PVR 9200t problems - especially transferring files

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PVR 9200t problems - especially transferring files

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jason_z

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I've had problems with my 9200t for some few months, which I've put up with, but now it seems that I can't copy files off. Using Media Controller 1.5, I always get the message "ERROR: failed to begin file transfer for..." followed by a filename, for whatever I try to transfer. I tried both XP and Windows 7, and two different USB leads, so I presume that the problem is the Humax.

The other problems have mostly been to do with recording - often it would fail to record at all, or occasionally a recorded program would cause the Humax to crash when played; but now it has started to create duplicate entries for one program where there should be several separate programs. For example, I have four identically-named entries which, when played, are all the one recently-repeated Bowie documentary - but all four are the same item, and the title and date it's repeatedly saved under is wrong. There should be several different programs there, but there's just the same repeated program four times over.

I'd be grateful for all suggestions... am hoping not to have to reformat... a vain hope I suspect...

Jason

| Sat 6 Apr 2013 15:07:59 #1 |
Martin Liddle

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jason_z - 1 hour ago »
There should be several different programs there, but there's just the same repeated program four times over.

These are classic signs of a corrupt file system. Sorry to be the bearer of bad tidings but if you don't do something soon the list of recorded programs will be lost. If Media Controller won't work, your options are to watch any important recordings or open up the Humax and connect the hard drive direct to a PC and use humaxrw to copy off the recordings before formatting.

| Sat 6 Apr 2013 16:40:17 #2 |
jason_z

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If Media Controller won't work, your options are to watch any important recordings or open up the Humax and connect the hard drive direct to a PC and use humaxrw to copy off the recordings before formatting.

Thanks. Oh well. In another post somewhere I saw a link to the type of lead I need to use humaxrw, but now I've lost it. Can you please direct me to what I need? I guess I have to take the hard drive out of the Humax?

Jason

| Sat 6 Apr 2013 17:51:32 #3 |
Martin Liddle

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jason_z - 7 minutes ago »
In another post somewhere I saw a link to the type of lead I need to use humaxrw, but now I've lost it. Can you please direct me to what I need? I guess I have to take the hard drive out of the Humax?

You need a USB to IDE adapter such as Link to eBay. It is a while since I have done it; it may be possible with the drive in position but if not it is only four screws to remove it.

| Sat 6 Apr 2013 18:01:57 #4 |
jason_z

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Thanks Martin. I have bought a USB-IDE adapter with plug and connected it. I now have a problem that I'm having trouble diagnosing... the drive is on but I don't know if the PC can see it. All I get for each drive number is:

C:\humaxrwdir>humaxrw 1: -r -l
Partition table: Permission denied

I ran 'cmd' as administrator and for good measure even logged on directly as Administrator too (i.e. I made that account active, which seems to be a minor hack on this OS, Windows 7). I am not sure if there is really a permissions problem or if the PC just can't see the drive. I can't see anything that looks like it in Disk Management. I doubt that the Humax drive is so completely broken yet that it can't be read at all.

Is my adapter not working, or does it require some secret drivers (I rebooted just in case)? I don't know how to tell...

| Tue 9 Apr 2013 20:48:15 #5 |
Martin Liddle

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jason_z - 1 hour ago »
I have bought a USB-IDE adapter with plug and connected it.

It is along time since I have done this. The drive will have a jumper to say whether it Master, Slave or Cable Select mode. Try changing the jumper so that it is Master and try again (make sure you note how it is originally so that you can put it back as it was afterwards). Also my adapter has a label that I have taped to the side saying " Ensure IDE adapter plug is central in drive data connector"; I think with my adapter it is possible to plug it into the drive and connect to the wrong pins.

| Tue 9 Apr 2013 21:59:43 #6 |
jason_z

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Thanks. I have just disconnected it, but two more things happened after I wrote:

(1) Windows 7 reported that it had detected the drive and that it was ready to use, but I still couldn't access it. However, the same message reported that the drivers for the adapter couldn't be installed. It's possible to attach the adapter upside-down, but I aligned a gap at the top which made me think I had it the right way up. But now I can't get the message to re-appear. It seemed to happen when I pushed the adapter more firmly onto the drive.

(2) I did try the jumper after getting the above message anyway. I had to go dig one out of a drawer (and was amazed I was successful at finding one, as the Humax doesn't have one). But setting it to master did nothing.

I wonder if the adapter, which arrived in a jiffy bag, is faulty.

| Tue 9 Apr 2013 22:15:14 #7 |
damian

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At least it's win7 and not windows 8. XP would have been easier.

It's a while since I've looked at this; however graphically you should be able to see the attached disk via:

start, control panel, system and security, administrative tools, computer management, storage, disk management

Under no circumstances should you allow windows to format or do anything to recognise the attached drive as it will destroy the partition table

You should be able to get the similar information using 'diskpart' from a cmd window and issue the command 'list disk'

be very careful, disk 0 is normally your pc's windows main disk. If you can't see the attached drive then neither can the humaxrwdir program

If the disk cannot be seen, double check the usb/ide adapter, you should have the ide connector plugged into the drive, it's easy to mis-align pins here, the drive's power connector should also be plugged in (4pin plug) and obviously the usb into the computer. You should be able to hear and/or feel the drive spinning up when power is supplied.
The usb/ide adapter may or maynot have come with a driver cd, quite often a mini sized disk. the first time the usb was plugged in you should have got a prompt from windows to install a driver if necessary. Check:
start, control panel, hardware and sound, device manager
to see if you have any yellow exclamation marks which may show a problem with the attached usb adapter. In this case remove the driver and start again using the supplied usb/ide adapter cd if necessary.

In an ideal world you may have an old ide drive knocking around which you could use for testing purposes. Normally these things work with a bit of help and perseverance

I've just seen Martin's post and yes, if you can set the drive jumper for master, I'd forgotten about that and it is dead easy to mis-align the ide connector or connect upside down if the tab is missing.

If the pc can see the drive and humaxrwdir can't then try running humaxrwdir in xp compatibility mode.
If the pc can't see the drive then you could boot into a linux live system to test and check; however the steps involved are complicated.

Just seen your post now Jason,
it's unlikely that the adapter is faulty, remove/uninstall the driver/hardware from device manager and use the supplied one, if supplied on disk, or find a driver that does work, windows needs to see the drive properly before anything else will work

good luck

| Tue 9 Apr 2013 22:29:00 #8 |
jason_z

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Thanks, Damian and Martin. I should have mentioned that I do have exclamation marks in yellow triangles in Device Manager. I have now tried on three systems:

Windows 7 Ultimate - device appears as two items in Device Manager, one of them (I think) PCI Serial Port, then another below it, also called PCI something, both with exclamation marks.

Windows XP - nothing happened that I could see.

Windows 7 Starter - device appears as USB Mass Storage in Device Manager, with exclamation mark.

I have never yet seen the disk come up in Disk Management, alas.

The reason I suspected the adapter is that it arrived poorly packaged (so could have been damaged in transit) and is obviously of low quality - the kettle lead power cable falls out of the power brick! There is no driver CD, though Windows 7 in both cases insists that it needs a driver.

I have tried the jumper on Master though I think I might also try Cable Select.

I don't really want to do the transfer on XP as my XP machine's hard drive is too small for the Humax contents, but I will have another go at that tonight.

I do have an IDE disk I could try the adapater on, although it might be faulty. I might try that too.

| Wed 10 Apr 2013 10:53:36 #9 |
damian

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HI Jason,
if it's got a yellow exclamation mark against the device then it won't work.
disconnect the usb plug, remove/uninstall the device and the device/hardware/driver from device manager, make sure any driver is removed otherwise windows will just try and use it the next time. A reboot might help next.

These adapters can get confused depending on the order they're connected up in.

With the pc running and usb plug still disconnected.

Connect the ide adapter to the drive, and then connect the power supply 4 pin plug and power up the drive, wait a few seconds, the drive may spin up, the drive and adapter need a few seconds to sort themselves out, and only then connect the usb cable to the pc. (if the drive hasn't already spun up it may spin when plugging the usb cable into the pc)

when plugging the usb cable/plug into the pc, windows should recognise that a new device has been connected. It will either find a driver automatically and should work or ask for a driver in which case you're stuffed as you don't have a driver cd.

If it's the latter then I'd send the thing back. There are plenty of similar devices on ebay and via other stockists. If you've a multimeter handy you could check for 12v and 5v on the 4pin power connector if you suspect the psu.
It is unusual for these things not to work; however there's always the exception.

What you're looking for, I'd assume, is the usb mass storage that you saw under win7 starter, quite why it's different under ultimate is a concern. You should not have any exclamation marks in device manager and it may help to check the main board manufacturer's website for firmware/driver updates or the computer manufacturer if it's a large company, along with service pack 1 for win7 plus any other updates as necessary.

| Wed 10 Apr 2013 13:12:43 #10 |