ASrock Z68 Extreme3 Gen3 recognising 4tb drive as 3tb

[alexd87]

Has anyone been able to get a 4tb drive working with the Extreme3 Gen3? I installed a brand new WD Red 4tb and it detects it only as 3tb, even in the BIOS. I'm running the latest 2.30 BIOS, and running in AHCI mode. I've also tried connecting the drive to the SATA2 and the SATA3 ports. No difference. Windows screenshot (it's set as a GPT disk): http://imgur.com/rSSzHtm

For the life of me I can't understand why it is not showing the full 4tb. I am certain this mobo supports 4tb. It's even listed as such on the ASRock ‘3TB+ Unlocker’ page – http://www.asrock.com/feature/3TB/index.asp, which I've obviously tried installing.

It's also listed here as compaitble with 4tb drives – https://au.pcpartpicker.com/parts/internal-hard-drive/?compatible_with=asrock-motherboard-z68extreme3gen3

 

[SchizTech]

Can you try the drive in a different PC? It's possible the drive is misreporting it's size to the system.

 

[popatim]

^^^ Maybe on to something. Your motherbd is uefi and should support the drive as is. Have you tried deleting the existing partitions and reformating the drive in GPT (not MBR) format?

 

[alexd87]

Can you try the drive in a different PC? It's possible the drive is misreporting it's size to the system.

I haven't got one to use at the moment, but a friend will drop by with a laptop and an external enclosure this week to try it out. I even ran the WD Lifeguard test and it came back fine. But 3tb...

 

[alexd87]

^^^ Maybe on to something. Your motherbd is uefi and should support the drive as is. Have you tried deleting the existing partitions and reformating the drive in GPT (not MBR) format?

Yep deleted the partitions several times and it is definitely in GPT mode. Followed the process using DISK PART to sel disk, clean, convert GPT etc. No luck. I believe since the BIOS itself only sees it as 3tb, that is the issue. This board should definitely support the 4tb capacity.

 

[popatim]

does the label on thye drive say its 4tb? wd40efrx.... ?
3tb would be wd30...

 

[popatim]

from a post made by our friend Fzabkar regarding this same topic:

There are lots of fakes in the marketplace.

I would plug the drive's serial number into WD's warranty checker:
http://websupport.wdc.com/warranty/serialinput.asp?custtype=end&requesttype=warranty〈=en

Compare the date code on the label against the date codes on the chips and on the PCB.

Identifying HDD IC markings - ST313021A case study:
http://malthus.zapto.org/viewtopic.php?f=59&t=207&p=510

How to identify an unknown IC - SSD case study:
http://malthus.zapto.org/viewtopic.php?f=59&t=205&p=507

WD's PCBs also have a WWYY date code printed on them:
http://forum.hddguru.com/download/file.php?id=7666&mode=view

 

[alexd87]

does the label on thye drive say its 4tb? wd40efrx.... ?
3tb would be wd30...

Yep definitely reports that model in the BIOS and Windows.

 

[alexd87]

Also checked serial number on http://websupport.wdc.com/warranty/warrantycheck2.asp?req=2346475&rnd=487939702

Confirmed, 4tb drive:

WD40EFRX-68WT0N0 4 TB WD Red Hard Drive In Limited Warranty 6/6/2017

 

[alexd87]

Wonder if anyone can explain the below image:

I'm tempted to return the drive. Think it's seriously defective.

 

[SchizTech]

Wonder if anyone can explain the below image:

I'm tempted to return the drive. Think it's seriously defective.

Everything I see here is consistent with an error in the drive controller. You should return it then.

 

[alexd87]

Drive returned. Got a new one. WORKED straight away.

Only wasted about 20 hours on it. never heard of such a thing. Tests returned no errors whatsoever. It was just 3tb :S

Thanks all for the help anyway!