Seagate barracuda 3TB as 746 GB?

[Vay]

I bought the Seagate barracuda 3TB and it shows as 746 GB on my Windows Vista SP2 32-bit in GPT mode. I have asked this problem at Seagate forum and the one guy who replied didn't know how to solve it. I am using the 3TB Seagate drive in my Rosewill RX-358-U3B enclosure, and I have read that a Hitachi 3TB had no compatibility issues in that particular enclosure. Does anyone know how to have my computer realize that the Seagate drive is 3TB?

This is my hard drive:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148736&cm_re=seagate_3tb-_-22-148-736-_-Product

This is my enclosure:
http://www.rosewill.com/products/s_1512/productDetail.htm

 

[Hawkeye22]

The rosewill specs don't say anything about the maximum disk size allowed. I'd contact rosewill support and see if the enclosure supports 3Tb drives.

http://www.rosewill.com/about/ContactUs.aspx

 

[Vay]

The rosewill specs don't say anything about the maximum disk size allowed. I'd contact rosewill support and see if the enclosure supports 3Tb drives.

http://www.rosewill.com/about/ContactUs.aspx

This guy had no problem with his Hitachi 3TB in the same enclosure, but I will contact anyway.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=17-182-210&SortField=0&SummaryType=0&Pagesize=10&PurchaseMark=&SelectedRating=-1&VideoOnlyMark=False&VendorMark=&IsFeedbackTab=true&Keywords=3tb&Page=1#scrollFullInfo

Here is my progress to a solution on the seagate forum:
http://forums.seagate.com/t5/Barracuda-XT-Barracuda-and/Hooking-up-3TB-seagate-barracuda-drive/td-p/102204/page/2

 

[Hawkeye22]

This guy had no problem with his Hitachi 3TB in the same enclosure, but I will contact anyway.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=17-182-210&SortField=0&SummaryType=0&Pagesize=10&PurchaseMark=&SelectedRating=-1&VideoOnlyMark=False&VendorMark=&IsFeedbackTab=true&Keywords=3tb&Page=1#scrollFullInfo

Sometimes the manufacturers use the same model number even though they update the hardware to accomodate newer devices. If your enclosure is older than his there is a chance it may not recognize newer drives.

 

[Vay]

Sometimes the manufacturers use the same model number even though they update the hardware to accomodate newer devices. If your enclosure is older than his there is a chance it may not recognize newer drives.

Newegg says it supports up to 2TB, but the guy I linked confirmed that it does work with 3TB. The box that my enclosure came in says it supports up to 1.5TB. Also, apparently I am not the only one getting 746 GB problem with a 3TB HDD. So I would have to guess it is probably not the enclosure.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=17-173-042&SortField=0&SummaryType=0&Pagesize=10&PurchaseMark=&SelectedRating=-1&VideoOnlyMark=False&VendorMark=&IsFeedbackTab=true&Keywords=3tb&Page=1#scrollFullInfo

 

[davel_68]

Would it be something to do with this?

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2076952

(see answer #14)

 

[Vay]

Would it be something to do with this?

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2076952

(see answer #14)

I have a 32-bit system, so that is the problem? On seagate's site or anywhere on the product, nowhere does it specify I need a 64-bit system.
Seagate's site said you don't need UEFI bios if you use discwizard, which I did, and it is still 746.5 GB. Maybe the bios still has something to do with it. I might have to return this thing...

http://www.seagate.com/www/en-us/support/beyond-2tb/

My system specs are:
32- bit Windows Vista SP2 Home Premium.

Intel core2 quad CPU Q8300 @ 2.5 GHz

Ram is 4 GB

 

[Hawkeye22]

According to Microsoft, Vista supports GPT. It may indeed be a bios issue.

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/hardware/gg463525

 

[davel_68]

I have a 32-bit system, so that is the problem? On seagate's site or anywhere on the product, nowhere does it specify I need a 64-bit system.
Seagate's site said you don't need UEFI bios if you use discwizard, which I did, and it is still 746.5 GB. Maybe the bios still has something to do with it. I might have to return this thing...

http://www.seagate.com/www/en-us/support/beyond-2tb/

My system specs are:
32- bit Windows Vista SP2 Home Premium.

Intel core2 quad CPU Q8300 @ 2.5 GHz

Ram is 4 GB

At the bottom of this page there is a reference to Intel RST, which shows exactly what you are seeing:

http://seagate.custkb.com/seagate/crm/selfservice/search.jsp?DocId=218615&NewLang=en

Hope this sorts things out for you!

 

[Vay]

At the bottom of this page there is a reference to Intel RST, which shows exactly what you are seeing:

http://seagate.custkb.com/seagate/crm/selfservice/search.jsp?DocId=218615&NewLang=en

Hope this sorts things out for you!

It doesn't solve the issue, since all my drivers are up to date when I try to update them from device manager. However, it does tell me that I might have to wait for a new update.

For the ATA controllers, I am using:
Intel(R) ICH10 family 2 port serial ATA storage controller 2 - 3A26
Intel(R) ICH10 family 4 port serial ATA storage controller 1 - 3A20

Which are all said to be up to date when I tried to update them. So I guess I have to wait for a new update...?

 

[davel_68]

It doesn't solve the issue, since all my drivers are up to date when I try to update them from device manager. However, it does tell me that I might have to wait for a new update.

For the ATA controllers, I am using:
Intel(R) ICH10 family 2 port serial ATA storage controller 2 - 3A26
Intel(R) ICH10 family 4 port serial ATA storage controller 1 - 3A20

Which are all said to be up to date when I tried to update them. So I guess I have to wait for a new update...?

Hmm - still sounds like an Intel issue... The various hubs support different features, for example the Intel page indicates that ICH10D doesn't support drives in excess of 2TB, but ICH10R and ICH10DO do:

http://www.intel.com/support/chipsets/imsm/sb/CS-022304.htm

Whether this means that it is a driver issue, or a chipset issue, I'm less sure... Because you are seeing exactly the Intel RST issue, it is a fairly safe bet that this is what the problem is - I can't think of any other cause that would make your drive appear to be exactly 746.5GB as shown on that page. I'd suggest that you check your Motherboard info to see if you can identify which hub you have, and take it from there.

 

[Vay]

Hmm - still sounds like an Intel issue... The various hubs support different features, for example the Intel page indicates that ICH10D doesn't support drives in excess of 2TB, but ICH10R and ICH10DO do:

http://www.intel.com/support/chipsets/imsm/sb/CS-022304.htm

Whether this means that it is a driver issue, or a chipset issue, I'm less sure... Because you are seeing exactly the Intel RST issue, it is a fairly safe bet that this is what the problem is - I can't think of any other cause that would make your drive appear to be exactly 746.5GB as shown on that page. I'd suggest that you check your Motherboard info to see if you can identify which hub you have, and take it from there.

I used HWiNFO32 and I found out that I have Intel G45 (Eaglelake-G) + ICH10R, which supports everything on that list. It is a micro ATX motherboard. I'm about to give up and just return it, I spent so much time trying to make it work... Seagate customer service is also garbage, definitely a bad first impression. At least my Western Digital Elements worked before it broke.

 

[fzabkar]

If the OP is connecting via USB, then it can't be a BIOS or SATA issue. AFAICS, it's either a limitation of the USB bridge, or the USB mass storage driver. SATA and USB use different controllers, and therefore different drivers.

 

[davel_68]

I'd forgotten you were connecting via USB, so the RST technology isn't the issue. I did think it might be the 32-bit Vista that is the issue, but Microsoft indicate that this is also not a problem:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/hardware/gg463525

(You can't boot a 32 bit OS from this drive, but you should be able to work with it).

Just as a suggestion, have you tried the drive as an internal one instead of only using it as an external drive?

(I've just checked another forum, and there exactly the same problems were reported with a Hitachi drive. Installing it directly into the machine, formatting it there, and then putting it back in the external enclosure appeared to work at first, but BEWARE, the user then had problems:

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18263156

Definitely sounds like a USB controller issue since you know the enclosure works for 3TB drives for others)

 

[Vay]

Best answer selected by Vay.

 

[Vay]

I'd forgotten you were connecting via USB, so the RST technology isn't the issue. I did think it might be the 32-bit Vista that is the issue, but Microsoft indicate that this is also not a problem:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/hardware/gg463525

(You can't boot a 32 bit OS from this drive, but you should be able to work with it).

Just as a suggestion, have you tried the drive as an internal one instead of only using it as an external drive?

(I've just checked another forum, and there exactly the same problems were reported with a Hitachi drive. Installing it directly into the machine, formatting it there, and then putting it back in the external enclosure appeared to work at first, but BEWARE, the user then had problems:

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18263156

Definitely sounds like a USB controller issue since you know the enclosure works for 3TB drives for others)

Confirmed, it is a USB controller problem. I finally decided to get off my lazy ass and break apart my computer. I only have two SATA controllers, so I sacrificed my DVD Rom for this 3TB drive. I will have to wait until a good enclosure comes out that supports 3TB, I guess my Rosewill enclosure is just an older model.

But does anyone know if I can do something with my enclosure to support 3TB?

My enclosure:

http://www.rosewill.com/products/917/productDetail.htm

 

[fzabkar]

Sometimes the manufacturer of the USB-SATA bridge chip (eg JMicron, Oxford, PLX Tech, Cypress) in the enclosure will provide a firmware update. Can you tell us the markings on the largest chip on the PCB inside the box?

 

[slgwv]

I was delighted to find this thread as I'd been having a very similar problem with an _internally_ mounted 3 Gb Seagate Barracuda with a SATA interface, also running under Vista Home Premium on an HP Pavilion. The disk was also showing up with that oddball ~746 Gb capacity. I knew it wasn't a problem with big drives generally because 2 Tb USB external drives worked fine. I don't have the Intel SATA controllers, but nVidia, and it turned out they have the same problem with disks >2.2 Tb. Downloading updated drivers from nVidia:
http://www.nvidia.com/content/DriverDownload-March2009/confirmation.php?url=/Windows/nForce/15.56/15.56-nforce-winvista-win7-32bit-international-whql.exe&lang=us&type=nForce
seems to have fixed the problem, altho there was some collateral damage to my Windows settings. At least I see the full drive now! Btw, the full 3 Tb was always visible in the BIOS, so I knew that wasn't it, too.

 

[Alphi]

I was delighted to find this thread as I'd been having a very similar problem with an _internally_ mounted 3 Gb Seagate Barracuda with a SATA interface, also running under Vista Home Premium on an HP Pavilion. The disk was also showing up with that oddball ~746 Gb capacity. I knew it wasn't a problem with big drives generally because 2 Tb USB external drives worked fine. I don't have the Intel SATA controllers, but nVidia, and it turned out they have the same problem with disks >2.2 Tb. Downloading updated drivers from nVidia:
http://www.nvidia.com/content/DriverDownload-March2009/confirmation.php?url=/Windows/nForce/15.56/15.56-nforce-winvista-win7-32bit-international-whql.exe&lang=us&type=nForce
seems to have fixed the problem, altho there was some collateral damage to my Windows settings. At least I see the full drive now! Btw, the full 3 Tb was always visible in the BIOS, so I knew that wasn't it, too.

just to add some additional info coz I had the same problem with Nforce Mobo and 3TB WD HDD in windows 7 64...

my bios was also showing 3TB and only 746GB in windows 7-64.. even after updating the nforce drivers.
what I had to do was:

1. after installing the new nforce drivers.. go into device manager and manually delete the Nforce SATA controller drivers (uninstall/remove from disk) (do all of them without rebooting)
2. Rebooted the PC..

Once the pc boots up it should say "installing new hardware" in the task bar and install the new SATA controller drivers.

I did that and it worked a treat ....

 

[Guest]

In my case with the usage of a SEAGATE 3TB (model ST3000DM 001-9YN166) under Windows Vista 32 bits SP2 Family edition... I had also the same case (the 3TB disk was detected as 746 GB disk under Windows and as a 3 TB disk under the bios).

Solution: I just updated the nvidia SATA driver (thanks to the link mentioned above by slgwv). Result after reboot: the disk is correctly detected !!

ABN

 

[walrus_62]

just to add some additional info coz I had the same problem with Nforce Mobo and 3TB WD HDD in windows 7 64...

my bios was also showing 3TB and only 746GB in windows 7-64.. even after updating the nforce drivers.
what I had to do was:

1. after installing the new nforce drivers.. go into device manager and manually delete the Nforce SATA controller drivers (uninstall/remove from disk) (do all of them without rebooting)
2. Rebooted the PC..

Once the pc boots up it should say "installing new hardware" in the task bar and install the new SATA controller drivers.

I did that and it worked a treat ....

I have am having the same problem with Nforce Mobo and Windows 7-64, but when I try to update the SATA controller drivers, windows tells me I have the latest driver installed. How did you update the controller driver and do you happen to have a link to it? Any help would be greatly appreciated, as I have been trying to resolve this issue for about a week and am getting very frustrated.
Thanks!

 

[balsam]

I bought the Seagate barracuda 3TB and it shows as 746 GB on my Windows Vista SP2 32-bit in GPT mode. I have asked this problem at Seagate forum and the one guy who replied didn't know how to solve it. I am using the 3TB Seagate drive in my Rosewill RX-358-U3B enclosure, and I have read that a Hitachi 3TB had no compatibility issues in that particular enclosure. Does anyone know how to have my computer realize that the Seagate drive is 3TB?

This is my hard drive:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148736&cm_re=seagate_3tb-_-22-148-736-_-Product

This is my enclosure:
http://www.rosewill.com/products/s_1512/productDetail.htm

From balsam:
Her is the ONLY solution to find and format the Seagate Barracuda 3TB HDD in win7.

-First download and install Partition Wizard Home Edition. http://download.cnet.com/MiniTool-Partition-Wizard-Home-Edition/3000-2094_4-10962200.html?tag=contentBody;pop

- Plug the 3TB drive into the motherboard to a PC with an SATA cable.
- Find the drive with the mention Partition program.
- Click the "Delete bottom" so you clear what that might be on the new 3TB drive.
- Convert the drive to GPT (instead of MBR)
- Choose "create" and afterwards click "apply". It will take a few minutes and it should be good to go.

If you still cannot find the drive plugged into a USB or HDD docking to a PC etc, format the drive (always as NTFS)

You will now be able to find the 3TB drive if you try to connect it to any kind of PC through USB/docking etc etc.

Cheers!

 

[superstar19]

Hmm... I have what appears to be a Rosewill RX35 type enclosure. For the last 1.5-2years, I had a Hitachi 3GB drive in it and my Gateway i3 W7 laptop had no issues reading it. Back in December, the drive took a crap so I replaced it with the 3TB Seagate drive that Amazon was running holiday deals on. Now neither the Gateway nor my ASUS W8 laptops see the full 3TB and I get the same 746GB message. Once I get some time I'll try the Partition Wizard solution.

This has really been frustrating me, and I'm glad to find this board. I couldn't understand why I would have a problem when the same enclosure and laptop had no issues previously.

 

[superstar19]

From balsam:
Her is the ONLY solution to find and format the Seagate Barracuda 3TB HDD in win7.

-First download and install Partition Wizard Home Edition. http://download.cnet.com/MiniTool-Partition-Wizard-Home-Edition/3000-2094_4-10962200.html?tag=contentBody;pop

- Plug the 3TB drive into the motherboard to a PC with an SATA cable.
- Find the drive with the mention Partition program.
- Click the "Delete bottom" so you clear what that might be on the new 3TB drive.
- Convert the drive to GPT (instead of MBR)
- Choose "create" and afterwards click "apply". It will take a few minutes and it should be good to go.

If you still cannot find the drive plugged into a USB or HDD docking to a PC etc, format the drive (always as NTFS)

You will now be able to find the 3TB drive if you try to connect it to any kind of PC through USB/docking etc etc.

Cheers!

Thanks. I finally got 1 out of my 2 Seagates to work in the Rosewill enclosure. However, my desktop PC is running XP. I ended up having to run the bootable version of Partition Magic and followed your instructions and that seemed to do the trick as far as getting my laptops to properly recognize the drive in the Rosewill USB enclosure.

For some reason ,the XP computer didn't like the drive directly mounted to the motherboard when Windows was running and still wouldn't recognize the full 2.7TB. I'm not sure if that is due to XP or the motherboard/BIOS itself? This is an old P4 tower running an ABIT motherboard. Again, this computer had no issue recognizing the full capacity of the drive when I booted to the Partition Magic disc.

The second Seagate is only showing up with the 746GB in the bootable Partition Magic and it's not allowing me to convert to GPT. I'm in the middle of wiping the drive to see if that solves it.

 

[TheRealRoach]

Sorry to be bringing this thread back from the dead, but I found a solution which is similar to those listed, but different enough that I think it's warranted to mention.

Firstly, I'm running Windows XP 32 bit on an EVGA/NVidia 780i motherboard. I recently installed the Seagate st3000dm001 (3TB) drive just like the op but it only showed 746gb no matter what. I even tried boot CDs for Seagate's DiscWizard and others. I could get the full 3tb to show in these boot cd applications, but they would refuse to show in the actual XP operating system.

Finally what did it was changing the SATA drivers to the generic windows drivers. To do this, I simply did the following:
- open device manager
- right click on "nforce Serial ATA" driver and selected "update driver.."
- Click "No not this time" for "can windows connect to windows update..", then Next->
- Select "Install from a specific Location, then Next->
- Select "Don't Search, let me choose which file to install", then Next->
- Select, "Have Disk..."
- Select a generic option. In my case it was "Primary IDE Channel" or, alternately "Standard IDE hard disk controller" or something similar along those lines.
- Important: be sure to complete this process for each entry of the nforce sata drivers. Defer the Reboot request until you've done all of them.
- When you reboot, your system will reinitialize each or your hard drives.
- Install DiscWizard, and initialize the full 3tb.
- use Disk Management (Right click on My Computer, select "manage") to create the desired partitions.