problems formating external hard disk

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problems formating external hard disk

(9 posts)

bob793

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Hi

I need help formating an external hard drive. Tried fat32 because ext3 looks complicated. Already have an Iomega 320Gb which is now full but formated easily on Humax box without PC.

I bought a Toshiba PX1710E-1HJ0 StorE 1Tb external hard drive. My Humax Foxsat HDR asks me to format the Toshiba on my PC. I've done this with swissknife V3 but the 1Tb is now 429Gb. Using the computer management tool in Windows XP I see that 502Gb are unallocated. Now Swissknife has a problem and has to close when I select the Toshiba. Should I start again and try ext3 or?

I've also bought a WESTERN DIGITAL CAVIAR BLACK 1TB 64MB CACHE HARD DISK DRIVE SATA 6 GB/S 126MB/S <4.2MS 7200RPM - OEM and not tried fitting it yet. Please direct me to latest or most appropriate guide for that too please.

| Fri 23 Dec 2011 15:30:14 #1 |
grahamlthompson

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Format it EXT3, if you don't you won't be able to save most HD recordings.

http://myhumax.org/forum/topic/how-to-format-a-usb-device-to-ext3-noddys-guide

Drive swap is very easy

http://foxsatdisk.wikispaces.com/Simple+HDD+swap

| Sat 24 Dec 2011 10:48:55 #2 |
grahamlthompson

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grahamlthompson - 19 seconds ago »
Format it EXT3, if you don't you won't be able to save most HD recordings.
http://myhumax.org/forum/topic/how-to-format-a-usb-device-to-ext3-noddys-guide

You can also do it in windows if you get Easeus Partition Manager The free version is fine)

http://www.partition-tool.com/product.htm

Drive swap is very easy
http://foxsatdisk.wikispaces.com/Simple+HDD+swap

| Sat 24 Dec 2011 10:51:14 #3 |
bob793

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Thankyou for prompt reply. The Easeus program did the job (format external hard drive to ext3) but the steps were not as described. Spent many hours before that trying the ubuntu noddys guide route and now have ubuntu (not working properly) on my computer. Not tried changing the internal drive yet, think I'd better get a usb cradle first. Thank you very much for your help. P.S. your posts on this and other sites are very helpful generally.

| Tue 27 Dec 2011 17:48:17 #4 |
bob793

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will any sata usb cradle do?

| Tue 27 Dec 2011 17:54:42 #5 |
grahamlthompson

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bob793 - 13 minutes ago »
will any sata usb cradle do?

Yes should do.

| Tue 27 Dec 2011 18:08:48 #6 |
johnscotty

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Just a question primarily for Bob - I notice you had a WD Caviar black which is a high spec PC hard drive - normally the WD green drives are the recommended kit for Humax HDD replacement.

Just wondered if you did use the Caviar black and if it runs hot (I used another (Samsung) PC HDD a while back for a short while and that felt like I could fry eggs on the top).

As I have just upgraded my PC HDD, I now have a WD Caviar black avaialble and was thinking of using that in the Humax - I wondered how hot the WD Caviar black drive you used appeared to be running (if you used it - PC reviews did indicate this drive as running hot - in my PC I had a dedicated fan on this all the time so it was OK).

If it runs hot in the Humax is there any way to set the fan to run all the time (I know in the old sky boxes there were mods to fit additional fans in some for additional cooling).
Cheers

John

| Wed 3 Oct 2012 23:15:13 #7 |
myhumax

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I know you asked Bob, but I am currently looking at the internal HDD of the FOXSAT-HDR.

The Simple HDD swap for the FOXSAT-HDR has now moved to the wiki on this site.

There, the page also list drives users have found to work in the FOXSAT-HDR. Although it is quite old it indicates that practically any drive can be used in the HDR - you don't need a high performance one.

In fact, as this post indicates, you are more likely to have problems with faster HDDs i.e. one running at 6Gbps rather than 3Gbps, that are sold today (i.e. SATA III drives, not SATA II.)

I am currently trying to install a Seagate Barracuda 2TB SATA drive into the FOXSAT-HDR, and am having lots of trouble. I don't think it will work... (However, I have found it to work in the HDR-FOX T2! This will be a blog article soon.)

Let me know what the drive make and model once you have decided to put into your FOXSAT, and I will update the wiki page.

| Thu 4 Oct 2012 9:01:58 #8 |
johnscotty

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Interesting, whilst I was on 'another project' I took the original HDD out and put in a spare Samsung HD400LJ (2006 vintage) hard disc which just formatted on switching the box on and off it went (used for a few days). Only when I put the original disc back did I notice the Samsung was rather hot (hence my thoughts on the fan operation issue). My WD is the older Sata II version (WD1001FALS). I suspect the issue like all PC targetted HDD is how long it lasts if it does run OK initially. Hence my wondering if Bob had been succesful.
John

| Thu 4 Oct 2012 13:50:08 #9 |