My Humax Forum » Freeview HD » HDR FOX T2

Does HDR network show on PC without internet?

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    dagbert

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    Hi, I've just registered because I seem to be approaching networking from the opposite direction to everyone else, and I can't waste any more time on google with this odd question (it just shows 1M people who want internet and can't get it).

    I only want to occasionally connect between my non-internet PC and the Humax so I can use my PC HDD to back up the HDR-fox. Ideally I'd prefer to 'see' the humax on my PC.

    I tried plugging them both into a router and used network wizard on XP - they both said connected but the humax doesn't appear on the PC view and I've no idea how you can look 'thro' the humax (or why you'd want to).

    One post I read said you needed an internet connection to 'wake up'(?)the HDR??

    It may sound strange, but the internet is largely irrelevant to my HDR viewing - if I want iplayer I'll access it direct thro' my internet PC. Anyway my broadband is upstairs and my HDR is downstairs - I can move the router whenever I need to ethernet the HDR - but I can't easily connect it to broadband.

    Sorry if I've got something backwards but I need help from a human!

    Thanks.

    | Wed 4 Jan 2012 19:44:48 #1 |
  2. myhumax

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    Sounds like the router does work without the broadband connection. Assuming so, you should check that the HDR is assigned a static IP (one that is similar but not the same as the PC - last quartet number should be different, use ipconfig in the command line on the PC, take down the details such as the gateway IP, to use on the HDR).

    Then make sure you have FTP enabled on the HDR and open a folder or web browser on the PC and type in the location bar the following: ftp://humaxftp:0000@IP-ADDRESS-OF-HDR/

    You can then drag and drop the recordings to where you want to.store the backup of.the recordings - making sure you save all three files per recording (hmt,nts,ts).

    If all this is beyond any comprehension, I might write a blog post for connecting to the HDR for dummies...

    | Wed 4 Jan 2012 20:35:40 #2 |
  3. rkm_hm

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    son_t - 26 minutes ago  » 

    Make sure you have FTP enabled on the HDR and open a folder or web browser on the PC and type in the location bar the following: ftp://humaxftp:0000@IP-ADDRESS-OF-HDR/
    You can then drag and drop the recordings to where you want to.store the backup of.the recordings - making sure you save all three files per recording (hmt,nts,ts).

    When I tried this in Firefox, it came up with an "802 - Command not implemented" error - so presumably needs an add-on of some sort to be able to run FTP.

    It worked in IE, but I can't see how to drag and drop directly. At the top of the screen it offers an option to "View this FTP site in Windows Explorer" by holding down Alt while clicking on View and selecting the Windows Explorer option. If you do this, you then get a logon dialogue box in which you have to type "humaxftp" as the user name and "0000" as the password (asuming you haven't changed the password on the T2)

    It's then much easier to drag and drop because you can see all your HDD folders in the side bar, and all the T2's files in the view pane.

    Having said that, I personally prefer to use an FTP client. The one I use is AceFTP2-Pro, but WS-FTP (free at http://www.wsftple.com/) is also ok.

    | Wed 4 Jan 2012 21:19:28 #3 |
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    dagbert

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    Ah, thanks for that son_t - I'll try it - but it sounds like the kind of stuff I used to suffer when I was 'fingered' to use one of the first token ring PC networks - I thought networks had grown up since then... I was happy being a network dummy if it meant I'd never have to see that again!

    Don't get me wrong - I hate it when the internals are hidden by the likes of Mr Gates (whatever his motives are) - it's like stepping back in time to when you could only buy a bag of sugar by asking the grocer for it (and I never met a grocer as incompetent as Vista).

    Ideally both approaches should be available - isn't that what wizards are for?

    Anyway, I'll report back when I've had a go.

    Thanks again.

    | Wed 4 Jan 2012 21:30:14 #4 |
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    dagbert

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    Well, you put me on the right track and I got it working but not quite as instructed.

    The recommended IPs didn't work, and I tried filezilla with a similar set recommended for that - didn't work either.

    I cold-booted the HDR and tried both again but that didn't work so I connected broadband to the router temporarily (with some difficulty).

    That didn't make any difference either so I tried going back to the automatic IP settings.

    I could see they were compatible with my Thomson router IPs so it seemed a safe bet.

    The internet portal worked straight away and the new IP worked in MS IE with suggested syntax. Didn't try filezilla - no real need now.

    I disconnected broadband from the router and everything carried on working fine - but it's still possible the internet connect was needed to 'wake up' the Humax networking side.

    In a few weeks I might use ethernet again and I will be able to see if the Humax networking side is still 'awake'...

    Thanks again.

    | Thu 5 Jan 2012 22:05:20 #5 |
  6. rkm_hm

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    dagbert  » 

    That didn't make any difference either so I tried going back to the automatic IP settings.
    I could see they were compatible with my Thomson router IPs so it seemed a safe bet.
    The internet portal worked straight away and the new IP worked in MS IE with suggested syntax. Didn't try filezilla - no real need now.
    I disconnected broadband from the router and everything carried on working fine - but it's still possible the internet connect was needed to 'wake up' the Humax networking side.

    Chances are that by doing this, you got the HDR to pick up a compatible IP address from the router's DHCP server. It may stop working when that expires. To overcome this, do it again, make a note of what IP address it assigns, and enter that address manually into the HDR. FTP should then work indefinitely - regardless of whether or not you are connected to the internet.

    | Fri 6 Jan 2012 11:13:44 #6 |
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    Martin Liddle

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    rkm_hm - 47 minutes ago  » 
    To overcome this, do it again, make a note of what IP address it assigns, and enter that address manually into the HDR.

    I would suggest that is a really bad idea. Chaos will ensue when the router allocates the same IP address to a different device. Using a fixed address on the same subnet but outside the range of addresses allocated by DHCP would be a much better idea.

    | Fri 6 Jan 2012 12:03:34 #7 |
  8. rkm_hm

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    Martin Liddle - 1 day ago  » 

    rkm_hm - 47 minutes ago  » 
    To overcome this, do it again, make a note of what IP address it assigns, and enter that address manually into the HDR.

    I would suggest that is a really bad idea. Chaos will ensue when the router allocates the same IP address to a different device. Using a fixed address on the same subnet but outside the range of addresses allocated by DHCP would be a much better idea.

    You are, of course, right - in the general case, where devices are frequently coming and going on a network. However, in many cases, a domestic network has a relatively fixed number of devices which always end up with the same IP addresses.

    My router - whose UI has been clobbered by PlusNet - doesn't actually tell me what range of addresses are managed by the DHCP server - unless I do a backup and then wade through the resulting text file. However, it DOES allow me to tell it to always issue the same IP address to a specified device. My HDR is connected wirelessly to my network, using a wireless receiver which appears to have its own DHCP server which issues addresses in a different subnet from the router. It did this yesterday, and the HDR stopped talking to me. I need to find out how to turn off the receiver's DHCP server but meanwhile, I told the router to always issue a particular address (so it won't issue it to anything else) and I've set this address manually in the HDR - and it's all working again.

    | Sat 7 Jan 2012 17:45:05 #8 |
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    Martin Liddle

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    rkm_hm - 54 minutes ago  » 

    Martin Liddle - 1 day ago  » 

    rkm_hm - 47 minutes ago  » 
    To overcome this, do it again, make a note of what IP address it assigns, and enter that address manually into the HDR.

    I would suggest that is a really bad idea. Chaos will ensue when the router allocates the same IP address to a different device. Using a fixed address on the same subnet but outside the range of addresses allocated by DHCP would be a much better idea.

    You are, of course, right - in the general case, where devices are frequently coming and going on a network. However, in many cases, a domestic network has a relatively fixed number of devices which always end up with the same IP addresses.

    Which makes it all the more mystifying for the end user when something that has worked for ages suddenly stops working when something new is plugged into the network. It does seem to me that many of the problems being reported are because users do not have any network skills. Eventually the technology will evolve so that the skills are not necessary but at the moment when issuing advice on a forum I think it is better to offer conservative choices.

    | Sat 7 Jan 2012 18:43:25 #9 |
  10. rkm_hm

    Watt Tyler

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    Martin Liddle - 2 hours ago  »  Eventually the technology will evolve so that the skills are not necessary but at the moment when issuing advice on a forum I think it is better to offer conservative choices.

    Agreed.

    | Sat 7 Jan 2012 20:54:52 #10 |

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