Recording problems

[Darksidr]

Well I finally broke down and got everything I needed to enter the world of PVRs (thanks to the skillful people on this board and there helpfulness).

Im having a problem with recording. It starts out fine but only gets 45 minutes of playback! I have no idea why its doing this and everything is set to never! (never screen saver, never suspend, etc) Anyone had a similar problem???

I am using a HP, 1.5GHz, AMD chipset with 384 mg ram, over 200Gig space with Nvidia Geforce2MX w/TV out, and WinTV-250.

[Darksidr]

OK...after finding out that I should playback the recordings in Sage TV instead of WinDVD..(do i feel dumb) everything works fine!!!!! I didnt know that Sage broke down the files...is there a reason for this??

[jmeeks]

What do you mean "Sage broke down the files"?

Are your files being split up? That shouldn't happen unless the recording is interrupted somehow.

[Darksidr]

Yes my recorded videos are being split up...for example, when I record a 1 hour show, their are 2 files after the show has completed. (Example "theXfiles 91382-0 and theXfiles 91382-1") What is interesting is that the first half of the files for a 1 hour show or longer, are 3.84G, but NO file is over that size...its like they stop at that size limit and start recording the 2nd file. Does this make sense?

[fasttech]

It sounds like a 4 GB limit. What OS are you running in? Also do you know in what format the drive is formatted, Fat32, NTFS?

[Darksidr]

Im running Windows XP...Fat32...Would it be better in NTFS??

[jmeeks]

Yes, NTFS does not have that 4GB limit. Use 64K blocks.

Let us know how it goes.

[fasttech]

Well it is recommended, although I thought that Fat32 didn't have that problem with large file sizes, but maybe so. NTFS is usually a more reliable filesystem. I THINK you can do a non destructive format to NTFS. In XP I think you can convert to NTFS using the Computer Management program under Settings->Control Panel->Administration Tools.

[fasttech]

How do you do the 64K block thing? I have heard others mention it. What is the block size if you do a standard format to NTFS?

[Darksidr]

Thanks very much....I will reformat to NTFS. This is the only drive that will house files for my PVR...

Thanks very much for your help Meeks and Ftech!

[thayne]

I'm curious about the 64K block thing. What is that all about?

[Narflex]

4K is the default block size. I HIGHLY recommend 64K blocks. To format using 64K blocks, you need to use the "Disk Management" tool in Windows. It's in "Computer Management". Doing a format by right-clicking on the drive in Explorer will not show the 64K option.

Thanks,
Jeff

[thayne]

But why 64k blocks? Does it really matter?

I just read a post at http://www.dvdrhelp.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=167332 that says 4K cluster's are the ideal....

[robsmith]

Hi,

For those of you that want to convert a drive to NTFS:

from a command prompt type:

convert <driveletter> /fs:ntfs

This will not use a 64k block sioze however ...

Bob

[Narflex]

It makes A HUGE difference. The reason is file fragmentation. If you use block sizes that are 16 times larger, you'll get about 16 times less file fragments. If you search for 64k you should find some posts where I explain it in gory detail and even give mathematical examples.

[Darksidr]

Hey fellas!!!
Everything is working GREAT!!! I reformatted to NTFS with the 64k blocks and things are going smooth!! A great thanks to all that helped and got me thru this little problem.. This is an incredible product and I really got to see it shine last night!!!! AWESOME!!!

[gsm]

Jeffrey & All,

NTFS does use 4K blocks as the default for any sane-size disk, and in theory files can fragment to that level. However, if you use the disk only for video, this in general won't happen. The reason is that NTFS divides the disk into "runs" that are on the order of 16MB (using the 4K block size). NTFS tries to put files in separate runs when they are created concurrently, and this is ordinarily possible, so that fragmentation is relatively minor. This is not to say it can't happen. If the disk is used exclusively for video files, it's probably a good idea to format it with 64K blocks. The waste (partially filled blocks) is limited to one block per file, so is negligable with lots of big files. My point is simply that 4K isn't as bad as others have made it out to be.

Fixing it under XP can take time (LOTS of time) in the defragger supplied with it. This is unfortunate, and not entirely necessary as it is possible to do a partial job (defrag the runs) and get much of the benefit in a significantly less (but by no means *short*) time.

On FAT32: There is a HARD FILE SIZE LIMIT of 4GB (4294967296 bytes) in FAT32 - since the size of a file is carred as 32 bits unsigned. Apparently Sage Recorder is mindful of this and does the right thing. (Hats off for handling it cleanly. Windows Media Player 7 doesn't ... even under NTFS ... apparently they use an unsigned 32-bit int to manage the current position!) It'd be even cooler if you stitch the files together with internal pointers so Darksidr and other FAT users never see a problem unless the files are not moved together. I have to think you can commandeer a comment field to do this.

GSM

[ShadoWolf]

I am running WinXP formatted with NTFS and my files are STILL being broken up when capping... any other ideas why?

[dkardatzke]

Did you format with 64k block sizes?

[ShadoWolf]

Yup... 64K block sizes, NTFS... it splits the files in the middle of a scene, so it's not from switching to a new show...