taj asks:
I have a USB port in Sony Bravia-40CX520. I can play videos from 8GB pen drive, but I cannot play videos from 1000GB external hard drive. Please suggest a solution.
This question has been resolved. You may still add an answer if you think you can add something to the discussion though.
Hide 69 Comments
Taj,
the problem with your external hard drive is that it is probably formatted in NTFS. The reason your TV can work with the pen drive, is that it is formatted in FAT32 or exFAT. So for the external drive to work with your TV, it has to be formatted with the right file system.
In this case I would recommend exFAT, as it supports drives larger than 32GB, files larger than 4GB, and it should work with your TV. The problem is that formatting your drive will delete all data currently on it, so I hope you have room to back them up somewhere else first.
For a better understanding, see my articles on file systems and formatting:
What A File System Is & How You Can Find Out What Runs On Your Drives
How To Format A USB Drive & Why You Would Need To
How To Format A Large Hard Drive With Either FAT Or FAT32
fuck all of you nerd no lifers thinking you’re worth something. me personly will beat you if i ever see your ugly fuckface. i will execute you in public for wasting your time on this. if you were younger and wasn’t old enough to work then it would be ok but now it’s not you’re old nough to work but your wasting your time on this. FUck you i wish that i see you in real life so i can beat the shit out of you
Thanks Tina, just what I needed exFAT = bingo! Just saved me a forking out on a 32G memory stick because I now have 2x 40G hard drives I can use plugged into my Sony Bravia, Diamond, thans. Des
Glad it helped!
Hey, i also have a new Sony Bravia LED 3D TV, and 2 TB hard drive. i
also have an iMac that i use. I formatted the hard drive to ExFat so it
works for my iMac but when I plug it in the TV nothing happens…. what
am i doing wrong?
Hey, i also have a new Sony Bravia LED 3D TV, and 2 TB hard drive. i also have an iMac that i use. I formatted the hard drive to ExFat so it works for my iMac but when I plug it in the TV nothing happens…. what am i doing wrong?
Buy WD media player…connect ur hdd to the media player with the usb cable and connect the media player to the TV with the HDMI port…..it might work.
Buy WD media player…connect ur hdd to the media player with the USB port and connect the WD media player to the TV with a HDMI cable…it might work.
Just transfer the video you want to watch to your 8GB and use that.
I did and it’s 2012 and still it doesnt work on my 8G wit FAT or exFAT what am i doing wrong
make sure you plug in to the right usb port some tellys have 2 . 1 for record only
Taj
There is a 3rd alternative, which require a bit of techie set-up but it is worth it.
I have checked the spec of your TV, it has Wi-fi (nice!) and DLNA capability. The Sony TV should have come bundled with a CD containing the DLAN media server. This piece of software allows you to view on your TV media files which are located on your PC/laptop (including any external hard drive attached to it).
The TV manual should explain how to achieve this.
If this is not the case, then I suggest the following set-up.
This is what you need:
1. A laptop or PC with wireless net access, alternatively a laptop or PC connected directly to the wireless router.
2. A free software called Serviio (www.serviio.org) which needs to be installed to the PC or laptop.
3. A USB cable which connect your hard drive to the PC or laptop.
4. Enable Wi-fi on your Sony TV.
Once you have installed Serviio, be sure to read this page which gives you detailed instructions on how to use the software: http://www.serviio.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=5.
Once you have Serviio properly configured and up and running, you should be able to see your media files (music, pix, videos) on the TV’s media player (select Serviio as device).
The advantages of this set-up are:
1. You have full control over the content of the hard drive via the Laptop/PC.
2. Thanks to the Serviio software, you are able to play a lot more video formats than the standard Sony DLNA server.
I have had the pleasure to do this set-up for my Samsung TV and I am enjoying access to over 1.5 TB of media with my old netbook running Serviio!
Zia
thanks so much mate, that was a big help. im now watching movies on my new tv. I owe you a beer!
Thanks very much Zia. I have been looking around for ways to stream my clips from my pc to my bravia. With Serviio the job was done perfectly.
Thanks very much Zia for suggesting Serviio. It worked smoothly on my system.
Thanks a lot Zia, I was trying various other options, finally tried these steps. It really worked for me.
This is the solution for all SONY TVs not detecting hard drives through USB, but having WiFi Access option available…
Many thanks once again Zia….
Thanks a lot Zia…. It worked for me….
Perfect Solution.. I was trying out with various options to read from a Hard Drive.. Finally this helped me out…..
Many thanks once again….
Taj,
were you able to connect your hard drive to your TV? Please let us know which solution worked for you! Thank you!
These TV’s can only play from USB 2.0 devices and are not backward compatible with USB 3.0. I ran into the same issue. If your hard drive supports USB 3.0, then you can’t use it with the TV. It has to be USB 2.0 at the most.
These TV’s can only play from USB 2.0 devices and are not backward compatible with USB 3.0. I ran into the same issue. If your hard drive supports USB 3.0, then you can’t use it with the TV. It has to be USB 2.0 at the most.
Hello, I just tried reformatting the 1TB USB 2.0 drive to exFAT, and the sony TV still not see it, However, I had an old Maxtor 100gb USB drive that works fine. Since I am just using it to play music through my system, 100gb is fine.
Hi, format ur harddrive to fat 32 not exfat it shoud play the movies on ur harddrive
I could only choose from NTFS and exFAT format. How do can I format it to FAT32? I have a WD 1TB 2.0 USB external hard drive. The TV didnt recognise the HD at all in NTFS format, but it did recognise it when I changed it to exFAT. But when I tried to play the file, there was an issue with ‘playback’.
Jessie,
if you are still seeking for a solution, I recommend you to ask a new question. It will be posted on the MakeUseOf Answers front page and will receive a response within a few hours.
Get a program called ‘fat32 formatter’ it’s free and can format HDD’s over 32gb.
even i hav some problem with the playback, can you pls help me with this??
dear Tina the proplem with the clip file format ( rmvb) you need the converter programs
best regards,
Fadi
sony internet tv sucks its not that i dont know how to use it its just that there is so much you should do just to get it to play one movie what happenedto plug and play they should just let us know hay your tv doesnt play 1000g hard drives cuz i have tried over and over with other brands i have got an lg a samsung and the latest was the internet tv yes it does have internet cool fine thanks to sony but what is a tv for if yuo cant play movies on it ?! My other ld tv work just fine both are hooked up to 2 1000 gig and yes they hang a bit but still works ok. so whats with all the formating and convertion and all dont get me wrong but i do love sony i got the ps3 ps2 and other gadgets branded sony so whats the problem with the internet tv and yes im gona post it on ASK A NEW QUESTION hope some one ans my question directly hope it aint gona be about convertiing anything… just a simple honest answer
Hello, most TVs with a USB option play the FAT32 format by default. If your hard drive is formatted with NTFS or something else, your TV will not be able to see it. Mind you, there are TVs that can play content from external hard drives formatted with NTFS but not that many. Can you check the formatting in the other externals that work? Chances are, they are formatted in FAT32.
what type of music video file does sony bravia accept through pendrive??
Hello, if you provide me with your TVs model, I could let you know. Do you have the manual for your TV? If you do, that information should be there. If you do not have a manual, let me know what your model is and I will find out for you. Or you could go to Sony website and download the manual from there.
I was also wondering what file types my sony bravia might play. I have the KDL46EX620
Hello, here is the information you asked for:
http://esupport.sony.com/docs/imanual/NA/2011/EN/EX620_UC_wo3D/nt_usb_uconly.html
Hello, here is the info you wanted. It describes all the formatting accepted by your TV through USB:
http://esupport.sony.com/docs/imanual/NA/2011/EN/EX620_UC_wo3D/nt_usb_uconly.html
it accepts wma, mp3, mpeg, avi most of video formats we have..
I HAVE KDL-40CX520 ME6
I AM UNABLE TO PLAY MOVIE FILES WHAT TYPE OF FORMAT IT RECOGONISES
FAT32 HDD, movies AVI.
Hello, the following link shows all the formats that can be played in your model when using USB. The formats marked with an “O” are supported:
http://www.sony.com.au/support/compatibility/461525/product/kdl-40cx520
If your TV supports DLNA, these are the formats supported:
http://www.sony.com.au/support/compatibility/461561/product/kdl-40cx520
The supported file systems are the following:
– FAT12, FAT16, FAT32
– exFAT
I have Sony BX320 and i can play movies from an 1TB external disk (NTFS format) connected via USB. Should work for u too ! When i connect to the TV, it says that the device is not recognized. But then when i simply press the ‘Return’ button on my remote control, file listing is simply displayed.
go to cnet and type easeus that will gide you to your susess i run a business on formatting hardrives its using this same solfware easeus home master theater good luck bud
I’ve just brought the WD My Passport HD for the purpose of watching movies downloaded from my PC but when I plu it in to my Sony Bravia TV it won’t recognise it, reading the comments in this thread, could it be because the WD is 3.0 and 2.0 compatible? Any help would be much appreciated, this is driving me mad! Thx
Helen, did you read the comments? Your WD My Passport HD is most likely formatted with NTFS, which is not compatible with your TV. You need to reformat it with FAT32. Please read the my other comment for more details!
Hi Tina
I did read all the other comments and have already follwed your blog on reformatting my HD to ExFAT as still no joy.
Helen
Yep, I’ve got exactly the same problem. Sony Bravia tv and Sony bluray, neither recognise my new WD passport hdd. Formatted to exfat straight away as I knew about that issue. Really hope there is a solution out there.
try FAT32 and see if this well help to solve the problem. Also sometime TV do work with hard drives with certain size like 150GB and some only recognize USB keys.
also perhaps something should be done like on your TV.
“Home” -> “System Settings” -> “Recording Set-up” -> “HDD Registration”
registering HDD may remove files from HDD?
Hello, is it possible for you to tell me your TV model? Also, the storage capacity of external drive?
try FAT32 and see if this well help to solve the problem. Also sometime TV do work with hard drives with certain size like 150GB and some only recognize USB keys.
http://www.online-tech-tips.com/computer-tips/formatting-external-hard-drive-to-fat-32/
perhaps you have to register the USB-HDD to on your TV. “Home” -> “System Settings” -> “Recording Set-up” -> “HDD Registration”
may be By registering the HDD it will remove any content already on the drive.
Hello, is it possible for you to tell me your TV model? Also, the storage capacity of external drive?
Hi, the tv is KDL40NX703, the bluray is BDP-S780 and the USB drive is the Western Digital My Passport 1Tb.
The drive is formatted to ExFAT with 16kb allocation unit.
Hello, your TV can play the following formats through USB:
pictures= jpg, raw
music= mp3
video= AVC/AVCHD/MPEG4
Specs for TV:
http://www.sony.co.uk/product/...
BDP-S780:
According
to specs for blu-ray player, it is compatible with NTFS and FAT32(read
only). I know that you formatted to xFAT. I would try formatting
external to NTFS with default allocation units if playing through
blu-ray player. The following link will show you the specs. Read under
convenience features:
http://store.sony.com/webapp/w...
Formats supported:
MPEG-1 Video/PS: .mpg, .mpeg, .m2ts, .mts
MPEG-2 Video/PS,TS: .mpg, .mpeg, .m2ts, .mts
MPEG-4 AVC: .mkv, .mp4, .m4v, .m2ts, .mts
From
the specs I see that drive uses USB as power. It does not need a
separate power supply. That could be an issue with your blu-ray and
TV. USB port in blu-ray/TV might not have enough juice to power your
external.
Hello, your TV can play the following formats through USB:
pictures= jpg, raw
music= mp3
video= AVC/AVCHD/MPEG4
Specs for TV:
http://www.sony.co.uk/product/tv-102-40-lcd/kdl-40nx703/tab/technicalspecs#tab
BDP-S780:
According to specs for blu-ray player, it is compatible with NTFS and FAT32(read only). I know that you formatted to xFAT. I would try formatting external to NTFS with default allocation units if playing through blu-ray player. The following link will show you the specs. Read under convenience features:
http://store.sony.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10551&storeId=10151&langId=-1&partNumber=BDPS780#specifications
Formats supported:
MPEG-1 Video/PS: .mpg, .mpeg, .m2ts, .mts
MPEG-2 Video/PS,TS: .mpg, .mpeg, .m2ts, .mts
MPEG-4 AVC: .mkv, .mp4, .m4v, .m2ts, .mts
From the specs I see that drive uses USB as power. It does not need a separate power supply. That could be an issue with your blu-ray and TV. USB port in blu-ray/TV might not have enough juice to power your external.
Hello
What about external disk with several partition?
I have a 2TB disk with several partition (first is MaC FS, the second is unused, and 3rd id FAT32)
and the sony bravia doesn’t detect either the USB DISK
i would expect that it reconize at least the fat32 partition
it is a 1TB partition
is there any limits about sizes or partitions?
The conclusion is that the my Sony KDL46EX72 does not support HDDs usb3 and NTFS partitions…I hope for un upgrade because fat 32 & usb2…I think it is too old technology….
Hey
Atlibarda , Does Sony Bravia LED 3D TV supports the 3D movies of “”"” .mkv ””’ format
Hi tina, i need a help,
i am looking for a external hard disk which can store 8GB of movie files as i am not able to store in my toshiba external disk. i bought USB3.0 hard disk which i can store such files but not able to play in my bravia TV or in my sony bluray player, so please help me
Lenny,
please read the answers above. You need to format your hard drive with FAT32. You can do that using various tools or simply create a partition that is smaller than 32GB to do it with the native Windows formatting tool.
I have Sony Media Player SMP-N100. Tried to plug in 60gb HD after formatting to exFAT still my player does not recognize… advice if any solutions
Try formatting in FAT format.
what has to be the movie format to store in pendrive
After all the
exFAT format, im not able to play the video. issue is with playback
Use FAT format.
Hey,
I have sony led internet tv.,also I have external hard drive 320gb,but the problem is all my movies can’t play to my led tv..only photos can see..I’m not sure if my led tv is supported the avi format..because in my manual dvix only..what will you advise? Or going to do? Pls..
As Fidelis suggested,Sony TV supports AVC/AVCHD/MPEG4 video formats.So,you can try playing the videos in these formats.
Sir, I am having sony led ex52 32 inch model tv. it has usb support drives but i cannot play movies over 4gb since it is in ntfs format but in fat32 it will be playing but over 4gb pen drive doesnt support fat32, plz tell the solution for this problem plz send any information of this prob to my mailid thanks
Either split the file into multiple parts < 4GB or convert the movie file using Format Factory or similar programs to reduce the filesize to get it under the 4GB limit.
I want to play Movies from pan drive in My sony LCD.
The better way is to format your drive in FAT format and store movies not more than 4GB size.
I have a sony LED TV.. but could not give sound after receiving channels and could not watch dvd but keep displaying NTSC unrated. Pls what do I do. I am in Nigeria
You mean to say that DVD is not playing and there’s problem with your cable signals?
Then you might be facing two different problems which need to be solved.Take your DVD player to the place where you purchased it and ask for possible replacement(if under warranty).Regarding cable problems ask your cable operator for possible fixings.