Despite the drivel posted above, the 9200 is entirely linux, however, they do seem to hav written a single file into the recordings partition ........

There is also other additional software which will ''read'' the 9200 special non-standard recordings file, and attempt recovery if corrupt, unfortunately, it all runs under linux not windows .......

I did not read the thread till after the correct information was posted, it's you who refused to believe, let alone do the simple search that would have verified the information. This was despite a completely accurate and researched explanation of the facts.

The only reason I responded was to prevent you totally misleading the OP, for this I make no apology.

Persisting in insisting you are correct when totally wrong is highly insulting, to those who had the background knowledge. You deserved to be shot down in flames.

I would still try using a linux files reader fo windows. Even if the recordings are hidden by the single file trick, if u can still see the linux partitions, you might still be able to restore some files using recovery option in humaxrw. Worth a try before giving up .......

Its possible to flash a 9200 software update, using the knoppix distro, running on an apple mac. For this to be possible, the 9200 MUST be running linux, and accessing linux partitions, to work at all .......

How many more times, the drive is not formatted using the Linux File System EXT2 or EXT3. If it was it would have been easy to figure out how to directly read it from a PC.

Note, the 9200 software will be a single file object code output from a compiler, there is nothing about it that says ''linux'' ........

Reference ? Software updates on a 9200 can only be done via it's serial port. A RS232 cable is required.

....... And if the recordings partition has just 1 file, you wont see a list of files, whatever the partition type ,,,,,,

This stuff seems to be ''poor man's encrption'' and if it goes wrong youre buggered ...... I prefer my freeview 1800 with standard file system and encryption chip ..........

Have you actually tried connecting a 9200 IDE drive to a Linux PC ? Or is it all just smoke and mirrors ?

not if single file unusually formatted. Without any clue to the possible structure.

The idea that humax have a proprietary operating system is rather amusing. It would give those snoopers at gchq and nsa nasty nightmares .......

yes, to update the firmware, its either off air, some sort of cable, or abra cadabra and wave wand ........

The box is years old, found this post from 2006.

http://forums.digitalspy.co.uk/showp...&postcount=271

From

http://forums.digitalspy.co.uk/showthread.php?t=373680

Most of the links have long expired.

Having a propriety FS isn't the same as encrypting it, which incidentally the video recording partition in a freetime box is LUKS encrypted.

The software for the 9200 is held in flash RAM not on the hard drive. As the author of the most commonly used software update tool for the 9200 I have a pretty good idea how it works. Could you supply a link to a description of your method please?

As I understand it, it was derived from reference code supplied by the chipset manufacturer. This explains why the Humax 9200 and the Topfield 5800 (which both use the same chipset) have many software features in common.

But the structure was understood and fully documented ten years ago and nobody has ever suggested it has anything to do with Linux. It is essentially a FAT based file system.

If working from the command line have you used the "-r" command line switch to enable recovery mode? This is essential in your situation with the list of recordings lost.

ok, sorry, I am partly at fault. my hummy 1800 freeview does have a normal linux setup, you can see the recorded files from a windows pc over network (although the contents are encrypted via an onboard unique chip). As Graham pointed out some months ago, these earlier hummys use a bizarre system, to allow use of the freeview or freesat logos. And i forgot.

Basically, the recorded files are inside a special structure inside a disk partition, and can't be distinguished apart unless you have humax's "special key" to unlock the structure. Which is "poor man's encryption", effectively. To transfer files, either you need a utility issued by humax, or instead some enthusiasts have worked out the stucture, and issued "partition readers" (which are mostly linux). But if humax's special file structure has been badly corrupted, the chance of any recovery is reduced. Although in theory, well written software should be able to rebuild the partition by locating starts and ends of files ....... but the normal methods of linux filesystem recovery are useless, of course.

This is not unique to humax, they just copied standard commercial database systems, which often use a non-standard structure inside a standard partition (for various reasons, not necessarily just encryption).

So. ok, i agree the chance of any recovery - which wd require using an altenative linux utility - are quite low.

Note, the 9200 operating software could have been written in many different ways, but the compiled target file is machine code for the humax 9200's main processor, and it works in a linux environment.

Regarding possible replacement hard disk ........ presumably many older type IDE drives will function, but the ones to go for are the ones "optimised" for pvr use, which reduce the number of write or read retries, otherwise you tend to get picture jumping and high usage on certain sectors, and consequent reduced lifetime ..... various forums including humax ones will advise on suitable drives ......

yes. thankfully |m on desktop pc, and here's the blog post.

http://macosxuser.blogspot.co.uk/200...re-update.html

of course the software would be on flash memory ! since the device has to start up, somehow. but then you have to access the disk in some way ...... are you claiming humax wrote their own ide drive handler ????

as i said, if you can get in via knoppix, then it's linux, despite the weird non-standard file structures. such structures are effectively encryption, if you can't easily read them in the usual ways .........

humax obviously use some sort of encryption, to be freesat/freeview compliant. I suppose the 9200/300 scheme seemed appropriate at the time ........

...... i think there's still info about the 9200 weird filesstructure online, but you have to join a special wiki group to access it ..........

they can use any non standard scheme they like ! as long as there is software which will do it .........