ts files and recording issues

[supergeek]

Hi all, got the box super a few days ago and programs are coming out of my ears! My problem is with recording. I first tried an old usb stick, this worked fine for 30 seconds of recording, although it asked to be reformatted twice, but I thought nothing of it.
I then plugged in a brand new Lacie 250GB external, it asked to be formatted, so no problem with that, when I came back in it had recorded four hours perfectly. I watched the start of the recording ...fantastic! I then went out again, when I came back it wasnt even detecting the hard drive, even after reset. I tried testing the drive in PC looked perfect to me, although I couldnt play the TS files (thats my addon question, how do you do that?).
Plugged it back into the box, but it then asked to format again. I dont want to format again if I can helpit, so what do I do now, and why does the drive need to be reformatted?

Please dont say "well dont go out so much"!!

[Lanxman]

Ok mate not sure about playing TS files on the pc. When you formatted the hdd, Did you do it with the box or on the pc? If you did it with the box then plug it into the pc and format it with that in FAT format, If you need a tool to format in FAT use a program called swissknife. Back up your recorded programs on the pc befor you format and when you have re formatted you can put them back on again. Then plug it bk into your sv4 and try again mate, Hope this helps.

[supergeek]

pc format

are you on your pc 24 hours aday? you always reply quickly!

Why do I need to format on PC? coz the the box seems to add a couple of folders when it formats, and I assumed these were necessary.

[Lanxman]

No there's no nessesary files needed mate, as long as it's formatted in FAT format, Im on my pc a lot mate yeah. Be grateful I am it's a quiet day matey!

[supergeek]

Im not saying its a bad thing being on your computer, Im a PC engineer and I spend most of mine around them too, Im really grateful for yours and JoKs help will try it out and report back, I dont like to be beaten! Well not by a machine anyway!

[Lanxman]

I know mate I was just having a laugh. Good luck.

[tony_i]

A lot of your problems with being asked to reformat all the time will be due to plugging in/removing your USB devices while the box is on; the machine just doesn't like it.

[nsw9154]

i am using a 500gig MAXTOR EXTERNAL USB Drive with a External power supply and up to now it is working great but when i first used it i formated it through my PC as fat32 and it would only format 192gig and my recordings kept crashing and locking up so i formated it conected to my SV4 and got about 480gig and up till now everything i have recorded plays great i still have the EPG problem of only being able to record 6hrs infront unless i press the full EPG green Button and if i leave the unit on i can record up to 5 days in advance but once it records the program it switches to stand by - but that is a small price to pay -- also i have connected my MAXTOR to the PC and been able to play the files in windows media and i am still looking for a program that will convert the ts files to avi or mpeg so that i can save them to DVD but all in all i am very happy with my SV4

[supergeek]

Cheers all, works fine after I formatted on PC. The swissknifew worked well and the gomplayer too after updating codecs, although I would probably use vlc as preference. Incidentally I was plugging in and out while the box was on, so that could have been the problem too.

[stuuk]

Hi Guys

If you want to convert the ts files to something more friendly you can use PVAstrumento or ProjectX.
Just do a search on Google
Cheers

[tony_i]

Hi Guys

If you want to convert the ts files to something more friendly you can use PVAstrumento or ProjectX.
Just do a search on Google
Cheers

Thanks. Had a go with PVAstrumento and ended up with an audio and a video file. How could I combine these and then make a regular DVD please?

[stuuk]

Use the PS option

[tony_i]

Use the PS option

Brilliant. Thanks.

[supergeek]

hard drive formatting

Just an update, it was definately the unplugging while the box was on that caused the file sysyem to go. So everybody make sure you turn the box off before unplugging the external drive. You can still see the files from a pc so dont worry if you get the format message, its just that the box wont see them.