Seagate NAS 4TB disk detected as 2.7TB

One friend gave me a Seagate NAS HDD 4000GB hard disk.
I have plug it in my PC and is recognized as 2.7TB instead of 4TB.


#fdisk -l

.......

**Disk /dev/sdc: 2.7 TiB, 3000615492608 bytes, 5860577134 sectors** 
Disk model: ST4000VN000-1H41 
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes 
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 4096 bytes 
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 4096 bytes / 4096 bytes 
Disklabel type: dos 
Disk identifier: 0x00000000 

**Device**     **Boot** **Start** **       End** **   Sectors** **Size** **Id** **Type** 
/dev/sdc1           1 4294967295 4294967295   2T ee GPT




In this thread the disk appears as 3.7TB

According seagatethe disk is supposed to be 7,814,037,168 sectors but my system is detecting it as smaller.

Maybe the hardware is not capable of managing it or may be other issue?


[FONT=monospace]**andromeda:~ #** hwinfo --short 
cpu:                                                             
                       AMD Athlon(tm) II X3 450 Processor, 3200 MHz 
                       AMD Athlon(tm) II X3 450 Processor, 3200 MHz 
                       AMD Athlon(tm) II X3 450 Processor, 3200 MHz 
keyboard: 
  /dev/input/event2    MosArt Wireless Keyboard/Mouse 
  /dev/input/event7    Holtek Keyboard 
mouse: 
  /dev/input/mice      MosArt Wireless Keyboard/Mouse 
monitor: 
                       LG ELECTRONICS LG FULL HD 
                       BENQ G2320HDB 
graphics card: 
                       ASUSTeK EN210 SILENT 
sound: 
                       nVidia High Definition Audio Controller 
                       ATI SBx00 Azalia (Intel HDA) 
storage: 
                       ATI SB7x0/SB8x0/SB9x0 IDE Controller 
                       ATI SB7x0/SB8x0/SB9x0 SATA Controller [IDE mode] 
network: 
  eth0                 Realtek RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet Controller 
network interface: 
  vmnet8               Ethernet network interface 
  eth0                 Ethernet network interface 
  lo                   Loopback network interface 
  vmnet1               Ethernet network interface 
disk: 
  /dev/sdb             WDC WD10EZEX-08W 
  /dev/sdc             ST4000VN000-1H41 
  /dev/sda             WDC WD5000AADS-0 
partition: 
  /dev/sdb1            Partition 
  /dev/sdb2            Partition 
  /dev/sdb3            Partition 
  /dev/sda1            Partition 
  /dev/sda2            Partition 
  /dev/sda3            Partition 
  /dev/sda4            Partition 
  /dev/sda5            Partition 
  /dev/sda6            Partition 
cdrom: 
  /dev/sr0             ASUS DRW-24B3ST 
usb controller: 
                       ATI SB7x0/SB8x0/SB9x0 USB EHCI Controller 
                       Renesas uPD720202 USB 3.0 Host Controller 
                       ATI SB7x0/SB8x0/SB9x0 USB OHCI2 Controller 
                       ATI SB7x0/SB8x0/SB9x0 USB OHCI0 Controller 
                       ATI SB7x0/SB8x0/SB9x0 USB EHCI Controller 
                       ATI SB7x0/SB8x0/SB9x0 USB OHCI0 Controller 
                       ATI SB7x0 USB OHCI1 Controller 
                       ATI SB7x0 USB OHCI1 Controller 
bios: 
                       BIOS 
bridge: 
                       AMD Family 10h Processor Miscellaneous Control 
                       AMD Family 10h Processor Address Map 
                       ATI SB7x0/SB8x0/SB9x0 LPC host controller 
                       ATI RX780/RD790 PCI to PCI bridge (PCI express gpp port D) 
                       ATI RX780/RX790 Host Bridge 
                       AMD Family 10h Processor Link Control 
                       AMD Family 10h Processor DRAM Controller 
                       AMD Family 10h Processor HyperTransport Configuration 
                       ATI SBx00 PCI to PCI Bridge 
                       ATI RX780/RD790 PCI to PCI bridge (external gfx0 port A) 
                       ATI RD790 PCI to PCI bridge (PCI express gpp port F) 
hub: 
                       Genesys Logic 4-port hub 
                       Genesys Logic Hub 
                       Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub 
                       Genesys Logic Hub 
                       Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub 
                       Genesys Logic Hub 
                       Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub 
                       Genesys Logic Hub 
                       Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub 
                       Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub 
                       Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub 
                       Genesys Logic 4-port hub 
                       Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub 
                       Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub 
                       Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub 
memory: 
                       Main Memory 
unknown: 
                       FPU 
                       DMA controller 
                       PIC 
                       Keyboard controller 
  /dev/lp0             Parallel controller 
                       PS/2 Controller 
                       ATI SBx00 SMBus Controller 
  /dev/ttyS0           16550A 
  /dev/input/event9    Holtek Keyboard 
**andromeda:~ #** 


best regards

[/FONT]

What output do you get from:


gdisk -l /dev/sdc
parted /dev/sdc print

4T is greater than can be used with traditional DOS/MBR partitioning. To use all of that disk, you would need a GPT partition table.

However, I’m not sure if what you are seeing is a physical problem with the disk, or is due to the way it is partitioned. That’s why I would like to see output from “gdisk” and/or “parted”.

Yes, this could be a hardware problem.

Is this by any chance a Gigabyte motherboard?

If so; http://www.hddoracle.com/viewtopic.php?f=59&t=150&p=275


**andromeda:~ #** gdisk -l /dev/sdc 
GPT fdisk (gdisk) version 1.0.1 

Warning! Disk size is smaller than the main header indicates! Loading 
secondary header from the last sector of the disk! You should use 'v' to 
verify disk integrity, and perhaps options on the experts' menu to repair 
the disk. 
Caution: invalid backup GPT header, but valid main header; regenerating 
backup header from main header. 

Warning! One or more CRCs don't match. You should repair the disk! 

Partition table scan: 
  MBR: protective 
  BSD: not present 
  APM: not present 
  GPT: damaged 

**************************************************************************** 
Caution: Found protective or hybrid MBR and corrupt GPT. Using GPT, but disk 
verification and recovery are STRONGLY recommended. 
**************************************************************************** 
Disk /dev/sdc: 5860577134 sectors, 2.7 TiB 
Logical sector size: 512 bytes 
Disk identifier (GUID): 9F707A96-FCEF-479C-B3EF-F11FB11AFF18 
Partition table holds up to 128 entries 
First usable sector is 34, last usable sector is 7814037134 
Partitions will be aligned on 32-sector boundaries 
Total free space is 292589 sectors (142.9 MiB) 

Number  Start (sector)    End (sector)  Size       Code  Name 
   1             256         4980735   2.4 GiB     FD00   
   2         4980736         9175039   2.0 GiB     FD00   
   5         9453280      7814023007   3.6 TiB     FD00   
**andromeda:~ #** 




**andromeda:~ #** parted /dev/sdc print 
Error: Invalid argument during seek for read on /dev/sdc 
Retry/Ignore/Cancel? c                                                     
Model: ATA ST4000VN000-1H41 (scsi) 
Disk /dev/sdc: 3001GB 
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/4096B 
Partition Table: unknown 
Disk Flags:  
**andromeda:~ #** 



no, it is asus. M4A77TD

Yes, it looks like a hardware issue.

If you have a different computer available, you could try it on that computer. If it is bad on one computer but not another, that might be a BIOS limitation. Or maybe it is a defective disk.

I tried it on another computer and the same, but it was an older one (core2 duo)

Hi
Part of a RAID device (FD00), if no important data to recover, I would use wipefs on each partition and the disk, then gdisk to to clear the gpt partition and re-create…


wipefs -a /dev/sdc5
wipefs -a /dev/sdc2
wipefs -a /dev/sdc1
wipefs -a /dev/sdc
partprobe
gdisk /dev/sdc
x
z
y
y
gdisk /dev/sdc
w
gdisk -l /dev/sdc

Why not simply create new GPT partition?

To OP:
Maybe disk was formatted with “GIGABYTE 3TB+ Unlock Utility” or “ASUS Disk Unlocker”.
IMHO simple recreation of GPT tables will solve this problem.

Maybe useful: Gigabyte's Hybrid EFI

I had connected the disk in two computers, one running OpenSuse Leap 15.2 and the other running lubuntu 18.04 in both of them
the disk was reported as 2.7TB by fdisk. Today I was going to do something following your advices, I conected the disk in the same computer with the lubuntu but I booted it woth system rescue 4.8.0 and…


root@sysresccd /root % fdisk -l
Disk /dev/loop0: 342.9 MiB, 359522304 bytes, 702192 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes


Disk /dev/sda: 3.7 TiB, 4000785948160 bytes, 7814035055 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 4096 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 4096 bytes / 4096 bytes
Disklabel type: dos
Disk identifier: 0x00000000

Device     Boot Start        End    Sectors Size Id Type
/dev/sda1           1 4294967295 4294967295   2T ee GPT

Partition 1 does not start on physical sector boundary.




Maybe because of the fdisk version ???

best regards

using gparted from system rescue cd reports: The backup GTP table is corrupt, but the primary appears OK, so that will be used,

and then:

“can’t have a partition outside the disk!”

after the errors, working with gparted it seems that the disk is empty, with no partition table, so I try to create a new gtp partition table and it report the same error: can’t have a partition outside the disk!

after that

root@sysresccd /root % fdisk -l
Disk /dev/loop0: 342.9 MiB, 359522304 bytes, 702192 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes


Disk /dev/sda: 3.7 TiB, 4000785948160 bytes, 7814035055 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 4096 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 4096 bytes / 4096 bytes
Disklabel type: gpt
Disk identifier: 501C5905-B873-4B5C-BF1A-E56524BB9ED3


and


root@sysresccd /root % gdisk -l /dev/sda
GPT fdisk (gdisk) version 1.0.1

Partition table scan:
  MBR: protective
  BSD: not present
  APM: not present
  GPT: present

Found valid GPT with protective MBR; using GPT.
Disk /dev/sda: 7814035055 sectors, 3.6 TiB
Logical sector size: 512 bytes
Disk identifier (GUID): 501C5905-B873-4B5C-BF1A-E56524BB9ED3
Partition table holds up to 128 entries
First usable sector is 34, last usable sector is 7814035021
Partitions will be aligned on 2048-sector boundaries
Total free space is 7814034988 sectors (3.6 TiB)

Number  Start (sector)    End (sector)  Size       Code  Name

So I use gdisk to partition it and create a linux partition table in all the disk

and then


root@sysresccd /root % fdisk -l         
Disk /dev/loop0: 342.9 MiB, 359522304 bytes, 702192 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes


Disk /dev/sda: 3.7 TiB, 4000785948160 bytes, 7814035055 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 4096 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 4096 bytes / 4096 bytes
Disklabel type: gpt
Disk identifier: 501C5905-B873-4B5C-BF1A-E56524BB9ED3

Device     Start        End    Sectors  Size Type
/dev/sda1   2048 7814035021 7814032974  3.7T Linux filesystem

root@sysresccd /root % gdisk -l /dev/sda
GPT fdisk (gdisk) version 1.0.1

Partition table scan:
  MBR: protective
  BSD: not present
  APM: not present
  GPT: present

Found valid GPT with protective MBR; using GPT.
Disk /dev/sda: 7814035055 sectors, 3.6 TiB
Logical sector size: 512 bytes
Disk identifier (GUID): 501C5905-B873-4B5C-BF1A-E56524BB9ED3
Partition table holds up to 128 entries
First usable sector is 34, last usable sector is 7814035021
Partitions will be aligned on 2048-sector boundaries
Total free space is 2014 sectors (1007.0 KiB)

Number  Start (sector)    End (sector)  Size       Code  Name
   1            2048      7814035021   3.6 TiB     8300  Linux filesystem
root@sysresccd /root %

hope it works!

best regards