KE-48A9 recording failure effects

[Renrut]

I have a 1TB SSD that recorder registers as 931gb free 

There is nothing in my recording list 

there is nothing in the reminder list

there is 0 recordings

the tv records a random channel every day @ 19:47 ending 20:47 

the recording errors and produces 20 + entries in the recording error list 

these errors cannot be deleted (attempt produces an error) 

when this occurs the digital channels fail 

they cannot be changed via any means ( choices from epg or up down remote select)  

prior to this time ( I assume on change of day) they work fine from you view or free view guides 

I have factory reset tv to no change

i have deregisted and re registered hdd to no effect

any ideas from the hive minds on this?

[daveyh64]

Does this 1TB SSD have any manufacturer software on it if so this could be taking up space

and interfering with the operation of the device to the TV.

Although 70GBs would be far too much.

Whenever you buy an HDD or SSD you never get the full storage space as listed, some of the space is taken up by the drives own system files.

Before registering the drive with the Sony you should reformat the drive on a computer.

Connect your SSD to a computer reformat the SSD, try FAT 32 on Master Boot Record.

(Are you using a Mac or a PC)

I would also check with the Sony instructions whether they still recommend using a conventional spinning HDD rather than an SSD.

Connect it back to the Sony TV, register the SSD with the TV.

Try and find out what this random recording is that you mentioned before and see if you can delete it.

[Renrut]

Thanks for the reply

further info

i formatted the disk on a windows 10 platform prior to register with tv and the tv then spend time reformatting to its (presumably) proprietary needs. 

I think the random recording is taking up the space (even though it fails) as it decreases over time. 

the random channel is just that - the tv picks a channel, says it’s “recording will begin soon” message just before 19:46 even though I have no recording scheduled via the recorder app 

it then proceeds to record and produces a list of “error entries” all timed at the starting time. 

result is complete inability to change to any digital channel, no channel info and a blank screen when doing so. 

sometimes I can delete the error list other times not (attempts just give err message “cannot delete” )

something strange is when I did a factory reset the first time that this happened the same situation persisted. 

[daveyh64]

Not sure if this is relevant, is the 1TB SSD you are using powered externally.

It maybe that the TV does not have enough power through the USB socket to power the SSD.

Do you have an old spinning HDD (with external power) to experiment with to see if this is the issue.

Are you confident the 1TB SSD is in good working condition, reformat it for use on your computer

and save some files to it, make sure it reads and writes okay.

If you have another Sony TV that is capable of recording can you try using the SSD on that, you

will need to deregister, reformat and register again on the alternative TV.

The phantom recording schedule is very odd especially as it is not showing in the Timer List.

I would have thought a Factory Reset would have cleared it.

What software version is your TV running, the latest version for the KE48A9 is 6.5076

which was released back in September 2021, you can download it from here if you are not up

to date.

After trying different combos of HDD or SSD powered or not with the TV see if you can conclude if it is a problem with external devices or the TV itself. As the TV was released in 2020 and depending when you bought the TV

it may still be under warranty, several resellers offer 5 year warranties on TVs.

[daveyh64]

Apologies forgot to include the link to the download page,

https://www.sony.co.uk/electronics/support/oled-tvs-android-a9_a9s-series/ke-48a9/software/00267389

[royabrown2]

@Renrut 

What happens if you schedule a real recording that starts before 19:47, and covers 19:47-20:47?

[Renrut]

I tried roybrown2 suggestion 

message appears

”Timer list is full. If you want to set a timer event, delete unnecessary items from time list” 

but I don’t have anything in the list ❗️

grrrrr - this recording app is soooo bad

[Mooly01]

I think I would try a factory reset making sure nothing was connected to the USB ports and then try another drive.

Fwiw I suspect 1Tb will be unmanageable if you were intending to fill it, certainly if the recording app is anything like the one on my Sony TV. You would get many hundreds of hours recording on that as the method used to store the data is super efficient.

Make sure you do a full factory reset to bring it to OOB (out of box) state and not just a 'soft reset'.  

[Renrut]

Yes I agree 1TB is overkill for what I need but the disk was lying around soooo. 

retired now but I was senior systems engineer on computers for 40 years so know how things should work but this tv baffles me as to how disjointed the software is. 

yess I did a hard factory reset and even ploughed through settings to clear cache from the recorder app - forced end and restarted it to no avail. 

I’m in the process as I type of reformatting the disk on my pc before reregistering. 

more info pending

[Mooly01]

The recording app could be so good if it was developed further, as it stands its more of an afterthought in how it works... a pity. I find it lacks the 'programme delivery on command' feature meaning it only records to the clock and not when programmes actually start and finish. Maybe that has changed on later ones.

Also depending on what channel you record, it sets the programme title to the one that went before (because it must start a fraction of a second before the guide rolls over). So have to manually alter start times to delay by a minute and also over run by a few minutes to be sure as you can not edit titles.

(don't be tempted to use a Flash Drive, pick a good and they seem to work well but run very hot and deteriorate and fail after a few months in my experience) 

On my TV I found that once a drive had been formatted on the TV (to use the recording app) then a Windows PC would not recognise it again without you having to jump through a few hoops using the disk management console. I'm currently using a 256GB SSD (a previously well used example from an old laptop) in an old USB2 enclosure. Its brilliant and runs cold.

If you want serious Freeview recording capability then a Panasonic DMREX97 (still available new I think) will give you two channel recording capability. Its in a different league in the way it handles recordings and groups them in folders etc.

Let us know how you get on 🙂