I have bought a Seagate Pipeline 500Gb drive and formatted it in the 9200T satisfactorily, and it looks as if it will do the job. Having searched for guidance and found humaxrw software and downloaded it, I have been trying to copy off files from my OEM drive using an IDE-USB adapter and humaxrw. However when I enter into the correct directory the following: "humaxrw 1: -l" (that's lower case L) all I get is "partition file - access denied" Any other number for physical drive yields an even more negative result like "no such directory" suggesting that "1" is the drive number. What am I doing wrong so that I cannot get a file list please?

I should add that the jumper on the OEM drive is set to 'MASTER'

If you put the drive back in the 9200 is it recognised? If it is then I have no useful suggestion. If it isn't (eg you get a message asking to format the drive (if you do answer no)) then Windows may have initialised the drive. This can be fixed with

humaxcheck 1: -p -w

Thanks Martin but yes, it is still recognised and fully functional. I took heed of the warnings not to let Windows mess with it. I have tried it on both XP and Vista machines to no avail. Is the jumper position relevant do you think?

All is not lost as I can archive the stuff I want on to DVD but it's a pain compared with having all in situ on the HD.

I think master is the correct jumper position for the USB to IDE converter that I have used. One other thought; do you have the power applied to the drive when you plug in the USB connector. If I remember correctly ( and I may have it the wrong way round) plugging in the USB adapter and then powering up the drive can cause problems.

I have been plugging in 'cold' as it were. It seemed logical to avoid 'hot-plugging' if possible. I might try the alternative when I get a moment. Thanks again. Interestingly, My laptop acknowledged the drive when it was connected to the USB port but still unpowered. The drive didn't respond, of course, but its presence was known.

Assuming you have the drive in the Humax box with the 4 pin power lead connected, the procedure I use is:-
1. With Humax power off, connect the USB widget instead of the internal ribbon.
2. With the USB disconnected from the PC, switch on the Humax. The drive should spin up.
3. Plug the USB into the PC. Should spark off the new hardware routine.
4. Run Hummyreadfiles to check that the drive is accessible.
5. Then run humaxrw.
I'm fairly sure that when using a USB widget, the jumper settings for MSD don't make any difference because you can only connect one drive to the USB anyway.

eddie 2048, I use a separate power supply to run the OEM hard drive when it's connected to my PC - it came with the adapter. hummyreadfiles is a new one on me, I hadn't seen that 'til today. Is that an alternative to humaxrw?

Martin, I have now tried all permutations of jumper setting and connection order: power first, power last, connect 'hot' connect 'cold' and none works. As this is not an academic exercise and all I want is to archive a programme list I shall use the DVD recorder, it's easier!

Gentlemen, many thanks for your interest.

It's closer to an alternative to elinker
http://humaxdisk.wikispaces.com/HummyReadFiles

I've never tried it as it is not suitable if you have more than 255 recordings on the 9200T. Plus the latest version (o.94???) appeared to disappear from hummy.ork.uk before that forum disappeared as well.

Ah, thanks. I'll look at it.

I hadn't realised that hummyreadfiles had disappeared, it's a really good program with a graphical interface, ideally suited to copying recordings off the Humax. Thank goodness I've still got my copy.

In the past, I did find that not all USB widgets worked and exhibited the symptom you describe. I would suggest trying the power from the Humax box (you don't say if you hear the drive spin up from your external supply).
I think the most likely cause is a bad USB widget.

Yes eddie2048, it does spin up and I get differing responses dependent on which drive number I request. All bar #2 gives no known drive or somesuch, whilst #2 gives the access forbidden response. This implies it's reading the disc to an extent. I may try the new drive using the USB widget and the IDE/SATA converter that will end up in the PVR. As the disc has been in the PVR and was formatted it might read an report an empty folder perhaps.

Sorry, I was not clear. What I meant to say was that it is the more recent versions that are not available. Version 090 is still available from http://humaxdisk.wikispaces.com/HummyReadFiles.

Which version do you have?

I have 094, the last available.

Is it available for download anywhere eddie2048? I have singularly failed to get any further with humaxrw despite all permutations.

Does hummyreadfiles transfer to and from the PVR?

Hummyreadfiles only copies from Humax9xxx to PC but if this is all you want to do it's much easier to use.
If you can't get anywhere with Humaxrw then the only advantage hrf has is that it will find the right drive if it's visible.
Will PM you re availability of 094.

PS Don't know which version of Windows you're using but if Vista or v7 you might need additional permissions to access drives with either humaxrw or hummyreadfiles!!!.
Last edited by eddie2048 : 24-01-2011 at 16:00

PM sent, thanks.

These two posts show how to use humaxRW under Windows 7 and also under Linux (Ubuntu).

See Upgrade 9200T disk with SATA 500GB drive from eBay at http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/forums/s...1413011&page=2

Under Windows 7, and possbly under Vista, I needed to disable the Administrator rights protection to get humaxRW to see the disk. It works as-is under XP.