MagicTV - HDD upgrade & removing recordings

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Mac2008

121 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 1

#62095 29-May-2010 13:52

I am not willing to hack my MagicTV to a bigger HDD, but I do have some info on doing it. First of all I know for sure you can get it upgraded to 1TB easily (details below), however I also know from Magic that they have run a 2TB successfully in it, and they see no reason why a 1.5TB wouldn't work just fine.

It is a high speed sata drive.

You can get it upgraded with the warranty intact by contacting the importer and warranty agent HTL at www.hooktech.co.nz Costs $75+gst+freight. You supply the brand new high speed drive and they do the work. At this stage they recommend only 1TB as that is recommended by Magic, but I am sure they would install a 2TB if you insisted.

I am not sure what they can do about transfering files though.

If someone can get this file transfer working without having to pull the cover off each time, we wouldn't have to worry about this :-) given time some genius will get it sorted

Mac

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121 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 1

#336059 29-May-2010 13:55

2lostkiwis: I got tired of the restrictions, so I took my MagicTV apart tonight and mounted the HD on a Linux box.

/dev/sda1 1 51 409657 83 Linux
/dev/sda2 52 60801 487974375 83 Linux

First partition is EXT3 and the second is JFS.
First contains some data files that when zipped up take up 147kB. Looks only to be database files of the recorded programs.
Second contains one directory called ts and it's full of ts files of recorded material.

I was thinking you might be able to get to the root filesystem, but I now believe that to sit in onboard flash on the MagicTV. I was hoping to enable some of the missing features (variable skip time and export) but it will not be so easy.

Still on the plus side, VLC plays the ts files no problem (on a fast enough machine).

I wonder what should the next step be? :-)

Hey 2lostkiwis, have you got another sata drive you can connect up and see what is involved in getting the new drive formatted and running?

Mac

2lostkiwis

67 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 4

#336113 29-May-2010 17:20

Mac2008:
Hey 2lostkiwis, have you got another sata drive you can connect up and see what is involved in getting the new drive formatted and running?

Hmmm not a spare blank drive no. But I will try this at some stage. Really I want to work towards enabling the variable length skip option and export to external USB media that is available on the units for other regions.

Cheers,
Ian.

Mac2008

121 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 1

#341690 14-Jun-2010 20:51

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.

Mac

Bitfiddler

41 posts

Geek
+1 received by user: 6

#716589 13-Nov-2012 18:26

The hard disk died and its out of warranty. So, based on above I purchased a 2TB hard disk and fit it in.

The system info acknowledges that a 2TB disk is in.

But, no matter what I do, it will not enter rescue mode.

At power up it says

1. Hard Disk Error
2. USB Storage ready to Use
3. Updating System Time, OK/Cancel

I have tried from cold start and warm start. I even downgraded the firmware to 3.17 and put 3.18 on the usb. The file is there because a menu-guided firmware upgrade finds them.

But the rescue mode eludes me. Has anyone succeeded in getting into it ?

wklie

191 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 5

Trusted

MagicTV

#716643 13-Nov-2012 19:35

Bitfiddler: But, no matter what I do, it will not enter rescue mode.

Unzip everything from the 3.18 firmware to the USB flash drive. Plug it into the Magic TV. Stand really close to it.

Upon turning on the rear power switch, repeatedly press the pause button on the remote at a rate of 3 times per second or faster, until it shows RESCUE on the front panel. If it proceeds to boot up usually, power it off using the rear power switch then try again.

Bitfiddler

41 posts

Geek
+1 received by user: 6

#716654 13-Nov-2012 19:46

I know how to do the upgrades, I have done them for some years. As I said, the menu based upgrade firmware does find the files.

Anyhow, thanks for the other bit. Why don't they say that in the manual..... I was pressing about once a second before. Its formatting. Yay.

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wklie

191 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 5

Trusted

MagicTV

#716656 13-Nov-2012 19:47

When buying a replacement HDD for MTV3600, drives larger than 2TB should not be used. Those using 4K sector "Advanced Format" (with "512e" 512-byte sector emulation) are not recommended.

After a bit of google, I found that the following information about sector sizes:

Hitachi - 7K1000, 7K2000, 7K3000 and earlier all have 512-byte sector. 7K4000 and newer drives have 4K sector.
Seagate - Barracuda 7200.12, Barracuda XT ST32000641AS and earlier have 512 byte sectors. Barracuda Green, 7200.14 and newer drives have 4K sector.
Toshiba 3.5" - 4K sector.

MTV3700 with firmware 5.10 or newer supports 4K sector Advanced Format HDD. Currently it is still limited to 2TB.

Bitfiddler

41 posts

Geek
+1 received by user: 6

#716658 13-Nov-2012 19:53

Just to complete the feedback. The seagate barracuda 2GB hard disk is now working. Thanks guys.

m0nkey

15 posts

Geek

#910152 8-Oct-2013 21:51

Hi guys

I wanted to let you all know my Magic TV 3600 HDD upgrade experience...

I had several issues with my HDD - frequently seeing the "no HDD" error, or "HDD error" message, 'stutters' in playback, freezing during FFW or RWD that meant I had power down the unit by flicking the switch at the back and removing the power cable for 15 mins before restarting. The unit wld also error out during recording - most frustrating! The frequency of these issues became unbearable.

I tolerated them for about 18 months, but finally accepted I needed to upgrade the HDD - at least - recently. This forum told me how to do that :-)

Before I did that, however, I wrote to Magic TV and asked them for advice (machine is well and truly out of warranty). They said to try reformatting it, which I did. Took SECONDS to reformat (obviously just isolated a sector, nothing more)... and then I was experiencing more 'stutters' during playback, and more freezes requiring power off/on restarts.

Based on 2lostkiwis' experience of opening the unit and finding a WD 5400rpm 500GB HDD, I seared for a 5400rpm 500GS-1TB HDD. Found a WD green 5400rpm, 1TB, HDD, brand new, and installed it tonight. Replacing the HDD was easy, but had troubles entering rescue mode successfully - I was trying to load 2lostkiwis' patched software during the reformat, which wouldn't work. Used the last known software release from MTV for the 3600 and it worked.

Impressed with the response of the unit during playback and record now - much snappier, and haven't seen any issues that I was seeing previously.

Here's the catch: my research of HDD's that run at 5400 rpm revealed that they use less power, so run quieter and cooler. When I removed my old HDD (the HDD the unit was purchased with), I found it was an Hitachi 7200rpm... so it was no surprise that it was running hot and having issues (given there's no fan in these units). Needless to say, I found it a bit odd that some users have 5400rpm disks and others have 7200rpm disks in their units.

My new HDD cost $100, which is better than spending more $$ on a new unit.

2lostkiwis, if you're still following these threads: I'm in Dunedin and can't record the local TV station (channel 39, UHF) via EPG using your patched software. I can record it using the official MTV software. Any assistance here wld be greatly appreciated (I'm a presenter on the local channel ;-))

Keep up the great work geekzoners!

Rebecca

2lostkiwis

67 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 4

#910160 8-Oct-2013 22:13

2lostkiwis, if you're still following these threads: I'm in Dunedin and can't record the local TV station (channel 39, UHF) via EPG using your patched software. I can record it using the official MTV software. Any assistance here wld be greatly appreciated (I'm a presenter on the local channel ;-))
Rebecca

Hi Rebecca, that's certainly strange. What version of the patched firmware are you using? What version from MagicTV are you comparing against?

Cheers,
Ian.

m0nkey

15 posts

Geek

#910209 9-Oct-2013 07:10

Hi Ian

I'm using your patched 3.17 firmware and can't record channel 39 ("this programme cannot be booked at this time"). With Magic's own 3.18 software, I don't encounter any issues.

But I can't live without your 4 minute skip forward and back!

Cheers
Rebecca

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wklie

191 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 5

Trusted

MagicTV

#911485 9-Oct-2013 16:37

I'm using your patched 3.17 firmware and can't record channel 39 ("this programme cannot be booked at this time"). With Magic's own 3.18 software, I don't encounter any issues.

This may involve a timing issue. Please:
- Switch to channel 39
- Wait for 5 minutes
- Retry your booking

LUMIN Network Music Player, Magic TV New Zealand and Australia firmware lead

bfginger

1330 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 191

#911551 9-Oct-2013 18:29

Hard drives were discussed in the 3600 thread from page 84 and back
http://www.geekzone.co.nz/forums.asp?forumid=83&topicid=43120&page_no=84

The Western Digital Green isn't an ideal choice for a PVR hard drive. WD sells a version of the Green for PVRs called the AV-GP.

At a glance it looks like the Seagate ST2000VM003 is still the best option

http://pricespy.co.nz/product.php?p=1309424

wklie

191 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 5

Trusted

MagicTV

#911592 9-Oct-2013 19:50

bfginger:
The Western Digital Green isn't an ideal choice for a PVR hard drive. WD sells a version of the Green for PVRs called the AV-GP.

We have not observed any real world advantages of using PVR-versions of HDD on Magic TV, compared to the usual desktop versions, when the HDD is not faulty. When the HDD becomes faulty, we do not see any advantage or more graceful behavior from it either.

LUMIN Network Music Player, Magic TV New Zealand and Australia firmware lead

m0nkey

15 posts

Geek

#911654 9-Oct-2013 20:42

Thanks for your replies.

I have tried sitting on the channel for a while, then loading the EPG and selecting programmes to record, both series' and episodes only. I was able to complete the task. The programmes selected also show in the recording to-do list at the time I booked them. However, a day or two later when I check for my recorded programmes - and also check the to-do list - those programmes aren't there. It's like that particular channel needs to be on the screen every day there is a booking to be recorded from it. However, when I load the EPG for that channel, my [S] and [R] are still need to the programme names.

As a bit of background, a friend of mine here in Dunedin also has MTV 3600, runs the 3.17 patch, and has the same problem. He has been in touch with MTV about the issue - they say it's not a MTV problem and to talk to Freeview. My friend is involved in preparing the EPG for Channel 39 ("Dunedin Television", dunedintv.co.nz), and says Freeview aren't missing any data, so it's unlikely to be an EPG data issue.

But it's odd that the error message is never encountered whilst using 3.18, and the programmes always record.

Thx

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