Best Method For Copying Content To The HUMAX HDR7500T 1TB

[Dwarfboysim]

Hi,
I am wondering what methods people are using to copy content such as pictures, music and videos to the internal drive of the Humax HDR7500T 1TB.  Can it be done via your home network or only by copying the files to a USB device, taking them to the Humax and copying them up?

Thanks,
Dwarfboysim

[swamprat96]

FTP can be used- see the manual. use filezilla

[Dwarfboysim]

Hi,
Have managed to get it to connect in Filezilla but when I try to copy anything to it get:

Server does not support non-ASCII characters.


And it fails

Any thoughts?

Thanks,
Dwarfboysim

[prl]

Hi,
Have managed to get it to connect in Filezilla but when I try to copy anything to it get:

Server does not support non-ASCII characters.

...

The message is probably referring to the characters in the file names. ASCII is this character set.

[Dave at IceTV]

Have managed to get it to connect in Filezilla but when I try to copy anything to it get:

Server does not support non-ASCII characters.

It does sound like the filenames contain non-ASCII characters. But I suspect you have Filezilla set to the default 'Auto' transfer type and it thinks your files are text files (by their file extension, or lack of file extension).

As a test, try setting Filezilla's 'Transfer Type' setting to Binary (Click on the Transfer menu then Transfer Type).

If that works, then have a look at the options under 'Edit > Settings > Transfers > File Types'.

Also see the 'Invalid Character' setting under 'Edit > Settings > Transfers'.

[prl]

...
As a test, try setting Filezilla's 'Transfer Type' setting to Binary (Click on the Transfer menu then Transfer Type).
...

That's essential anyway when transferring files between Unixoid systems with LF line terminators in text files and Windows which uses CRLF. Binary files are likely to be mangled if the transfer mode isn't set to Binary, naming issues aside.

[Allan]

FTP can be used- see the manual. use filezilla

Hi

Which manual are you referring?  I haver searched the HUMAX HDR7500T manual and it doesn't find any reference to "filezilla".

Thanks Allan

[nis200sx]

Hi Allan,

swamprat said "FTP can be used- see the manual." i.e. See the manual about FTP (not Filezilla)

While Filezilla is possibly the best FTP client (and free) there is one gotcha when transferring Humax recordings via FTP; If you transfer the recordings directly from the Humax's internal hard drive they are encrypted and can only be played back a Humax PVR. To be able to copy them unencrypted via FTP you need to copy them to a USB drive first (using the Humax media menu). After that you can leave the USB drive plugged in to the Humax and access it via FTP. The FTP client on the computer can see the files on the USB drive while it is connected to the Humax.

Now there are also some gotchas and things to be aware of for using a USB drive with a Humax:

• The Humax can not copy files to a USB drive formatted in NTFS. See update below
• The Humax can only copy files to USB drives formatted in FAT, FAT32, Ext2 or Ext3. See update below
• FAT32 has a 4GB size limit per file (no matter how large the USB stick or drive is).
• FAT has a 2GB size limit per file (no matter how large the USB stick or drive is).
• An hour recording can be 5GB for HD channels and 2GB for SD channels.
• The Humax does not split files at the 4GB FAT32 or 2GB FAT file size limits - it just stops copying the file. See update below
• USB sticks larger than 2GB and for use with the Humax should be formatted in Ext2. See update below
• USB drives for use with the Humax should be formatted in Ext3 (unless your recordings are all less than 4GB, where FAT32 will do). See update below
• The Humax can format USB hard drives for you and will format them in Ext3. See update below
• The Humax cannot format USB sticks.
• USB sticks formatted in Windows will normally be FAT or FAT32.
• USB hard drives formatted in Windows will normally be NTFS.
• Windows cannot natively access Ext formatted drives, but you can install drivers that add support for Ext2 and/or Ext3. See update below
• Mac OS and Linux can access Ext formatted drives. See update below
• The USB drive must either use less than 500mA or have it's own power supply.
• A USB drive left permanently attached to the Humax will take up one of the two USB ports.
• If you leave a USB drive left permanently attached to the Humax's rear USB port and you are using wireless the dongle will need to go in the front USB port.

If you are going to format a USB drive in Ext3 and copy recordings to the USB drive, you may as well install an Ext3 driver in Windows so you can just unplug the drive and take it to the PC, instead of using FTP.

Update: Apparently the latest software version formats USB drives in NTFS (which does not have file size issues or need a special driver installed for Windows) and can now copy files to NTFS formatted USB drives. 

Or you could forget the USB drive and FTP, and just copy the DLNA path of the Humax recording and paste that into a web browser's address bar and let the web browser download the whole recording for you. The only downsides here are that the downloaded files names will be a number instead of the show's name, and it's a little fiddly obtaining the DLNA path to the file that you want (but no harder than using FTP).

[jeffoz1]

That is a fantastic instruction set nis220sx. I have not bought this unit yet but your info will save me hours of searching and experimentation when I do.

When the files are copied to a USB drive, are both SD and HD recordings unencrypted?

Thanks!

[prl]

...
Now there are also some gotchas and things to be aware of for using a USB drive with a Humax:

...

• Mac OS and Linux can access Ext formatted drives.
...

...

My Mac (OS X 10.8.4 Snow Leopard) has no native support for any of ext2, ext3 or ext4. There is third-party software (e.g. fuse-ext2)that supports ext2 and ext3. I haven't used fuse-ext2, so I'm not sure how complete its support of ext3 is (e.g. I don't know if it allows you to format a drive as ext3). This puts OS X in roughly the same position as Windows with respect to ext file system access.

It's probably also worth noting that native Windows can only format volumes as FAT32 if they are 32GB or less. Third-party software is needed on Windows to format volumes bigger than that as FAT32.

[Dave at IceTV]

When the files are copied to a USB drive, are both SD and HD recordings unencrypted?

Yes, all recordings (both SD and HD) are unencrypted.

[Dave at IceTV]

Filezilla bug

We have discovered that Filezilla is unable to upload a folder full of files. Uploading files 1 at a time works, but not uploading folders.

So if you want to copy a folder full of media (music, photos, videos or sub-folders) in one go from your PC to the Humax's hard drive you will need to use a different FTP client program. The free version of CoffeeCup FTP works.

For Windows only:
http://www.coffeecup.com/free-ftp/

Edit: Replaced Cute FTP with CoffeeCup FTP

[Dwarfboysim]

Where does one get the "free" version of CuteFTP?  I can find free trials that last for 30 days but not a free version.

Thanks,
Dwarfboysim

[Dave at IceTV]

Oops! Sorry, make that the free version of CoffeeCup FTP

For Windows only:
http://www.coffeecup.com/free-ftp/

[Dave at IceTV]

Hi Allan,

swamprat said "FTP can be used- see the manual." i.e. See the manual about FTP (not Filezilla)

While Filezilla is possibly the best FTP client (and free) there is one gotcha when transferring Humax recordings via FTP; If you transfer the recordings directly from the Humax's internal hard drive they are encrypted and can only be played back by a Humax PVR. To be able to copy them unencrypted via FTP you need to copy them to a USB drive first (using the Humax media menu). After that you can leave the USB drive plugged in to the Humax and access it via FTP. The FTP client on the computer can see the files on the USB drive while it is connected to the Humax.

Now there are also some gotchas and things to be aware of for using a USB drive with a Humax:

• The Humax cannot copy files to a USB drive formatted in NTFS.
• The Humax can only copy files to USB drives formatted in FAT, FAT32, Ext2 or Ext3.
• FAT32 has a 4GB size limit per file (no matter how large the USB stick or drive is).
• FAT has a 2GB size limit per file (no matter how large the USB stick or drive is).
• An hour recording can be 5GB for HD channels and 2GB for SD channels.
• The Humax does not split files at the 4GB FAT32 limit or 2GB FAT limit - it just stops copying the file.
• USB sticks larger than 2GB and for use with the Humax should be formatted in Ext2.
• USB drives for use with the Humax should be formatted in Ext3 (unless your recordings are all less than 4GB, where FAT32 will do).
• The Humax can format USB hard drives for you and will format them in Ext3.
• The Humax cannot format USB sticks.
• USB sticks formatted in Windows will normally be FAT or FAT32.
• USB hard drives formatted in Windows will normally be NTFS.
• Windows cannot natively access Ext formatted drives, but you can install drivers that add support for Ext2 and/or Ext3.
• Mac OS and Linux can access Ext formatted drives.
• The USB drive must either use less than 500mA or have it'sown power supply.
• A USB drive left permanently attached to the Humax will take up one of the two USB ports.
• If you leave a USB drive left permanently attached to the Humax's rear USB port and you are using wireless the dongle will need to go in the front USB port.

If you are going to format a USB drive in Ext3 and copy recordings to the USB drive, you may as well install an Ext3 driver in Windows so you can just unplug the drive and take it to the PC, instead of using FTP.


Or you could forget the USB drive and FTP, and just copy the DLNA path of the Humax recording and paste that into a web browser's address bar and let the web browser download the whole recording for you. The only downsides here are that the downloaded file will have a number instead of the show's name, and it's a little fiddly obtaining the DLNA path to the file that you want (but no harder than using FTP).