V2 Disk is not writable

[gibster]

Hi.

I've encountered a problem with the external 4TB WD My Book drive hooked up to my V2. Things seemed fine after formatting and copying all the files from my T4 to the V2. Now I'm getting the message "Error while preparing to record. Disk is not writable!"

I can play recordings from the disk fine, but not write to it. Any ideas? Guess I can pick up an external drive enclosure and use the T4 drive until the T4 comes back from Warkus (still have to let him know I"m sending it:")

Cheers for whatever help you can give.

Gib

BeyonWiz T4, V2
Sony KD-55A9F OLED
Sony KD-65X9000E
Apple TV 4K x 2
Sony UBP X800 4k/UHD BluRay Player (Moded for all regions)
X-Box One X
Harmony Ultimate Remote
QNAP TS-451+ NAS

[prl]

Check the Location setting in the failed timer is sensible (TIMER, then scroll down to the timer, OK, check the setting and then EXIT). The location setting defaults to Default movie location in the recording settings below (which in turn defaults to /media/hdd/movie).

Check that in MENU>Setup>TV>RecordingSettings, all of Default movie location, Timer Recording locatiuon and Instant recording location are all sensible. They default respectively to /media/hdd/movie, <Default movie location>, <Default movie location>.

If the settings are correct, then open the media selection screen (MEDIA), navigate (if necessary) to the directory in the Location setting of the failed timer, and then try to create a directory: from inside the media selection screen, MENU>Create directory, enter a name (one that's different from any existing directory), GREEN, then report any error message, if there is one. If the directory is created, you can remove it using RED Delete.

[gibster]

Check the Location setting in the failed timer is sensible (TIMER, then scroll down to the timer, OK, check the setting and then EXIT). The location setting defaults to Default movie location in the recording settings below (which in turn defaults to /media/hdd/movie).

Check that in MENU>Setup>TV>RecordingSettings, all of Default movie location, Timer Recording locatiuon and Instant recording location are all sensible. They default respectively to /media/hdd/movie, <Default movie location>, <Default movie location>.

If the settings are correct, then open the media selection screen (MEDIA), navigate (if necessary) to the directory in the Location setting of the failed timer, and then try to create a directory: from inside the media selection screen, MENU>Create directory, enter a name (one that's different from any existing directory), GREEN, then report any error message, if there is one. If the directory is created, you can remove it using RED Delete.

All defaults are OK, tried creating a directory in the /media/hdd/movie directory and got the error message "Error [Errno 30} Read-only file system: '/media/hdd/movie/test'

Had to take a picture of the message cause it went away in about 3 seconds.

Gib

[gibster]

I've ordered a new external drive enclosure, have a spare 4TB drive sitting near by. I've got to go off to work now and won't be home till midnight, so will be tomorrow till I reply to any other comments.

Just fired up the T4 for now while I get this other problem sorted.

Cheers

gib

[peteru]

Sounds like the drive was disconnected without being unmounted correctly and needs a filesystem check.

If it was formatted on a Beyonwiz, it should be possible to do that. I believe the HDD menu in setup has an option for a filesystem check. Before you do much more, long press the POWER button on the remote and select the Reboot option. That may be sufficient to fix the issue. If not, then try the manual filesystem check & repair.

If the drive is formatted NTFS, shut down (from power menu) the Beyonwiz, then connect to a Windows machine and run disk check / repair. If the drive is NTFS, you may want to copy any data you want to keep from it before reformatting the drive as ext4 on the Beyonwiz.

[gibster]

Sounds like the drive was disconnected without being unmounted correctly and needs a filesystem check.

If it was formatted on a Beyonwiz, it should be possible to do that. I believe the HDD menu in setup has an option for a filesystem check. Before you do much more, long press the POWER button on the remote and select the Reboot option. That may be sufficient to fix the issue. If not, then try the manual filesystem check & repair.

If the drive is formatted NTFS, shut down (from power menu) the Beyonwiz, then connect to a Windows machine and run disk check / repair. If the drive is NTFS, you may want to copy any data you want to keep from it before reformatting the drive as ext4 on the Beyonwiz.

Did a reboot as recommended and now everything seems to be OK. I've also set preferences to no standby so will see what happens. I do have the new enclosure coming and a drive here as a replacement if issues continue. The drive was formatted on the V2 before recordings were copied over from the T4 a couple of weeks ago.

Thanks for every ones help.

Gib

[prl]

I'd still be inclined to run the filesystem check anyway.

[gibster]

HI;

New issue now, I got home last night from work and found the V2 locked up, unresponsive and video frozen on the screen with the display time reading about 1 1/2 hours after I went to work. So power cycled the unit, and everything came back up. Today I changed the configuration to make sure logging was turned on and set a root password.

While working on the computer I noticed the TV go silent and looked over and saw the attached log message on the screen. This message would stay there for about 10 seconds or so and then disappear. After what appeared to be a short reboot, or restart of the display graphics the TV would come back and then after a minute or so the message would be shown again.

Can anyone make any sense of this? Could this be caused by the drive possibly going bad?

I talked to Mark (Warkus) today and he gave me the bad news that my T4 is basically a door stop now and not fixable. That the SOC has gotten damaged because of the poor quality control of the heat sink design and installation and there is nothing that can be done because parts are not available. He says the V2 problem could be drive related, but could possibly be a memory issue also. He suggested I try and get a replacement from Beyonwiz if they will respond.

Sad day.

Gib

[prl]

The crash is happening when the firmware is trying to read a metadata file associated with a recording in the timeshift buffer, and getting an I/O error.

Some possibilities are:

• The disk's filesystem is curdled, but repairable. You should try checking the filesystem, as has been suggested to you by at least two people.
• There is a hardware problem with the HDD. That might be a direct cause of the error, or it may be actively curdling the filesystem by, for example, writing different data from what it was told to or writing data to a different place on the disk than it was told to.
• There may be a hardware problem with the V2 side of the HDD connection, which might cause similar problems to issues with the HDD itself.

[prl]

In order to do a check of the HDD, you need to disable timeshifting, and then change to a new channel before trying to check the HDD. If you also have debug logging enabled and writing to the HDD, that needs to be disabled and at least a GUI restart done before checking the HDD*.

* In newer firmware the GUI restart isn't necessary, but if you do a GUI restart, it will do the right thing no matter what firmware version you are running.

[gibster]

The crash is happening when the firmware is trying to read a metadata file associated with a recording in the timeshift buffer, and getting an I/O error.

Some possibilities are:

• The disk's filesystem is curdled, but repairable. You should try checking the filesystem, as has been suggested to you by at least two people.
• There is a hardware problem with the HDD. That might be a direct cause of the error, or it may be actively curdling the filesystem by, for example, writing different data from what it was told to or writing data to a different place on the disk than it was told to.
• There may be a hardware problem with the V2 side of the HDD connection, which might cause similar problems to issues with the HDD itself.

Thanks Pri;

I have done a file system check. Started that before I went to work yesterday. I'll try another one, but I suspect it might just be the WD MyBook 4 plus year old drive starting to have issues. I'll have to do a work around for now to see if the drive is the issue.

Thanks

gib

[gibster]

In order to do a check of the HDD, you need to disable timeshifting, and then change to a new channel before trying to check the HDD. If you also have debug logging enabled and writing to the HDD, that needs to be disabled and at least a GUI restart done before checking the HDD*.

* In newer firmware the GUI restart isn't necessary, but if you do a GUI restart, it will do the right thing no matter what firmware version you are running.

Ahhh new information there. Just done as you say, and starting a new file system check.

Thanks

[peteru]

I suspect it's the HDD or the connection to it. Make sure the HDD is connected to the USB3 port and that it does not draw more than 950mA. If the HDD requires more than 950mA or if it is connected to the USB2 port, you should use a separate power supply for the HDD. Check all the cabling and make sure the connectors are making good contact. If required, replace the HDD USB cable.

[gibster]

I suspect it's the HDD or the connection to it. Make sure the HDD is connected to the USB3 port and that it does not draw more than 950mA. If the HDD requires more than 950mA or if it is connected to the USB2 port, you should use a separate power supply for the HDD. Check all the cabling and make sure the connectors are making good contact. If required, replace the HDD USB cable.

I was using a WD My Book external drive with it's own power supply. It was hooked up to the USB3.0 port. I've disconnected the drive now, and setup a mount on my QNAP NAS that I'm using for recordings now. I'll see how that works until the new external USB3.,0 enclosure I ordered arrives. The WD drive has been around for about 5 years or more now, so actually I'm surprised it was still going.

Let you know if issues continue. I have left Time Shifting off while it's connected to the NAS. Will turn it back on when I get the new drive hooked up.

[gibster]

Well so far so good. No issues with the V2 since setting it up to use the NAS for storage. I'll know more after the weekend when a few more timers fire. Only 3 have gone off so far, but many more to come.

Will go back to a dedicated hard drive when the USB 3.0 external enclosure gets here next week.

Gib