The Lemon Fool

Hello,
I am looking for some information. I removed a 1tb hard drive from the above recorder. I am looking to transfer the films and programs from the hard drive to my windows pc. Could you give me some advice on how to do this? Thank you.

You can plug the hard drive into the pc and swap the files but are you sure the pc will play them?

I have tried plugging the hard drive into my PC via a usb cable. I use a Linux reader to access the files, but no they do not play. I want to be able to transfer the content of the hard drive from the bush player to my PC hard drive and be able to view it. Any advice would be appreciated.

16brae wrote:
I have tried plugging the hard drive into my PC via a usb cable.

I use a Linux reader to access the files, but no they do not play. I want to be able to transfer the content of the hard drive from the bush player to my PC hard drive and be able to view it.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Does the Bush Freeview box have a USB port on it anywhere?

Quite often if there is, you can perform an 'Export to USB' process on 'non-HD' individual recordings, so that might offer an alternative route to success than the one you're currently pursuing. Sometimes existing USB ports are only used for software updates, so this isn't a universal option, but just something to mention in passing. If it's viable, then the 'Export to USB' option might be found in the area where you currently play existing recordings on the box, I imagine...

Separate to the above, and if you have managed to get access to the individual files, can you give a little more detail as to the file-names and extensions being used on the accessed disk?

I ask because Freeview boxes will sometimes encrypt their recordings, which might make the hard-drive-access route difficult, but if the files you've got visibility of have a file extension of 'TS' (Transport Stream), then that might be more promising, and might just mean that you're trying to play the files with a PC application that might not be compatible with the TS file types. Sometimes only HD recordings are encrypted, although that's not a universal rule, and different manufacturers have different standards in this area.

If the files you've got visibility of do have a TS file extension, then trying to play them with a good universal video player such as VLC might well give you better results than you're having currently -

https://www.videolan.org/vlc/download-windows.en_GB.html

Even if the files you've got access to don't have a visible TS extension, it will be worth trying one of the larger files (so you're confident that it's likely to be a recorded programme...) with VLC anyway, if you've not done so already...

Cheers,

Itsallaguess

Thank you for your message.
I don't have the recorder now as it broke. I only have the hard drive I removed from it. I will post a screenshot from my PC,to show you what I'm seeing. I don't have access to my PC as I write this message. I have tried viewing the files using VLC media player, but no success.

16brae wrote:Hello...

Hi, Welcome to The Lemon Fool!

I've moved your question to a different board, which might help attract more responses.

Chris

16brae wrote:Thank you for your message.
I don't have the recorder now as it broke. I only have the hard drive I removed from it. I will post a screenshot from my PC,to show you what I'm seeing. I don't have access to my PC as I write this message. I have tried viewing the files using VLC media player, but no success.

What file system is in use on the HDD? Is it something common like FAT or something else? https://www.easeus.com/diskmanager/file-system.html

I am not sure what the file system is. When I plug the HDD into my PC, I get a message saying this drive needs to be formatted. I am using Windows 10. I can only access the HDD using a Linux reader.

16brae wrote:I am not sure what the file system is. When I plug the HDD into my PC, I get a message saying this drive needs to be formatted. I am using Windows 10. I can only access the HDD using a Linux reader.

If you can only view using Linux it's probably EXT2 / 3 / 4

Is there a procedure or third party software to access EXT2 / 3 / 4 files? To be able to download and view the disc content?

16brae wrote:Is there a procedure or third party software to access EXT2 / 3 / 4 files? To be able to download and view the disc content?

You say you saw files when connected to Linux. What was the directory structure, and what were the file names?

Scott.

Scott. I am not actually at my PC right now. I'm at work using my phone to post these messages. When I get home I will post some screenshots, to show you what I am seeing.

For clarification when you say 'Linux reader' do you mean you are using Windows with a Linux reader or a live USB version of Linux OS?
E.g...https://www.linuxfordevices.com/tutoria ... on-windows

Windows with a Linux reader.

16brae wrote:Windows with a Linux reader.

Okay, did you read the link for the various app options it suggested?

I'm sure there's more apps available but it's not something I've ever needed to do, so hard for me to recommend the best app to do what you want.

You may need to research available apps to see which ones have the required features or maybe one of the Linux experts on here can guide you further.

It may end up being easier to boot into a live USB Linux OS rather than Windows/Linux readers - I don't know for sure.

A bit of Googling suggests that the Bush is a rebadged Vestel T7650:

https://forums.digitalspy.com/discussion/1807013/bush-digital-recorder

Apparently HD recordings are encrypted but SD probably not.

RC

Is it possible to insert a screenshoot into these messages? It would make it easier to show you what I am seeing when I access the HDD.

If the only purpose is to be able to watch the contents, I wonder can you just place the hdd inside the type of case which converts an internal drive to an external usb drive and then plug that into your TV's usb socket.
I don't have a recording set top box, I just use an external usb pc drive which, when first plugged in, had to be formatted for the TV to recognise it. Presumably the same happens when a set top box is first set up which means your TV should recognise the drive when you plug it in.

I want to download the contents from the Bush hard drive to my PC. Then be able to view the content. The majority of the recordings are SD. Very few are High definition recordings.

16brae wrote:Is it possible to insert a screenshoot into these messages? It would make it easier to show you what I am seeing when I access the HDD.

Yes, see:

viewtopic.php?p=132911#p132911

RC