Linux EXT2 hard disc in a Foxsat HDR

[PaulR]

The 320GB disc in my Foxsat HDR is getting nearly full. I'm about to delete anything, despite strong "advice" from my wife, so have bought a 500GB disc.

I could quite easily pop the new disc in and let the HDR format it but I want to transfer the recorded programmes over. The disc is formatted in Liux EXT2 according to the user's manual and, using DiskInternal's Linux Reader I can drag the files off to store on my Win XP laptop. The trouble is that the programme is a reader only and I would have to pay for their read/write version.

Is there another way of putting the files back on? I'm not too keen on installing Linux on the laptop.

I have a plug in USB adaptor for external hard discs. I wouldn't object to buying a second one so that both discs could be connected to the laptop at the same time if this makes life simpler.

A bonus would be to be able to format the disc myself to make sure that partitions are the right size.

Another thought that occurs to me is whether the files will carry over all the Linux properties when stored on an NTFS machine. I suppose that might be a "suck-it-and-see" question!

 

[Channel Hopper]

If you can identify the important (programme ) files on the disc then copy/transfer them over to the 500GB disk.

(If you have a modern PC then you could use the internal connectors (beyond SATA1) as this would take up far less time than USB transfer.)

Once you've done that then you can start searching for a reliable/copyright free Linux programme to continue watching what you have recorded

 

[PaulR]

No modern PCs, only laptops.

As I said, it's not the reading of the files that's the problem, it's writing them to the new disc.

 

[Channel Hopper]

Can you find a cheap DVR with AV input and burn the stuff onto disc ?

 

[PaulR]

I've got one of those already. There some HD programmes which I want to transfer over anyway.

There must be some way of writing files to a Linux diisc without running Linux surely?

 

[Channel Hopper]

I've got one of those already. There some HD programmes which I want to transfer over anyway.

There must be some way of writing files to a Linux diisc without running Linux surely?

Well, you could do the transfer of the HD stuff using the USB and temporarily storing each on your laptop drive (unless you could burn a disc with it). But I would consider getting a PC case, cheap motherboard with SATA connections, and a small IDE drive to run a Windows o/s.

 

[developers]

Clonezilla is a free linux tool, you can make a disk clone image to save on a server then restore to the new disk. I think its slow but does seem to work. Advantage is you could try it whilst still keeping the original intact.

Is either disk a Seagate? they have a cloning program which can be run from a DVD if you can get a PC to put both disks in. That scale the partition or you can choose yourself.

Just another thought on AVForums there's talk of FTP to Foxsat I've not got one but that might be a simple alternative if it's possible on your model.

 

[PaulR]

Clonezilla is a free linux tool, you can make a disk clone image to save on a server then restore to the new disk. I think its slow but does seem to work. Advantage is you could try it whilst still keeping the original intact.

That's a good idea. I'll persue it further

Is either disk a Seagate? they have a cloning program which can be run from a DVD if you can get a PC to put both disks in. That scale the partition or you can choose yourself.

They're both Pipeline so that's another possibility.