DVD player with usb port, how do i use hdd ?

Rs2k_Rider

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Hi all,

Got the dvd recommended in the other thread http://www.currys.co.uk/martprd/product/seo/759398

When i plug in my maxtor external 2.5" hdd 80gb. It says its not a recognized format ?

It has avi format films on it with various other data. but in the manual for the dvd player it says it just ignores files it cant play.

Any ideas as to what i have to do to get my hdd to work with this player, as this is the reason i brought it mainly so i dont have to burn films all the time to disk.

Thanks
 
The problem is probably down to the file system on the HDD. Most DVD players with USB are only intended to be used with flash memory sticks which are almost always formatted as FAT. Chances are your HDD is in either FAT32 or NTFS, neither of which will work with the DVD player. You could format your HDD to FAT but you won't be able to have partitions bigger than 4Gb. It may be a no-go mate unfortunately!
 
Is the hdd formatted as Fat32 ??? I think NTFS formatted drives are not recognised.

The problem is probably down to the file system on the HDD. Most DVD players with USB are only intended to be used with flash memory sticks which are almost always formatted as FAT. Chances are your HDD is in either FAT32 or NTFS, neither of which will work with the DVD player. You could format your HDD to FAT but you won't be able to have partitions bigger than 4Gb. It may be a no-go mate unfortunately!



yea just checked and hdd is NTFS ! DAMN lol

So how do I make it FAT then lads ? Do i just format it though vista then put films back on it ?

partitions aint a issue, dont have any i dont think. although there is a maxtor folder which im not sure what it does or if its needed

Thanks
 
What I'm saying is that if you format the HDD as FAT, partitions will become an issue as the maximum size supported under FAT is 4Gb, meaning that if you have a 120Gb HDD, only multiples of 4 will be useful, leaving you with 120 divided by 4 = 30 partitions, or 30 separate "drives". Check out Wikipedia for more info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File_Allocation_Table
 
I use an 80gb external hdd and I am near sure its formatted to Fat32....cant check as I dont have it with me but I use it on my divx player.

You could always try as it wont do no harm. Try going to "My computer" and right click on the external drive and choose format, then use the drop down menu at top to choose Fat32, when done stick an avi file on it and try.

I am assuming you dont have anything on the drive that you dont want formatted over.
 
What I'm saying is that if you format the HDD as FAT, partitions will become an issue as the maximum size supported under FAT is 4Gb, meaning that if you have a 120Gb HDD, only multiples of 4 will be useful, leaving you with 120 divided by 4 = 30 partitions, or 30 separate "drives". Check out Wikipedia for more info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File_Allocation_Table


But i wont be putting partitions onto it ? will just be one 80gb hdd mate, or are you saying that the 80gb will automaticly be split into 4gb portions ?


I use an 80gb external hdd and I am near sure its formatted to Fat32....cant check as I dont have it with me but I use it on my divx player.

You could always try as it wont do no harm. Try going to "My computer" and right click on the external drive and choose format, then use the drop down menu at top to choose Fat32, when done stick an avi file on it and try.

I am assuming you dont have anything on the drive that you dont want formatted over.


Just transfering all my films an bits to my laptop hdd, then will format the external then move what i want to keep back lol

so you saying to format to fat32 ?

in book it says,

Supported formats;

USB Memory file format FAT16
Fat 32 (sector size: 2K bytes)

Mean anything ? lol

RIGHT... Edit.

Moved items, gone to format and it will only let me select NTFS ?
 
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If book says it supports Fat32 then format it to that, you will still be limited to a max file size of 4gb but as you want it for xvid/divx etc then you wont have to worry about that.

Try going to cmd screen (start/run type cmd and enter) and then type.. FORMAT H: /FS:FAT32


Change H to your drive letter
 
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If book says it supports Fat32 then format it to that, you will still be limited to a max file size of 4gb but as you want it for xvid/divx etc then you wont have to worry about that.


Cool, only prob is... in the drop down list, there is nothing but NTFS file system... so how do i make it FAT32 ?

Ty
 
I've got that player, it works with FAT32 just fine. In FAT32 you are limited to file sizes <4Gb (I've never seen a DivX/XviD that large), but the partitions can be any size you like.

Anyway, I used a program I used to convert my 300Gib external to FAT32 in about 2 seconds. I'm having trouble finding it via goolge at the moment, but can upload it when I get home.
 
Same thing happens with the 360.

One way to get around the 4gb limitation if it becomes a problem, is to use macdrive on the pc to format as hfs.

Easiest way to test if the DVD supports it is to plug an ipod in and see if it comes up.
 
By the way the multi region remote hack for the dvp5980 is:
  1. Turn unit on.
  2. Open the loading tray.
  3. Press the "Setup" button on the remote.
  4. Navigate to the "Preferences" page using the right arrow key
  5. Enter 138931
  6. You will now see the current region code displayed
  7. Use the Up/Down arrow keys to select the region required or "0" for all regions
  8. Press the "Setup" button on the remote
  9. Press "OK" on the remote
 
By the way the multi region remote hack for the dvp5980 is:

cheers mate, googled that straight away an done :)


Im using my U3 flash pen drive (4GB) at present to play avi's on the player, ive put the things back on my external hdd...

know where i can get a cheap hdd soley to play films on this player with ? around 200GB would be nice.

Cheers all
 
I use an ICY BOX with 3.5" 300Gb IDE drive at home, an 2.5" enclosure from sumvision with 120Gb laptop HDD drive for going to mates houses - as I've converted most of them to one version of the DVP or another - and also have a 4Gb U3 pen drive.

Personally prefer the 2.5" solution:
IDE caddy: http://www.ebuyer.com/product/119509 + drive: http://www.ebuyer.com/search?store=2&cat=4&subcat=19
SATA caddy: http://www.ebuyer.com/product/143545 + drive: http://www.ebuyer.com/search?store=2&cat=4&subcat=2274
(remember orders over £49.99 enjoy free 5 day delivery, so add in anything else you need PC wise)
 
@ little pob hi can you confirm the harddrive needs to be formatted to fat32 or can the dvp read NTFS

thankx edogg
 
It doesn't run NTFS, but the player doesn't play .mkv or unburnt ISOs either. So the 4Gb file size limit of FAT32 isn't an issue, as even 720p DivX Ultra files are only ~1Gb in size.

If you need a portable NTFS drive as well as wanting a FAT32 drive for the DVP5980 you could always partition the drive - I recently partioned my 300Gb formated as FAT32 to 1x150Gb FAT32 and 1x150Gb NTFS. The player can still access the FAT32 partion fine.

If you need a program to format to FAT32 see post 12 (the ability to do so natively from XP's cmd prompt seems random).
 
ok thankx I have a 180gb seagate that came as fat32 but i have reformated it to NTFS is there any way to format part of it to fat 32 without losing the data on it

edogg
 
If the program faisalpandu uploaded was the one I used, it should convert the whole drive to FAT32 without loosing data.

To rebuild the partions without loosing data I think you'll need a different program like partition magic or acronis disk director. Even then the usual rule of back up data first applies.
 
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