Setting up your external USB HDD with your Solo the easy way!

[silky]

Hi Guys,

I just thought it worth while letting you all now how I have managed to solve my problem with help from Andy blac.

When trying to format my 1TB hardrive I was getting the error "not enough memory when creating superblock" Andy suggested I set up a swap file via the front usb port on a usb pendrive. This I did and the hardrive then formatted properly and works a treat.

Hope this will help someone if you hit the same problem.

Cheers

 

[dcwuk]

if your using ViX

menu > plugins > green button > system plugins > setpasswd ( install this ).

Then

menu > setup > system > change root password.

you can change the default password to what ever you like and use that password for ftp/ telnet etc.

did the above and changed the password and saved it, tried to log in but keeps asking for password and when I go back into the box to menu/system/change root password the shown password is not the one I saved just a random generated one.
This happens every time I try and change the password and even if I use the random generated one it still will not log me in?

 

[Rob van der Does]

The set password plugin is not compatible anymore.
You can set a password via telnet, using the command

passwd

after that you can enter a new password.

 

[Larry-G]

As pointed out by Rob the set password plugin is no longer compatible with the ViX image, use the telnet command to set a password and you will be ok.

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2

 

[artie]

Hi can anyone advise....I have a usb powered western digital hdd.I want to record from my vu solo but going through the threads it looks as if it is better to use a hdd with it's own power supply.Is it possible to power the hdd that I have somehow by an adaptor or something rather than going out and buying a new hdd with external power?Thanks for any help

 

[artie]

Just to let everyone know I used the usb powered hdd,just initialised it in settings and it worked straight away without any telnet,hd recording perfect

 

[Rob van der Does]

I really hope you'll remain happy. An USB-powered HDD is simply asking for problems. Time will tell.

 

[artie]

What problems can I expect Rob?

 

[Rob van der Does]

HDD not properly starting up do to low voltage, data corruption due to that and even mechanical failure.
I've had id on many HDD's untill the very moment I only use them with a proper powersupply.

An USB-port is certified to deliver 0.5A @ 5V; that's simply not enough for proper HDD usage (only for 1.8" HDD's). And HDD's tend to use more power when they get older.

 

[artie]

HDD not properly starting up do to low voltage, data corruption due to that and even mechanical failure.
I've had id on many HDD's untill the very moment I only use them with a proper powersupply.

An USB-port is certified to deliver 0.5A @ 5V; that's simply not enough for proper HDD usage (only for 1.8" HDD's). And HDD's tend to use more power when they get older.

Rob do you know if I could use a mains powered usb hub.Plug the hdd into hub and then hub into Vu+ solo?

 

[judge]

Rob do you know if I could use a mains powered usb hub.Plug the hdd into hub and then hub into Vu+ solo?

I've used a mains powered USB hub to support a USB tuner & USB stick on a VU Solo in the past & had no issues.
Never tried it with a full USB HDD though, I'd give it a try... but as Rob says, using a dedicated powered USB HDD will probably be better.
Can you get a powered USB enclosure for your USB HDD for a few £ more than a powered USB hub?

 

[cactikid]

would the smaller pocket sized 250 or 500 be the same non powered on the usb,deffo not using a 1tb external unless it has its own power source

 

[judge]

would the smaller pocket sized 250 or 500 be the same non powered on the usb,deffo not using a 1tb external unless it has its own power source

Try them & let us know. It's the only way we can provide advice as not everyone has the same HW to try out...

 

[Rob van der Does]

The standard USB-norm is 500mA; there are devices that deliver more then that (1A or even 2A; they are mostly designed to charge tablets etc). If you could find a powered hub doing that I think you'll be fine.
There also exist special USB-cables, having an extra cable that should go to a second USB-port for the same purpose. That might be an option as well (if you're sure that both ports will be able to deliver the 500mA; sometimes they share internally one 500mA power source (although that is not in compliance with the norm, it does happen)).

 

[artie]

Thanks for the advice guys.It's only one of them small Western Digital hdd's 160gb usb powered.Been looking at bigger ones put mains powered are hard to come by and most are now usb 3.0....was trying it out before I went bigger.I'm still new to VU

 

[Rob van der Does]

USB 3.0 makes no difference, as they are backwards compatible.

 

[infinite2006]

Could you help me out please, trying to mount 120 GB external drive, doesnt have a stand alone power supply which I read is important? Could I go ahead and give it a go,its a Lacie

I just want to use my external USB drive for pause, rewind and recording.

I'm stuck trying to mount by FAT32 120GB external drive to the box for pause rewind etc. Been through tutorial which says to create a empty folder called movie then move this to root /media/usb on the box. At least I think thats what it means However, there is no subfolder called usb, just the media folder, so whacked it in there

When it does mount, based on me just ignoring the usb folder, the FAT 32 is changed to EXT3 so the box can talk to the external drive BUT pause rewind etc is still not working because of a time shift error. Changed this as well, according to another tutorial but still no luck. The box is just looking for hdd (hard disk) when attempting to record and not the external. Can't get it pointed to right location.

HELP?, running Ferrari V2, VIX, mount manager currently reads:

Mount: /media/hdd
Device: /dev/sda1
Type: vfat R/W

 

[infinite2006]

One last hitch on preparing USB for external drive.

After following all steps I now get error, "The directory /media/USB/movie is not a EXT2, 3, 4 or NFS partition

HELP...?

I've started to see posts with members having problems using their external USB hard drives, so thought I'd put to the test a post a quick guide.

For the purpose of this I'm using a portable 2.5" USB HDD with its own power supply. The HDD is a Hitachi 250GB SATA. It's very important that the external HDD has its own electric power supply.

Guide below: -

1. Connect to a windows PC. Go to control panel > Administrive Tools > Copumter Management > Storage > Disk Managment > Select you USB HDD, right click on it and select 'Delete Volume'. Make sure that its your USB HDD that your deleting!

2. Connect to Solo, power up the HDD then reboot your Solo.

3. Once rebooted press Menu on your remote > Setup > System > Harddisk > Initialization > Click ok on the selected HDD

4. On the next screem press Red Button to initialize and wait for it to complete.

5. Go to your PC, open a command promt and telnet to your Solo. As follows: -

Telnet 192.168.1.11 <<<<Use your Solo IP

Username = Root

Password = leave blank, just press enter

6. Now create a folder in /media/usb for recording. We'll call it movie.

mkdir /media/usb/movie

7. Close the command prompt and go back to your Solo.

8. Press Menu > Setup > System > Recording paths > Highlight Defualt movie location, see below: -

9. Press ok, then you come to a select location screen. You will see the default at the bottom is /hdd/movie. We need to change this. Press menu on your remote and select 'switch to filelist'. Now navigate to /media/usb/movie, do not click ok on movie, just highlight it and press Green button to save the location. You now have something like this: -

10. Do the same for Timeshift location, but just choose /media/usb

Thats it done

Enjoy your recording with your shiney new baby VU+ Solo

 

[infinite2006]

Hd recording ok?

What is the make and model of HD external you've got working perfectly ?

Just to let everyone know I used the usb powered hdd,just initialised it in settings and it worked straight away without any telnet,hd recording perfect

 

[artie]

What is the make and model of HD external you've got working perfectly ?

Mine is a Western Digital.....can't really help with the prob you have had as new to it myself.But it worked straight away without doing any of the telnet,I just initialized through the box