My Humax Forum » Freeview HD » HDR FOX T2

USB issues?

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    djomp

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    We've always copied MP4 video files to a USB and watched them through our T2. However in the last week or so we've had some issues:

    One USB stick refused to be read (NTFS); when reformatted to FAT32 the file names were shortened and unreadable.

    The other won't allow the menu to load for any file; they can be played (from the start), but no option to "resume play", or "delete".

    These are things that worked fine when we last used the USB files, although I can't be certain when we last actually watched something; I was wondering if something in the last two updates has changed the way the USB works?

    | Mon 10 Mar 2014 21:17:04 #1 |
  2. chrisdaniels

    chrisdaniels

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    File names are short on fat32 because fat32 does not support long file names. So, they will auto truncate.

    The humax video files have what are called "side car" files usually named very similar to the video file. It's these side car files that contain the watched, resume etc flags. If these side car files do not exist on the USB, there is nothing the humax can load to give you a resume option.

    | Mon 10 Mar 2014 21:49:02 #2 |
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    Luke

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    chrisdaniels - 11 minutes ago  » 
    File names are short on fat32 because fat32 does not support long file names. So, they will auto truncate.

    Mine don't.

    djomp - 54 minutes ago  » One USB stick refused to be read (NTFS); when reformatted to FAT32 the file names were shortened and unreadable.

    When coverting did you copy the files off, format and then copy the files back, or use some other method?

    chrisdaniels - 12 minutes ago  » 
    The humax video files have what are called "side car" files usually named very similar to the video file. It's these side car files that contain the watched, resume etc flags. If these side car files do not exist on the USB, there is nothing the humax can load to give you a resume option.

    My HDR-FOX-T2s create one of the sidecar files when MP4 is played from a fat32 formatted USB and I can therefore resume.
    I have not altered it to do this. It is like that out of the box.

    djomp - 50 minutes ago  » The other won't allow the menu to load for any file; they can be played (from the start), but no option to "resume play", or "delete".

    That sounds like the USB is formated NTFS. The HDR-FOX-T2 only has read access to NTFS and so can't delete or create the side car file necessary for resuming.

    | Mon 10 Mar 2014 22:10:35 #3 |
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    djomp

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    I wondered about NTFS read-only. Yes, I copied the files off, formatted, and copied them back. I'll have a play around again today with FAT32 and see what works. Thanks!

    | Tue 11 Mar 2014 8:33:40 #4 |
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    djomp

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    OK, odd; one formatted FAT32 is fine (long filenames, resume play etc); the other still gives me shortened filenames (but only on the PVR, not on the computer).

    I'll just use the one that works properly, but it's odd that an identical setup works differently on two sticks.

    | Tue 11 Mar 2014 9:46:51 #5 |
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    dougcuk

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    I have also encountered a problem using certain USB flashdrive sticks.
    Most will display long filenames on the PVR but certain sticks never work.

    I believe this is down to the firmware flags set in the USB flashdrives controller chip. The Humax PVR appears to have a problem if it finds a particular "String Descriptor" flag is present in the sticks firmware.

    You can view these flags on a PC using USBTreeView (do a Google search)
    All the USB sticks that fail to display long filenames have an extra String Descriptor flag set which shows as 0xEE MSFT100

    As this is set in the flashdrive firmware it is not something that can be fixed (requires firmware utilities)- the stick is basically incompatible with the Humax PVR due to a bug in the particular Humax firmware.

    | Mon 30 Nov 2015 14:02:26 #6 |

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