Connect Seagate Expansion 3tb Hard Drive To TV

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timbo1604

102 posts

Master Geek

#185697 2-Dec-2015 10:35

Bought a Seagate Expansion 3tb external hard drive from DSE with the intention of connecting it to my brand new Veon TV for watching movies etc. Basically two of my TV's (my Samsung smart TV too), my Blu-ray player and my media player won't recognise the device, although my older Seagate expansion still works fine. The new one will still work on my Windows 10 laptop though.

I read this and think it may be the issue but I don't really understand it... http://knowledge.seagate.com/articles/en_US/FAQ/006125en?language=en_US

Also this may have something to do with it...

https://community.wd.com/t/seagate-3tb-hard-drive-not-recognized/31916/18

There seems to be an explanation for it and perhaps a remedy, but I need someone to explain it to me in plain English if possible.

Cheers :)

Jase2985

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#1439112 2-Dec-2015 10:58

you need to make sure the hard drive is formatted in one of the following file systems:
High Speed FS
Fat16
Fat32
NTFS

And you need to make sure the tv supports a hard drive that big, some of the old TV's had a max hard drive size

All that info is from an older model

If you tell us the model maybe it will help a little more

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timbo1604

102 posts

Master Geek

#1439114 2-Dec-2015 11:03

Model number STEB3000300

Cheers :)

Jase2985

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#1439116 2-Dec-2015 11:05

no the TV model number and the blue ray and the media player

timbo1604

102 posts

Master Geek

#1439119 2-Dec-2015 11:08

Sorry...

SRO9104-C

Just found out that my friend used his Seagate portable HDD on it last night and it work fine.

wellygary

8171 posts

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#1439139 2-Dec-2015 11:13

timbo1604: Sorry...

SRO9104-C

Just found out that my friend used his Seagate portable HDD on it last night and it work fine.

Was it 3TB as well?

Jase2985

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#1439140 2-Dec-2015 11:15

Check the Manual for a page on USB, and see if there is a max drive size, and what file system formats are supported

timbo1604

102 posts

Master Geek

#1439141 2-Dec-2015 11:15

no, it's 1tb

Jase2985

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#1439143 2-Dec-2015 11:17

see my post above

richms

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#1439151 2-Dec-2015 11:26

Most USB drives present to the computer as a 4k sector size so that junk obsolete operating systems like XP can use them, as XP doesn't do GPT which is needed for a drive greater than 2TB when using 512 byte sector sizes. A nasty kludge to allow them to sell large drives to people with crap old computers. The bridge also breaks the ability to put VHD's on the drive under some cases since the sector size doesnt match up with what the VHD contains.

This doesn't work with heaps of things that expect a 512 byte sector size. Even with the 2 TB limitation the drives will not work on many many embedded devices since they are basically coded to only support a MPT formatted drive with a 512 byte sector size.

Basically, go get a 2TB drive and you should be fine.

Richard rich.ms

timbo1604

102 posts

Master Geek

#1439157 2-Dec-2015 11:41

Basically, go get a 2TB drive and you should be fine.

Funny thing is I got a 2tb Seagate backup plus before and it didn't work either, same problem. This is the replacement

I'm thinking I'll exchange it for the same portable one my mate has. It's much smaller but at least it'll work just for the TV. I'll carry on using my older expansion for myself.

What a waste of time just to end up with what I already have haha!!

Jase2985

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#1439161 2-Dec-2015 11:45

Check the Manual for a page on USB, and see if there is a max drive size, and what file system formats are supported

it may be a case of just reformatting the hard drive, or the size may not be supported

richms

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#1439179 2-Dec-2015 11:58

Jase2985: Check the Manual for a page on USB, and see if there is a max drive size, and what file system formats are supported

it may be a case of just reformatting the hard drive, or the size may not be supported

Check the sector size of the drive before you bother. If they have used the same USB bridge board in the 2TB one as they do in the larger ones, then it will be needlessly doing the conversion. USB hard drives are terrible for having a complete variety of boards and drives inside them depending on what they felt like putting in that week. I have had both WD red and green drives in the "same" external drives in the past.

If the place you bought it from said it would work for a TV then you should be able to return under the CGA as not fit for purpose.

Richard rich.ms

timbo1604

102 posts

Master Geek

#1439191 2-Dec-2015 12:19

Yep looks like the hard drive is too big. manual says 400gb max but the 1tb seems to work ok so i'll grab one and see if it works. Thanks for the help, I'll update later as to how it goes.

DeepBlueSky

547 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1439194 2-Dec-2015 12:25

Maybe a better solution:
1. Do your TV's have WiFi if so easy if not they should have Ethernet that you will need to run cables from your router.
2. Get yourself a DLNA Server software package, Paid the likes of Mezzmo or free like Universal Media Server or Plex these software packages will convert your local files into a format that your TV's will understand.
3. Attach the 3TB drive to the PC.
4. Copy files to the drive.
5. Configure the DLNA sever software to point to the folder on the External drive the software will index this and make it available to the TV's

This way enables you to not have to move the drive around the home network the TV's plus any other devices tablets and the like just connect to the DLNA server.

Should have said this gets around the 3TB issue as the PC looks after that side.

timbo1604

102 posts

Master Geek

#1440338 4-Dec-2015 09:46

Jase2985: Check the Manual for a page on USB, and see if there is a max drive size, and what file system formats are supported

it may be a case of just reformatting the hard drive, or the size may not be supported

Yep it was the size of the HDD. Got a 1TB Seagate Expansion and it works fine. hanks for your help folks!