I'm setting up a Samsung QE50QDF (QE50Q7FAAUXXH) television for my grandfather and can't get the recording or Time Shift features to work. A 256GB Intenso external SSD is connected through USB, and the TV recognizes it and lets me browse the files on it. I initially formatted the drive as NTFS. The TV's clock is set to use live network time, and I've checked for software updates after connecting it to the internet. However, pressing the Play/Pause button only displays "Not available." Does the television need to format the drive itself, or does the SSD need to use a different file system?
3 Answers
The TV may need to initialize the SSD itself before it can use it for recordings. Open the TV’s storage, broadcasting, or PVR settings, select the connected drive, and look for an option such as “Register,” “Device Care,” or “Format.” Be aware that this will erase the drive. Samsung may also require a compatible format such as FAT32 or exFAT rather than NTFS.
Try the TV’s own storage or recording manager rather than formatting the SSD on a computer. The recording feature generally uses a TV-specific setup and may not work with a drive that has only been manually formatted.
Since the television can browse the files, USB access is working, but that doesn’t necessarily mean the drive is approved for recording. NTFS may not be supported for PVR functions, so back up anything important and let the TV format the SSD if that option is available. Also, recording can depend on the specific broadcast source and regional model features.
Thanks, I’ll try formatting and registering the drive directly through the TV.