1 (edited by tuckered 2009-07-12 23:08:28)

Topic: [SOLVED] Getting Started

Hi,
I'd like to format a new external Seagate HD (1 TB) to the EXT3 file system to archive TV recordings made on a Foxsat HD-R which I've learnt needs this system to work without the 4GB file size limitation of FAT32. My PC's run Vista and I gather I can make a CD to boot from and run GParted to do the necessary format/partition operations. Looking at the available downloads I can't quite decide if I need gparted-livecd-0.3.4-11.iso or else gparted-live-0.4.5.3.iso. Can somebody please confirm which to download and whether all I need to do is burn it straight onto CD then boot up from this to get going with my formatting.

2

Re: [SOLVED] Getting Started

Hi tuckered,

use latest "GParted Live ISO" (version 0.4.5-3), burn it as ISO-Image ( NOT as data ROM or bootable ROM) to a CDROM. Plug-in your external HDD (use USB 2.0 or eSATA; the faster, the better), boot "GParted" CDROM and look, if "GParted" detects the external disk with its true size. If so, partition it, as you need it, and format it to "ext3". Unplug it and test it with your TV recorder.

If it should fail, have a look at the recorder manual, whether special partitioning, formatting or directory structures are expected for proper usage. Ask here, if there are any issues, you don't understand. Perhaps the recorder has its own formatting/partitioning tool deeper in its menu structure. Anyway, it has a Linux Operating System.

Regards
cmdr

3

Re: [SOLVED] Getting Started

cmdr wrote:

Hi tuckered,

use latest "GParted Live ISO" (version 0.4.5-3), burn it as ISO-Image ( NOT as data ROM or bootable ROM) to a CDROM. Plug-in your external HDD (use USB 2.0 or eSATA; the faster, the better), boot "GParted" CDROM and look, if "GParted" detects the external disk with its true size. If so, partition it, as you need it, and format it to "ext3". Unplug it and test it with your TV recorder.

If it should fail, have a look at the recorder manual, whether special partitioning, formatting or directory structures are expected for proper usage. Ask here, if there are any issues, you don't understand. Perhaps the recorder has its own formatting/partitioning tool deeper in its menu structure. Anyway, it has a Linux Operating System.

Regards
cmdr

4

Re: [SOLVED] Getting Started

Thanks cmdr for a quick and very clear reply - I'll try this later.
Am I correct re: GParted does not work on RAID configured drives?
Regards - tuckered.

5

Re: [SOLVED] Getting Started

GParted works on RAID arrays.
Fully hardware RAID controllers are supported since long.
The various "fake RAID" controllers integrated in some motherboards or software RAID are supported by the latest versions of the GParted livecd.

(Topic moved to the live media section)

*** It is highly recommended to backup any important files before doing resize/move operations. ***

6

Re: [SOLVED] Getting Started

class413 wrote:

GParted works on RAID arrays.
Fully hardware RAID controllers are supported since long.
The various "fake RAID" controllers integrated in some motherboards or software RAID are supported by the latest versions of the GParted livecd.

(Topic moved to the live media section)

Thanks to all, I've now got up and running OK with GParted on non-RAID/RAID HD's. Standard definition TV recordings to the new EXT3 formatted drive are fine but BBC HD programmes play back with much 'noise' which I suspect may be some sort of copy protection system at work - and I guess a topic for airing a specialist Humax Foxsat HD-R forum!

Regards
tuckered