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FVP-5000T Internal Hard Disk problem

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    TW8

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    Hi, I'm after some ideas as I'm all out of them.

    I have a friends FVP-5000T where all recordings have disappeared. Recording menu shows no recordings, HDD indicator is greyed out with nothing showing where hours remaining once were. Anything to do with recording or timeslip fails.

    I assumed the HDD had died but when I plugged the (ST500VM) into a Debian (Linux based) machine I was pleasantly surprised that I was able to mount all 4 partitions. I copied all her recording onto another drive just in case the drive was playing up.

    Back to the PVR: I installed an unused WD Green 1TB I had sitting around still sealed. Sadly there was no change in the PVRs behaviour. The format PVR option was not available (with the new or old drive).

    I then downgraded the firmware from 103.54 to 103.53 from the Humax site just in case something was corrupted, again no joy so I allowed it to re-upgrade over LAN afterwards.

    Oh I also tried factory reset with format HDD but as the PVR doesn't seem to see the HDD so no formatting took place. The drive does spin up however.

    I don't know what else to try. If anyone has any suggestions, please suggest away. I see the HDR1000S had a problem with a resistor, but I haven't found anything similar here regarding the 5000T that wasn't cured with a reboot.

    I have to say I'm pleased that the files were in a normal EXT partiton. Other manufacturers' PVRs that I've encountered seem to use strange block sizes for their partitions making them unmountable by me.

    If I have no luck getting the PVR to recognise an internal drive, she can at least watch what she has recorded via an external drive. I'm unsure if her HD recordings will work that way though?

    Thanks for your help.

    Best wishes.

    | Sat 1 Oct 2022 22:10:44 #1 |
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    Martin Liddle

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    TW8 - 36 mins ago  » 
    Oh I also tried factory reset with format HDD but as the PVR doesn't seem to see the HDD so no formatting took place. The drive does spin up however.
    I don't know what else to try. If anyone has any suggestions, please suggest away. I see the HDR1000S had a problem with a resistor, but I haven't found anything similar here regarding the 5000T that wasn't cured with a reboot.

    The HDR-1000S problem was at one time suggested to be a resistor but the current thought is that the CPU needs reballing. I haven't seen it suggested for the FVP-5000T.

    If I have no luck getting the PVR to recognise an internal drive, she can at least watch what she has recorded via an external drive. I'm unsure if her HD recordings will work that way though?

    There is certainly some capability for playing video from attached USB storage, see page 16 of the user manual. My concern is that the content (both SD and HD) will be encrypted and I am not sure if playing from the USB storage will remove the encryption.

    | Sat 1 Oct 2022 23:03:19 #2 |
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    TW8

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    Hi Martin,

    I've not considered that SD recordings would also be encrypted as I hadn't tried to play any of the TS files recordings until you mentioned it. On test just now, I found VLC won't play them whereas the ones from my Foxsat play okay. Hmmm. I will have to copy the ts, hjtsm, hjm and nts files of one recording to a flash drive and see if the box will play it, else I guess all is lost.

    Thanks for the warning.

    | Sat 1 Oct 2022 23:45:59 #3 |
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    EEPhil

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    Martin Liddle - 7 hours ago  » 
    There is certainly some capability for playing video from attached USB storage, see page 16 of the user manual. My concern is that the content (both SD and HD) will be encrypted and I am not sure if playing from the USB storage will remove the encryption.

    If the USB drive is a mirror of the original drive, or the original in an external caddy it's possible that it could work, My investigations (details can't be discussed on this forum) suggest that recordings with correct sidecar files in the .recordings directory will be recognised as a recording and should be able to be viewed or copied back to the internal disk. Only saving the original .ts files will not work.

    | Sun 2 Oct 2022 7:01:10 #4 |
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    EEPhil

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    TW8 - 8 hours ago  » 
    I will have to copy the ts, hjtsm, hjm and nts files of one recording to a flash drive and see if the box will play it, else I guess all is lost.

    I skipped over this on first reading - oops!

    If you have all those files for one recording, place them in a folder named .recordings on the flash drive. Insert the flash drive into the Humax and the recording should/might appear in the recordings list. If not obvious get it to list recordings by device. Good luck!

    | Sun 2 Oct 2022 8:21:23 #5 |
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    TW8

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    Hi EEPhil,

    I tried the flash drive suggestion, but the recording didn't show up. I renamed folder to remove the leading dot from the folder name and the recording showed up but not unexpectedly wouldn't play. I then connected the origional drive via a USB lead. It failed also, but that test was flawed as when I plugged the same USB into the "Toaster" (Debian Linux), it reported the completely wrong partition sizes. Partition 2 showed as 3.6T. Not bad for a 500GB drive eh ;). It looks like I need a more modern SATA to USB device to test further. I do so miss Maplin even with their comical pricing structure

    Thank you for your useful suggestions. When I have more kit to test, I will report my findings.

    | Sun 2 Oct 2022 12:47:51 #6 |
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    EEPhil

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    Without the dot the file should not show up in recordings. Curious! I'm not sure you are looking in the right place.
    By recordings, I mean the screen displayed by pressing the recordings button not via the media, external drive menu items.

    An easy way to ensure you have the right file structure on an empty flash drive is to insert into Humax and save one (preferably short) programme via the save option. Then when plugged into your computer you should see a .recordings (I'm sure this is the correct spelling, but it will show up - assuming you can view hidden files/folders). The files you want to view should be placed in this folder. (I could do with giving exact menu keys, but I'm not in front of my Humax at present to check these!)

    | Mon 3 Oct 2022 7:11:52 #7 |
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    EEPhil

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    I've had a further look at this.

    To create the correct filestore on the flash drive, the folder must be .recordings. You can create the filestore from the Humax by inserting flash into Humax, selecting a programme (a short, not part of a series is preferable - only for time purposes). Save that programme to the flash drive. From the remote:
    Recordings/Programme/{name of programme}/+/Move
    If it takes too long you can cancel this. Attempt to save the file again and it should ask whether you want to stop.

    I took a flash drive prepared as above and transferred all the files associated with one programme using my computer to write to the flash drive. (These files came directly from the Humax using ftp, so they are still encrypted - I also deleted the programme from the Humax internal drive, so I hope this is similar to your problem).

    When inserting the flash drive into the Humax ignore or cancel the pop-up window. From the remote:
    Recordings - should list the recovered recording. It may be easier to find as:
    Recordings/Storage/{NOT internal drive} - shows only items on the flash drive.

    | Mon 3 Oct 2022 8:10:23 #8 |
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    TW8

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    Hi EEPhil,

    I noted that after I renamed the '.recordings' to plain 'recordings', upon inseting the flash drive, the PVR system created a new '.recordings' directory so I agree that that is where recordings are expected to be found, thank you for confirming.

    Unfortunately I am unable to any copy files from HDD to the flash drive while using the PVR as it no longer see the HDD and therefore shows no programmes. Storage also showed 0 when selected with flash drive attached. I will have another go tomorrow following your instructions to the letter and see what happens. I have also ordered a HDD caddy coming Friday.

    I have a feeling that if the HDD is not detected the the system hangs / no longer looks for other attached devices. I hope I'm wrong. Guess I will find out by the weekend.

    Another thing I thought of that may be an issue of my own making is the key for the encryption / decryption process. Seeing as I have both downgraded and re-upgraded the firmware, I wonder if the lack of HDD detection may have caused it to create a new key alienating files previously created. Do you happen know if it is possible to share SD recording from one machine with other 5000Ts? If so then this shouldn't effect SD recordings, but I have a nasty feeling.

    Positive to read that you managed to get files you transferred over ftp to play from the flash drive. Yes, you are right that I first looked at Video from the pop up, however there was also no listing in recordings.

    Thanks very much for your help.

    | Mon 3 Oct 2022 13:48:40 #9 |
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    Martin Liddle

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    TW8 - 4 mins ago  » 
    Another thing I thought of that may be an issue of my own making is the key for the encryption / decryption process. Seeing as I have both downgraded and re-upgraded the firmware, I wonder if the lack of HDD detection may have caused it to create a new key alienating files previously created.

    I don't think there is any evidence that has ever happened. On the HDR-FOX T2 the key is derived from the box serial number and the MAC address so is unique to each box.

    Do you happen know if it is possible to share SD recording from one machine with other 5000Ts? If so then this shouldn't effect SD recordings, but I have a nasty feeling.

    I don't think so for the reason given above.

    | Mon 3 Oct 2022 14:00:54 #10 |

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