HI

I have a Digihome PVR160 and have a small problem.

The unit froze and the only way to unfreeze it is to unplug it.

After plugging it back in the unit preformed a disk check and came back with the hard disk needs reformatting. Playback and record are unavailable.

Last time this happended I have months of recorded TV (son doing GCSEs this year so recorded revisewise for him) and lost the lot when I reformated the hard disk.

Can I avoid reformating?

If not how can I recover the lost recordings.

My machine is only about 6 months old, but get alot of use due to the job I do (work from home sewing most of the day).

Thanks in advance.

Helen

Probably reformatting cannot be avoided and recovering your recordings is not really an option . There may be a chance of recovering things by hooking the hard drive up to a PC, and transferring the files, but I don't think anyone knows how to do this successfully yet. Not the answer you want to hear, I know...

Since this has happened twice to you now, the next best thing is to avoid this happening in the first place. When you say "froze", does the box not respond to the remote at all, or do the menus, etc, work, but there is no picture/sound. I would advise only unplugging the PVR as a last resort... Before that try holding the power button on the front of the PVR for 5 seconds - this has a similar effect to unplugging, and will resolve any software crashes, but will reduce the risk of causing extra problems.

Which version of the software is your PVR using? V5.3 is the latest, and if your box is running old software then that may explain the freezes. Also, do you have adequate ventilation above the PVR? In particular, it is a bad idea to stack things on top of the PVR, blocking the ventilation holes in the top of the unit which can cause the hard drive to overheat. It's always best to have the PVR located on top of the DVD player, VCR, etc, and ensure there is room above it for ventilation.

Finally, it could just be that the hard drive is faulty - unfortunately the reliability of hard drives can vary greatly, and although guaranteed for 1-3 years (some makes even 5), they can still fail much earlier than that. If this is the case with your PVR, you should consider returning it for a replacement/repair under guarantee.

Hi

Thanks for the info.

The software version is V.3.5 although automatic upgrade was switched on and I have tried to upgrade it still says V.3.5

Helen

Surprised your PVR hasn't picked up any updates automatically - it normally checks 3am each day IIRC. V.5.3 was broadcast last month. Anyway, the fact that you're using 3.5 probably explains the freeze, and maybe even the HDD reformatting issue - fortunately I only had to put up with that version for a few weeks last August before getting an update which fixed things and made the PVR reliable.

If you have automatic scanning enabled, I'd recommend keeping an eye on http://www.dtg.org.uk/retailer/download_schedule.pl for the next Digihome update to appear, and then manually scan for an upgrade during the broadcast time. Alternatively the Digihome's software can be updated manually using a PC and a serial cable.

Thanks I've bookmarked the site. No updates due for a while. I may try the manual update at the weekend.

I tried to update again after reformatting and no luck, so I will try your advice.

Thank you for your help.

Hi Helen.

It might be indeed possible to download your files safely to your PC to save them, before reformatting the drive. In fact, if the drive was hooked up to a PC, the file system might be able to be recovered without having to reformat. As a quick response (I'm making my Mum a cup of coffee at the moment!), please refer to the 'Filesystem' thread where, wev'e been discussing taking the files from off a hard drive safely. Taking the files from the drive has proved very easy and quick, because the file system on the PVR disk is related to the Ext2 file system (hence the need to use an IDE to USB adaptor, and Win2fs to mount the drive under windows. Failing that, the files can be recovered using UFS Eplorer). The only slight difficulty at the moment is what to do with the .trp files once they have been recovered. However, that is very soon to be solved I hope.

If I can help any further, I will try.

Kind regards,

Tim.

Bit late I'm afriad I reformatted when Futaura said

'Probably reformatting cannot be avoided and recovering your recordings is not really an option . There may be a chance of recovering things by hooking the hard drive up to a PC, and transferring the files, but I don't think anyone knows how to do this successfully yet. Not the answer you want to hear, I know...

...so all my recordings have been lost.

I will however keep an eye on the developments with file transfer to pc as it will be very handy for the future.

Thank you.

Helen

Sorry Helen...

It appears I was too late to help!

If you have not already started recording to the hard drive again, it still might be able to recover the files with recovery software. UFS Explorer has already been mentioned, and there is also WinHex (although both have to be bought, unfortunately, to work fully). However, you will still have to go to the trouble of getting an IDE to USB adaptor etc.

Anyway, as you say, being able to archive files for editing or putting onto DVD would be a very useful thing to keep an eye open for. The 'Filesystem' thread you might still find of interest, and since it is already possible to very easily transfer the files, I am trying to come up with the best way to process them asap. If I don't, no doubt somebody else will!

Hope your son will not be too disapointed....

Kind regards,

Tim in Nottingham.

HI Tim

Thank you for your time.

I have already recorded onto it. I run my own business sewing all day and need some distraction, so I record evening TV to watch during the day (day time telly is unbearable).

I'm sure my won't be disapointed. He hates revising.

I'll have a look at the filesystem thread.

I still love how easy the Digihome PVR160 to use.

Thanks once again.

Helen

Since you're still using 3.5 software then yours appears to be another format waiting to happen.

You will only get the over the air update during the specified broadcast periods (ie not for the foreseeable).

As you are aware the software can be upgraded via PC, however, this is easy to those who can do it and a black art to those not too PC savvy.

Perhaps if you let us know what part of the country you live in then someone with a laptop and relevent skills could do it for you - it only takes 5 mins?

Hi Shaddax

I live in Cornwall.

Hubby's day job is computing so I am sure if someone explained how to do it he would be able to understand and save someong the time and trouble.

Thank you.

Helen