Issue with external hard disk drives > 2 TiB

[Karl Auer]

On Sat, 2022-02-26 at 17:44 +0100, Ralf Mardorf via ubuntu-users wrote:
> I recently bought another fantec DB-ALU3e case, but this time using a
> Toshiba P300 - desktop, 7200 rpm, CMR hard drive with a capacity of
> 3TB.
> [...]
> An "Input/output error" occurs again and again, if this is happening
> the HDD isn't mounted anymore.

I have had similar experiences with several external USB enclosures. In
my case, the problem arose when I put a new drive in an older
enclosure. When I bought a new enclosure (same brand, after checking
the specs), it was able to handle the larger drive. In your case, even
a new enclosure failed.

I would consider this a "not fit for purpose" matter, meaning you
should be able to return the enclosure for a refund, but check the
external product description carefully (or online product description
if you bought it online) as if they actually mention this limit you are
stuck with the device.

I'm pretty sure it has nothing to do with the formatting of the drive
or with MBR vs GPT. The enclosure just moves blocks to and from the
drive, it doesn't care about formatting (as far as I know - happy to be
educated).

I have working enclosures with 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 TB capacity drives in
them, so it is not a general driver or USB limitation.

Regards, K.


-- 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Karl Auer (kauer at biplane.com.au)
http://www.biplane.com.au/kauer

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