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Installng / using a HDD on ZGEMMA H2S

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johnain

Newbie
I got my new ZGEMMA H2S just before Christmas. Since then I have been trying to use it ! No Luck

The Drive in Question is a 1TB Toshiba USB 3. It is not powered. It uses the rear USB slot

My first several attempts to introduce it were with it in FAT32 format. Basically I tried to just do a recording with the red button on the remote. It told me that there was a write error because of insufficient space to record. There is 930 GB

Then I tried again with it in Linux format Ex3. Exactly the same result. This has gone on for weeks.

Each time I took exactly the same steps. Here they are:

MENU -> Setup -> System -> Storage Devices -> Hard Disk Setup
I changed Hard Disk Standby After to "No Standby"

MENU -> Setup -> System -> Storage Devices -> Initialisation
I did it

MENU -> Setup -> System -> Storage Devices -> File System Check
I did it
It shows my drive with 930 GB available space

I rebooted

MENU -> Setup -> System -> Recordings & Timeshift -> Recording Settings
Default movie location is set to /media/hdd/movie
Time recording location is set to <Default movie location>


Next I try to set a test recording away by pressing the button with the red circle in the left column of the fourth last row of the remote.

Up comes the popup with the choices. I choose (1) Add recording from current event.

Up comes "Error 4" Write error while recording. Disk full. The flash"

I expect that it is reading a flash drive, but I don't know how to correct the disk location reference shown above to a proper reference to my drive. I clicked and looked at the supporting panel

The top bit says <Parent directory> which is a "Go back up"
The lower half says Bookmarks. I see ...
/media/hdd/movies/
/media/sda1/
/media/hdd/timeshift/

How do I do this? In fact how do I get the cursor point down to the "Bookmarks" bit at all? And then how do I tell it to go to my USB drive?

If that is not the error, or not the only error, what else have I missed please.

I accessed this box from my Windows 10 PC and it looks as if /hdd/ is a "virtual" drive inside a genuine drive or higher level folder.

Please help, I cannot use this great box properly.
 
you need to mount your hdd change it from media/sd1 to your drive the box will then restart.did you create a swap file.?..
 
johnboy196 said:
you need to mount your hdd change it from media/sd1 to your drive the box will then restart.did you create a swap file.?..
Click to expand...
Thanks Johnboy. Presumably that is similar to mount a network drive. I will have a go. I assume that it will then be amongst the selection options.

- - - Updated - - -

Sorry Johnboy. Why the swapfile? How do I create it? What is it used for? Where in the file system do I build it? What is its name and extension?
 
menu ..setup..vix you will see mount manager plus swapfile manager. just select your drive and create a swapfile size 256 let it create your swapfile then tick activate plus autostart then exit all restart your box.the reason you get error when trying to record is you need to mount the drive..just go to mount manager and check it says hdd your drive..think you need the swapfile for ram disk..
 
johnain said:
I got my new ZGEMMA H2S just before Christmas. Since then I have been trying to use it ! No Luck

The Drive in Question is a 1TB Toshiba USB 3. It is not powered. It uses the rear USB slot

My first several attempts to introduce it were with it in FAT32 format. Basically I tried to just do a recording with the red button on the remote. It told me that there was a write error because of insufficient space to record. There is 930 GB

Then I tried again with it in Linux format Ex3. Exactly the same result. This has gone on for weeks.

Each time I took exactly the same steps. Here they are:

MENU -> Setup -> System -> Storage Devices -> Hard Disk Setup
I changed Hard Disk Standby After to "No Standby"

MENU -> Setup -> System -> Storage Devices -> Initialisation
I did it

MENU -> Setup -> System -> Storage Devices -> File System Check
I did it
It shows my drive with 930 GB available space

I rebooted

MENU -> Setup -> System -> Recordings & Timeshift -> Recording Settings
Default movie location is set to /media/hdd/movie
Time recording location is set to <Default movie location>


Next I try to set a test recording away by pressing the button with the red circle in the left column of the fourth last row of the remote.

Up comes the popup with the choices. I choose (1) Add recording from current event.

Up comes "Error 4" Write error while recording. Disk full. The flash"

I expect that it is reading a flash drive, but I don't know how to correct the disk location reference shown above to a proper reference to my drive. I clicked and looked at the supporting panel

The top bit says <Parent directory> which is a "Go back up"
The lower half says Bookmarks. I see ...
/media/hdd/movies/
/media/sda1/
/media/hdd/timeshift/

How do I do this? In fact how do I get the cursor point down to the "Bookmarks" bit at all? And then how do I tell it to go to my USB drive?

If that is not the error, or not the only error, what else have I missed please.

I accessed this box from my Windows 10 PC and it looks as if /hdd/ is a "virtual" drive inside a genuine drive or higher level folder.

Please help, I cannot use this great box properly.
Click to expand...
Hi Johnboy,

Since last night, my Zgemma h2s box is not showing the 2TB hard drive I've got connected to it at the moment - I know its a simple thing to go to the settings and fix but I am just worried that I might delete all of my recordings saved on the 2TB drive I have had connected for a while (its about 50% full). Do you know - if I go in and do: MENU -> Setup -> System -> Storage Devices -> Initialisation (before going on to create a swapfile then ticking "activate" plus "autostart" ..Will the "Initialisation" bit that I need to do 1st delete all of the programs / files I have on the hard drive at the moment? (Its been ages since I've needed to do this and can't remember!)

Thanks, Paul
 
Willo3092 said:
Initialise = Format

Yes it will delete the entire contents of the drive.
Click to expand...
Hello Willo - I was pretty sure that was going to be the answer but thanks for confirming..it's exactly what I want to avoid. Been using my zGemma h2s for years with no problems but since last night the HDD is showing as disconnected and when I try to create a swapfile. I am getting an error message saying "Sorry, no physical devices that supports swap attached. Can't crearte swap file on network or file 32 file systems". I have not changed the file system being used since last night and to be honest I am not sure what the file system on the HDD is, but it's always been alright since I started using it with the box.

I think I also need to mount my HDD again because today, when I go to Information > Devices - under device information I am seeing "\dev\sda1 Not mounted"

Please can you confirm how I can do this without deleting any of the recordings / files that I have saved on the HDD so far?
 
Just to add, I am guessing that re-flashing the zGemma h2s box and going to
MENU -> Setup -> System -> Storage Devices -> Initialisation
..connecting a small 16GB USB 1st might do the trick. I mean, set up the initialisation on the small USB, unplug it, then try to plug my 2TB HDD back in and it might be recognised this way. What do you think? I would really prefer to avoid re-flashing the box if possible.

Thanks,

Paul
 
The best thing to do is power off the box completely and unplug the hdd.
Give the USB port a blow out in case there is dirt in it and plug the hdd back in.
Make sure there are no other USB or microsd's plugged in.
Power on and check Mount Manager and see if the drive is mounted as /media/hdd and formatted as ext4 R/W
 
Thanks Willo. I did this and the drive still is'nt mounted as /media/hdd. When I go to Information > Devices - under device information I am seeing "\dev\sda1 Not mounted"
Do you know if there's any way that I can re-mount my HDD without having to re-flash the zGemma box?
 
Paul A said:
Do you know if there's any way that I can re-mount my HDD without having to re-flash the zGemma box?
Click to expand...

Using Mount Manager. I don't know what image you're using though.
It used to be in InfoPanel > Plugins on ATV but things might have changed.
 
Yep, I am using OpenATV and there might be a couple of ways but I can get to the Mount Manager by using the below route. I have used this before so that I can access content on another box (e.g. Formuler z7 Plus) but don't remember if I've ever used it to connect / reconnect the zGemma to my external HDD.
Main menu > Setup > system > Network > Mounts Setup > Mount Manager
Note there are then 5 options to choose from (Add new network point / Mountpoints management / User management / Change hostname / Setup Mount Again

Do you know which of these 5 I should be using and which details I should then go on to enter? (What you could think would be the obvious option - 'Setup Mount Again' - does not look like it because when you go into it, the only thing it says is "Schedule Mount again?" (where you can select Yes or No - and if you select Yes, it shows "Re-mount network shares every X hours" (where X is for you to enter a number).

Am I definitely on the right track here because I have used this to access what's on another box on the same network but not for the physical connection of an external HDD?

Maybe worth noting one thing have noticed is when I go into:
Setup > system > Storage Devices > Filesystem Check
...It does show the brand and size of my HDD on screen correctly (Model: Toshiba (External USB3.0) / Capacity: 4000.786 GB / Bus: External)
This reminds me the correct HDD size is 4GB of course.
 
Sorry for the long message by the way! But I just want to give you as much detail as what I am seeing as possible because hopefully it will help. Thanks, Paul
 
Sorry I also meant to ask whether you think it's worthwhile me going to:
Setup > System > Storage Devices - Convert ext3 filesystem to ext4
..and trying to select this option? (There's no risk of me losing any data on the HDD if I do, is there?)
 
Thanks - Yeah I've been there now too.
When there, it shows 5 pieces of information about my HDD:
USB: External USB 3.0
Size: 3.64 TB [I think this is the space remaining]
Mount: None
Device: \dev\sda1
Type: unavailable

And I can see 4 options:
Red: Use as HDD / Green: Setup Mounts / Yellow: Unmount / Blue: Mount

If I press blue, a message comes up after a minute or so, saying "Mount failed".
When I press red, it does not seem to do anything (at least not that I can see)
Pressing yellow - also does not seem to do anything
When I pressed green, it takes me to a 'sub menu' with just the one line there - showing 'USB: External USB 3.0 Size: 3.64TB/dev/sda1 - and there's the option to press the left and right arrow keys. I did this until the default I saw (/media/sda1) changed to /media/hdd (because out of the 10 other options there, I think this is the one that's needed).
I then pressed green to save. A message comes up saying 'Updating mount locations' - and I was asked to confirm by pressing 'Yes' to restart the box. Box rebooted and nothing changed when I went back into INFOPANEL > PLUGINS > MOUNT MANAGER (the same details as above could still be seen, i.e. Mount: None & Device: \dev\sda1

Any idea on if I am doing something wrong? Thanks again
 
Maybe the hdd is corrupted then :unsure: Sounds like you have tried the correct method to mount it.
Seems strange that the system won't mount it if it's not corrupted in some way.
 
Maybe but I am not sure. As I've been trying to sort this out all day long, I'll leave it now but tomorrow, I'll try plugging the HDD into another box to see it I can view the content there. Thanks very much for your help today.
 
Is the hdd externally powered or usb only,ahh reread first post.
Try using a usb powered hub as i have always said not to use usb only as they can have issues.
 
Hi cactikid,

I have not tried connecting a powered HDD yet as I don't have one in my home at the moment but maybe I've been lucky as have only ever used non powered HDD's with my zGemmas for years and never really had any problems (when using OpenATV, iPab or Wooshbuild).

As for some follow up checks - after trying it connected to another box and after connecting it to a computer, I can confirm that 4TB HDD I was discussing yesterday is now faulty (files cannot be seen / played when connected to another box, nor if connected to a laptop).

I have since connected a 2TB HDD that's been used with the same (and another) Zgemma h2s box and I can mount it correctly, set up the swapfile easily and can record (from whatever's on TV at any moment, or from the EPG). Plus I see and play these files when connected to my Windows 10 laptop (using software that gives read only access to Linux / ext4 formatted files). It is also clear they are correctly recording to the correct movies folder along with where all of my old recordings are saved.

BUT..as per what was happening with the faulty 4TB HDD connected, the box crashes whenever I press the File List button on the remote control.

Is the only option to re-flash my box or is there anybody here that can make any sense of the crash output I'm seeing on screen whenever I press the Filelist button on the remote control? (Photo attached).

I have also attached a photo of what appears on screen if I press yellow for the bookmarks just after pressing File List, when I know the box is about to crash. You can see its showing me nine different directories to select between but I have no time as the crash has already started. To me, it looks as though maybe the box is confused about which location it's meant to be saving recordings to and it is maybe trying to access one of these locations - some of which no longer exist (e.g. Some were network mounts that I have since removed, but they keep showing up on the list of bookmarks here).

Is there a way to remove some or most of these paths / directories from the memory of what appears when I press the bookmarks button while in the File List? I'm not sure if its option 2 or option 3 that I need to select from this list of 9 (if I was able to).

Note one last thing and I'm probably clutching at straws here - I noticed there's some file called .e2settings.pkl - (which I've read is some kind of Python module that "allows objects to be serialised to files on disk") - located in the movies folder, where all my recordings are saved. Anyone know if this is meant to be in this folder? (There's a small chance that I accidentally moved it there yesterday afternoon when trying to get to the recordings on my original 4TB HDD).

If you / anybody has any ideas on the above, please let me know. I am going crazy, wasting so many hours on this these past 2 days!

Thanks,

Paul
 

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