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Using old Fox HDD on external USB drive

JerryL1947

JerryL1947

Member
My HDR-Fox T2 died. Motherboard failure presumably because nothing worked when switched on.

I got an A1 replacement from Humax Direct and have now updated the firmware to CF version 3.00 for firmware version 1.03.12

My question concerns using the HDD from the old Fox for additional storage and use for the Web If programs.

I got an HDD caddy for the old drive and have plugged this into the USB port on the rear of my new HDR-Fox T2.

If I select "Media" on my remote then got to Storage \ USB, it brings up 3 drives (1, 2 & 3)

drive 1 has 2 files and 969 MB available space,
drive 2 has 4 files (folders) and 224 GB available space,
drive 3 has nothing and 9 GB available space.

If I go into drive2 I can access all the recordings (50 odd mostly HD) made on the old HDR but of course none replay because of the encryption.

Now, if I go into menu\settings\data storage\storage\ I can select Internal HDD or drive 1 only.

If I select drive 1 it shows I have 0.9 GB Available Size. If I then go to Format Storage, it again shows only 0.9GB available for formatting.

Do I need to format this disc (drive?)?

or do I just need to delete all the inaccessible media files?

What about the other files listed in drive 1?

I need to be sure I'm doing it right before I download all the Web If programs.

Thanks, Jerry
 
Your best bet is to telnet in to the box and use fdisk to delete all partitions off the old disk.
 
Ideal learning opportunity then! Open a Command Prompt on your PC and type "telnet a.b.c.d" where a.b.c.d is the IP address of your Humax.
It is best if you boot the Humax without the USB attached, then plug it in. Otherwise you might end up erasing the wrong disk!
Then type "fdisk /dev/sdb" and follow the prompts. "p" and "d" will be the commands you want, then "w" to confirm or "q" to abort. It's not too hard to work out...
 
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All you need to know about Telnet HERE (click) - then use prpr's commands (or just use a PC to zap the disk).

The WebIF stuff will not load on the external drive, they will install to the internal HDD whether you like it or not. All you will be using the external drive for is as an archive.
 
1. My PC cmd window does not recognise the TELNET command. I'm running Win 7 not any Linux.

2 I have installed PuTTY and run it according to instructions on here and get to here:

PuTTY-01.jpg

What next?
 
JerryL1947 said:
1. My PC cmd window does not recognise the TELNET command. I'm running Win 7 not any Linux.
Click to expand...
Putty is fine, but for reference, you can install Telnet by going to Start menu, Control Panel, Programs and Features, Turn Windows features on or off, check the box for Telnet Client, then OK everything.
I have installed PuTTY and run it according to instructions on here and get to here:
What next?
Click to expand...
Select "cli" then do the "fdisk" command as above.
 
"cli" gets you to the command prompt.

Assuming you did what prpr said and booted the Humax without the external drive, then added it later, you should now be able to do what he said and "fdisk /dev/sdb" to delete all the partitions. Then you can return to the Humax menus to format the drive.

It would be just as easy to:
  1. Hook the drive up to the PC and delete all partitions, then
  2. Hook the drive up to the Humax and format it.
(Posted simultaneously with prpr's reply above)
 
Black Hole said:
All you need to know about Telnet HERE (click) - then use prpr's commands (or just use a PC to zap the disk).

The WebIF stuff will not load on the external drive, they will install to the internal HDD whether you like it or not. All you will be using the external drive for is as an archive.
Click to expand...

OMG!!
I'm following the Wiki instructions for installing the WebIf and I see an Error Message advice at the bottom says - quote:

"If a suitably formatted USB disk is not detected on the HD-Fox T2 during installation of the Full Web Interface, then an error screen will be displayed"

................ so I'm going crazy trying to figure this out!! Seems to me to say I need to have an external disk attached??

So, BH, I'd be very grateful for you to clarify/assure me. All I need do with my USB connected HDD is delete all the old recording files to make space for copying and decrypting files (programmes) I want to save on my external HDD??

cheers, Jerry
 
Black Hole said:
"cli" gets you to the command prompt.

Assuming you did what prpr said and booted the Humax without the external drive, then added it later, you should now be able to do what he said and "fdisk /dev/sdb" to delete all the partitions. Then you can return to the Humax menus to format the drive.

It would be just as easy to:
  1. Hook the drive up to the PC and delete all partitions, then
  2. Hook the drive up to the Humax and format it.
Click to expand...
I have done 1. with the help of MS advice how to use disk partition command.

However, Humax does not see the HDD when hooked up.

Have I screwed up my HDD because the partitions were volumes instead?

Or maybe should I create 1 partition now using disk partition on the PC?

Thanks for all advices. As you can tell, I'm not too experienced at this stuff.
 
Format the disk in Windows and then give it to the Humax to format again. (Windows will format the disk to NTFS by default, which is no use to the Humax but should at least make it recognised. Windows could format as FAT32, which the Humax could use but would be limited to files no larger than 4GB - which isn't much for video! The HDR-FOX will format the drive as Ext3.)

Things Every... (click) section 12.
 
Right..........................

I created a new volume and formatted the disk OK on my laptop (Win7 Pro) using disk manager. It was a quick format.

Plugged into my HDR-Fox and it is picked up, so showing a group of HDD / USB / Network to read from.

I exit that and go to Settings / System / Data Storage / Storage:

Only the internal HDD is shown and so I cannot format the USB drive

I go into Media, select a program on the list and go to Opt+ / Move/Copy, press red for Copy and get message :

"Cannot copy to USB storage device as the file system is NTFS."

I cannot find further advice on what to do next so, 'fraid I'm askin again, please. Thanks
 
If you format the HDD (using Win7 Pro) to FAT32 instead of NTFS, the Humax should 'see' the external drive and allow it to be formatted to EXT3
 
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You should be able to press the right arrow, or the OK button when "Internal HDD" is highlighted which will then list other attached drives. Select your USB drive then go back to the Format option.
 
raydon said:
You should be able to press the right arrow, or the OK button when "Internal HDD" is highlighted which will then list other attached drives. Select your USB drive then go back to the Format option.
Click to expand...

Unfortunately, that does not seem to work :thumbsdown:
 
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