the usb stick, there are also Jpegs and mp4's.

does anyone know what Im doing wrong?

The other thing is that when I have the USB stick in my PC, I know I have to select "eject" and wait for it to be confirmed as it was converted to FAT, there doesnt seem to be anyway of doing this on the Humax, so Im assuimng I can just pull it out?

Thanks in advance

 

[Luke]

it was converted to FAT

Your attempt to use FAT makes sense as page 32 of my 2000t's User's Guide states that it should be ext3, FAT or NTFS.
FAT32 works OK for me. FAT gives me weird results. My weird results are different from yours but that may be caused by a differnce in a 'quick' format and 'full' format.

If your computer is OK with NTFS then try NTFS instead. The Humax's User's Guide implies that NTFS is read only but in practice the 2000T can also write to NTFS and will give you additional flexibilty for what you can do with your 2000T.

it wasnt recognised

Did you go into 'MEDIA' and press the blue button on the remote?

 

[magic.m]

I think the keys here are 64gb, "converted to FAT", PC (likely implying Windows)

In the last several versions of Windows you can't format anything above 32gb as FAT32 (which is what you need here) with the standard tools, the convert/format would have produced a propriatey exFAT filesystem which the Humax won't understand.

Check the filesystem type and if this is the case you'll need to reformat it with a different OS or download a tool to do it from Windows.

You can format the flash drive NTFS (or indeed ext3 if useful) but you might significantly shorten the life of the drive.

 

[Luke]

In the last several versions of Windows you can't format anything above 32gb as FAT32 (which is what you need here) with the standard tools, the convert/format would have produced a propriatey exFAT filesystem which the Humax won't understand.

Check the filesystem type and if this is the case you'll need to reformat it with a different OS or download a tool to do it from Windows.

You can format the flash drive NTFS (or indeed ext3 if useful) but you might significantly shorten the life of the drive.

ronin4 was just trying to get the 2000T to read the USB. If the usb is formatted ext3 it won't make any difference to the practical life of the drive, although with a windows PC it can sometimes be a bit of a pain to use ext3 even with the relevant tools.
For the combination of a windows PC and a 2000T a drive fully formatted to is likely to have less issues and consequentially make for a simpler life.

 

[Luke]

when I have the USB stick in my PC, I know I have to select "eject" and wait for it to be confirmed as it was converted to FAT, there doesnt seem to be anyway of doing this on the Humax, so Im assuimng I can just pull it out?

If you have been writing to the USB then as a precaution leave it a few extra seconds just to make sure that it is not being used. If it the USB has a LED indicator that would help. I've probably pulled out a USB drive too early a few times with Humax other PVRs with no adverse consequences to the drive itself. Unlike my non-Humax TV which damaged the drive the first (and last!) time I did it.

There is an eject option but it is in a menu called 'Hidden Settings' which makes it a relatively lengthy process to use as it takes over a dozen button presses on the remote.

 

[Ezra Pound]

The WiKi entry for Hidden Menu is HERE, however, as it is hidden, I'm not sure the USB > USB EJECT is that important

 

[ronin4]

Hi thanks for all the help. Im sorry I cant be more informative but I never really knew what was going on, my friend had said that the issue with the USB was to do with the size of GB of a file, I think that it was over 10gb so it had to be converted to FAT (?) I used the website that was setup by the USB maker SSK and it works fine on my TV usb slot.
Im thinking I may just buy another stick as I will probably need another at somepoint, at the moment my niece was on CBBC so I have a recording I want to transfer and then send on to her family in the mail
Could I ask if anyone know if its okay to have two USB sticks in the Humax at once, ie a memory one and the supplied Humax dongle?

Will try to answer some of the questions asked

I did press blue button for media, but the USB option shown in the user manual didnt appear, it was the same as normal.

re- magic, I am sorry my friend but I didnt really follow much of that, I know that Im on Windows 7 and that the reason for formatting was to do with the size of files being transfered over being about 10gb in total.

Thanks Luke all I have ever know is I was told to "NEVER" lol take out the USB without doing the eject thingy on my pc, something I hadnt bothered with before it was formatted and now I always press Source button on my TV and then select USB, USB Eject.

Think what I will do is get a new USB stick, with a flashing light and start a fresh.
Thankyou kindly for all the help, computers isnt a strong point for me, so Im sorry I cant be more informative, but hopefully a fresh USB will be all thats needed

Thanks again

 

[Black Hole]

FAT32 drives can only support individual files up to 4GB in size, but the overall drive size can be up to 8TB (using a suitable formatting tool). See Things Every... (click) section 12 for more information.

The HDR-2000T supports NTFS, so formatting your USB pen drive to that would solve your problem - NTFS does not have the 4GB file size limitation.

Could I ask if anyone know if its okay to have two USB sticks in the Humax at once, ie a memory one and the supplied Humax dongle?

That's why you have two USB sockets - what would be the point otherwise?

 

[Luke]

Think what I will do is get a new USB stick, with a flashing light and start a fresh.

There is no need for that.

With windows 7 just fully format (NOT quick format) the stick to NTFS instead. When you use your PC to format you must make sure that the 'quick format' option is NOT ticked. If a quick format is done pressing the blue button will not show the USB stick, but when you unplug the stick it will report that it has been unplugged.

(I have just retried this with a quick format and also a full format USB3 stick. The quick format does NOT work with the 2000T, the full format does.)

NTFS will not have an issue with whatever the file size of the recording, however FAT may have an issue with file sizes and so avoid FAT for this.
Note that when you format not using 'quick' it may to NTFS on a 64GB stick it may take a few hours.

Is the recording HD? If so then you will also need to decrypt it.

 

[ronin4]

Thankyou all again
Im getting a USB stick from my friend tonight with a flashing light
Hopefully it will all go simply this time

PS- yes I saw that issue with HD so I recorded it in normal thanks

 

[ronin4]

Ive just read the very last line on page 34 of the manual "When a file is moved to a different storage, it will be copied. However video recordings cannot be copied to other storages"

Does this mean you cant actually transfer off the HD to a USB, just the other way round only?

 

[magic.m]

I think Luke (and BH) has made the best suggestion for you already - try NTFS.
It's easy to set up from native MSWin, it's usable on many systems, and you'll most likely chuck it away as too small before it's even half worn out.

Yes, you can copy recordings off to the external drive. You can also copy HD recordings off if you use the Foxy method - it's already been tested by others with a 2000T.

-
Luke - that seems odd to me. On a fully functional error free drive there should be no operational difference between a quick and full format as both write the same structure to disk. The only real difference is quick only writes what is needed to provide the file system while full goes through the whole of the partition - effectively checking empty space. I'll take your word for it...just seems odd.

 

[Black Hole]

Not at all - a quick format only clears out the data structures, it doesn't recreate them.

 

[magic.m]

Actually a format, of either type, sets up the on disk structure and writes out new tables and bitmaps (as required) for the partition with no regard for what is or isn't already on the media - it works just the same for a completely zero filled partition as a partition containing all the university coursework(!).

...But this is OT

 

[Luke]

I think Luke (and BH) has made the best suggestion for you already - try NTFS.
...
Luke - that seems odd to me. On a fully functional error free drive there should be no operational difference between a quick and full format ...

Whether it is odd or not is not the point. I have a 2000T and tried it. It is what will work on a 2000T and is feasible for ronin4 that counts.
So I am sticking to my recommendation of a fiull formated stick using NTFS (although slightly puzzled your recommendation of instead of using NTFS to use NTFS.)

 

[Luke]

Ive just read the very last line on page 34 of the manual "When a file is moved to a different storage, it will be copied. However video recordings cannot be copied to other storages"

Does this mean you cant actually transfer off the HD to a USB, just the other way round only?

We have the same manual.
I have no idea what that is referring to. You are not on a fools errand and I am fully expecting you to achieve what you are aiming for.

What I do know is that using my 2000T I can transfer video recordings in or out, or between USB sticks where one is in the back and one is the front!
Also, if I transfer an HD recording to a USB stick and 'foxy' it, and then copy it from one 2000T port to the other 2000T port it gets decrypted.
I have also used the similar HDR-FOX T2 to copy non-Humax/freeview video from 1 port to the other, but it only copied across what it could play.

 

[magic.m]

Whether it is odd or not is not the point. I have a 2000T and tried it. It is what will work on a 2000T and is feasible for ronin4 that counts.

I'll take your word for it...

(although slightly puzzled your recommendation of instead of using NTFS to use NTFS.)

Sorry, I don't see where you're going with that one. We were talking about a drive currently with some FAT based system on it, no?
You seem very negative towards somebody who's basically agreeing with you.

 

[Luke]

I did not mean to appear negative, but I was reading your original post and did not cotton on that you had miss-typed your post. I am pleased to see that you you have changed it.

 

[Black Hole]

Actually a format, of either type, sets up the on disk structure and writes out new tables and bitmaps (as required) for the partition with no regard for what is or isn't already on the media - it works just the same for a completely zero filled partition as a partition containing all the university coursework(!).

A Quick Format is just that, quick. In order to make the formatting process quick, the drive is not checked for bad sectors. Anyone looking at the hard drive or storage device would not see any data and assume the drive is erased. Unfortunately, the files are actually still there and the volume could be re-built, to gain access to the files again.

A Full Format runs an additional step that checks the hard drive for any bad sectors. This check is what makes the full format take so much longer than a quick format. Unfortunately, just like the quick format the files still exist and the volume could be re-built to gain access to any of the files on the drive again.

 

[prpr]

A format reinitialises the filesystem regardless of what is there before (that is just drivel about clearing out file structures rather than recreating them). It doesn't normally clear any file space, so what is there may or may not be recoverable, depending on the filesystem, how fragmented it was, how much time (and money) you have to piece it all together etc.
I don't know what point you were trying to make in post #19. None of it is the whole truth. If you were trying to disprove what magic.m said with what computerhope.com said, then you failed.