Downloading and Watching Offline on a Mac

My Humax Forum » Freeview HD » FVP 4000T, 5000T

Downloading and Watching Offline on a Mac

(24 posts)

GrahamRHK

special member
Joined: Jan '19
Posts: 204
offline

The problem for me in using a USB is that the HDD has to be formatted in a way that Macs can't write to (some of the methods can be read)

Interesting that you say this because I have tried to copy to a USB stick (Thumb drive) 16GB following the FAQ post from Barry. I can't get it to work. The copy operation appears to be working (takes about 15 minutes for a 1/2 hour SD programme) but at the end there is nothing on the USB drive. All that happens is that a duplicate copy is created on the FVP internal drive. The USB stick is formatted as FAT (MBR) using disk utility on Mac. Moving the new copy to USB doesn't work either (the copy just disappears). The FVP can see the USB drive and a different USB stick formatted the same way with Music files on it can be seen and the music files play. Has anyone successfully copied recordings from FVP to USB stick? I thought I would ask before contacting HUMAX.

| Sun 27 Oct 2019 12:05:25 #11 |
Martin Liddle

special member
Joined: Feb '11
Posts: 4,711
offline

GrahamRHK - 4 hours ago »
The USB stick is formatted as FAT (MBR) using disk utility on Mac. Moving the new copy to USB doesn't work either (the copy just disappears). The FVP can see the USB drive and a different USB stick formatted the same way with Music files on it can be seen and the music files play. Has anyone successfully copied recordings from FVP to USB stick? I thought I would ask before contacting HUMAX.

Yes just tried and it works for me to a FAT32 (USB) stick. Two provisos: the files are for some reason copied to a folder .recordings (a full stop before recordings that will make the folder invisible to a standard ls command on Linux). The recording on the USB drive is listed in the same place as the original (so it looks as though you have duplicates) see this post from Barry.
https://myhumax.org/forum/topic/recordings-list-beware-if-archived-off-to-usb-hdd?replies=1

| Sun 27 Oct 2019 16:18:20 #12 |
emodb

junior member
Joined: Oct '19
Posts: 8
offline

Having been away from home for the past few days (as usual) it has taken until now to be able to catch up on all of this.

I have given up for now on using the FTP/Samba options as time is now of the essence. If I don't get this problem sorted out then I have only about a week's worth of recording space left on the Humax.

I have tried using the HDD and I've had the same problem as Graham: when I copied a programme and then plugged my HDD into my Mac it said there were 0 files on it. And when I go to Media (in Freeview Play) it tells me that there is no video saved on the HDD. Yet when I look at Storage (in the Recordings window, as per the advice in the link concerning 'beware if archived off to hdd') it shows the programme is stored on the HDD. And in the main list of recordings it appears to have duplicated the programme (which has further cut into the number of hours storage apparently left to me).

I need help and I'm feeling pretty desperate as this is all taking more time and effort than it should do. I feel that I'm clearly doing something wrong. How can I be sure that the file has copied to my HDD and how can I get it to show up, and preferably play, on my Mac?

| Fri 1 Nov 2019 0:02:40 #13 |
GrahamRHK

special member
Joined: Jan '19
Posts: 204
offline

I have tried using the HDD

Do you mean USB drive?

If I don't get this problem sorted out then I have only about a week's worth of recording space left on the Humax.

I thought your objective was to watch offline. If you want to archive to reclaim space then you can use the FTP or SMB options. Watching offline may be not possible as we have discovered but at least you won't have lost anything,

| Fri 1 Nov 2019 7:55:18 #14 |
Martin Liddle

special member
Joined: Feb '11
Posts: 4,711
offline

GrahamRHK - 1 hour ago »
Watching offline may be not possible as we have discovered but at least you won't have lost anything,

But it works for me. How are you looking at the file system on the USB drive?

| Fri 1 Nov 2019 9:27:32 #15 |
emodb

junior member
Joined: Oct '19
Posts: 8
offline

Actually please forgive my last message if it seemed like a rant.

I've now found out that Ctrl Shift and full stop will work to show hidden files and folders. I have managed to transfer the file that I downloaded to my Mac and it opens and plays okay.

Thanks for your help. I'll approach the Samba/FTP issue another time once I've got over the stress of this occasion.

| Fri 1 Nov 2019 11:06:15 #16 |
emodb

junior member
Joined: Oct '19
Posts: 8
offline

But in response to your question

I thought your objective was to watch offline. If you want to archive to reclaim space then you can use the FTP or SMB options.

My objective is both and I'm sorry if I didn't make that clear. Because I am away from home a lot I want to be able to watch what I have recorded on my computer.

But it's taken me so long to work out how to solve the problem (I've been trying to work it out myself off and on for months) that the PVR is now nearly full with recordings and if I could't finally find a solution this week there is a high risk that earlier stuff might start to be deleted. Or that it would refuse to record new programmes.

| Fri 1 Nov 2019 11:14:41 #17 |
Martin Liddle

special member
Joined: Feb '11
Posts: 4,711
offline

emodb - 5 hours ago »
I've now found out that Ctrl Shift and full stop will work to show hidden files and folders. I have managed to transfer the file that I downloaded to my Mac and it opens and plays okay.

Well done on finding the solution.

MODERATORS: please can Barry's FAQ item be updated to say that files transferred to USB storage are now to be found in a .recordings directory which is hidden on a Mac and appears at the start of the of recordings list on a PC. To reveal on a Mac use Ctrl-Shift and full stop.

| Fri 1 Nov 2019 16:30:46 #18 |
GrahamRHK

special member
Joined: Jan '19
Posts: 204
offline

I've now found out that Ctrl Shift and full stop will work to show hidden files and folders. I have managed to transfer the file that I downloaded to my Mac and it opens and plays okay.

Thanks for this. "invisible"/"hidden" files from HUMAX copy to USB now visible and playable. Now I need to work out why/how files copied by FTP are not playable. Actually the key sequence is Command, Shift, Period - to view hidden files.

| Fri 1 Nov 2019 20:13:23 #19 |
aldaweb

administrator
Joined: Feb '11
Posts: 400
offline

Martin Liddle - 1 week ago »
MODERATORS: please can Barry's FAQ item be updated to say that files transferred to USB storage are now to be found in a .recordings directory which is hidden on a Mac and appears at the start of the of recordings list on a PC. To reveal on a Mac use Ctrl-Shift and full stop.

I've now added an addendum

| Mon 11 Nov 2019 18:31:10 #20 |