Check recording support before the drive
A USB socket can serve several purposes, so detecting a storage device is not a complete recording test. Sony directs viewers to the model’s specifications to establish USB HDD Recording support. Its troubleshooting guidance also says HDD recording is unavailable while YouView functionality is enabled. YouView separately confirms that its Sony experience cannot record channels to an external hard drive.
Follow the procedure for the applicable model
Sony’s general HDD guide describes registering the recording disk with the television. However, a separate article for specific models says they do not require that recording-format procedure. This is why a screenshot from another BRAVIA can be misleading. Open the applicable-products information and the instructions attached to your own model before deciding that a missing registration menu is a fault.
Understand what registration does to a disk
For the registration-based workflow, Sony says formatting erases the existing data and dedicates the drive to recording. Only the television that registered the HDD can play those recordings. Moving it to a computer is therefore not a supported way to export watchable copies. Formatting it again for computer use erases the stored data rather than converting the recordings.
Distinguish recording storage from app storage
Sony also documents a model-specific failure where a disk was configured as internal storage or formatted by another television. That is a storage-role problem, with its own instructions. Record the model, current drive role and exact error before acting. Check the relevant procedure and preserve wanted files first; repeatedly formatting an unidentified disk cannot establish which recording capability the television supports.
Questions, answered
Should every Sony television show the same HDD registration menu?
No. Sony publishes model-specific procedures, including an article for televisions that do not require the registration-based recording format.