source of disk size

[hdsentinel]

Of course the goal is to find and report all possible issues which could happen due to mis-addressing, in-compatibility between the drivers/controllers and/or other situation which may remain un-noticeable otherwise. For example, this is why the current version also finds and reports if the "capacity limit" jumper setting used to limit the possible useful capacity of an older IDE/ATA drive - in addition to the possible incompatibility issues.

So yes, I can confirm that the detection may be extended - as soon as we can find situation(s) which we can 100% surely reproduce to see the error.
During the last weeks (this is why this feature took time to be available) investigated 100's of different combinations of 3TB+ hard disks, motherboards, BIOSes, USB devices, external enclosures, adapters, docking stations and so - to investigate which combination(s) can cause data loss and/or incompatibility issues.

I can confirm that all found combinations / issues (and I need to say thanks also for the reports you sent) now can be detected and now Hard Disk Sentinel 4.20 reports them to prevent disk corruption / data loss.

But of course if it is possible to use Report -> Send test report to developer option in all cases which may cause troubles, then the current methods can be extended to alert upon other conditions. I'm so curious about the BIOS issue you mentioned, the possible RAID issues caused by the older BIOS version(s) and/or other issues you mentioned.
If we can re-produce and investigate those situations (from reports and/or here with certain environments), Hard Disk Sentinel would immediately issue warning to help us to avoid further possible problems caused by such incompatibility issues.

[kingswindsor]

I was very interested to see this post as it relates to a problem I have not been able to fix and, after reading this, I am worried that it may cause data loss after 2Tb.

I added a new 3Tb disk to my desktop and, because I had run out of SATA ports and e-SATA connectors, I used a USB housing to prepare the disk using MS Disk Manager. Of course it only showed up as 746Gb. Realised error and used GParted Live disk with HDD connected via eSATA to re-write. All seemed well until I used HD Sentinel and got the Warning message as posted by hdsentinel on 2013.01.18. 16:45 that Total Capacity (746Gb) is not correct, it should be 2794Gb.

Then went between GParted and Windows/HD Sentinel to try and fix it so I don't get the warning. GParted sometimes said the GPT table was incorrectly positioned; would I like to fix it, which I accepted. However, no difference. Also tried Diskpart.exe under Win8 but no difference. Then went back to GParted Live disk and ran Gdisk as root - even trying the 'zap' command (for experts only!) and remake the GPT table and partitions to no effect.

I still get the warning in HD Sentinel, it seems to matter, and I don't know how to fix it. Any advice would be appreciated.

I should say that the same desktop already has 2x3Tb disks in it with no errors/warnings reported. I have read that updating Intel RST application and/or drivers may be a solution but I am not using these disks in RAID configuration, and when I try to load the drivers downloaded from the Intel website it says that my computer 'does not meet the minimum requirements' which is unlikely.

George

[hdsentinel]

Please note that if you run any partitioning tools from other OS or from Live system (which is actually independent from the actual system) you may not get warnings and you can create the partition for hard disk over 2 TB without problems, as then the partitioning tool uses completely different driver set to access hard disks.
But when that hard disk is used in the actual system with the hard disk controller and older drivers (which is not compatible with the hard disk) then yes, you may risk data corruption / loss when you reach the 2 TB boundary.

This is why it is absolutely not recommended to create partition(s) in a such way - as then you'd feel everything is correct (when you created the partition). But because the actual system, where you plan to use the hard disk has completely different drivers for the actual hard disk controller (which may not handle the large hard disk correctly) then you'll experience troubles.

This is exactly why Hard Disk Sentinel detects and displays the warning if the actual system (with the current hard disk controller and its drivers) does not support addressing the hard disk correctly. Then you should stop using the hard disk or make the required changes (for example by updating the hard disk controller drivers) as then the controller in this system would be able to address the hard disk properly.

If the other 3 TB drives are properly utilised, then they may be connected to an other hard disk controller. Even if all drives are connected to the motherboard, the ports (where those drives connected) may be related to an other controller. This is usually marked with different color (eg. darker blue / gray / white or so).

Yes, updating Intel RST drivers (even if the drives run in standalone, non-RAID configuration) work - but only for motherboards with Intel chipsets.
But if you have other chipset (or the problematic hard disk is connected to an other hard disk controller, eg. JMicron / Marvell or so) then you'd need to update drivers for that, instead of trying the Intel RST driver update.

Now I'd recommend to
1) check the Information page of the appropriate hard disk in Hard Disk Sentinel and notice the "Disk Controller" line. This shows the hard disk controller where the hard disk is connected.
2) open the Support -> Driver Zone page at www.hdsentinel.com and locate the appropriate driver for your "Disk Controller" (chipset) and operating system.
After downloading and installing this update (and restart) hopefully there would be no further problems and the hard disk capacity would be properly utilised.

If you prefer, you may use Report -> Send test report to developer option (just in the comments field specify your problem and which hard disk is affected) as then it's possible to check the actual situation and advise about the best way to improve the situation.

[kingswindsor]

Thank you for your very prompt reply and sound advice, based on logic and knowledge! Apologies for using non-preferred ways like GParted Live disk but I am sure it has been suggested elsewhere and I may have used it before and just got away with it, so it is good to do it properly. Glad to have found an issue before it became a problem.

The partition summary for the PC is

-- Partition Information --

Logical Drive Total Space Free Space Free Space Used Space
C: (Disk: #0-1) 212.2 GB 62.1 GB 29 % ##############------
D: Data (Disk: #3) 931.5 GB 676.0 GB 73 % #####---------------
U: Shared Docs and Pics (Disk: #4) 2794.4 GB 1606.6 GB 57 % ########------------
V: Shared Video (Disk: #5) 2794.4 GB 1557.8 GB 56 % ########------------
W: Shared Music (Disk: #2) 2794.5 GB 1571.3 GB 56 % ########------------

Looking at the information for the 3 x 3Tb disks, the ones that have been working fine (albeit I haven't gone over 2 Tb yet) and have reported no errors have these details:-

Hard Disk Number . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 4
Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : S-ATA Gen3, 6 Gbps
Disk Controller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Standard SATA AHCI Controller (AHCI) [VEN: 1B4B, DEV: 9130]
Disk Location . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Bus Number 0, Target Id 0, LUN 0
Hard Disk Model ID . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : ST3000DM001-9YN166
Firmware Revision . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : CC4B
Hard Disk Serial Number . . . . . . . . . . . . : Z1F14FAH
Total Size . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 2861585 MB

And

Hard Disk Number . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 5
Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : S-ATA Gen3, 6 Gbps
Disk Controller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Standard SATA AHCI Controller (AHCI) [VEN: 1B4B, DEV: 9130]
Disk Location . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Bus Number 1, Target Id 0, LUN 0
Hard Disk Model ID . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : ST3000DM001-9YN166
Firmware Revision . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : CC4B
Hard Disk Serial Number . . . . . . . . . . . . : Z1F14FA3
Total Size . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 2861585 MB

The one that is flagging up the warnings has:-


Hard Disk Number . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 2
Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : S-ATA Gen3, 6 Gbps
Disk Controller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) C600 Series Chipset SATA RAID Controller (RAID) [VEN: 8086, DEV: 2826]
Disk Location . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 2
Hard Disk Model ID . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : WDC WD30EFRX-68AX9N0
Firmware Revision . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 80.00A80
Hard Disk Serial Number . . . . . . . . . . . . : WD-WCC1T1266301
Total Size . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 764428 MB
Power State . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Active
Logical Drive(s) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : W: [Shared Music]
Current Temperature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 29 °C
Maximum Temperature (Ever Measured) . . . . . . : 29 °C, 25/09/2013 15:30:44
Minimum Temperature (Ever Measured) . . . . . . : 24 °C, 22/09/2013 10:03:33
Maximum Temperature (During Entire Lifespan) . . : 33 °C
Power On Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 10 days, 1 hours
Estimated Remaining Lifetime . . . . . . . . . . : more than 1000 days
Health . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : #################### 100 % (Excellent)
Performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : #################### 100 % (Excellent)

The hard disk status is PERFECT. Problematic or weak sectors were not found and there are no spin up or data transfer errors.
The detected total capacity (746 GB) of the drive is not correct, the capacity should be 2794 GB.
Using the drive may cause file system corruption and/or data loss.
It is recommended to check and modify the configuration or upgrade the operating system, hard disk controller and/or drivers to safely use this device.
No actions needed.

ATA Information
-----------------
Hard Disk Cylinders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 5814021
Hard Disk Heads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 16
Hard Disk Sectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 63
ATA Revision . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : ATA8-ACS
Transport Version . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : SATA Rev 2.6
Total Sectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 732566646
Bytes Per Sector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 4096 [Advanced Format]
Multiple Sectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 16
Error Correction Bytes . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 0
Unformatted Capacity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 2861588 MB
Maximum PIO Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 4
Maximum Multiword DMA Mode . . . . . . . . . . . : 2
Maximum UDMA Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 6 Gbps (6)
Active UDMA Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 6 Gbps (5)
Minimum Multiword DMA Transfer Time . . . . . . : 120 ns
Recommended Multiword DMA Transfer Time . . . . : 120 ns
Minimum PIO Transfer Time Without IORDY . . . . : 120 ns
Minimum PIO Transfer Time With IORDY . . . . . . : 120 ns
ATA Control Byte . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Valid
ATA Checksum Value . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Invalid

So there is a difference in the drivers between the two OK disks and the problem disk.
I couldn't see a C600 chipset driver on the HDSentinel page so I looked on the Intel web-site and, following the links for RSTe (not RST) for Win8 leads me to a driver IATA_ENU.exe Version:3.6.0.1093 Date:02/21/2013

The only problem is that when I try to update with this file it puts up a dialog box which says the computer already contains a newer driver for the C600 chipset SATA RAID controller (8.6.2.1022). Even though this driver is dated 07 Aug 2010 this is probably why I never proceeded down this path before during maintenance.

Anyway, despite the warnings I have now proceeded and updated the C600 driver which is now at version 3.6.0.1090 dated 02 Nov 2012. All seems well and I now also have the Intel RSTe user interface as a small bonus. Thanks for your help to get this sorted and stable.

Latest report cut and pasted below for comparison with the original. All looks OK although the disk numbers have moved around.
----

-- Partition Information --

Logical Drive Total Space Free Space Free Space Used Space
C: (Disk: #4-5) 212.2 GB 62.0 GB 29 % ##############------
D: Data (Disk: #3) 931.5 GB 676.0 GB 73 % #####---------------
U: Shared Docs and Pics (Disk: #0) 2794.4 GB 1606.6 GB 57 % ########------------
V: Shared Video (Disk: #1) 2794.4 GB 1557.8 GB 56 % ########------------
W: Shared Music (Disk: #2) 2794.5 GB 1571.3 GB 56 % ########------------


-- Physical Disk Information - Disk: #2: WDC WD30EFRX-68AX9N0 --

Hard Disk Summary
-------------------
Hard Disk Number . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 2
Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : S-ATA Gen3, 6 Gbps
Disk Controller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) C600/C220 series chipset SATA RAID Controller (RAID) [VEN: 8086, DEV: 2826]
Disk Location . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Bus Number 2, Target Id 0, LUN 0
Hard Disk Model ID . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : WDC WD30EFRX-68AX9N0
Firmware Revision . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 80.00A80
Hard Disk Serial Number . . . . . . . . . . . . : WD-WCC1T1266301
Total Size . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 2861585 MB
Power State . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Active
Logical Drive(s) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : W: [Shared Music]
Current Temperature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 29 °C
Maximum Temperature (Ever Measured) . . . . . . : 29 °C, 25/09/2013 22:10:06
Minimum Temperature (Ever Measured) . . . . . . : 29 °C, 25/09/2013 22:10:06
Maximum Temperature (During Entire Lifespan) . . : 33 °C
Power On Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 10 days, 2 hours
Estimated Remaining Lifetime . . . . . . . . . . : more than 1000 days
Health . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : #################### 100 % (Excellent)
Performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : #################### 100 % (Excellent)

The hard disk status is PERFECT. Problematic or weak sectors were not found and there are no spin up or data transfer errors.
No actions needed.

ATA Information
-----------------
Hard Disk Cylinders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 5814021
Hard Disk Heads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 16
Hard Disk Sectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 63
ATA Revision . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : ATA8-ACS
Transport Version . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : SATA Rev 2.6
Total Sectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 732566646
Bytes Per Sector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 4096 [Advanced Format]
Multiple Sectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 16
Error Correction Bytes . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 0
Unformatted Capacity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 2861588 MB
Maximum PIO Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 4
Maximum Multiword DMA Mode . . . . . . . . . . . : 2
Maximum UDMA Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 6 Gbps (6)
Active UDMA Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 6 Gbps (2)
Minimum Multiword DMA Transfer Time . . . . . . : 120 ns
Recommended Multiword DMA Transfer Time . . . . : 120 ns
Minimum PIO Transfer Time Without IORDY . . . . : 120 ns
Minimum PIO Transfer Time With IORDY . . . . . . : 120 ns
ATA Control Byte . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Valid
ATA Checksum Value . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Valid

[hdsentinel]

Thanks for your answer!

Yes, generally (as you can see the in the "Disk Controller" fields, the two hard disks originally connected to your other controller (a Marvell-chip based as its displayed VID/PID indicates) which works with "Standard SATA AHCI Controller" driver - without problems.

And yes, the driver of the Intel controller required the update.
Can you please share the link to the driver you used? Then it can be also added to the "Driver Zone" to help everybody experiencing this problem with similar chipset. Thanks!

[kingswindsor]

Thanks for your help. The right driver was difficult to find on the Intel site but the link is
http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/ ... -c600.html

Then follow the links to Intel RSTe, and Download Drivers and Software.
For Win8 I used v3.6.0.1093 and then had to install despite warnings that I was replacing a newer driver (which was not true).

regards

George

[hdsentinel]

Thanks for the tip, it will be added to the Driver Zone soon

Yes, previously you had a driver from completely different version numbers, it was 8.xxx and Windows (or the installer) thought this was newer - but it released in 2008 ....

[kingswindsor]

The fact that the wrong driver was there has been niggling me so I looked back at what I did during installation. I had followed the instructions on Jaquith's post of 2 March 2012 20:16:54 at this link http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/303 ... d#t2068879 and the flash drive contained the v3.5.xxxxx RSTe drivers so I don't know where the old driver in the 8.6xxx series came from. It will have to remain a mystery. Anyway all fixed - thanks again for the software otherwise I would have never spotted the problem until too late.