Extracting contents of a HDD fitted to a Yamaha CDR-HD1500

[Old Sparky]

If I hook up the HDD fitted to the above machine to my PC via a USB to IDE adaptor, will I be able to extract the music files stored thereon, and will this cause any problems with either the HDD or the computer?  The PC runs Windows 7 Professional.  I ask the question because I want to check whether the music files are still present on the Yamaha's HDD, as I gather that removing & re-installing the drive makes the CDR-HD1500 reformat it.  The Yamaha won't switch from CD to HD operation, at least with the HDD it came with installed, so I also want to try another drive in it, but don't have a spare, other than two removed from scrapped computers, both of which would need SATA to IDE adaptors for this purpose.

[Nick]

Whether or not you can read the disk and get meaningful data off of depends on a number of factors:

• Is the disk mechanically functional?
  
• Is the on-disk file structure corrupt?
  
• Is the on-disk file structure one that Windows can understand?
  
• Are the files within that structure corrupt?
  

Its possible that the disk is formatted FAT32 - the formal most likely if the CDR software was trying to be Windows-compatible. But why would the manufacturers want to bother with that?

More likely is that the system uses a variety of an embedded O/S, probably Linux (though many others are around). If it is Linux-based, then the disk structure is likely to be EXT3 or EXT4 rather than the Windows FAT32 or NTFS.

You can get EXTn drivers for WIndows 7 - normally these are free.

So, if you pass the "mechanically functional" test, but your can't mount the disk, either the format is corrupt OR you actually have a disk formatted EXT3 or EXT4.

Good, honest, detective fun

[Mark Hennessy]

If Windows is able to read it, I will eat my hat.

It's more likely to be a format that Linux understands, but even that is not guaranteed.

And if you can see the contents, the layout of the files - and the file types themselves - is likely to be obfuscated, because humans were never intended to navigate the file structure.

Quite apart from anything, you have a brand new machine that is working well, and you're proposing connecting up a random hard drive to it? Hmm. Honestly, not something I'd recommend.

Your best best is to download a Linux distribution and make a live CD. Then, disconnect your existing hard drive - we don't want to damage the contents of that. Hook up the PVR's HDD and boot from the Linux CD, and see if it'll mount the PVR HDD. If that works, I'd copy the contents to a USB HDD or memory stick.

You might try the recommendation you received in post #3 - http://www.vintage-radio.net/forum/showt...p?t=121045

And did you conclusively eliminate the PSU from this? As I said, it's a very common problem. This unit is the right sort of age for capacitor problems...

[Old Sparky]

I haven't followed up the suggestions in that thread on UKVRRR yet, mark, partly because of the cautions expressed there, as well as lack of time. Maybe I'll download a Linux distribution and go down that route. As to the PSU in the Yamaha, I haven't completely eliminated it. All I know is the +5v & +12v supplies are both present, and no capacitors are physically damaged (bulging tops or similar0, but I'll have to carry out further checks to be certain. I have about 10 or 11 repair jobs, not counting one of my own stereos, in 'progress', some of which have been in the 'to do it' pile for quite some time now, so getting around to it' is always a problem!

[Old Sparky]

I've now downloaded the Linux 'System Rescue Disc', and burned it to a CD-R, so, besides hopefully now being able to check the Yamaha's HDD, it may be useful in future for other things

[Mark Hennessy]

...getting around to it' is always a problem!

Yes, that is something I can definitely identify with

[Nick]

There are tools around for cloning Sky+ boxes to allow use of a bigger disk (the free Copy+ utility) - maybe there's similar for your PVR?

[Joe]

Further to Mark's Post 3 above, I'd suggest that you install Linux on your old PC and save that for these sort of jobs as if you mess it up there's nothing lost.

Just which type of Linux is up to you but I've got machines of about the same age and spec which happily run 32-bit Linux Mint Mate Edition.

— Joe

[Old Sparky]

At the moment, Jo, the old PC won't boot up, so, unless I can solve that problem, I can't install anything on it, or retrieve things from it that I want to save or transfer.

[Refugee]

At the moment, Jo, the old PC won't boot up, so, unless I can solve that problem, I can't install anything on it, or retrieve things from it that I want to save or transfer.

You only need to make it boot from a DVD to get it up far enough to get the files backed up with the Linux disk.