Formatting eSATA stick in VIX image

[gan23]

Hi all,
I have ordered a 16GB eSATA SSD stick to use with my Duo. Is it possible using the latest Vix image to format this to ext2/3 so i can use it for permanent time shift/ Picons etc.(I dont have a linux machine to do it in) Also what other uses could i put the new stick to??

 

[pooface]

The VIX image formats usb sticks and usb hdd's, and e-sata hdd's, so I would imagine your ssd should work. Haven't had one to try it (although if you would like to donate one, then I'd appreciate it hehe j/k). It's best and easiest to format manually through telnet though to ensure that it works correctly But, it should work fine through the devices manager...

 

[gan23]

The VIX image formats usb sticks and usb hdd's, and e-sata hdd's, so I would imagine your ssd should work. Haven't had one to try it (although if you would like to donate one, then I'd appreciate it hehe j/k). It's best and easiest to format manually through telnet though to ensure that it works correctly But, it should work fine through the devices manager...

No worries Pooface, it is in the post ....

Hopefully I wont have to use telnet.
Has anyone used one of the eSATA sticks before? does it get powered from the eSATA port or will I have to power it from a usb port

 

[pooface]

No worries Pooface, it is in the post ....

Hold on, you've not taken my address yet....

Hopefully I wont have to use telnet.
Has anyone used one of the eSATA sticks before? does it get powered from the eSATA port or will I have to power it from a usb port

I've never used an esata stick myself, and not 100% sure whether the vu will support it or not... But, what I can say, from what I've read, is that they aren't powered. Most, come as usb/e-sata sticks. So, you will get the option of using it as a usb, or via esata. The way they work, from what I understand, is that if you plug it in as usb first, it's used as a usb stick (connecting and powering from usb). If you plug it in to the esata first, then plug in the usb, then it works as an esata stick (just taking the power from usb)...

Would be interested to see how you get on with it... Make sure you let us know how well it works and everything

One thing that I would say though, is that I imagine the vu duo will see it as a hdd rather than usb... So, you might even be able to initialise it through the main hard disk menu, and then just mount it as /media/usb through the device manager...

Keep us updated on it though

 

[gan23]

Thanks Pooface. I will keep you posted when it arrives...

 

[gan23]

Hi all, just an update.
I received the esata stick but havent had much luck getting it working. I had to power it from a usb port (wanted to use esata so all my usb ports would not be used up, but anyway). I was able to go into harddisk and into the initialise option where the esata stick was listed along with my internal HDD. I tried to initialise it but it failed saying it could not create a partition. I presume i need to format it first but i was unable to do this through the device manager.

I connected it up to my laptop running win7 and the it was shown in the devices section but not in the "my computer" section along with the other drives....
I hope there is nothing wrong with it, hopefully im just doing something wrong.
Any ideas??

 

[Sicilian]

Hi all, just an update.
I received the esata stick but havent had much luck getting it working. I had to power it from a usb port (wanted to use esata so all my usb ports would not be used up, but anyway). I was able to go into harddisk and into the initialise option where the esata stick was listed along with my internal HDD. I tried to initialise it but it failed saying it could not create a partition. I presume i need to format it first but i was unable to do this through the device manager.

I connected it up to my laptop running win7 and the it was shown in the devices section but not in the "my computer" section along with the other drives....
I hope there is nothing wrong with it, hopefully im just doing something wrong.
Any ideas??

Try formatting it NTFS on your pc first, the initialize on the receiver. I've had blank HDD before not initializing, done that and it worked.

 

[pooface]

If you are unable to format it through the e-sata, try just connecting it via the usb, and see if you can use/initialise it through there?!

 

[gan23]

Try formatting it NTFS on your pc first, the initialize on the receiver. I've had blank HDD before not initializing, done that and it worked.

I wasnt able to format it on my laptop either however i was connected through esata so i will try this when connected through the usb port instead and see if that works

 

[gan23]

If you are unable to format it through the e-sata, try just connecting it via the usb, and see if you can use/initialise it through there?!

I also tried this method, but it wouldnt initialise in the HDD menu.
Should it be recognised and displayed in the device manager after it does a scan even if its not formatted for linux??? as only my HDD was displayed

 

[andyblac]

I also tried this method, but it wouldnt initialise in the HDD menu.
Should it be recognised and displayed in the device manager after it does a scan even if its not formatted for linux??? as only my HDD was displayed

yes, it should list ALL storage devices even if there are not mounted

 

[gan23]

Finally realised why i couldnt format the device on my laptop. In my computer, the drive was not listed along with my other drives because it was not formatted for any file system. It was "unallocated". to find this out and format it i right clicked on the computer icon in explorer screen and selected manage. from here i could select "hard disks" where it was listed and i was then able to format it to NTFS.
After this the vuplus displayed it in the device manager where i was able to format it to ext3. It is connected to the esata port but powered from a usb port.

in the device manager its shown as "Device:/dev/sdb1"
What is the correct mount point to use it as an esata drive rather than USB drive?? Does this question even make sense ha ha

 

[gan23]

any ideas guys,
as tou can tell i dont have a computer background but am obsessed with messing with this box.
Basically i want to use this drive for permanent timeshift, picons and a swap file if possible. Now it is showing up as "Device: /dev/sda1" and i have it mounted as : /media/usb ,is this correct for what i want to do. how do i change using my internal HDD for timeshift to using my new drive
thanks

 

[pooface]

Sorry, meant to reply to this earlier, but didn't get a chance...

If you already have an internal hdd, I would say to mount this as /media/usb as you have done. Doesn't make a different what it calls it, but for picons/pts etc, this will be easiest...

As for changing the location for timeshift, go to menu -> setup -> system -> recording paths, and change the location to one on your usb. I personally created a folder on the usb called "timeshift", and pointed the timeshift location to this...

 

[gan23]

all is working now, I did have to mount it as /sda1(as it appeared in the device manager) however as it would not be seen a valid location otherwise. Now timeshift, swapfile and picons are on new drive...

Thanks a lot

 

[gan23]

guide for anyone as clueless as me...

here is what i had to do step by step

1. I received the esata stick and had to format it to NTFS on my laptop first since it came unformatted with no file system (unallocated). I did this by connecting it to my lapyop, selecting my computer and right clicking on my computer ( drive doesnt show up like a usb stick or hard drive) and selecting manage. then selct storage and disk manager. In here you can format the drive.

2. now that its formatted i connected it to my vu in the esata port, and powered it from one of the usb port

3. In the vix menu i selected device manager and it scanned and recognised both my HDD and my esata drive. I selected one i wanted and then repartitioned it.

4. I then mounted it as whatever it appeared in the device manager i.e. it appeared as /dev/sda1 so i mounted as media/sda1

5. to record timeshift to new location i went in to recording paths and selected timeshift, pressed ok. now press menu and select 1st option. your new drive should be listed and then select it.

6. For picons select skin manager from vix menu and change picons location to new drive. this automatically created a folder on the new drive called picons so then i ftp'd my picons straight into that folder and they worked straight away...

I had a few hair pulling moments doing it but we wont go there
hope this helps