Sky+ HD box Hard Drive Showing Empty

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Sky+ HD box Hard Drive Showing Empty

Postby StewieGriffin » Tue Oct 26, 2010 12:30 am

Hi,

I can't view the the recorded programmes on the Seagate (Pipeline 500GB) hard drive in my Sky+ HD box.

Basically, all I want to do is save the recorded programmes onto my computer using Copy+ and transfer them to another Sky+ HD box Hard Drive. So I connected the Sky+ box Seagate hard drive to a caddy (SATA & IDE compatible).

Although it is showing the files, it says the Seagate hard drive has 99.8% memory which I don't understand as the Seagate hard drive's 500GB memory is virtually full of recorded programmes.

I have got the copy+ software but I am not sure where to go from here?

Also, if I can save the files onto my computer, when I transfer them to another Sky+ HD box Hard Drive will I have to remove the hard drive from the Sky box?

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
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Re: Sky+ HD box Hard Drive Showing Empty

Postby pcbbc » Tue Oct 26, 2010 9:24 am

StewieGriffin wrote:Although it is showing the files, it says the Seagate hard drive has 99.8% memory which I don't understand as the Seagate hard drive's 500GB memory is virtually full of recorded programmes.
This is normal for XTVFS, the file system used on Sky boxes.
The video files in XTVFS are completely outside the FAT32 part of the file system, can not be read by Windows, and therefore appear as "free" space to the Windows FAT32 driver.

However, at the moment there are serious compatibility issues with Copy+ and the new "Darwin" EPG release deployed to HD boxes. This explains why you can not see any recordings in Copy+ - It is not compatible.
I am working on a fix for this, but can not give any time scales for when it will be ready. Please check the forums for details.

Also, if I can save the files onto my computer, when I transfer them to another Sky+ HD box Hard Drive will I have to remove the hard drive from the Sky box?
It is not possible to connect the HDD to the PC without opening the box.
Although you can get away with just opening the box, leaving the HDD in situ and just removing the SATA power and data cables. Then connect drive to your PC via SATA extension cables, or use cables from an open SATA USB caddy at the box and connect that to PC via USB cable.
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Re: Sky+ HD box Hard Drive Showing Empty

Postby StewieGriffin » Tue Oct 26, 2010 1:27 pm

To Pcbbc
Bugger! I had nearly a years documentaries on this drive and I have to exchange the box next week so, if it were possible, I only had a few days to save the recorded programmes. I'm totally gutted. Thanks anyway for your advice and knowledge - really appreciated.
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Re: Sky+ HD box Hard Drive Showing Empty

Postby pcbbc » Tue Oct 26, 2010 1:58 pm

NP - Sorry I couldn't help on this occasion. :oops:

Are you going to be able to keep your old box, or do you need to give it back (i.e. is this an upgrade you have paid for yourself or is it an engineer visit to replace a faulty box)?

If you are keeping your old box you will still be able to watch old recordings on it, assuming:
a) Box is connected to satellite feed;
b) You transfer your card back from the new box (no need to re-pair with old box);
c) The recordings are not from premium channels (movies or sports).

This may give you some options to prevent having to transfer everything to DVD.
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Re: Sky+ HD box Hard Drive Showing Empty

Postby StewieGriffin » Tue Oct 26, 2010 4:45 pm

An engineer is visiting to replace the faulty box on Saturday. I cant view or record anything from the box as for the past few weeks it has gone kaput. There is a continuous message which reads along the lines of: Software update - do not switch your sky box off - this may take up to 10 minutes. Been through all the technical avenues with them and have been told it needs replacing
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Re: Sky+ HD box Hard Drive Showing Empty

Postby pcbbc » Tue Oct 26, 2010 5:03 pm

Do you know if your box received the Darwin update? Sounds like it may not have...
Darwin gives you the "Network" option under setup, and prompts with the open source software licence acceptance screen on first boot.
Also, looking at the disk, Darwin uses recording directories beginning with "S" and a number. For example "S123". No directories starting "S" and you have not received Darwin yet.

If you have not received Darwin, then you can still backup and restore your disk with Copy+. Does not matter that the replacement box may/may not have Darwin, as Copy+ will copy the pre-Darwin disk and then the box will think it is an old disk (if it has Darwin) and convert it to the new Darwin format.
The only exception would be if the replacement box is a DRX895 1TB box (with 1.5TB drive installed). But that is unlikely as it should be a direct like for like swap with your current box (presumably Amstrad DRX890).

I may have misread your original post - Sorry.
Are you saying you can not see the recordings in Copy+ when you select your disk as source? Or have you not tried that yet?
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Re: Sky+ HD box Hard Drive Showing Empty

Postby StewieGriffin » Tue Oct 26, 2010 6:16 pm

Sorry for the delayed response - ive only just managed to get back to my PC.

It is an Amstrad DRX890. I have connected the seagate hard drive to a caddy and selected the disc: XTV_STR_TSK (M:) The files are are in normal folders and all different - they dont begin with "S". They are for example: 1E9; 1F4; 4A; 85A; 96; 97; 366 and many holding 2-4GB etc. If i click into one, it shows XMA, XMB, XMW files etc. So I dont think it did receive the Darwin update. Would it be possible to tell me then how I backup and restore the disk with Copy+ ? Is it just a case of copying and pasting all the files even though the seagate hard drive shows it is empty?
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Re: Sky+ HD box Hard Drive Showing Empty

Postby StewieGriffin » Tue Oct 26, 2010 7:02 pm

...... When saving, can I compress the files as 500GB is quite large? Also, once the files have been saved onto my PC, how do I transfer them from my PC to the new sky box?
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Re: Sky+ HD box Hard Drive Showing Empty

Postby pcbbc » Wed Oct 27, 2010 4:13 am

Those all look like pre-Darwin recordings, however a Darwin box would have some of these too if made prior to receiving Darwin. The key thing is there are no S### recording directories.

Backup with Copy+ is simple. Follow the instructions.
You can not copy and paste the files in Explorer! This is why you need Copy+ in the first place...

Also compressing images is fairly pointless. DSAT recordings are already compressed, so any extra compression you add afterwards would be minimal.
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Re: Sky+ HD box Hard Drive Showing Empty

Postby StewieGriffin » Wed Oct 27, 2010 11:13 am

thanks pcbbc. when it comes to transferring them from my PC to the new sky box, can i do this with the hard drive in situ that is, leaving it fixed in the sky box?
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Re: Sky+ HD box Hard Drive Showing Empty

Postby pcbbc » Wed Oct 27, 2010 11:23 am

StewieGriffin wrote:thanks pcbbc. when it comes to transferring them from my PC to the new sky box, can i do this with the hard drive in situ that is, leaving it fixed in the sky box?
Yes, but not by using the USB or eSATA ports on the Sky box.
So while you can leave the drive physically in the Sky box you will need to disconnect the SATA power and data cables which normally connect the HDD to the Sky box and reconnect power and data cables supplied from your PC or USB/eSATA caddy in order to use Copy+.
However it is not necessary to physically remove the drive from the Sky box (a tricky operation on the DX890/5 due to it's location under the daughter board).
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Re: Sky+ HD box Hard Drive Showing Empty

Postby StewieGriffin » Wed Oct 27, 2010 12:44 pm

thanks for your expertise pcbbc. i'll let you know if i have any probs. youre worth your weight in gold!
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Re: Sky+ HD box Hard Drive Showing Empty

Postby StewieGriffin » Thu Oct 28, 2010 12:02 pm

hi pcbbc, im having a nightmare. copy+ is not showing the sky box seagate drive. it only shows "HTV backup image file" (which is showing all the files i previously told you about). ive gone through all the correct advice in the copy+ instructions but have found nothing!
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Re: Sky+ HD box Hard Drive Showing Empty

Postby StewieGriffin » Thu Oct 28, 2010 6:22 pm

........ i have sky taking it away on saturday. so i havent any time to lose!
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Re: Sky+ HD box Hard Drive Showing Empty

Postby pcbbc » Thu Oct 28, 2010 6:30 pm

Version of Copy+ you are using?
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