ARCHIVED FORUM -- March 2012 to February 2022READ ONLY FORUM
This is the second Archived Forum which was active between 1st March 2012 and 23rd February 2022
Setup an extra harddisk on Beomaster 5 by using the second internal SATA slot on the VIA motherboard.
What you need: A new hard drive, SATA cable and a SATA power splitter to get power to it.
(1) Shut down BM5/BS5. First, attach a USB keybord and mouse. Second, on the BS5 press > and < and > and < and then GO to enter the service menu. Shut down the Windows/BM5 Desktop. This is the right way to shut down BM5. Do not hold the power button to shut down, as this may harm the software and eventually the hardware.
(2) Connect the new hard disk to the second SATA port with SATA cable and SATA power splitter.
(3) Start the BM5 with the power on button. Press "Del" to get into the BIOS if you want to check if the hard disk is connected and recognised. Save and Exit if everything is OK.
(4) BM5/BS5 restarts.
(5) Again, enter the Service Menu of the BM5: see above.
(a) Start -> My Computer -> go to E:\BM-Share\Music -> make a new directory and name it (example: _HDD); must be empty! Use _ underscore to make it the first folder, if you have music files (artist folders) on the old hard drive.
(b) If your new disk is a GPT drive (GPT Protective Partition), then you have to follow this guide to convert it to a MBR drive: https://www.seagate.com/gb/en/support/kb/troubleshooting-gpt-protective-partition-issues-207837en/
(c) Start -> Admistratieve Tools -> Computer Management -> Disk Management -> Right mouse click on the new hard disk -> Change Drive Letter and Path -> Add -> Mount in the following empty NFTS folder: Click Browse.. and find the created folder (in this example: E:\BM-Share\Music\_HDD); OK; OK
(6) Eventually adjust the virusscanner
(7) Exit the Service Menu or make a Windows restart.
Now you can use the additional directory _HDD (= second internal hard disk) as additional storage.
Best regards
Rendboell
I have swapped the old harddisk with an old Samsung SSD 830 128GB.
And then installed a second 2TB harddisk for music storage on the second SATA slot, see above.
So now the beomaster software is running on the SSD, while all my music is stored on the second harddisk.
This setup is stable and running as fast as if you had a larger SSD to include music storage.
I don't know why some people have problems with stability of various SSD's, but maybe its because they are cloning the harddisk and not doing a "Clone Entire HDD" with the service tool to reset the system to factory default.
Guide on how to install the SSD:
(1) Open the Beomaster 5 and swap the harddisk with the SSD.
(2) Download the service tool here:
https://archivedforum2.beoworld.org/forums/p/40103/297888.aspx
Be patient, as it is a very slow download, if you're not paying. Download is 1.7 GB and takes about 5-6 hours.
(2) Use the included ImageUSB to load and write the 3.3 GB bin image file to a USB flash drive (minimum 4 gb).
(3) Put the usb flash drive into one of the usb ports on the board and attach a wireless usb keyboard and mouse to the other usb port (there are only 2 usb ports).
(4) Start the BM5 and immediately press "Del" sereral times to make sure you get into the bios.
(5) In the bios go to "Hard Disk Boot Priority". Here you should se the HDD and the USB drive. Set the USB drive as 1st boot device. Save and Exit, type Y to confirm and Enter.
(6) Use the service tool to "Clone Entire HDD" to the SSD, see the service tool manual (page 4.4) included in the download.
(7) Be patient, as it takes time to install. The beomaster restarts several times to finish.
Now I have a fast and reliable setup with a large storage harddisk for my Flac lossless music collection.