How do I format my 4TB drive to get the most space out of it

[cybecom]

Hi
I have an existing external WD Red NAS Hard Drive 4 TB that I have been happily using in my external storage device (USB mounted drive enclosure) on my QNAP TS-429 Pro. Somehow I managed to format that some years ago so that I get close to 4TB out of it. I want to continue using that but in a two-drive swap in/out arrangement. I have purchased another drive the same and have tried erasing and then formatting it using EXT4 but it keeps telling me it has only 1.82 TB after formatting. I do not have an option that I can see to format it to GTB as opposed to MBR. How can I format it to use the most space? I only need to be able to read it from a NAS.
Thanks in advance.
I have a QNAP TS-469 PRO running version 4.3.4.0597 (28/05/2018).
Regards
Michelle

[Don]

Where/how are you formatting it?

[cybecom]

Sorry - I should have clarified that. I am logged in as admin on the QNAP and have used the built-in format utility that is part of the QNAP software:
1) Click into Control Panel
2) Click into Storage Manager
3) Click into External Storage
4) Select the disk
5) Right click on the pop out windows and click on Format
6) Select EXT4 and leave everything else the same although I have tried giving the disk another name too in case it was getting confused with my other disk.
I don't have options to select between MBR or GTB. As mentioned, I have tried erasing the drive first (using the erase option in the same area) then formatting but each time it says only 1.81TB of a 4TB disk has been done. My understanding is that EXT4 should allow me to get the full capacity (after formatting). My other disk is showing a formatted capacity of 3.62TB of a 4TB disk which is what I am trying to imitate.

So to clarify, the same system is happily working with the same model and size of disk at the full 3.62TB capacity. Yes I am using a dock but have been for the other disk which has worked fine. What I can't remember was whether I had this problem before. I do know that over the years, I have occasionally had QNAP support remote in. It could be that I had this problem with the other disk (but can't remember) and they got in and fixed it.

My linux is somewhat rusty so I am not comfortable going in as root and issuing commands that revolve around erasing and formatting. I don't want to muck up my normal disk volumes.

The only thing that has changed is that I periodically update the QNAP with the latest software.

Thanks in advance.

[Don]

Are there multiple partitions on the disk?

Maybe the external dock does not support drives over 2TB.

[OneCD]

Last time I checked, the QTS Storage Manager is not a 'full' partition manager. It can't perform partition table editing, and can't switch to using GPT instead of MBR. At best, Storage Manager can reformat an existing partition with a different filesystem.

Suggest you manage the partition table entries outside of the NAS. Connect the drive to your Linux or Windows system and use your favorite partition editor.

Agree that the 2TB limit sounds like it's using the older MBR method. On the other hand, it may only have a single 2TB partition on it.

For more info: https://www.howtogeek.com/193669/whats- ... g-a-drive/

[cybecom]

Hi OneCD - Thanks for that. I was about to try some software from my Windows PC and do that. It may be that QNAP support remoted in before and partitioned at the root level for my other disk.

Don - as mentioned, I'm using exactly the same type of drive in the existing dock and it is working fine at 3.62 TB.

The disk I am trying to format/partition is a brand new one out of the box. I did use the erase option in case it was partitioned weirdly out of the box but has made no difference. And just to clarify, the old disk is working fine. The new disk is exactly the same model, etc. as the old one. I have got a second disk because I want to do rotating backups. ie. Store one offsite then swap back in. I will continue to use exactly the same dock. I suspect the issue is down to the QNAP Storage Manager software - its formatting functionality is too limited - and as you say - may be impacted by whatever has been done on the disk by the manufacturer.

[cybecom]

SOLVED:

Although storage manager was only detecting one partition on the drive, there were in fact two. The first partition was the one formatted by storage manager to 1.81 TB. Storage manager unfortunately doesn't appear to provide any way to accurately see what partitions are on the disk and what they are partitioned as. In this case, the disk did have two GPT partitions but the software would only work on the first partition hence the cap on size.

SOLUTION:

1) Eject, turn off and remove the USB external enclosure with new disk from the NAS.
2) Plug into my Windows 7 computer
3) Download and install a partition manager capable of creating an EXT4 / GPT single partition. I used MiniTool Partition Wizard.
4) Delete partitions on that disk (Warning - make sure you do it to that disk assuming there is no data on it that you want to keep.)
5) Recreate one partition as EXT4 leaving it as GPT. This took about 20 minutes.
6) When finished I ejected, turned off and removed the external enclosure with drive and reconnected to my QNAP NAS.
7) I then refreshed the external drives in Storage Manager/External Drives on my QNAP
It was showing up but not properly. I think it has unknown or something like that against it. It did however say EXT4 and 3.62 TB. I simply reformatted it then (right-click, format). This happened quickly. Less than a minute.
9) I then went into the backup app... had installed Hybrid Backup Sync.... and setup a new job against the new name I had given this drive (slightly different from the other one so I know which is which). The settings I've set appear to run the right job against the correct drive when connected. Currently, the backup is syncing. All looks good but it's going to take a while (ten hours) but that is to be expected for several terabytes of data.

Thanks to those who responded. I hope this solution helps someone else in the future.