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extreme annoyance with 3TB showing as 746GB (trying to setup as external storage)

timeless

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been trying the best part of 15 hours to work out why l cant see more than 746GB of my new 3TB drive..

long story short lve popped it in my USB caddy which originally had a 2TB drive in (1.8TB usable) however lve looked up everything from trying to partition with a linux live disk (which saw 800gb) to using seagate tools but nothing picks up more than 746GB and it would be even more problematic to put it into my system as l spent ages caballing and it would be an extreme pain sorting it all out again.

anyone got any ideas as l need a backup drive ASAP.
 
its brand new, unopened from ebuyer.. been told from a few sources that it could be the external caddy and that l could upgrade its firmware but that leaves me with finding out who the manufacturer is as that was an ebuyer branded product...
 
Does sound like it's the USB enclosure.

Only question is which seagate tool?

Hoping it's the one you download from this page.
 
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You dont say what OS you are using, or if it is patched. There are issues with 3TB drives not being recognised correctly by XP (and possibly Vista), but there are workarounds - usually available from the HDD makers website- that should be your first port of call.
 
shouldnt be an OS issue, from what lve seen Win7 supports drives over 2TBG natively.. and with regards to Seagate tools lve tried them and they couldnt even partition the drive as NTFS l only managed to do it through a linux live disk which is making me lean more towards the enclosure itself.. the annoyance is l didnt think l needed an enclosure and planned to slap the drive into my previous one if l had looked at enclosures as well most seem to be labelled as what they will take, but lve seen no places saying that there are limitations.

all the drive spec page stated was its sizes and how good it was, no mention about how xp wouldnt see the drive properly etc.. most only seem to find out once purchased.
 
Hi Timeless,

IF you can put the HDD into your PC and use "Administrative Tools - Computer Management - Disk Management " in control panel, to access the 3TB drive and format it. Then you will be able to put the HDD back in the enclosure, formated and ready for use.
 
P.S.

You don't have to physically put the HDD into the PC, just use a spare power and data connection so that the PC can see the HDD to allow you to format it.
 
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l have none spare, all in use lol.
 
HI,

Just disconnect one, until you have formatted the new HDD then put the other connections back, you don't have to remove a HDD, just use its connections.
 
thats the issue, l have extensive cable management it would be too problematic to use that method.. that coupled with the fact that the problem is more likely down to the enclosure itself.. partitioning via a system connection wouldnt make much difference as its likely ld only be able to see the same as what l see now back in the enclosure plus it would defeat the object of purchasing the drive for external usb storage.
 
Ask a friend to fit it in their PC and format it and try it in the external box again, it may be an issue with the box's firmware/hardware, OR (less likely), with your computers firmware/hardware.
It might even be a fault with the drive - have you spoken to Seagate Tech Support about the issue?? They may have had other people with the same problem - and be able to point you to a fix.
 
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friendwise most have older systems which rules that out. system isnt an issue the board is less than 2yrs old and going by my motherboard spec and bios l should have no issue accessing more than 2TB. some have suggested getting UEFI based bios but thats only required if you want to use a 3TB drive as the OS drive.

l have done extensive googling and it seems the most likely suspect is the enclosure, l am also waiting for feedback from Seagate who asked for the enclosures model/SN but it was ebuyer branded and doesnt have one printed on it tho l am told the the usb chipset does support 3TB drives with a firmware flash, but in order to do that l need to know what firmware and where to get the firmware for the enclosure. the thing is lm told many enclosures dont always support 3TB drives which is annoying, however last night l purchased a usb to sata adapter which supposedly supports any size drive so lm hoping it does and l might be able to get somewhere.
 
Windows 7 does "support" drives over 2TB but you can only partition to just under 2TB as, in my experience, it doesn't support anything larger (might do on 64Bit though.. hmm not tried in ages). The solution I usually adopt is to erase the partitions and create 3 x 1TB partitions and then format each to NTFS (or 1 x 1.9TB and 1 x Whatever's Left TB).

So what normally happens is that you get the drive and find that just under 2TB is usable and almost exactly 746GB is left "unallocated". In your case the reverse seems to be true, which is odd. There are various unlockers and other solutions (BIOS/UEFI tricks), depending upon your motherboard, chipset and HD manufacturer etc.

The problem is there are so many quirks with different combinations of kit that finding the right solution for you can be a pain in the ass. Certainly the first place to go is the HD manufacturer. I deliberately avoid 2TB+ drives precisely because problems like this waste too much time and anyway.. there's something to be said for keeping HD's to a manageable size and partition structure.
 
like l said UEFI bios is only really required if you plan to use it as an OS drive, but from what seagate have said its the enclosure but are unwilling to recommend anything other than their own solutions which cost significantly more than lm willing to spend annoyingly.

however you are correct, while windows 7 can natively support large drives the limit for the 32bit version l believe is 2TB but lm sure you can still paritition the remaining space, whereas with the 64bit version l believe you can use the whole drive. regardless if l had known it was going to be this annoying l would have likely went with a 2TB drive.. however since lve got it l just as well find something that works and future proof myself as the drive was a bargain and l needed the space hopefully l can access it on the usb to sata adapter l ordered last night.. all goes well l'll be happy.. tho l would be happier with an enclosure.
 
Assuming you manage to format it on the USB>SATA adapter, it would be interesting to see if it then works in your external enclosure.
I have done that fairly recently. I formatted and partitioned a 3TB drive hanging on an SATA cable. I did 3 x 1TB partitions. I then put the drive in my old external enclosure that initially wouldn't recognise the 3TB, but now it is formatted and partitioned, it is working perfectly :)
 
it wouldnt be far fetched to assume that because from what lve seen its partition limits that are causing the issues, however hopefully l'll get the hardware tomorrow which will at least allow me to access the drive seeing as only my mate in wales and here seem to be making any constructive comments regarding my issues. after all ideas posted here might lead to solutions l had not thought of XD
 
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