[motco]

I read that telecat has upgraded the hard drive on a 9200T and I have sent a PM to ask this question. However it might be of interest to others as well:

Is it possible to take the existing 9200T drive, connect it to a PC and copy off the the video files to a temporary location on the PC hard drive, and then to put these files on to the new 500Gb drive using the same PC so that archived programmes previously on the 920T OEM drive can be viewed from the newly fitted larger drive?

[eddie2048]

No problem. Use Humaxrw to copy all the files off and having formatted the new drive on the 9200T, copy them back with Humaxrw. There are 4 files per recorded program, all need to be copied.
Windows won't recognise the file structure - only the drive.

[motco]

eddie2048, Many thanks!

[telecat]

Hi Motco, mailed you a link to the various methods of transferring the files. Just don't let Windows do anything to the drive when you connect it!!! Hummy.org had all the information needed and the software links but is currently "off-line".

[motco]

Many thanks Telecat. After the festivities I shall order a drive and adapter, and then take it from there. Happy Christmas!

[telecat]

I found the disk model. The type number for the 500GB is ST31000312CS. The 1TB is ST31000322CS

You may also need to set a jumper on the drive. The Jumper on the SATA drive to use is the 3GB/s select set to 1.5gb/s mode See http://www.seagate.com/images/suppor...sata_block.gif for details.

[motco]

Thanks again. I am endeavouring to remember how to use DOS C: prompt commands to facilitate the use of humaxrw. Failing that I shall archive all my old stuff to DVD.

Will this one do?
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...=STRK:MEWAX:IT

[Martin Liddle]

Originally Posted by motco

Thanks again. I am endeavouring to remember how to use DOS C: prompt commands to facilitate the use of humaxrw.

Start>All Programs>Accessories>Command prompt

then cd to wherever you have unzipped the humaxrw executable eg if you have placed it in a directory called tv you would type

cd \tv
humaxrw 1: -l

and with luck you will get a list of files.

Originally Posted by motco

Will this one do?
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...=STRK:MEWAX:IT

Looks right to me.

[motco]

Thanks Martin and telecat. I'll report back after Christmas with results.

[black_thunder]

Is there any limit on the max hard disk size? Would it be possible to fit a 2TB HDD (if one is actually made)?

I'm looking to upgrade my HDD in my 9200 sometime soon, so will follow threads like this with interest. (If anyone has urls to other similar thread, I'd much appreciate if they could post them).

[telecat]

I believe that the limit is on the number of entries. I believe it's 250. I currently have 102 entries and have 60% space available on a 500GB disk.

[Martin Liddle]

Originally Posted by telecat

I believe that the limit is on the number of entries. I believe it's 250.

I believe that the limit is 511 recordings. I don't recollect anybody reporting fitting a disk as big as 2TB (and you would need to be careful about sector size) but 1TB would probably work.

[telecat]

Originally Posted by Martin Liddle

I believe that the limit is 511 recordings. I don't recollect anybody reporting fitting a disk as big as 2TB (and you would need to be careful about sector size) but 1TB would probably work.

Thanks Martin, I knew there was one but it was documented on Hummy.org which is not with us currently.

[black_thunder]

Originally Posted by Martin Liddle

I believe that the limit is 511 recordings. I don't recollect anybody reporting fitting a disk as big as 2TB (and you would need to be careful about sector size) but 1TB would probably work.

Thanks - 1TB it is then.

I guess 1TB drives are quite common(ish) now, so should be proportionately much cheaper than a 2TB.

[telecat]

Originally Posted by black_thunder

Thanks - 1TB it is then.

I guess 1TB drives are quite common(ish) now, so should be proportionately much cheaper than a 2TB.

To be safe I'd get the Seagate Pipeline drive.

[neo_wales]

2TB ,£70 1TB about £35

[JohnH77]

Originally Posted by telecat

Hi Motco, mailed you a link to the various methods of transferring the files.

telcat

I would appreciate if you could mail me the same link, or post it here if possible. I have bought a 500 GB disk and would like to transfer the recordings if possible.

Also, I would appreciate a guide to formatting. My new disk comes from a SKY box which has been upgraded to 1TB. What do I do about formatting the disk. Do I

1 Put it in my PC and use the Windows format command?

or do I

2 Put it in the Humax 9200T and run the Humax format command?

hummy.org is still off-line :-(

Thanks

[telecat]

The Link is

http://h2d.wikispaces.com/Transfer+r...max+to+your+PC

althogth HUMAXRW is the best way to transfer recordings onto a PC HD and back to a Humax HD. Link is

http://humaxdisk.wikispaces.com/HumaxRW

The Disk has to be formatted by the 9200T so you have to install it there and run up the HUMAX. IT will then give you the option to Format it or it can be done from the HDD Control in the Menu.

Hope this helps.

[JohnH77]

Originally Posted by telecat

The Link is ...
Hope this helps.

telcat

Thanks for your quick response. I have been searching the web and it seems that the Humax 9200T uses an IDE disk, but the Seagate 500GB ST31000312CS is a SATA disk. I therefore need two apapters (see wiki on IDE and SATA):
a) Power cable adapter
IDE disks use a 4 pin Molex adapter which supplies the disk with 5V and 12V.
SATA disks use a 15 pin adapter. The SATA standard provides for 5V, 12V and 3.3V but fortunately, according to the Seagate data sheet, the Seagate 500GB ST31000312CS disk does not require 3.3V. So a cheap adapter with a Molex on one end, and a SATA on the other end, should work. They are about £1 on eBay. I am trusting that the SATA disk uses no more power than the IDE disk - I think that is a reasonable assumption.
b) Data cable adapter
The IDE disk connects to the motherboard with a 40 pin flat ribbon cable, but the SATA disk uses an 8 pin data cable. So I need an adapter which allows me to connect a SATA disk to an IDE motherboard. They can be bought from eBay for a few £ (but be careful not to get one which connects an IDE disk to a SATA motherboard).

I will need to remove the Humax covers to see what space I have available and how to do it. The cheap "SATA disk to IDE motherboard" adapters are just a printed circuit board and I don't want that floating around inside the Humax. More expensive ones are encapsulated, but bigger.

The firmware is stored in flash memory in the Humax so does not need to be written to the new disk.

I will post a detailed step by step "this is how I did it" if and when I get it to work.

[JohnH77]

This excellent post by Martin Liddle gives detailed instructions and pictures albeit with a slightly different, but still SATA, drive, namely the 750GB Seagate DB35.3 ST3750840SCE.
See http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/forums/s...=960586&page=2

[telecat]

This thread is better

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/forums/s....php?t=1409935

It details the IDE-SATA adapter and the 500gb drive. The Startech has power and Disk convertor's on the same board allowing you to fit the SATA drive.

[motco]

I have, at last, copied off all the programmes from my old drive and fitted the 500Gb replacement. It appears to function properly on immediate assessment.

Telecat reported an intermittent connection under a cold weather thread, thinking that it was low temperature that caused it, but I suspect it's the slight mismatch of the SATA/IDE adapter that is the real culprit. There's a crystal on the adapter pcb the casing of which fouls the jumper that you're advised to fit to the drive to limit the Pipeline drive's data handling speed. The jumper protrudes above the front face of the jumper connector strip and this causes the adapter connector to fail to totally engage with the SATA connector on the drive. I shall look for a low profile jumper, or modify one, so that this interference condition is resolved in the medium term.

By the way telecat, why is it necessary to fit the speed limiting jumper?

[Martin Liddle]

Originally Posted by motco

By the way telecat, why is it necessary to fit the speed limiting jumper?

The Startech adapter I used was SATA 1 and without the jumper a SATA II drive wasn't recognised.

[motco]

Originally Posted by Martin Liddle

The Startech adapter I used was SATA 1 and without the jumper a SATA II drive wasn't recognised.

Ah, I see! So it's a matter of compatibility with the the adapter to drive, not drive to application. It seems to work well so far - hopefully that's the way it'll be. Thanks Martin.

[faberi2008]

The threads referenced describing fitting a SATA HDD to the IDE board of the 9200T quote the following for the adapter to use:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/StarTech-com...426131&sr=1-68

I have tried two alternative adapters which are available on eBay which to all intents appear to replicate the Startech arrangement;
(1) http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...=STRK:MEWNX:IT,
and (2) http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...=STRK:MEWNX:IT

The main difference between (1) and (2) is that on (1) the IDE connector is inverted compared with (2). (2) also has a jumper which the supplier says can be changed if the HDD is not recognised by the system.
Now connecting either of these adapters to a 500GB Seagate ST3500312CS HDD and connecting to my Windows XP PC via an USB-IDE cable allows the PC to see the drive (as an unallocated drive) via Disk Management in My Computer which clearly suggests that the adapter interface is working.
However, when I use either adapter in my 9200T to connect the 500GB HDD the Humax goes through it's loading procedure but then hangs with the display showing "- - - -".

I was wondering if anyone else may have tried these alternative adapters and solved the puzzle.