Recording from External Hardrive?

[channelking]

Hi,

I want to ask those of you who record externally from your box do you need to format the external hardrive to fat32 or can it record if formatted to NTFS?

I ask this as I am sure there is a limit of 4gb I think on the fat32 format.

Also how do people format their external hardrives to the file format?

 

[cactikid]

it may depend on what the box uses some use fat32 and others use ntfs,as i remember boxes can set them up for use.

using 1tb and 2tb external toshiba hdd mains powered.

 

[bees]

I would use fat 32 but i'm sure it doesn't really matter,

When you connect your HDD to the box you will have to mount and initialise it from the menu.

It will then look after itself, so the 4Gb thing doesn't matter, it will just record the program
you want regardless of the file size.

 

[cactikid]

nearly sure i had an odd box that used ntfs format protek,and it did not play on another box.

 

[channelking]

Is there an issue using NTFS as I have read people favouring fat32?

So if I format to fat32 there wouldnt be a problem when recording anything over 4gb?

I am slightly confused as I got told fat32 has limits on what it can read where as NTFS doesnt.

 

[channelking]

Would appreciate an answer to the above post. I am unsure about which format is best.

 

[cactikid]

thats like asking whats better petrol or diesel? you maybe limited in what you can use ,on my boxes i format to fat 32 and let box setup external hdd.

 

[channelking]

Mate what I am asking is whether there would be any restricting in recording a particular size if external hardrive is formatted to NTFS of fat32?

 

[channelking]

As you guys have said it doesnt matter if you format the external HDD to fat32 or NTFS. I have been reading on various sites that it is recommended to format the external HDD to ext4 format when connected to the box. Is that true?

 

[cactikid]

i do with both usb and internal/external hdd but as i also said a different make of box could be different setup.

bit late now if i have issues with recording using 1 tb and 2 tb external hdd.

 

[channelking]

i do with both usb and internal/external hdd but as i also said a different make of box could be different setup.

bit late now if i have issues with recording using 1 tb and 2 tb external hdd.

So in your opinion what should I format the external hardrive to for the gigablue, NTFS, Fat32 or ext4?

 

[cactikid]

start off on fat32 then setup on box to ext3-4

 

[channelking]

start off on fat32 then setup on box to ext3-4

Ok will do that. After the HDD is plugged in box and initialise it, it will be ext4 wont it?

 

[bees]

See post #3 lol

 

[cactikid]

no you have to change it ext3-4.

 

[channelking]

Man these formats for the HDD is confusing and is really bugging me.

I will format it to fat32 first and go from there, if I have any problems I will post back.