Yes I'm starting to wonder that too. We bought it January 2010 so it's 19 months old.
Presuming it IS the disk starting to fail... does anyone know if I can replace the disk myself - e.g. will the startup routine accept a clean disk and format it ready to go? Or am I going to have to send it in and pay the manufacturer to do it? I have loads of spare SATA disks lying around including an almost-new 500GB one.
I run a 2Tb WD Green drive in mine - although they are not specifically designed as media drives - I have had no issues with running them in media servers - you may want to talk to the retailer first - who did you get it through
Bob123: I run a 2Tb WD Green drive in mine - although they are not specifically designed as media drives - I have had no issues with running them in media servers - you may want to talk to the retailer first - who did you get it through
I suggest calling Magic direct but don't fancy your chances of finding a quick fix that prevents the need to remove it from under the TV
Bob123: I run a 2Tb WD Green drive in mine - although they are not specifically designed as media drives - I have had no issues with running them in media servers - you may want to talk to the retailer first - who did you get it through
I suggest calling Magic direct but don't fancy your chances of finding a quick fix that prevents the need to remove it from under the TV
@Gemini Unless anyone thinks a firmware update might fix the problem then you are probably right.
@Bob123, I am VERY interested to hear how you migrated/changed/swapped your drive for a 2TB? I am quite capable hardware-wise so phyically swapping out is no problem. If I need to do some configuring in Linux, I can stumble my through linux commands if I'm forced to :). A "step-by-step" would be MAGIC no pun intended ;). One question, is it important to use a green disk? And why - lower heat output? THANKS in anticipation, I'm sure other members would be interested to know too.
"No HDD" is not something I've ever seen. I'd point the finger at the drive also.
Firmware update won't help other than it might recover a little more gracefully - assuming you are not running a recent version. But it is a recent one so you're set there anyway.
Defragmenting could work for recording throughput which is where the problem appears to be most apparent. But, again, this doesn't account for the "No HDD" message. Finger still points at the drive itself.
I can send you my old 500GB drive for free if you like. It's not old in terms of use as I stopped using it back in December when I put the 1TB drive in the MTV.
Alternatively, you could buy from me the brand new 2TB drive I just purchased two weeks ago. Still haven't used it yet beyond formating for the MTV and doing speed tests. Warranty will be voided, I'm pretty certain, unless I'm the one doing any returns.
evanh: "No HDD" is not something I've ever seen. I'd point the finger at the drive also.
Firmware update won't help other than it might recover a little more gracefully - assuming you are not running a recent version. But it is a recent one so you're set there anyway.
Defragmenting could work for recording throughput which is where the problem appears to be most apparent. But, again, this doesn't account for the "No HDD" message. Finger still points at the drive itself.
I can send you my old 500GB drive for free if you like. It's not old in terms of use as I stopped using it back in December when I put the 1TB drive in the MTV.
Alternatively, you could buy from me the brand new 2TB drive I just purchased two weeks ago. Still haven't used it yet beyond formating for the MTV and doing speed tests. Warranty will be voided, I'm pretty certain, unless I'm the one doing any returns.
Thanks so much for the offer evanh! I had an old 500gb myself so installed that the other night and it worked fine. I had to run a routine though. Taken from another post "Mac2008" wrote:
Ok with a lot of digging I have found what appears to be the correct way to upgrade your MagicTV HDD to anything up to 2TB. After you replace the hard drive, follow steps 1-5 stated in the owner's guide p.65(Rescue Procedure) to get the unit into rescue mode. When the firmware is found, press "1, 5, 9, 0, 0" and then it will ask if you want to format the hard drive. Press 'OK' to execute the format operation. Of course this all voids the warranty as you opened the unit to do this. But if you really want a bigger drive or you were planning on hacking it anyway, this is good. Please do post if you do this as it would be good to hear what drive sizes and brands work well.
I followed this to the letter and everything worked perfectly. I used an old Seagate 7200rpm 500gb which is running fine, although i suspect it might be running warmer than the original "green" disk so i will buy a green 1tb or maybe 2tb soon. After I got the new disk working I plugged the old disk into my windows pc with an EXT3 device driver but had limited luck reading the disk so i tried it on a spare linux box and was able to pull the files off and onto my windows pc across the network, All video files are "TS" file extension and they all play just fine in VLC and even Windows Media player although my graphic card isn't up to the task so it struggles a bit.
All up, I'm pretty happy and look forward to replacing this test disk with something bigger.
Lol, I can't believe I hadn't seen that myself. I'd concluded that the MTV didn't have a format function.
Well done and I hope that solves your problem.
BTW, the reason why you couldn't see the recordings on the Windoze box is because the filesystem of the large partition containing the recordings is jfs. The small partition containing the metadata is ext3 but that is worthless by itself.
evanh: Lol, I can't believe I hadn't seen that myself. I'd concluded that the MTV didn't have a format function. Well done and I hope that solves your problem.
BTW, the reason why you couldn't see the recordings on the Windoze box is because the filesystem of the large partition containing the recordings is jfs. The small partition containing the metadata is ext3 but that is worthless by itself.
Do you know if there's a Windows driver to read (and write?) the JFS formatted partition? I've googled without success.
Hey regarding the metadata in that small partition - do you know what information the files contain? I wondered if it might be things like Bookmark indicators and the position that recordings were stopped at so it can resume - maybe? I notice there are fewer files in there, than there are TS files so perhaps it only creates a metadata file once I start playing a recording.
For those interested, this morning I copied the original "TS" files from the original HDD across to the new HDD (both disks attached to a Linux box) and they now appear in the Recordings list with all their metadata and play just fine. I did copy the associated metadata files in question above, and aren't sure if the the TS files will play without those, but they were so small it took no time to copy them while I was on the job.
Now that I've managed to replace the drive and restore my existing recordings to the new disk, I'm wondering if I could convert some movie files into TS format and copy those on-board too. Anyone got any tips regarding converting the files to TS? If that works a 2TB disk be rather appealing to store some of my movies alongside the TV recordings.
gpf: Do you know if there's a Windows driver to read (and write?) the JFS formatted partition? I've googled without success.
Dunno, I haven't used Windoze at home for many years. Almost not at all. Linux has it's quirks, particularly with desktop polish (Driver limitations are almost a thing of the past) but it is very flexible. It's unlikely I'll be looking elsewhere for computing.
Hey regarding the metadata in that small partition - do you know what information the files contain?
I've ignored them so far. Just randomly pick stuff to watch. But it would be cool to title all the recordings.
For those interested, this morning I copied the original "TS" files from the original HDD across to the new HDD (both disks attached to a Linux box) and they now appear in the Recordings list with all their metadata and play just fine.
:) I liked that little trick too.
I did copy the associated metadata files in question above, and aren't sure if the the TS files will play without those, but they were so small it took no time to copy them while I was on the job.
There's very little doubt they are needed ... okay, just tried, yep, there is a .tv file on the small partition for every .ts file on the large partition.
After a bit of experimenting the MTV seems to be able to recreate any missing or damaged metadata file associated with the .ts files on the large partition. It appears to have two copies; one as individual .tv files and a singular tv1.db file.
If I delete all the files in the small partition then it's as if there is nothing there any longer and whatever files are on the large partition are ignored and become unusable space.
There is also two other files, rec.base and rec.evt, pertaining to recording times.
Just a couple of points re. my swapping out the HDD. The Seagate 7200rpm disk I replaced it with got pretty hot in the enclosure, and without a fan I guess that's no wonder. I have since formatted the original WD Green disk and then ran a chkdisk scan over it but no errors were detected. Considering that, and the heat that was being generated by the 7200rpm disk, I copied the recordings back across to the original disk and put it back in. So far so good. If I notice the slightest glitch then I'm off to buy a 1TB Green disk.
Re. the small metadata files on the disk, I discovered each time the MagicTV formatted the disk all the scheduled programs on the To-do list were gone, so I copied the tv1.db back across from the other disk and all the scheduled programs appeared, so that saved me a load of time re-entering them all again.
All in all it's been an interesting exercise:
I'm relieved to know that I can revive the box with a new disk, should the original disk fail
I know that my old hi-speed SATA disks run too hot and so I'll need a low-heat Green disk (and considering I can get 1TB for $80 or 2TB for $120 I can't wait!)
I know I can get HD programs onto my PC simply by pulling the disk out and plugging it into my computer
Plus there's the possibility I can copy movies onto the magictv by converting them to TS format and copying them onto the disk
I also found the folder where video files are uploaded onto the magictv from a cam-corder, or your converted movies (to m2ts format, read here). So presumably we can copy m2ts files directly to that folder while attached to the computer and they should play in the magictv.
theoldfarter: Being in the Wairarapa, where the Digital Transmission has not yet officially started, I am not able to test out my 3600 yet. There is transmission of sorts, a feed from the satellite, comprising 4 viewable channels. There is no info in the signal to tell the 3600 the time, so can't use the recording function and there is no EPG, etc. I am told equipment is still being installed but the high winds we have had in the Wellington/Wairarapa area have delayed final installation. I believe a microwave link from Mount Climie, behind Upper Hutt, needs to be finalised, to feed the transmission site at Popoiti, east of Greytown. The signal will originate from Mount Kaukau, Wellington.
The set is displaying strange behaviour, right from the start. I am wondering if anyone else has heard of, or experienced, the following problem: When I turned the set on and it took me through the set-up procedure, as soon as I pressed the OK button to accept the 16:9 screen size, the screen shows the default silvery one where there are the Magic stars. Nothing else shows on the screen. Looking at the display on the box, it says it is scanning. I have let it do so for 30 minutes & it does not change it's status. There is no response from the remote, from any button. I have to switch it off at the wall. After switching it on again, letting it do it's set-up guide results in the same behaviour.
What I have tried, with a hit & miss success rate, is when it asks if I want to continue with the set-up guide, is to choose NO. I then navigate to the channel set-up menu & choose to auto-scan from there. Sometimes the scanning screen will appear & show the yellow scanning bar, etc, and find & store channels. Other times, it will not show anything except the silvery looking screen with nothing on it except the Magic stars. It has frozen again & I have to force it off at the wall.
What's your thoughts as to what is happening?
I would certainly wait until the transmission starts correctly , as the box needs to see correct signal to work - what happens if you do a scan with another receiver ie TV or another box
The transmission has been officially on for a couple of weeks & the Magic still exhibits the same problem.
I emailed Magic's support & they said to send it directly to them, as it will be faster than returning it to the retailer, so it arrived at their company this morning. They mentioned on the phone, that it sounds like a hardware fault & may need a Motherboard replacement.
Last Friday week, I was informed by a person at Johnston Dick & Associates, who has the contract to bring Freeview Terrestrial HD to the Wairarapa, that the eleven Freeview Terrestrial HD channels that are currently being transmitted throughout the Wairarapa, from Popoiti, is the final configuration of channels that will be transmitted. There is no Stratos, Parliament TV, Radio NZ National, Radio NZ Concert and some other TV & radio channels. I have emailed the Minister of Broadcasting, asking why the Parliament TV & National Radio are not being transmitted over here, when they are available in other towns & cities. I got a reply from an assistant to the Minister, saying the Minister will reply when he is able.... shall I hold my breath? .LOL
The programs transmitted on Stratos are of interest. In particular, Aljazeera News. Aljazeera News has in-depth articles that are just not covered in any other Free-To Air- transmission. My wife & I are also keen listeners of Radio NZ National.
I recorded a rather jaw-dropping doco put together by Aljazeera, rebroadcast on TV7 as a Dateline episode. It was about the all modern 737 airliners built since 1996. Basically, build quality of every frame built since that date have faked documentation and all would fail air worthiness if it wasn't fake.
For example, there was a recent, a week ago, rough landing where a 737-800 overshot, went through a fence and broke in two. It's one of many such incidents that have been occurring to 737's where the frame just falls apart under minimal stress. Fortunately, this particular break up actually saved lives as the aircraft was about to roll over a cliff.
It certainly makes me way more wary of flying from now on though.
Hi everyone. After being quiet for a long time I have made a lot of progress in creating an image that can upgrade the MTV from a USB flash drive. I have managed to modify the filesystems embedded in the upgrade file and correct the embedded checksums that otherwise prevent upgrading. This would mean that an upgrade file could be created, based on the latest v3.15 firmware that would enable fixed skip forward (1 minute) and skip backwards (8 seconds) times. Also it could enable by default the telnet server. All this without opening the cover of the unit.
But I have one last problem to solve. One of the embedded filesystems in the upgrade file, is JFFS2. JFFS2 is a compressed file system suitable for flash memory due to its wear leveling. I mounted this filesystem on a debian system and made the required modifications (enabling the telnet server and replacing a library). The problem is that the compression algorithm used in Debian appears to not be supported by the MTV - because during the upgrade process I get the following error messages to the console port:
block2mtd: mtd8: [d: /dev/loop0] erase_size = 128KiB [131072] block2mtd: version $Revision: 1.30 $ block2mtd: mtd8: [d: /dev/loop0] removed block2mtd: mtd8: [d: /dev/loop0] erase_size = 128KiB [131072] block2mtd: version $Revision: 1.30 $ JFFS2 compression type 0x07 not available. Error: jffs2_decompress returned -5 … repeated lots of times block2mtd: mtd8: [d: /dev/loop0] removed Restarting system. So the only remaining problem is to find a way to modify the JFFS2 image on a linux system in a way that is compatible with the MTV kernel/software. If anyone has suggestions, I'd be happy to hear from them.
Cheers, Ian.
p.s. I also came as close as I ever had to bricking my MTV. That was pretty scary... especially telling my wife :-)
Thanks to the various people who have discussed upgrading the HDD. I have done some experimenting with an old 120GB HDD. So far I have successfully changed the HDD and everything is working correctly, although of course the HDD is now smaller. I am now going to purchase a 2TB drive and install that one.
Bob123 states he runs a 2TB WD green drive, evanh just states a 1TB drive, and gpf talks about the original "green" disk when he was testing a 7200RPM Seagate drive.
My MagicTV came with a Hitachi Cinemastar P7K500 7200RPM drive. I usually take a "green" drive to be 5400 or 5900RPM.
I am trying to decide whether to replace the original 500GB 7200 RPM drive with a 2TB 7200 RPM drive or a "green" 2TB 5900 RPM Seagate.
My question is this:
Can people please advise what their original drive was, Make and Model, so I can compare the specs. I am leaning towards the 5900RPM drive as it should run cooler, but I want it to be fast enough to not error when recording 4 overlapping programs on 2 different channels.
Can people please advise what their original drive was, Make and Model, so I can compare the specs. I am leaning towards the 5900RPM drive as it should run cooler, but I want it to be fast enough to not error when recording 4 overlapping programs on 2 different channels.
Mine was a Western Digital WD5000AVVS
WD AV-GP Hard Drives Cool, quiet, reliable AV drives with WD GreenPower Technology 24x7 reliability • Cool and quiet • Supports up to twelve HD streams • 3-year limited warranty
5V @ 0.65A, 12V @ 0.50A 8MB cache, SATA 3 Gb/s, 4.1W read/write, 3.7W idle, MTBF 1 million hours
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