My Humax Forum » Freesat HD » FOXSAT HDR

HDD not available check HDD?

(19 posts)
  1. grahamlthompson

    grahamlthompson

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    You need to reduce the transfer speed by fitting a jumper to pins 5 and 6.

    http://support.wdc.com/knowledgebase/answer.aspx?ID=981

    | Sat 29 Apr 2017 12:17:02 #11 |
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    matthew

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    Many thanks Graham. Don't suppose you know where I can get a 'jumper' from?

    Thanks again, Matthew

    | Sat 29 Apr 2017 12:42:08 #12 |
  3. grahamlthompson

    grahamlthompson

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    matthew - 7 minutes ago  » 
    Many thanks Graham. Don't suppose you know where I can get a 'jumper' from?
    Thanks again, Matthew

    You might find one on old computer kit, or if you have a local PC repair shop they may well just give you one.

    Failing that Maplins

    http://www.maplin.co.uk/p/jumper-pin-pack-a28gf

    | Sat 29 Apr 2017 12:52:30 #13 |
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    matthew

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    Many thanks Graham. I've asked ebuyer and also WD to send me one. If they don't, I'm so pleased you mentioned Maplin. hadn't thought of them. Thanks again, Matthew

    | Sat 29 Apr 2017 13:02:50 #14 |
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    matthew

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    Graham and all,

    Sadly, the proposed idea of a jumper pin for pins 5 and 6 hasn't fixed the problem. I have a jumper pin across pins 5 and 6, but I still get the same error.

    I wonder what the problem can be.
    Suggestions very welcome.

    Thank again
    Matthew

    | Tue 2 May 2017 18:42:29 #15 |
  6. grahamlthompson

    grahamlthompson

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    I would try a disk format and factory reset. Because the drive was set to Sata 3 it may not be correctly installed.

    | Tue 2 May 2017 19:52:58 #16 |
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    matthew

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    Thank you so much Graham for your help and assistance.

    I got the feeling straight away you knew what you're talking about!

    Just before I went to reformat the drive in the Humax, I wondered if the pins I put the jumper pin on where the right ones. After all, the diagram in the documentation didn't really match the drive. I wondered if the order of the pins was different, like I was looking at the drive the wrong way up!

    ...so I decided I'd put a jumper pin on (what I thought was) pins 3 and 4 (when I thought I'd already put them on the right pins 5 and 6)

    Well, pins 3 and 4 where not pins 3 and 4, they where actually 5 and 6.

    I know, because it worked! It completely resolved the "HDD not available Check HDD" error

    So I conclude:

    If you want to replace the harddisk in Humax, you need to make sure the HD has the ability to do a 'slow' transfer speed of 1.5 Gb/s. Any speed higher than this will cause the "HDD not available Check HDD" error. For my HD this required some jumper pins to be placed across pins 5 and 6 (but its not obvious which are which pins - don't assume you're looking at the pins the right way up!)

    I can't see why a larger disk would not work, like a 3TB or 4TB

    There's no need for the Humax device to actually do the format, so long as you partition and format the drive correctly (as I had)

    The drive I chose, is super quiet and it really doesn't get hot at all. Really ideal for this type of device. I think I'll buy a similar device for my QNAP NAS as that drive does get very hot at times.

    The drive I used:
    WD AV 2TB 3.5" SATA Media Hard Drive
    Optimised for media & set-top box use
    SATA-III 6Gb/s Interface
    5400rpm / 64MB cache
    3yr warranty

    I hope this post will help others. Feel free to make a comment "me too!"

    | Thu 18 May 2017 18:46:47 #17 |
  8. grahamlthompson

    grahamlthompson

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    matthew - 24 minutes ago  » 
    Thank you so much Graham for your help and assistance.
    I got the feeling straight away you knew what you're talking about!
    Just before I went to reformat the drive in the Humax, I wondered if the pins I put the jumper pin on where the right ones. After all, the diagram in the documentation didn't really match the drive. I wondered if the order of the pins was different, like I was looking at the drive the wrong way up!
    ...so I decided I'd put a jumper pin on (what I thought was) pins 3 and 4 (when I thought I'd already put them on the right pins 5 and 6)
    Well, pins 3 and 4 where not pins 3 and 4, they where actually 5 and 6.
    I know, because it worked! It completely resolved the "HDD not available Check HDD" error
    So I conclude:
    If you want to replace the harddisk in Humax, you need to make sure the HD has the ability to do a 'slow' transfer speed of 1.5 Gb/s. Any speed higher than this will cause the "HDD not available Check HDD" error. For my HD this required some jumper pins to be placed across pins 5 and 6 (but its not obvious which are which pins - don't assume you're looking at the pins the right way up!)
    I can't see why a larger disk would not work, like a 3TB or 4TB
    There's no need for the Humax device to actually do the format, so long as you partition and format the drive correctly (as I had)
    The drive I chose, is super quiet and it really doesn't get hot at all. Really ideal for this type of device. I think I'll buy a similar device for my QNAP NAS as that drive does get very hot at times.
    The drive I used:
    WD AV 2TB 3.5" SATA Media Hard Drive
    Optimised for media & set-top box use
    SATA-III 6Gb/s Interface
    5400rpm / 64MB cache
    3yr warranty
    I hope this post will help others. Feel free to make a comment "me too!"

    You can use a larger drive but be aware.

    Drives larger than 1TB cannot be set up by the Foxsat. They require the correct partitioning and formatting to be created externally ideally using a PC booted into Linux (Requires some Linux knowledge).

    A large number of files can significantly slow down the response to the media button.

    Pleased you got it to work

    You can identify the correct pins by orientating the drive so that the power and data connections are aligned as per the WD help online files.

    Incidentally I should have told you if you wan't the maximum space for video, immediately after formatting elect to format both the video and Music/Photo partitions. This gives you the option to reduce the Music/Photo partition to it's smallest allowed size. If you wan't to do it now you will have to export your recordings to USB (or to a PC if you have the custom firmware) and copy them back afterwards.

    | Thu 18 May 2017 19:20:34 #18 |
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    Martin Liddle

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    matthew - 56 minutes ago  » 
    I can't see why a larger disk would not work, like a 3TB or 4TB
    There's no need for the Humax device to actually do the format, so long as you partition and format the drive correctly (as I had)

    You will hit a brick wall at 2TB which is the size limit for am MBR style partition layout. Unless you want to develop your own kernel for the Humax to support a GPT partition style which would allow you to have a drive as large as you wish (up to somewhere around 8000 TB).

    | Thu 18 May 2017 19:50:04 #19 |

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