I recently got a new 5TB Seagate USB drive and filled it with about 3TB of files. After transferring all my files from my old drive, I found that my TCL TV won't recognize the new drive for playing video content, even though my old hard drive worked fine (it was a different brand). Is there a way to fix this issue? If I need to reformat the drive, how can I back up my files without losing them? My old hard drive doesn't have enough space, but I do have some space on Google Drive, but backing everything up there would take ages. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
3 Answers
I have a 4K TV stick that required me to access a developer menu to enable USB hosting. You might want to look into your TV's settings; sometimes there’s a hidden option to toggle USB host support. If you need to reformat, tools like Rufus can help you format it as Large FAT32, which works for most TVs. Good luck with it!
You might want to try using an OTG adapter or a powered USB hub to make sure your hard drive is getting enough power. If you need to reformat it without losing your data, you could use a tool like Virtual Box with Ubuntu. Load the Ubuntu ISO, choose 'Try Ubuntu', and then you can right-click on the drive in the file manager to format it while keeping the contents. Just keep in mind that this process can be a bit involved compared to simply backing everything up to Google Drive or multiple smaller drives.
Honestly, I've never had a TV that could directly play media from a USB drive. I usually use multimedia players that handle formats like mp4, mkv, and others. They connect to the USB drive and play the content without issues. If you're looking for suggestions, I can recommend a few good multimedia players. It's strange that your old drive worked without a hitch—maybe it was in a compatible format?
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