[SOLVED] problem formatting a 3TB hard drive.

[arminius]

Ok, I used mkfs to format the entire drive in ext4 but it only created a 2TB partition.
I tried to expand it in kde partition manager, but kept coming up with error messages.

I couldn't even create a separate partition in ext4, it would only let me use the rest of that space if I used ext3.
I looked up ext4 on wikipedia and it should be good till you get to 1EB?

The hard drive was listed as " 3TB Western Digital 3.5" 5400rpm SATA 6Gb/s HDD PN WD30EZRX" where I got it.

so is there a trick to getting more then 2TB's?

[tom_]

Ok, I used mkfs to format the entire drive in ext4 but it only created a 2TB partition.

mkfs builds a filesystem, doesn't change partition size,
so probably you already had a 2 GB partition.

diskdrake (as root) should permit you to add/resize partitions

[arminius]

I'll try that when I get home, was weird that the partition managers couldn't grow the partition though.
Is that a common problem?

[arminius]

Ok, I used mkfs to format the entire drive in ext4 but it only created a 2TB partition.

mkfs builds a filesystem, doesn't change partition size,
so probably you already had a 2 GB partition.

diskdrake (as root) should permit you to add/resize partitions

ok diskdrake didn't work, here's what I tried in terminal, it's rather long but I don't know what's relevant and irelevant.

Code: Select all

[root@localhost arminius]# diskdrake
Gtk-Message **: Failed to load module "canberra-gtk-module" at /usr/lib/libDrakX/mygtk2.pm line 20.
Gtk-CRITICAL **: gtk_cell_view_set_cell_data: assertion `cell_view->priv->displayed_row != NULL' failed at /usr/lib/libDrakX/interactive/gtk.pm line 520.
mke2fs 1.42.2 (27-Mar-2012)
tune2fs 1.42.2 (27-Mar-2012)
Setting maximal mount count to -1
Setting interval between checks to 0 seconds
[root@localhost arminius]# diskdrake\
>
Gtk-Message **: Failed to load module "canberra-gtk-module" at /usr/lib/libDrakX/mygtk2.pm line 20.
tune2fs 1.42.2 (27-Mar-2012)
[root@localhost arminius]# diskdrake
Gtk-Message **: Failed to load module "canberra-gtk-module" at /usr/lib/libDrakX/mygtk2.pm line 20.
dumpe2fs 1.42.2 (27-Mar-2012)
resize2fs 1.42.2 (27-Mar-2012)
Resizing the filesystem on /dev/sdb1 to 732565752 (4k) blocks.
Begin pass 1 (max = 5973)
Extending the inode table     resize2fs: Invalid argument while trying to resize /dev/sdb1
Please run 'e2fsck -fy /dev/sdb1' to fix the filesystem
after the aborted resize operation.
[root@localhost arminius]# e2fsck -fy /dev/sdb1
e2fsck 1.42.2 (27-Mar-2012)
Pass 1: Checking inodes, blocks, and sizes
Pass 2: Checking directory structure
Pass 3: Checking directory connectivity
Pass 4: Checking reference counts
Pass 5: Checking group summary information
newvids: 11/134217728 files (0.0% non-contiguous), 8474650/536870911 blocks
[root@localhost arminius]# diskdrake
Gtk-Message **: Failed to load module "canberra-gtk-module" at /usr/lib/libDrakX/mygtk2.pm line 20.
dumpe2fs 1.42.2 (27-Mar-2012)

(diskdrake:13329): Gtk-WARNING **: GtkSpinButton: setting an adjustment with non-zero page size is deprecated
dumpe2fs 1.42.2 (27-Mar-2012)
resize2fs 1.42.2 (27-Mar-2012)
Resizing the filesystem on /dev/sdb1 to 732565752 (4k) blocks.
Begin pass 1 (max = 5973)
Extending the inode table     resize2fs: Invalid argument while trying to resize /dev/sdb1
Please run 'e2fsck -fy /dev/sdb1' to fix the filesystem
after the aborted resize operation.

nothing I tried allowed me to resize it above 2TB.
anyone got idea's?

[arminius]

I was able to split the drive into 2 X 1.3 TB drives, that's better then nothing, but really want it to be 1 whole partition.
so if anyone can suggest a solution I would be hugely grateful.

[tom_]

try as normal user:

Code: Select all

su -
diskdrake


the command "su -" is mandatory if you want to use a graphic application when you are root

[madeye]

Are you using MBR or GPT partition table? If I remember correctly there may be problems using MBR for such a large partition.

You could try using parted (or gparted if you want GUI version) to do the partitioning. It can also create a GPT table on the drive instead of the MBR if you want to try that.

EDIT: Found the following info on wikipedia

Code: Select all

For disks with 512-byte sectors, the MBR partition table entries allow up to a maximum of 2.20 TB (2.20 × 1012 bytes)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GUID_Partition_Table

[arminius]

Can mkfs be made to format in GPT?

[madeye]

mkfs doesn't care if it is MBR or GPT. So that will not be a problem.

But not all partitioning tools can use GPT. parted can handle just about anything. But fdisk and cfdisk can only handle MBR.
There is also a tool called gdisk (or gptdisk) that can handle GPT partitions.

For parted see:
http://plone.lucidsolutions.co.nz/linux/io/using-gnu-parted-to-create-a-gpt-for-a-device-2tb

for gptdisk see:
http://rodsbooks.com/gdisk/

[arminius]

thank you madeye, that's now formatted to 2.5TB

[hintzy64]

Thanks for this. I just bought the same drive and ran into the same problem. I installed the new, unformatted drive and diskdrake only saw it as 2 TB. I tried to create the 3 TB partition with palimpsest instead, but then diskdrake said the partition table was corrupted so it wouldn't mount it. Gparted was able to create a GPT table and a 3 TB partition that diskdrake recognizes. The drive is mounted and data is copying to its new home.

[magfan]

Here is, once again, to be mentioned that diskdrake seems to use fdisk per default. After installing gdisk from the repositories mcc/diskdrake should be able to handle huge harddrives properly.

https://forums.mageia.org/en/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=3855
https://forums.mageia.org/de/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=596&p=7129&hilit=gdisk#p7125

[hintzy64]

Good to know, thanks. I've got the disk set up now, but will go ahead and install gdisk anyway. Will diskdrake know to use gdisk or will I have to change a setting?

[magfan]

I did not have to change any settings. After installing gdisk with mcc I immediately switched to diskdrake in mcc - and everything was working. There were no problems when I tried to partition a 10TB RAID.

[hintzy64]

As I mentioned in the other thread, the default should probably be changed to gdisk for upcoming releases. I bought my 3 TB drive because prices are dropping, and large RAIDs like yours are becoming increasingly popular. I was mildly surprised it didn't "just work" with MCC/diskdrake, but was confident I'd find a quick solution here. (And I did!) Unfortunately, many other people aren't that patient. Seeing the reactions some new users have posted when wireless (which is notoriously fickle) doesn't always work OOTB, it would be bad if the Mageia installer couldn't handle their hard drives. Just my two cents.

[doktor5000]

I did not have to change any settings. After installing gdisk with mcc I immediately switched to diskdrake in mcc - and everything was working. There were no problems when I tried to partition a 10TB RAID.

Would you be so kind to document that in Errata? https://wiki.mageia.org/en/Mageia_2_Err ... are_Issues

[magfan]

I did not have to change any settings. After installing gdisk with mcc I immediately switched to diskdrake in mcc - and everything was working. There were no problems when I tried to partition a 10TB RAID.

Would you be so kind to document that in Errata? https://wiki.mageia.org/en/Mageia_2_Err ... are_Issues

Done.

[doktor5000]

Thanks, looks fine