My Humax Forum » Freesat HD » HDR 1000, 1010, 1100S

Is my HDD really dead?

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    10TL

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    I have a HDR 1000S which was working fantastically until Tuesday!

    The first sign of trouble was on Tuesday afternoon when I experienced the error “file format not supported” whilst trying to watch a recording made earlier in the day on the same device. I power cycled the box & all of my recordings then vanished but the HDD usage was still at 46%. I was still receiving all the television channels & all of my scheduled recordings were still listed. I completely powered the device down via the mains and left if for a few minutes, when I powered it back up the fault still remained but it was showing my HDD usage as “less than 1%” so I repeated the power down but for 3 or 4 minutes this time and once it had powered up again my recordings were back and I was able to watch them without problem for the rest of the evening.

    This morning I powered up the box & I am back to an empty recordings list & the HDD usage is showing “less than 1% space used” again. Even new recordings aren't showing in my recordings list. I have repeatedly reset & power cycled the box but with no luck.

    I have taken the following steps:
    Repeatedly power reset the device.
    Repeatedly power cycled the device.
    Factory reset the device.
    Reset my router.
    Checked my internet connection.
    Checked for new software.

    On top of the above I've noticed that I can't use any on demand services, all of the on demand graphics are missing as well as all off the icons in the Guide (just showing text now) & I can't pause/rewind live programs anymore.

    I spoke to Humax today & they have advised me that my HDD has probably failed but I'm not convinced. I've tried a few other HDD today but can't get the box to see any of them (although it might have something to do formatting though as I'm a Mac user so can only use the MS-DOS format facility).

    So...has my HDD actually failed or is it something more terminal?

    | Wed 4 Nov 2015 22:30:29 #1 |
  2. REPASSAC

    REPASSAC

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    I always now avoid looking at recordings as soon as the unit boots as I have experienced the missing recordings a few times myself. A standby cycle normally restores them.

    As your 1000S does see the disk “less than 1% space used”, I would try a standby cycle a few more times and if that does not work you could try formatting the drive via the settings storage menu.

    | Thu 5 Nov 2015 8:37:22 #2 |
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    10TL

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    I don't think it is seeing the HDD, it looks like generic message. I've tried more power cycles with longer wait times in between, letting it boot up and leaving it for an hour before using it and multiple factory resets but it’s still not playing, literally!. When I spoke to Humax and said I was able to get my recordings to display on Monday night their answer to that was "well that shouldn't have happened"!

    I've ordered another Pipeline HD .2 HDD which will be a like for like swap but I'm still not convinced. What format does the HDD need to be when it goes in?

    I was off work yesterday forced to watch live television, I was so bored!

    | Thu 5 Nov 2015 9:17:01 #3 |
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    10TL

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    I forgot to mention that I can't see the HDD in the storage menu.

    | Thu 5 Nov 2015 10:34:03 #4 |
  5. REPASSAC

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    Normally the disk should be unformatted with no partitions. I would expect the unit to create the necessary (multiple) partitions itself.

    You could try connecting the current disk to a PC and deleting all the partions and then return it to the unit.

    | Thu 5 Nov 2015 12:43:43 #5 |
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    10TL

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    Well as I was quietly expecting...

    I've swapped the HDD with a like for like & still no luck.

    The new HDD spins up the same as the old but I can't see it in my storage options & all the previous faults remain.

    Anyone have any ideas or is the box dead?

    | Thu 5 Nov 2015 14:40:28 #6 |
  7. REPASSAC

    REPASSAC

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    One suggestion (long shot)
    .
    Place unit in standby, wait 2 mins, disconnect power, wait 2 mins, remove power and sata connectors from disk.
    Power up for 10 mins (really no disk connected), factory reset unit, place unit in standby, wait 2 mins, disconnect power, wait 2 mins.

    Now reconnect disk leads, power up and wait 5 mins before checking disk.

    It could be a faulty disk controller on the motherboard but I doubt it. The numbers of this fault being reported and the MTBF of a major brand disk does not match. Equally modern quality levels on disk controllers call for very, very low PPM failures.d

    | Thu 5 Nov 2015 14:58:40 #7 |
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    10TL

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    Thanks, trying that now.
    I was wondering yesterday if it's a faulty SATA lead as the HDD is clearly powering up & remaining powered up? Problem there is that it's a combined lead & after Googling it I realised it wouldn't be straightforward finding one!

    | Thu 5 Nov 2015 15:18:16 #8 |
  9. grahamlthompson

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    10TL - 27 minutes ago  » 
    Thanks, trying that now.
    I was wondering yesterday if it's a faulty SATA lead as the HDD is clearly powering up & remaining powered up? Problem there is that it's a combined lead & after Googling it I realised it wouldn't be straightforward finding one!

    Try removing and replacing the sata connection at the motherboard end. It's not unknown for this to clear a bit of corrosion causing a bad connection.

    | Thu 5 Nov 2015 15:46:43 #9 |
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    10TL

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    I've dug out my Netbook & both HDD are seen by it as healthy, I've deleted all of the partitions from the new HDD & followed the steps but no luck unfortunately & storage is still telling me to connect a HDD to record programs. I'm guessing if it's the board then it's not economically repairable?

    Think it might be time for a refurbished one from Humax or switching back to Freeview with my old Humax box.

    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

    | Thu 5 Nov 2015 15:48:29 #10 |

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