2TB limit problems - only 1.33TB visible even with windows 7 64bit

[zephyrprime]

I have an old bios from 2008. There are no more updates for my bios.

I've read that old bios like mine can't boot from drive larger than 2tb. However, windows 7 64bit can still use data drives larger than 2tb even with an old bios like this. Is this correct?

On my old system, my 4tb drive is showing up as only 1.33TB even though it's not the boot drive. On my newer UEFI system, it is showing as 4TB.

What's the deal? Someone educate me on the 2tb limit more.

 

[eton975]

Yes, your system can use the full 4TB of the drive on the old BIOS system. To do this, open Disk Management > find the 4TB disk (Should be disk 1) > right click on its pane and select 'Convert to GPT'.

So what happens is that after you go over 2TiB the number rolls back to 0. A '4TB' (1000 bytes per KB) drive isn't the same as a proper 4TiB drive (1024 bytes/KB), so it's really more like 3.5/3.6 TiB.

3.5 TiB - 2TiB = 1.5 TiB after the rollover, and 1.33TiB after formatting and overhead doesn't surprise me.

 

[zephyrprime]

It was formatted as a gpt to begin with.

 

[master_shake_]

are you using it as a boot drive?

 

[zephyrprime]

no. The boot drive is a different drive.

 

[tcsenter]

I have an old bios from 2008. There are no more updates for my bios.

Diamond Member with over 10 years presence and it still doesn't occur to you to give some better information without someone having to ask?

What BIOS from what motherboard or system?

 

[master_shake_]

no. The boot drive is a different drive.

then it's a non-issue that your board is not uefi.

that's only needed for 4tb boot drives.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

What kind of SATA controller and/or motherboard? That's probably the issue.

 

[master_shake_]

did you try to extend the drive?

maybe post a pic of the computer management screen so we can see what you are up to?

 

[zephyrprime]

Diamond Member with over 10 years presence and it still doesn't occur to you to give some better information without someone having to ask?

What BIOS from what motherboard or system?

It's an asus p5q pro AMI bios. Intel chipset.

 

[zephyrprime]

then it's a non-issue that your board is not uefi.

that's only needed for 4tb boot drives.

My problem proves that that is not true. I have a 4TB as a non-boot drive and it's still being limited by the 2TB barrier.

 

[master_shake_]

post a picture of the computer management screen.

what controller are you running on intel or third party?

 

[VirtualLarry]

It's an asus p5q pro AMI bios. Intel chipset.

Hmm. I didn't have any issues with Win7 64-bit SP1, a 3TB Toshiba 7200RPM HDD, and a Gigabyte P35-DS3R P35 chipset motherboard, initialize as GPT and format.

 

[master_shake_]

same here...

i had a 16 drive raid 6 on a p5q-e with 16 2tb toshibas.

i think it's a controller issue.

 

[greenhawk]

It's an asus p5q pro AMI bios. Intel chipset.

which sata port is the drive plugged into ?

https://www.asus.com/Motherboards/P5Q_PRO/specifications/

it reports 2 different sata controllers (and a IDE controller but that is not the one you are using I suspect).

if on the intel, you might have no issues (or not expect any). On the Silicon Image I would expect issues (add on chipsets are always the cheapest thing going).

 

[tcsenter]

It was formatted as a gpt to begin with.

On the affected PC (PQ5 Pro) or another? Most likely it's a severely out-dated Intel AHCI (or RAID) option ROM or Intel driver. First, try updating the driver (if not already) to the latest applicable to this chipset (ICH10R):

https://downloadmirror.intel.com/22194/eng/iata_enu.exe

Try partitioning the drive using the new driver. If no success, then it's probably the Intel oROM embedded in the BIOS. If you want to take a risk, there was a BIOS modding project for ASUS PQ5 Family (the premium models), that updated all the option ROMs and some other enhancements. I've uploaded it here:

http://s89934018.onlinehome.us/BIOS/P5QPROmod.zip

It is based on the final BIOS for PQ5 Pro. Use the BIOS utility and instructions for DOS flashing (or creating a boot CD) from the ASUS download site, just replace the BIOS ROM file (and edit any batch files) with the modded one.

The user who created these is no longer active since 2013 on any forum threads where these modded BIOS were being uploaded/discussed, so if you have any problems, don't expect any assistance from him.

 

[redzo]

On that motherboard there is an additional Silicon Image Sil5723 controller managing 2 sata ports. I would make sure that the drive is not connected in one of those two sata ports.

AFAIK the absence of efi boot prevents you only from booting windows from a gpt disk, not using a gpt disk.

The last time I tried to prepare a gpt disk, I remember the fact that the disk was properly detected regarding its size just that the classical mbr style wouldn't allow volumes larger than 2TB. Windows Disk Management just could't go further than 2TB per volume.

Check the disk size in BIOS! If the BIOS displays only 1.3TB, it's pointless to expect gpt fixing anything.

 

[zephyrprime]

The drive is plugged into the intel ports and not the silicon image ones.

Intel chipset drivers are already up to date. In fact, I've had a 6TB raid on that MB for years and years (built from 5 1.5TB drives) so it's not like the drivers can't understand drives greater than 2TB.

I moved the drive to my router now so I'm not going to mess with this issue any more. It's just weird as heck that a problem that every source says should not happen is happening. Goes to show you that impossible things can happen.

Thanks for the tip on the modded bios tcsenter. I know there is a bug in the bios concerning ram timings that I've encountered before so I wonder if that modded bios fixes that.

 

[WhoBeDaPlaya]

Assuming you're using an Intel chipset mobo, watch out which version of RST you're using.
http://www.win-raid.com/t25f23-Which-are-the-quot-best-quot-Intel-AHCI-RAID-drivers.html

Was having major problems getting anything >2TB to be recognized correctly in Windows on some X58-era mobos until I used the appropriate Intel RST from the link above.

It'll still show up as < 2TB in the non-updated RAID OPROM, but works just fine in Windows.

 

[ArisVer]

A somewhat related incident. Last month I bought a 3TB HDD. I connected it to an HP xw6600 which showed about 750GB in the BIOS and Windows (Server 2012) could only format the 750GB the BIOS was showing. I removed the disk and connected it to a P35 motherboard. I don't remember what the BIOS has shown there, but Windows 7 could see the whole 3TB. I went ahead and created 4 partitions, then moved the disk to my workstation and everything is fine, apart from the fact that I lost the last partition during the first 10 minutes.

 

[tcsenter]

Intel chipset drivers are already up to date. In fact, I've had a 6TB raid on that MB for years and years (built from 5 1.5TB drives) so it's not like the drivers can't understand drives greater than 2TB.

Check the Intel storage driver version you have installed. It should be v 11.7.xxxx, which is the "final" to support AHCI on ICH10. Using the Intel driver search thingy by chipset, you'll be offered an older v 9.6.xxxx as the "latest". Intel's download center often does not give you the latest driver when you search by chipset (or board).

The driver I linked to above is the correct "latest" AHCI driver for the ICH10 SATA controllers.