HDD not available

Forum Forums Freesat HD FOXSAT HDR HDD not available

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  • #13518
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    Hi

    I bought my Humax Foxsat HDR after reading in WHICH magazine that it was their best buy about 18 months ago.

    Last month it would not allow me to view certain channels while recording another.

    This morning I switched on my Humax only for it to take an age to boot up and then got the message “HDD not available please check”. As all menu options for the HDD/Recordings are not available – how do I check it?

    Has the HDD just failed for no reasoned (60% full) and will now need replacing?

    I have down powered the unit and powered up again but fault remains.

    Any help would be appreciated.

    #34707
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    You have three options.

    1. Phone Humax – it should be still under warrenty.

    2. Try and repair the drive on a PC – not for the faint hearted.

    3. I had one stuck showing “boot”. What I did was disconnect Foxsat power for 60 secs, Opened lid, Remove the power and sata lead from the drive – replace lid and repower. Foxsat should be functioning without HD drive (assuming you say OK to the HDD not available). Power down normally, Disconnect power and refit leads. Repower and watch front display – you may need to press OK

    Unless you really value the recordings I would suggest choice 1.

    It rather sounds like the hard disk has a filesystem problem.

    #34708
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    Thanks for that.

    Tried your option 3 but made no difference.

    Option 1.

    Have checked the purchase date (6 july 2010), Humax want £95 to repair it. The unit only cost £199?

    What’s required/involved for option2?

    #34709
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    Re – option 1 – Sounds like a disk swap – think you could do that cheaper yourself.

    Option 2 – I would not recommend it unless you have used unix and disk repair tools yourself.

    You could also mount the drive in windows using an “Ext3 Reader” – I have used both EX2IFS (http://www.fs-driver.org/) and the DiskInternals software. – then I would suggest you look and see what you can find – with luck the partition containing Video may be intact – if so copy what you can to another disk.

    You could then close the tool you are using and use the Windows partition manager to delete all partitions on the disk. Replace it in the Foxsat and let it format it.

    #34710
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    As you suggest, I think a replacement would be simplest.

    Which HDD would you recommend?

    I just plug it in the Foxsat and it will do all the formatting?

    #34711
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    Any drive up to and including 1TB will auto partition and format.

    These are quite good WD AV Drives – hit the specifications tab to see the models.

    Search well for a good price.

    #34712
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    Thanks for all the help – I’ve replaced the HDD and upgraded the size to a 500gb and all a lot cheaper that Humax wanted to do the repair.

    So simple to do as well – just replaced the HDD and powered the unit and it formatted the drive and any it went.

    Thank again for the help.

    #34713
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    Dear All,

    I have a Foxsat HDR, 1TB. Its worked great for many years but now it suddenly says “HDD not available please check”.

    It also take forever to boot up. Eventually when it does boot up just the live TV channels work, non of my recorded programmes are accessible.

    Suggestions please?

    Thank you

    #34714
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    Start by trying a reset to default. If no luck I would open the unit and check the power and SÃTA connectors, after powering down for 5 mins. If nothing loose then remove the hard disk and connect to a PC – using Disk manager can you see the partitions – if you can see these at all that is a good sign. If disk manager read the disk they you can try getting a replacement. A lot of people have a disk in a caddy you could try that in the Foxsat, if it see the disk and says it needs to be formatted then you can either order a CE / Surveillance type or just let it format it.

    #34715
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    Many thanks for your help. I’ve done the factory reset with no luck.

    Is there a specialist company who can do as you recommend (as I fear it may be beyond my skill set) and perhaps recover my lost programmes?

    Appreciate all you can do to help me. If all fails is there a new Freest HDR you would recommend??

    Best regards.

    #34716
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    Your Foxsat has had a long and good life. A PC repair shop should be able to test the hard-disk for you when they are up and running again.

    The HDR-1100S which I would recommend is out of production and it’s replacement is brand new and first indications indicate that it is still a work in progress in respect of putting the finishing touches to it’s firmware. If you can find a working second-hand HDR-1100S at a reasonable price I would currently opt for that.

    #34717
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    Many thanks,

    Really appreciate your help. I’ll go with your recommendations.

    #34718
    grahamlthompson
    Participant

    Shuggy – 7 mins ago  » 

    Many thanks,

    Really appreciate your help. I’ll go with your recommendations.

    If you disconnect the HDD does the box boot up as a non recording box. If so you could take a chance that a replacement HDD will work OK

    https://www.ebay.co.uk/p/129591764

    Seller allows returns if you pay the postage.

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