Official DVICO TViX M6620N HD (ATSC/QAM) Tuner Topic - Page 65

A question about all the formatting info above--more a question about terminology, I think. Would it be correct for me to say that the "format" in the WD advanced format is not the same "format" as when I format a drive to NTFS or FAT32 or whatever? That this is just an unfortunate (in my opinion) use of the same word for two different things, causing confusion for newbies the way MS Windows "Explorer" is not the same as MS Internet "Explorer?"

Whether a drive is Advanced Format or not describes the sector size on the disk and has nothing to do with the filesystem being used (FAT32, NTFS, ext3). AF is a trait that exists at the hardware level, whereas the filesystem is essentially a software trait.

Yes; when WD refers to "advanced format," they're talking about the low-level format, where sector markers are written to each track of the drive. When you "format" a drive to NTFS, FAT32, etc., that's a "high-level" format which just initializes the desired file system by writing data to certain sectors, which were already marked by the low-level format at the factory.

By changing the low-level format from 512-byte to 4096-byte sectors, only 1/8 as many sector markers are needed, thus increasing drive capacity. And all modern file systems allocate space in multiples of 4096 bytes anyway. 512-byte sectors are a relic of the era when drive capacities were measured in megabytes rather than gigabytes and terabytes.

That's what Allen from ePVision thinks, or at least use to.
The 'all in one' packaged drives in external enclosures are already formatted. Can't you force a format?

I think the terminology hasn't changed to keep up with the change in hard drive technology. In the old days the user could and often did "format" the drive. The controller resided on the motherboard or in a slot-based card and you had that level of access to the drive.

Now-a-days, the controllers are built into the drives and that controls the format - or if you prefer to keep things straight - the "low-level" format. The only time in resent history I've made any low level changes was to re-program some WD Black consumer drives and change them to "Enterprise" versions because they support RAID better in that configuration. This required a utility program from Western Digital and re-programmed the drives' internal controller. AFAIK, the only thing you actually "format" anymore is a floppy disc or blank CD/DVD.

The more correct terminology for today's user accessible hard drive manipulation would be:

"Partitioning" - Which is dividing up the drive into (logical - remember physical control of the drive is only really done by the internal drive controller) sections. This is called a Partition Table.

"Creating File Systems" - Which is preparing the partitions to accept data. This is what most people mean when they say format.

This is what everyone is basically saying I think. So the TViX will create a partition table and filesystem if the inserted drive has neither. AF drives appear no different to a non-AF capable PC - which is what the TViX is so the function should work the same. The only difference should be a slightly faster drive and it will cost you a little more.

I would expect an pre-packaged external drive unit to be ready-to-use which would include a file system. My comment about new drives not being partitioned or have file systems referred to bare drives.

No. There is no option to format the HDD in the menus. I would assume that if you connect an unformatted HDD that a special menu should pop up telling you that the TViX will format it, except that didn't happen for me. When I connected an unformatted HDD, the TViX behaved as though I hadn't done anything and there was still no HDD connected. It's a good thing I had a laptop handy to take care of the formatting process.

Thanks.

It's all starting to make sense to me. Thanks all.

If I convert all my BR rips to MKV format what is the folder layout I need to setup so that the cover art and synopsis information and background artwork still show up correctly and let me play the movie from that artwork layout?

Just had the ion crash this afternoon,was watching get smart recording then it switched to live tv Ellen for my gf, Ayer attempting restart 4 times I just switched it to the tv's tuner ,didn't have time to mess with it. :-(

The next time you turn the unit on, go directly to TV mode, press the GoTo button to bring up the channel list, and use the Add/Delete button to remove ION and its subchannels one by one before the TViX has time to scan them. Once they are no longer in the channel list, there won't be any further crashing.

Hello all!

I just received a new 6620 unit. I've plugged it in and pressed the power button but it doesn't turn on. Is there some sort of mechanical switch or fuse on this thing? Or do you think it is DOA?

I hope it's not dead since UPS charged me over $50 for brokerage + taxes and duties to get it into Canada.

Thanks!

Sounds doa, did you try remote and physacle button on box? Try reseating power coard, if that doesn't work I would contact the seller.

Yep, tried both of those. I've sent a message off the the seller but I'm hoping I can resolve the issue myself - it would be such a hassle to deal with replacement.

I would detach the power coard again , maybey try a difernt coard , there pretty much a standerd coard used on lots of electronics, sorry to say there isn't any fuse that I've seen in this thing, I have pics of the inside here http://www.avsforum.com/g/a/2178874/tvix-6620/

I record from it to much, I'll live with it for now , it's fairly rare for me

Is there a connector than joins the power supply the the rest of the device that may have come disconnected? Would I void the warranty if I opened it up?

Thanks for the reply, Kei. I bought it from an authorized dealer and I have been in contact. They are going to check with DVICO and then advise me. We'll see what happens.

I did find another external power cable with matching connector but no joy.

Anyone know how to share out drives on a Windows 8 machine so that the TVIX see's them? I went into explorer and shared them all to the "Everyone" user but can not see them from the TVIX?

I've been researching OTA DVR's for a while and think I have found that this is the best option outside of paying monthly for Tivo. My questions is: has anyone recently purchased from Digital Coonection? The reason I ask is because they are selling them for $300 while everywhere else, including Amazon and Ebay, are selling them for well over $300. I want to put my order in with Digital Connection, but I don't want to get saddled with some dud unit or be stuck in backorder limbo because they don't tell you they are actually out of stock. It just seems too good to be true that they are the only outlet selling for $300.

Also, if I buy one of these, will I need an adapter to plug it into my wall outlet in the US? I don't know if they take that into account for a US sale.
Edited by Allen Fleury - 3/10/13 at 8:05am

Allen, call D.C.'s 800# and ask about the stock situation. It's a reliable company and if they've got the units in stock you'll get a U.S. version complete with appropriate power cord and upgradable firmware.
Edited by TPeterson - 3/11/13 at 11:49am

+1 I have ordered numerous high priced items from DC and they have always been excellent to work with. I have bought 2-3 Tvix's from them and 4-6 component & DVI switches from them over the years. Always been a good experience ordring from them.

I bought one from Digital Connection about 6 weeks ago. Kei answered some questions I had, and I'm completely satisfied.

Do you have file and printer sharing enabled in Windows? The TViX can only see files on your computer if you enable SMB and then set your computer as a network drive in the TViX's settings.

As for purching a TViX, I bought mine from Kei almost exactly a year ago. The product page would say that units are backordered if she didn't have any in stock.

Wondering if anybody has tried one of these to use a 2.5" drive?

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005PZDVF6/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A3UW28G9WPPLAW

It's more expensive than just jerry-rigging it, but I have other uses for it that would make it worthwhile for me.

Seems a bit pricey for just a 2.5" drive mounting bracket. Consider something like this instead:

http://www.amazon.com/ORICO-AC325-2S-Aluminum-Converter-Mounting/dp/B005MICVJS/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1363204083&sr=8-4&keywords=2.5+drive+mounting+bracket

I looked at ones similar to that and I would like to go that route; but to me it looks like they will work if you are attaching to a cable, but if you need to slide in to make contact with pins in a fixed location they won't. Thoughts?

I see what you're saying: the one I linked to actually holds 2 drives, but there's no guarantee either of the two mounting locations would match the connectors up with where they are on a 3.5" drive.

Maybe this one? It's more of a complete enclosure, though: http://www.amazon.com/2-5-3-5-Ssd-sata-Convert/dp/B002Z2QDNE/ref=pd_cp_pc_0