hard disc from video recorder

[davyboy 19]

My video recorder died a death.

I broke it open and extracted the hard drive and put it into a caddy.

I had a load of recordings from the TV which I would like to recover.

Is there any way I can transfer them to  either a laptop with W XP or my i mac with High Sierra?

 

I forgot to say that Iconnected the drive by6 USB to the laptop but nothing appeared on the screen!

Edited January 28, 2019 by davyboy

[*Wallace* 333]

I really don’t know but suspect you will have trouble with the file types,you can’t even put a memory stick in your PVR and put them on your computer or play them on another PVR

[Mikes10 10]

I had a Humux PVR that stopped working, on connecting the hard drive to my computer the format appeared not to be recognised, I suspect the data is encrypted.

 

My Panasonic TV allows recording onto an external USB drive, connecting the drive to the computer and again no joy.

 

 

[Ghozer 112]

... however my JVC and my friends TV (not sure of brand) - when you record to USB, and plug it into the computer, it's readable, and some of the files are playable!

 

[zach 234]

I'd say the HDD will be formatted to some none MS file system. Possibly Linux?

 

As for the files, don't try and use stock video players. Depending on the file extension it may play in some thing like VLC or MPC-HC. I know my DVB-S2 card records to .ts but the list of video output types is a long one, some we still use, some not so much.

 

I know it doesn't answer your question but have you ever thought of a TV tuner in your PC? It's not for everyone but I find it very handy for a central record and network share type setup. I left mine at default (.ts) but it also records in other very standard formats.

[alchresearch 214]

Zach is right, Humax formats to a Linux standard, so won't be able to be read by a PC.

 

Make up a bootable USB stick (antix Linux or Linux Mint) and you should be able to read it.

 

Humax also have some software on their website to extract videos from recorders.

 

If it is a Humax, this might help:
 

https://www.360panoramas.co.uk/humax/

Edited January 29, 2019 by alchresearch

[Mikes10 10]

I never thought to try the drive with Linux. The drive was wiped and is now in a neigbour's computer.