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How to retrieve or copy recordings from a Humax Foxsat HDR Hard Drive to your windows PC.

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If (or when) your Humax HDR Receiver fails then you will be looking for ways to retrieve your old recordings. Many Humax forums explain how to transfer recordings to and from the built-in hard drive but generally assume that the receiver is working normally and that the USB connection is functioning.

However, what if the receiver is faulty, won't playback, doesn't even boot up, or the power supply is faulty? This page explains how to connect the internal Humax drive to an external PC and attempt to retrieve all the lost recordings.

The following description applies to a Humax 320GB or 500GB Foxsat HDR twin-channel Freesat Receiver, and a PC with 32bit Windows 7, but will probably be similar to other models.

WARNING:
If the receiver is still under warranty then this will of course invalidate it, but if you return it for repair you will lose the recordings in any case. A used Humax 1000GB HDR Freesat receiver could cost around £175 (Amazon 2022 prices), so it may be worth forfeiting the Guarantee to retrieve your recordings, and purchasing a second receiver.

Instructions:
(There is also an excellent video describing the assembly here)
  • Unplug the mains supply cable, remove the 3 black cross-head screws fixing the outer cover and lift it off.
  • Unplug the red SATA cable from the motherboard
  • Unplug the square white Molex power connector from the motherboard,
  • Unplug the tiny fan connector lead from the motherboard
  • Remove the black plastic Caddy from the Humax by removing the 4 small screws in these positions on the motherboard:

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  • Carefully lift out the complete caddy, place it close to the PC and using a combined SATA data and power lead like the one below (about £1.73 from Amazon), connect the drive to a spare SATA connector and a power lead in your PC:
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After connecting:
Boot-up your PC

With luck It should indicate 'new device detected' and install the driver automatically. NOTE: The Humax drive will NOT be listed under 'My Computer' because it formatted with a Linux file system)

Next go to 'Device Manager' (right-click computer >> manage >> device manager)
Click on 'Disk Drives' The HUMAX drive should be listed as a SATA drive (usually a Seagate):


If you have any problems or yellow warning signs then try this Microsoft driver 6.1.7600.16385,
First uninstall the original driver in 'Device Manager', Reboot the computer, then when asked for a driver, choose the new one you have just downloaded.

Right-click on that drive, then properties, and this should show the drive is 'working normally'

Go to 'Computer management' (right-click computer > manage > disk management) This should now show four Volumes listed but without 'File System types'
(The largest of the four is the main Humax partition, but the file system is not shown because it is formatted as Linux type Ext-3):

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To access the Linux partitions you will need to download and install 'DiskInternals Linux Reader' from here.

After installing, reboot your PC and open 'Linux Reader'.
Hopefully several 'Linux Ext Volumes' will now be listed, (4 in this case), each with the file system 'Linux Ext':

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Select the LARGEST of these volumes, in this case, volume 3, (typically 271GB for a 320GB Humax drive) and it should contain two folders 'Movie' and 'Video':

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Select the 'Video' folder and a complete list of all your recordings should display:

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For each recorded program there will be a set of 3 files like those listed above, and also 1 folder (not shown here). Ignore the file types 'HMT' and 'NTS' and select only the type 'MPEG-2_TS Video'
(It may be best to try just one video at first to check the system is working)
An 'Export Wizard' will open:

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Click on 'save files' and wait for progress bar to finish
Click 'Next' and 'Recovery Options' will open:

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Choose an Output Folder location:

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Click Next and wait until finished:

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The saved 'TS' file (known as 'Transport Stream') should play back on a PC using VLC Media Player or Windows 7 Media Player

If this doesn't work, try renaming the file ending from '.ts' to '.mp4' and this will sometimes open in VLC Media Player.

Alternatively, you can convert the .ts file to .mp4 using VLC Player itself.
Click Media in the top-left of the VLC window.
Then Convert/Save followed by Add
Select the TS file you want to convert and click Open.
Click Convert/Save (Windows Only)
Choose Video - H.264 + MP3 (MP4) in the drop-down menu.
Click Browse, enter a name, and select a location to save the video file.

You can also convert the TS file and burn it to a DVD to play on your TV, using a program such as ConvertXtoDVD.



Re-assembly:

  1. Remove the two leads from the Humax hard drive to the PC
     
  2. Re-connect the original HUMAX Combined SATA data/power lead to the back of the hard drive caddy
     
  3. Locate the complete assembly in position on the HUMAX Chassis, taking care not to damage any components.
     
  4. Fix the assembly onto the motherboard with the four small cross-head screws
     
  5. Reconnect the flat red SATA lead to the black socket on the HUMAX motherboard
     
  6. Reconnect the 4-wire SATA power lead to the square white socket on the HUMAX motherboard
     
  7. Reconnect the tiny 3-pin fan lead to the socket on the HUMAX motherboard
     
  8. Re-check these connections, especially the fan lead
     
  9. Refit the outer cover with the three black cross-head screws
     
WARNING:
This web site and its author accept absolutely no responsibility for any consequences resulting from the above information.
It is published for information only and you are advised to contact HUMAX Repair Department if your HUMAX needs attention, whether in or out of warranty.
We hope you find this site useful and would welcome any feedback.

Site last modified 19th April 2023