Box not reading NTFS external hard drives

J

James2020

Member
I have been using NTFS external drives and have several 2TB disks which I have been using for a year with no problems. Since yesterday the box stopped reading them ? It says it needs to format them ?
Please advice this is very strange as they have been working in both the PC and the box for a year ?
 
James2020 said:
I have been using NTFS external drives and have several 2TB disks which I have been using for a year with no problems. Since yesterday the box stopped reading them ? It says it needs to format them ?
Please advice this is very strange as they have been working in both the PC and the box for a year ?
Click to expand...

Have you tried connecting the affected drives to your PC & running error checks etc.?
 
What all 10 of them get errors on the same day ? Yes they are all fine in windows right now i am having to access them using smb connection to access them in kodi.
 
James2020 said:
What all 10 of them get errors on the same day ? Yes they are all fine in windows right now i am having to access them using smb connection to access them in kodi.
Click to expand...

Contrary to popular belief we're not mind readers ;)!! Unless you make it clear in your original post that you're using 10 x 2 TB HDD's that have all begun to experience the same problem all we can do is begin to offer suggestions based on the information you have actually provided.

How are these drives connected? Directly to the USB ports on the U22 or via USB hubs? If connected via hubs, are they powered or unpowered?

Otherwise, that being the case & as much as a pain in the backside as it is, it will probably be far simpler & quicker to factory reset your U22 given the number of drives you're using if the drives themselves are all error free. Ultimately, how much time do you want to spend troubleshooting the problem vs the time it takes to factory reset & reconfigure your U22?
 
I know this is not a minix problem as it happened after a windows 10 pro update. It looks like somehow the disks ini files have been changed. Sorry for not explaining fully. This is a windows problem! :) It makes changes to my os all the time without asking. Hope this helps any body else with a similar problem. Check that windows cache is switched off and the disk is set to quick release. Watch out for windows updates. Also I don't use 10 disks at the same time as the box supports 1 disk at a time and will not work with a powered usb hub for multiple hard disks.
 
James2020 said:
I know this is not a minix problem as it happened after a windows 10 pro update. It looks like somehow the disks ini files have been changed. Sorry for not explaining fully. This is a windows problem! :) It makes changes to my os all the time without asking. Hope this helps any body else with a similar problem. Check that windows cache is switched off and the disk is set to quick release. Watch out for windows updates. Also I don't use 10 disks at the same time as the box supports 1 disk at a time and will not work with a powered usb hub for multiple hard disks.
Click to expand...

The U22 can support 3x (powered) HDD's via the USB3 ports & the OTG port can also be used.

1. If your hard drives are all exactly the same make a model then try long formatting them in Windows & give each drive a unique name when you carry out the format. (I had a similar issue using 2 x identical 8TB Seagate Backup Plus HDD's with a U9-H where only one was visible to Android despite renaming them & quick formatting. Long formatting immediately solved that issue.). I also simultaneously tested 2x Seagate Backup Plus drives & 1x 8TB WD My Book HDD with a U22 & they functioned normally, although transfer speeds were slower than expected.

2. It may be your existing USB hub as other users have reported successfully using powered USB hubs to connect & access multiple HDD's simultaneously with their U22's.

3. If you have a spare HDD, transfer the contents off the affected drives to allow you to long format your 2 TB drives as explained above. Hopefully your drives will then once again be visible to the U22 afterwards :).
 
James2020 said:
<snip> Also I don't use 10 disks at the same time as the box supports 1 disk at a time and will not work with a powered usb hub for multiple hard disks.
Click to expand...

What? I usually run 4 (2x2TB and 2x8TB) hard drives through a powered USB hub without issues. My experience is that you can only use one non-powered HD reliably with Minix devices. Two *sometimes* works, but it is NOT reliable. Using a POWERED USB hub solves that problem, allowing multiple hard drives to be connected and working. I have been running this configuration for many years, starting when the U9-H came out.

As for Windows 10 installing updates, I use windows 10 enterprise, which does allow turning off updates. I turn off updates for the very reason you cite, which is that automatic updates can mess up your system. I want, no NEED, a stable OS. Turning OFF updates gives me that.

Just to add, ALL of my hard drives are formatted as NTFS.
 
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