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HDD not available

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HAP

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Hi
I bought my Humax Foxsat HDR after reading in WHICH magazine that it was their best buy about 18 months ago.
Last month it would not allow me to view certain channels while recording another.
This morning I switched on my Humax only for it to take an age to boot up and then got the message "HDD not available please check". As all menu options for the HDD/Recordings are not available - how do I check it?
Has the HDD just failed for no reasoned (60% full) and will now need replacing?
I have down powered the unit and powered up again but fault remains.
Any help would be appreciated.

| Mon 13 Aug 2012 10:19:02 #1 |
REPASSAC

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You have three options.
1. Phone Humax - it should be still under warrenty.
2. Try and repair the drive on a PC - not for the faint hearted.
3. I had one stuck showing "boot". What I did was disconnect Foxsat power for 60 secs, Opened lid, Remove the power and sata lead from the drive - replace lid and repower. Foxsat should be functioning without HD drive (assuming you say OK to the HDD not available). Power down normally, Disconnect power and refit leads. Repower and watch front display - you may need to press OK

Unless you really value the recordings I would suggest choice 1.
It rather sounds like the hard disk has a filesystem problem.

| Mon 13 Aug 2012 11:19:31 #2 |
HAP

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Thanks for that.

Tried your option 3 but made no difference.

Option 1.
Have checked the purchase date (6 july 2010), Humax want £95 to repair it. The unit only cost £199?

What's required/involved for option2?

| Mon 13 Aug 2012 12:08:45 #3 |
REPASSAC

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Re - option 1 - Sounds like a disk swap - think you could do that cheaper yourself.
Option 2 - I would not recommend it unless you have used unix and disk repair tools yourself.

You could also mount the drive in windows using an "Ext3 Reader" - I have used both EX2IFS (http://www.fs-driver.org/) and the DiskInternals software. - then I would suggest you look and see what you can find - with luck the partition containing Video may be intact - if so copy what you can to another disk.

You could then close the tool you are using and use the Windows partition manager to delete all partitions on the disk. Replace it in the Foxsat and let it format it.

| Mon 13 Aug 2012 13:05:28 #4 |
HAP

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As you suggest, I think a replacement would be simplest.
Which HDD would you recommend?
I just plug it in the Foxsat and it will do all the formatting?

| Mon 13 Aug 2012 14:19:53 #5 |
REPASSAC

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Any drive up to and including 1TB will auto partition and format.
These are quite good WD AV Drives - hit the specifications tab to see the models.
Search well for a good price.

| Mon 13 Aug 2012 14:35:54 #6 |
HAP

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Thanks for all the help - I've replaced the HDD and upgraded the size to a 500gb and all a lot cheaper that Humax wanted to do the repair.

So simple to do as well – just replaced the HDD and powered the unit and it formatted the drive and any it went.

Thank again for the help.

| Mon 3 Sep 2012 8:31:06 #7 |
Shuggy

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Dear All,
I have a Foxsat HDR, 1TB. Its worked great for many years but now it suddenly says "HDD not available please check".

It also take forever to boot up. Eventually when it does boot up just the live TV channels work, non of my recorded programmes are accessible.

Suggestions please?

Thank you

| Sun 19 Apr 2020 14:36:20 #8 |
REPASSAC

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Start by trying a reset to default. If no luck I would open the unit and check the power and SÃTA connectors, after powering down for 5 mins. If nothing loose then remove the hard disk and connect to a PC - using Disk manager can you see the partitions - if you can see these at all that is a good sign. If disk manager read the disk they you can try getting a replacement. A lot of people have a disk in a caddy you could try that in the Foxsat, if it see the disk and says it needs to be formatted then you can either order a CE / Surveillance type or just let it format it.

| Sun 19 Apr 2020 15:07:11 #9 |
Shuggy

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Many thanks for your help. I've done the factory reset with no luck.

Is there a specialist company who can do as you recommend (as I fear it may be beyond my skill set) and perhaps recover my lost programmes?

Appreciate all you can do to help me. If all fails is there a new Freest HDR you would recommend??

Best regards.

| Mon 20 Apr 2020 15:44:22 #10 |