Spiderbox 9900 HD and an external HDD

[paulus]

Can anyone help. I have a 250GB IDE HDD in a USB enclosure. Win7 will only format it exFAT or NTFS, so I formatted it in the Spiderbox, which uses it very successfully. However, when I connect it back into my PC the PC won't read it saying it needs to format it first. What is the correct procedure to get both SB and Win7 to read the HDD?

Many thanks,

[echelon]

read this

https://www.satpimps.co.uk/showthread.php?130612-Setting-up-your-SpiderBox-Setup-amp-Installation-Guide post 6

and this

https://www.satpimps.co.uk/showthread.php?148304-Spiderbox-Recording

[paulus]

I had read these echeleon, but as I stated having formated it in SB it recorded and SB could play it back, it was trying to get it into the PC that the problem arose - ie Win7 wouldn't read it saying it needed to be formated first!! So I have followed the correct procedure - as far as SB is concerned - but how do I then get the recordings back into the PC?

[echelon]

I had read these echeleon, but as I stated having formated it in SB it recorded and SB could play it back, it was trying to get it into the PC that the problem arose - ie Win7 wouldn't read it saying it needed to be formated first!! So I have followed the correct procedure - as far as SB is concerned - but how do I then get the recordings back into the PC?

is a pc question , possibly a win7 question , and not a spiderbox question

a pc will recognise drives formatted in fat32 and win7 will recognise both fat32 and ntfs

I would think your problem lies with the fact that windows can only deal with a partition of 32 gig for fat32 , this is a well known limitation

[paulus]

Thanks for that explanation echelon. I guess the conclusion is that you can use a big drive for SB PVR, but if there is something you particulary want to get on the PC then you need to switch in a smaller device (eg a USB stick) before you record - since once its on the HDD there is no way of copying it to a smaller device - is that correct?

paulus

[echelon]

Thanks for that explanation echelon. I guess the conclusion is that you can use a big drive for SB PVR, but if there is something you particulary want to get on the PC then you need to switch in a smaller device (eg a USB stick) before you record - since once its on the HDD there is no way of copying it to a smaller device - is that correct?

paulus

I cannot tell you if that is correct as it would require 100% accuracy , which isnt possible

its certainly one way of achieving your goal

but other members use drives that are bigger than 32 gig and dont have the problems you are getting

so my conclusion is that there is something different about your partitioning and formatting compared to theirs

some other boxes like blade require special tools to partition and format them , so you need to look into how to achieve your goal of partitioning and fat32 formatting your drive on a spiderbox , with the result that win7 can see it too without wanting to change it or format it

best to deal with facts here , not assumptions , so your original question about dual compatibility is still valid , but I cannot answer it

[cromwell]

I have had problems with IDE and win 7 m8, sorted it by going to the website who made the HD and got a driver for it, sorted my problem out m8.

[paulus]

Resolved my problem, no guarantee that it is universal, by using a verbatim tool which appears to format external HDD in FAT32. Took a couple of minutes, now both SB and PC can see and use the disk, although Win7 lakes a longish time (about a minute) to mount the drive once plugged in. RESULT!

[echelon]

Resolved my problem, no guarantee that it is universal, by using a verbatim tool which appears to format external HDD in FAT32. Took a couple of minutes, now both SB and PC can see and use the disk, although Win7 lakes a longish time (about a minute) to mount the drive once plugged in. RESULT!

the blade tool does a similar job I believe

[Aldo]

I have just seen this info by jimihendrix on the other forum, it maybe useful to members having similar problems:

USB drives and USB extension leads

Since installing my new Spiderbox 9900 HD receiver I've had erratic drive operation, sometimes starting sometimes not. Eventually the penny dropped that in rearanging my equipment I used an USB extension lead which I had not used before. Removing this lead and plugging my WD 320GB drive directly into the 9900 compleatly cured the problem.
So clearly the lead was the problem, using an OHM meter I measured the resistance "end to end" and the reading was 0.4 ohms, now we nead to double this reading and their are two lines supplying power to the drive the 0v and +5v. This means I had 0.8 ohms in series with the drive, not a lot but enough to cause a voltage drop leading to the erratic operation of the drive.
Anyone using one of these leads and experiencing problems with drive startup or no recording should try plugging the drive directly into the receiver.
Note this would apply to all makes of receiver and is not down to the Spiderbox in any way simply the quality of the USB extension lead.

just to ad to the above, this also came from parad0x_i & jimihendrix\;

It's well known that USB extension leads don't work at long lengths

Q: How long can a USB cable be to connect my device..?
A: In practice the USB specification limits the length of a cable between full speed devices to 5 meters (a little under 16 feet 5 inches). For a low speed device the limit is 3 meters (9 feet 10 inches)

USB was designed for an average 4m cable

My USB extension lead was a modest 1.5 mtr, which would imply that the manufactures in the far east are using a very inferior cable. Still we live and learn.

[paulus]

I can confirm this via another route. I use an OpenMedia wifi adapter but reception at the box is poor (due to brick walls). In an attempt to re-site the adapter in another room (but still switch on and off with the SB) I used a 5m USB extension. However, the voltage drop was such that it would no longer power the adapter (which is rated 5-15V).

[echelon]

I solved networking issues quite simply , I did it the old fashioned way and ran in cat5 cable and had rj45 sockets at both ends , wired is always much better than wireless !