[AOTB]

Dear DS Forum members,

Please can someone help me!

I have just bought a Sony KDL32 EX401 LCD tv, which has a usb connector port.

I have a portable hard drive that, when you connect to any pc or laptop, opens up just fine and you can watch whatever is on there with no problem.

I had assumed (obviously wrongly) that I would just be able to plug this into the usb connector on the tv, select the correct mode and the files would open up automatically as per the instructions which are built into the tv. When I select the usb port is does not seem to recognise the hard drive or anything on it.

My videos are saved on the hard drive as either VLC or DivX files.

I have tried a regular usb stick and it recognises this and pictures on it, but obviously this is too small for films etc!

Can anyone please advise me on what I need to do to be able to be able to play my movies on my tv as this is drivig me crazy- I had thought it would be as simple as plugging the usb into my PC!

Any help would be most appreciated as I am not (as you can probably tell ) the most technically minded.

Thanks so much in advance for any help and advice.

[Tassium]

I would think the USB socket is just for viewing pictures.

Just checked on the Sony site and it does do videos from USB

USB Video Player = YES (mpeg1/DivX/MPEG4)

I'm sure someone will come along with info as to what's the problem.

[Tassium]

Does the hard drive normally take it's power from your laptop?
Perhaps the hard drive requires more power than the TV can provide?


One possible is that the hard drive is not formatted correctly and the TV cannot read it therefore.

From the Sony manual it's FAT16 or FAT32.

If you format the hard drive you will lose everything that is currently on it! so back it all up to a computer first.

I would format it FAT32. You can do this from a computer.

[grahamlthompson]

Check the file system on the USB drive. If it's not a FAT format (eg ntfs) the TV will be very unlikely to accept it even for photos

[Tassium]

Quote:

Originally Posted by grahamlthompson

Check the file system on the USB drive. If it's not a FAT format (eg ntfs) the TV will be very unlikely to accept it even for photos

The meaning is a little unclear in your post so just to clarify, the file system known as NTFS is not a FAT file system.


To the OP, How to check what file system your hard drive is using (from WIn XP, probably the same with other operating systems)

Plug the hard drive into your computer.

It will show up in My Computer

Right click on the drive letter for the hard drive.

Right at the bottom of that list is Properties, select it.

A load of stuff will be displayed. Near the top it will display File System

If this is displaying NTFS then that's probably the problem.
Back-up all the stuff on the hard drive then format it as FAT32



To format.

In My Computer

Right click on the drive letter for the hard drive.

Find the word Format, select it.

Choose FAT32 under the File System box.

Wait a while for it to format.

Then copy across your Divx videos to the hard drive again.


DON'T FORGET! FORMATTING WILL DELETE EVERYTHING ON YOUR HARD DRIVE!!!!!

[c4rv]

Just one thing to note, maximum size on FAT32 for a single file I believe is 4GB so if you have any files bigger then that size you won't be able to copy them on the USB drive.

[RobAnt]

Also the maximum FAT32 drive size is about 130Gb - so you might need to find an alternative FAT formatter that can create drives larger than that, if your USB drive is bigger.

You can't partition it, either so if you don't use a FAT formatter than can do this you could be losing a great deal of room.

[paul6361]

If you have a USB pen drive or memory stick try copying some films onto that then try it on the TV. I think youll find that i will work that way.

[stevemorg]

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Western-Digi...2722722&sr=8-1


This is all you need it plays all video files. simply plug usb stick or hard drive into it and connect by hdmi to tv.

[Tassium]

Quote:

Originally Posted by stevemorg

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Western-Digi...2722722&sr=8-1


This is all you need it plays all video files. simply plug usb stick or hard drive into it and connect by hdmi to tv.

It doesn't have HDMI.

[spiney2]

For this to work, what's required is:

1. The Sony tv to be able to recognise the plugged in gadget as a "valid USB device", ie a USB mass storage device, for which it must have suitable generic drivers IN ITS OWN SOFTWARE.

2. to recognise the particular filesystem on the device.

3. To be able to stream mpeg2 video from the filesystem, with some sort of built-in media player.

[Tassium]

Quote:

Originally Posted by spiney2

For this to work, what's required is:

1. The Sony tv to be able to recognise the plugged in gadget as a "valid USB device", ie a USB mass storage device, for which it must have suitable generic drivers IN ITS OWN SOFTWARE.

2. to recognise the particular filesystem on the device.

3. To be able to stream mpeg2 video from the filesystem, with some sort of built-in media player.

It support mass storage device and these video formats: mpeg1/DivX/MPEG4 from a Fat/Fat32 formatted device.

[PlayerUK]

I agree with the others. Your USB drive needs formatting to FAT32.

Most, if not all, USB drives are supplied either not formatted or formatted NTFS.

If you are using XP or later you will need a third party formatting program (google for fat32 formatter) as they are limited to 32GB.

Unfortunately it's hit and miss then how well the drive behaves. I have a 320GB Iomega (with a seagate hd inside) that behaves perfectly and a Seagate 500GB drive that is best described as 'tempremental'

[Tassium]

Quote:

Originally Posted by PlayerUK

I agree with the others. Your USB drive needs formatting to FAT32.

Most, if not all, USB drives are supplied either not formatted or formatted NTFS.

If you are using XP or later you will need a third party formatting program (google for fat32 formatter) as they are limited to 32GB.

Unfortunately it's hit and miss then how well the drive behaves. I have a 320GB Iomega (with a seagate hd inside) that behaves perfectly and a Seagate 500GB drive that is best described as 'tempremental'

I didn't know of the 32GB issue with WInXP, always used NTFS of course.

This might all be a bit much for the OP!

Apparently Easeus Partition Master Home Edition will format external drives that are bigger than 32GB as FAT32. It's free for home use.

http://www.softpedia.com/get/System/...-Manager.shtml


Softpedia are a very good and safe place for downloading.

Download the Softpedia Mirror (US) [ZIP] file. It's about 8MB

[spiney2]

The standard software is gparted.