Sony HAP 1 ES and adding external Hard Drives

Thanks again Al for the great info.

Likewise! Thanks for the excellent info you've provided.

Best,
-- Al

Kal mentions in a footnote in his review that the drive is formatted to one of the versions of the Ext file system that is commonly used with Linux.

If you are running Windows, Paragon ExtFS for Windows appears to be a solution that would enable Windows to work with Ext file systems, and it appears to be free. If you are running a Mac, a similar program is also available, for $39.95.

Although I have no experience with this or other Paragon Software programs, at first glance it certainly appears to be worth looking into.

Regards,
-- Al

Richard, that's not quite right. Formatting or reformatting a drive destroys all of the data that it contains. After the HAP-Z1ES reformats the drive, probably to Ext3 or Ext4 (presumably because its internal operating system is Linux-based), music files would then be obtained by the HAP-Z1ES from your computer via the wifi or wired ethernet network connection that would exist between them (via your router). I presume the HAP-Z1ES would then offer a choice as to whether the files it obtains are to be stored on the external drive or on its internal drive.

Also, I looked further at the descriptions of the Paragon ExtFS program I cited earlier. Assuming it works as advertised, it looks like it would be an excellent solution, allowing the drive to be removed from the HAP-Z1ES and connected to your computer when and if desired, the data it contains remaining intact, and then used with the computer just like any other drive.

Alternatively, there are various free software tools available that would allow you to reformat the drive as Kal did, making it usable with your computer. But of course doing that would destroy any data that had been stored on it by the HAP-Z1ES.

Regards,
-- Al

Well, my curiosity eventually became sufficiently piqued about the Paragon ExtFS program that I decided to give it a try, which worked out very nicely.

I formatted a small (26 GB) Linux Ext4 partition on one of the three internal hard drives I have in one of my Windows 7 computers. After installing and then opening the ExtFS program, that partition immediately became visible to Windows, no differently than all of the standard Windows NTFS partitions on the three drives.

I then copied a .wav file to that partition, double-clicked its icon, and it played successfully in the default player (Windows Media Player). I then copied that file from the Ext4 partition to a Windows NTFS partition, and played it there as well.

When ExtFS is closed, which is done by right-clicking an icon it places in the "systray" area in the lower right corner of the screen when it is opened, and then selecting "exit," the partition "unmounts" from Windows, and can of course no longer be accessed by Windows until the program is re-opened.

A setting is available in the program to specify whether it starts automatically when the computer is booted, or manually when its icon or program group listing is clicked. I chose the latter.

During the process of installing the program a simple registration process is required, in which you enter into a page at their site your name, email address, country and state, and if you want to opt-in to receiving emailed announcements from them.

Cool! Best regards,
-- Al

This morning I repeated the experiment, but using an external USB drive rather than an internal drive, and for both Ext3 and Ext4 partitions on the external drive. Worked great!

Before disconnecting the drive, I closed ExtFS to unmount the Ext partitions from Windows, and I also used the Windows "safely remove hardware" icon to eject the drive because it contained an NTFS partition in addition to the Ext partitions.

Best regards,
-- Al

At a high level, if I catch your main point correctly, you have discovered a way to use an external drive with the HAPZ1 while preserving the ability to share the drive with another computer. Is that correct?

Yes. The drive could be disconnected from the Sony, then connected to a computer which has the Paragon ExtFS program installed, and files could then be copied from it to the computer or vice versa.

Can you preserve existing data on an external drive while formatting it for use with the Sony?

No. Formatting a drive destroys all data on it. However, after the Sony formats the drive it could be reconnected to a computer, and the same files copied to it if they are backed up on the computer (or on a different external drive that is connected to the computer), and if the ExtFS program is installed on the computer.

I know what an external USB drive is, but you lost me on the rest. No doubt, most of the readers will understand what you mean, but for me, unmounting the Ext partitions from windows sounds like an exercise in voyeurism or exhibitionism, or possibly both.

:-)

When the Sony formats the drive, it would presumably format the entire drive into a single Linux-compatible Ext partition, not into multiple partitions as I did experimentally. Therefore you would not have to perform the process I described of ejecting the drive via the Windows "safely remove hardware" icon. And the unmounting process I referred to occurs automatically when the ExtFS program is closed.

So all you would have to be concerned with if you wanted to disconnect the drive from the computer while the computer is operating, assuming you are using Windows 7, is to locate the icon for the ExtFS program in the lower right corner of the screen (it looks like a large letter "P"; also you might have to first click the upward facing pyramid-shaped symbol in that area to see it), then right-click the icon, and then left-click the word "exit" which will appear.

As with many computer-related things, what seems daunting at first becomes trivial once you see how to do it.

Best regards,
-- Al

Hi ZD,

Not sure if you are aware that NTFS is also a journaling file system. And one that has proven to be very robust IME ever since XP (which could run on either NTFS or FAT32) was introduced in 2001. FAT32, of course, is a disaster waiting to happen in terms of robustness.

I have no idea either why some people report that Win 8 sounds better than Win 7. And I doubt that anyone else can say for sure, either. I am not, btw, into computer audio at all at this point, and I don't envision pursuing it in the near term. Despite being a technically oriented person, somehow I always seem to be among the last to get into new technologies :-)

Also, based on all I have read about Win 8 and 8.1 I have no plans to ever "upgrade" to it, due mainly to the many reports about its user interface and other features being unfamiliar and cumbersome, and given that Microsoft has indicated that security patches for the excellent Win 7 will continue to be provided until 2020.

Re backing up, as you no doubt realize, despite the robustness of journaling file systems there is always a chance that drives can fail at any time, and that operating systems or data files can become corrupted. My practice is therefore to back up data files almost daily to a second hard drive (internal or external), and to back up weekly or so to another hard drive, and to create a complete image of the "system drive" (usually the "c" drive in Windows) once a month or so. The imaging program I use is Terabyte Unlimited's Image For Windows. In doing so, I can recover from a drive failure, or a software installation or software update that goes awry or that I don't like, or a corrupted operating system, in an hour or so, plus the time to obtain a replacement drive if necessary.

BTW, although I've been mainly a Windows person over the years, for a couple of years several years ago I dual booted Ubuntu Linux and Windows XP, mainly just to see what Linux was all about. It worked well for me, but ultimately there were too many programs I or my wife wanted to use that were designed for Windows only.

Best,
-- Al