USB stick for recording?

[thecrazybandit]

Re: USB stick for recording?

I always use fat 32 and have never had any problems using this format

[bokkie]

Re: USB stick for recording?

Kalpikos, which Receiver and image are you using?
On my Solo2 running vix I inserted the usb stick formatted to fat 32 and then mounted and initialized it.

[aplok]

Re: USB stick for recording?

...What format should I prefer?
Fat32, ntfs, Ext2 , Ext3?
Is there any difference on the speed between them?

hi,

ntfs

i have a 1.5 T backup disk, and not only for big audio/video file, nor big zip,
but also for some tree directories with thousands of files and directories

when i reach about 900 gb, i was stucked with the windows message (from memory) :
'disk full',
and more than 500 gb was still free

after investigations, trails and tests, i succeeded to backup my tree, through a single big fille (10gb), so that, when properly mounted, i backup the big directory tree

also

file-system checks, partition resizing, disk management, ...
takes a very long time, when compared with linux

clearly my conclusion is:
- my win systems behaves likely with a maximum number of files for this ntfs 1.5 T disk
- i lost confidence with this format for my future backup disk

Fat32
fat32 and ext2 are fast, without access or owner privilege
file system management easy and fast
fat32 is universal
fat32 fragments files, which is much less the case with ext
ext2 is linux


but ... no journal

the max file size (1):


The maximum possible size for a file on a FAT32 volume is 4 GiB minus 1 byte or 4,294,967,295 (232 − 1) bytes. This limit is a consequence of the file length entry in the directory table and would also affect huge FAT16 partitions with a sufficient sector size.[1] Video applications, large databases, and some other software easily exceed this limit.

the max disk size is related to the sector size (1):
The boot sector uses a 32-bit field for the sector count, limiting the FAT32 volume size to 2 TiB for a sector size of 512 bytes and 16 TiB for a sector size of 4,096 bytes.

so, it can be good solution for non critical data (like transit data)

Ext3
ext3 (and ext4) are fast, easy, with privileges
is linux based
less or no file fragmentation

but ... with journal , which takes about 2..5 % of the disk space

it can be a better solution,

definitively for secure and critial files ystem (operation, data, backup) disk

my conclusion:
- for video record on the fly:
ext2 or fat32

- for video storage
ext3 or ext4 (journal system, definitively)

- for big files, ntfs may be a issue, but still, i prefer ext3-4, for management advantages

however, ntfs can also be read by windows systems ...




---
(1): __http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FAT32#FAT32

[zoran89]

Re: USB stick for recording?

You should try NTFS if it doesnt work, then change to fat32.

Fat32 has size limit, then your video if it is long and HD is in pieces.

[kalpikos]

Re: USB stick for recording?

Thank you all for your answers.

I forgot to say that I have a vu+solo2 with black hole 2.0.6.

I would like to use the usb stick for recordings as well as the picons and crossepg.

I followed the the wizard for the usb format from black hole image and I selected the ext3 format as it's linux based.
I mounted it as media/hdd and I made some recordings.
All seem to be ok.
No delays, no freezings
Also, I try to transfer some files from the usb to my pc with the DCC and everything is ok.
If I have some free time , I will try to use the other formats.

[Satphoenix]

Re: USB stick for recording?

Another problem appears when your receiver doesn't split the recording-files at 4gb.
Some do it, some not.
If it does, fat32 is the best (my experience for usb-recording). If not, fat32 is unusable.
The speed makes no problem. The transfer-rate of an usb-stick in much higher than the data-rate of recording or even time shift.

[aplok]

Re: USB stick for recording?

Also, I try to transfer some files from the usb to my pc with the DCC and everything is ok.

some ftp client have the function to synchronize local dir tree with remote dir tree (like krusader, or totalcommander)

you can alos do it with rsync command:

rsync -Hourav /path1/ /path2/

---
if you test other filesystem, you should not notice visible difference between ext3 and ext4, and the other vfat32, ntfs ...

except when problem occurs
in this case, journal fs (ext3, ext4, ntfs) are safe

[gianni253]

Re: USB stick for recording?

... use the usb stick for recordings as well as the picons and crossepg.

You couldn't make a better use of your usb stick.
It's also my own choice ... no need for a (power consuming) hard disk.

[bokkie]

Re: USB stick for recording?

Problem is that if you use your stb as a media centre, a usb stick doesn't hold much.
I have movie browser plug in and about to 500 gb worth of movies on my solo2.

[aplok]

Re: USB stick for recording?

Problem is that if you use your stb as a media centre, a usb stick doesn't hold much.

yes, so,

- a journalized file system for the media centre, running and mounted when required,

and

- a low power vfat32 usb for recording all day and all nigh long


there is the linux command hdparm to put the disk to hibernate, as the os is still running ... on the first os disk ... (of course!)

$ hdparm --help

hdparm - get/set hard disk parameters - version v9.15

Usage: hdparm [options] [device] ..

-y put drive in standby mode
-Y put drive to sleep

...

[phil76]

Re: USB stick for recording?

Problem is that if you use your stb as a media centre, a usb stick doesn't hold much.
I have movie browser plug in and about to 500 gb worth of movies on my solo2.

For sure an usb stick is best suitable for timeshift...for movie recording the choiche of an external usb disk is more reasonable in my opinion.

[zoran89]

Re: USB stick for recording?

Like all electronic HDD doesnt like cold boot, it mean it is far better for HDD to work all the time then to start every few hours. And it doestn consume much power so I realy dont see any problem with it...

[bokkie]

Re: USB stick for recording?

There is a choice in the menu as to how long you want the hdd active when not in use, so power consumption can be kept down this way. I already have a usb stick mounted for timeshift, epg, etc. so my hdd is oly used when recording or watching a recording.
I think this is the best option.

[kalpikos]

Re: USB stick for recording?

The true is that even a 32gb usb stick seems to be small for recordings, especially if you use to record HD movies.
I was thinking about a HDD of 1tb
Should I select an internal or external?
What is better?

[bokkie]

Re: USB stick for recording?

I have a 1 tb internal in my solo2 with no problems at all. 5400 rpm is better than 7200 rpm and it must be 2.5 inch to fit inside.