Getting a DVD recorder to read an external hard drive

[thompsons]

I have a Buffalo 300GB external hard drive which has 2 partitions: one for use as a PVR for my satellite decoder (100 gb and NTFS file system) and the other to hold AVI files, music, photos etc (200 gb and FAT32). Unfortunately, I cannot get my DVD recorder to read the FAT32 partition of the HDD. Are there ways of getting the DVD recorder to read it? I have read on another post that the HDD needs to be configured so that either a PC or other unit, such as a DVD recorder, reads it as removable storage rather than as a bootable hard disk. So far my PC reads it as a hard disk, possibly because it is treating the NTFS partition as bootable - is this behind the DVD recorder not reading the FAT32 partition? BTW, I believe the NTFS is the only file system that enables the HDD to operate as a PVR. Hope this doesn't sound too confusing. Thanks

[dasteph]

can your dvd recorder read more than one hd as this in effect is what you have got?
if it can then you can change the file system from fat 32 to ntfs without any damage to the files stored on it.