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Aura File Transfer issues

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Mike w

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Hi.

I'll start by apologising if this subject has been covered previously. I did search, but didn't quite find what I was looking for.
I have a Humax Fox T2 which has worked well for several years and, over time, has accumulated many hours of footage I'd like to keep. I recently bought an Aura and hoped to be able to transfer these files across to it. The 'man in the shop' said he didn't see a problem with this.

What I've done so far: I copied the files I want to keep to a PC from the Fox T2. I set the Aura up as an FTP server and connected to it over my LAN using Filezilla on the PC. I wasn't quite sure which folder on the Aura to copy my files to, so I started by copying just one film (all four files, just in case) into the 'uploads' folder on the Aura. Then I browsed the Aura's recordings, using the little button immediately to the left of the 'APPS' button on the remote. Nothing. Couldn't find it anywhere. So, I transferred the same film again, this time to the 'Movies' folder. Again, nothing showed up. I repeated this process a couple more times, using different folders, but I've been unable to locate my files on the Aura. I then installed VLC player on the Aura, and, although I could then find my transferred files, the VLC player doesn't seem to want to play them. I should mention here that these files are SD, not HD. In any event, I had hoped that I would be able to play the files through the Aura's own functions, rather than with a third-party add-on, which is just cumbersome.

As a supplementary question, on my old Fox T2, it was a simple job to create sub-folders and move files around. So, for example, I had films in folders such as 'Action', 'Romance', 'Sci-Fi' etc. All of these under a main folder called 'Films'. I cannot see that the Aura offers this facility, which is slightly annoying.

Clearly, I am doing something wrong, or, possibly, the Aura is not interested in playing older files from previous Humax iterations. That would surprise me, although I can't rule it out due to lack of knowledge.

Would appreciate any help with this and hope I have supplied enough info to outline the issue.

| Tue 31 May 2022 10:46:30 #1 |
Martin Liddle

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Mike w - 1 hour ago »
I repeated this process a couple more times, using different folders, but I've been unable to locate my files on the Aura. I then installed VLC player on the Aura, and, although I could then find my transferred files, the VLC player doesn't seem to want to play them. I should mention here that these files are SD, not HD.

So what steps did you take to remove the encryption (both SD and HD are encrypted) from the HDR-FOX T2 files before transferring them to the Aura?

| Tue 31 May 2022 12:02:40 #2 |
Mike w

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Thanks for your prompt reply. I wasn't aware that they were encrypted. In the case I mentioned above, the 'film' was just a recording of one shown on terrestrial TV some time back. So - is the encryption something the Fox would have applied to the files? I don't see that mentioned in its manual.

| Tue 31 May 2022 12:06:51 #3 |
Martin Liddle

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Mike w - 2 hours ago »
Thanks for your prompt reply. I wasn't aware that they were encrypted. In the case I mentioned above, the 'film' was just a recording of one shown on terrestrial TV some time back. So - is the encryption something the Fox would have applied to the files? I don't see that mentioned in its manual.

Yes the HDR-FOX T2 and many (but not all) of the Humax recorders will encrypt all SD and HD content with a key that is unique to the particular box. With SD content you can remove the encryption by copying to SD storage. There is a lot of knowledge about encryption on the HDR FOX T2 but discussion of removal of encryption from HD recordings is frowned upon on this forum. Pop over to https://hummy.tv for more information.

As far as I can see the Aura does not encrypt SD recordings.

| Tue 31 May 2022 15:01:06 #4 |
Mike w

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Thanks, I have hardly any HD recordings due to disk-space considerations. I'm not sure I've fully understood you when you say: "With SD content you can remove the encryption by copying to SD storage.". I've copied the files from the FOX to a PC and am now attempting to copy them from there to the Aura. It sounds as though you think this is insufficient to un-encrypt them (and, so far, my results back that up)? If so, what method would you recommend? What is 'SD storage', as opposed to just 'storage', I guess I'm asking...

EDIT: Do you mean I should use the FOX's in-built menu to do the copy rather then using Filezilla from the PC?

| Tue 31 May 2022 15:12:53 #5 |
Martin Liddle

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Mike w - 1 hour ago »
Thanks, I have hardly any HD recordings due to disk-space considerations. I'm not sure I've fully understood you when you say: "With SD content you can remove the encryption by copying to SD storage.".

Sorry my mistake; trying to do too many things at once. What I meant to say was "With SD content you can remove the encryption by copying to USB storage." ie you plug in a USB memory stick or USB hard drive to the HDR-FOX T2 and copy the content on to the USB storage. There are faster and easier ways to do it but they are outside the scope of this forum.

| Tue 31 May 2022 17:05:39 #6 |
Mike w

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Many thanks. I will try this and see how things go. I must say, it's difficult to see the point of encryption which is so easily circumvented, but I guess that is a topic for another day. Thanks again for your help.

| Wed 1 Jun 2022 6:58:39 #7 |
Mike w

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I do now have a supplementary question, if someone will be kind enough to humour me. I have copied a couple of files from my old HDR FOX T2 to a USB, using the FOX's in-built menu commands. These do seem to play OK, using VLC on a PC. I am assuming, therefore, that the encryption has been removed. So, now I want to move them back onto my new Aura. However, wherever I put them (Using FileZilla from the PC) on the Aura, they don't show up when I click on the 'recordings' button on the remote - the menu only shows me the items recorded by the Aura itself. Browsing the folder structure, it looks a bit of a nightmare and I still have no idea how I can make my own folders so that I can keep my files organised the way I want (e.g., a folder called 'Films' etc). Even if I can do this, will they show up in the Aura's 'recordings' section?

| Thu 2 Jun 2022 14:46:57 #8 |
Martin Liddle

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Mike w - 13 mins ago »
II have copied a couple of files from my old HDR FOX T2 to a USB, using the FOX's in-built menu commands. These do seem to play OK, using VLC on a PC. I am assuming, therefore, that the encryption has been removed.

Good.

So, now I want to move them back onto my new Aura. However, wherever I put them (Using FileZilla from the PC) on the Aura, they don't show up when I click on the 'recordings' button on the remote - the menu only shows me the items recorded by the Aura itself.

I don't think any body has found a way to do that

Browsing the folder structure, it looks a bit of a nightmare and I still have no idea how I can make my own folders so that I can keep my files organised the way I want (e.g., a folder called 'Films' etc). Even if I can do this, will they show up in the Aura's 'recordings' section?

I would speculate that the problem might be that the Aura doesn't use the sidecar files that most of the earlier Humax recorders use. This makes me think that the information for recordings it makes is held in a database and if this is true, I don't see how you can enter information into the database to make the external recordings visible along with the native recordings.

| Thu 2 Jun 2022 15:09:50 #9 |
Mike w

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Thanks very much, Martin, you have been a great help. I must say, so far the Aura is proving to be rather a disappointment. I have absolutely no intention - just as an example - of ever using Prime Video, and yet I find no way of removing it from the system, instead of continually cluttering up the screen. And I would have thought backwards-compatibility regarding the files is a basic requirement. Imagine if MS brought out a new version of Excel that couldn't read older spreadsheets!

| Thu 2 Jun 2022 17:05:54 #10 |