Groups > comp.sys.mac.hardware.storage > #1101

Re: Can't see the partitions on my external SATA HDD when using different adapter/controllers (Vantec vs. no brand name)?

From	ANTant@zimage.com (Ant)
Subject	Re: Can't see the partitions on my external SATA HDD when using different adapter/controllers (Vantec vs. no brand name)?
Newsgroups	comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.storage, comp.sys.mac.hardware.storage, comp.sys.mac.system
References	(5 earlier) <z9OdnVVH66p1IdHLnZ2dnUU7-fGdnZ2d@earthlink.com> <IuOdndbHIo2aTdLLnZ2dnUU7-WWdnZ2d@earthlink.com> <1me9juu.5o7rp21khfw52N%dempson@actrix.gen.nz> <0bCdnW2IEt0FNc3LnZ2dnUU7-aWdnZ2d@earthlink.com> <1mea86w.hf27c81d2kzunN%dempson@actrix.gen.nz>
Message-ID	<VfSdnRQ9UIb9aM3LnZ2dnUU7-eGdnZ2d@earthlink.com> (permalink)
Date	2015-11-21 16:51 -0600

Cross-posted to 3 groups.

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Interesting and thanks. I looked at Vantec's web site and saw this 
http://www.vantecusa.com/en/faq/index 's FAQ #13:

"Will the CB-ISATAU2 work with Advanced Format (4Ksector) Drives?
No, it will not work with Advanced Format (4K sector) Drives. We do have 
other product that will like CB-ISA200-U3 or CB-ISATAU3."

Huh? How come I was able to format it and use it? Obviously, it didn't 
work with the other adapters after that. :/

I wonder if this problem will still occur if connected to desktops' 
motherboards inside computers.

...
> It is specific to "Advanced Format" (4K sector) drives, which are newer
> ones, but they exist in capacities smaller than 2 TB (judging from the
> list of models at Western Digital).

> What I don't know is whether your adapters change behaviour depending on
> drive capacity. It seems most likely  adapter is changing behaviour
> depending on drive capacity. For your current WD 2 GB drive it is
> passing through the 4K sector size. It might behave differently with
> smaller capacity drives that use 4K sectors.

> I'm assuming your other adapters simply don't support 4K sectors, but it
> is also possible they change behaviour for drive capacities over 2 TB,
> because drives over 2 TB are effectively unusable by Windows XP (or
> earlier), so there is little need to force 512 byte sectors with drives
> over 2 TB.
...
> The sector size is an integral feature of the drive mechanism: either
> 512 bytes or 4096 bytes per sector. Drives with 4K sectors ("Advanced
> Format") support a backward compatibility mode ("512e") which allows
> them to work with older OS versions which only understand 512 byte
> sectors, but with a newer OS the native 4K sector size is used.

> Adding a USB to SATA bridge into the path introduces an additional
> variable: whether the bridge/adapter supports 4K sectors. If it doesn't,
> the host is forced to use 512 byte sectors and is unable to detect that
> the drive is really using 4K sectors.

> In theory, an OS new enough to support 4K sectors could opt to use 512
> byte emulation mode even if the drive has 4K sectors, but I haven't
> spotted a way to force that in OS X. This would have performance
> disadvantages.
...
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Mac OS X doesn't see the encrypted partitions on my external SATA HDD when using different adapter/controllers? ANTant@zimage.com (Ant) - 2015-11-16 20:44 -0600
  Re: Mac OS X doesn't see the encrypted partitions on my external SATA HDD when using different adapter/controllers? Jolly Roger <jollyroger@pobox.com> - 2015-11-17 02:56 +0000
    Re: Mac OS X doesn't see the encrypted partitions on my external SATA HDD when using different adapter/controllers? ANTant@zimage.com (Ant) - 2015-11-17 01:09 -0600
      Re: Mac OS X doesn't see the encrypted partitions on my external SATA HDD when using different adapter/controllers? dempson@actrix.gen.nz (David Empson) - 2015-11-17 20:28 +1300
        Re: Mac OS X doesn't see the encrypted partitions on my external SATA HDD when using different adapter/controllers? ANTant@zimage.com (Ant) - 2015-11-17 02:30 -0600
        Re: Mac OS X doesn't see the encrypted partitions on my external SATA HDD when using different adapter/controllers? ANTant@zimage.com (Ant) - 2015-11-17 11:59 -0600
          Re: Mac OS X doesn't see the encrypted partitions on my external SATA HDD when using different adapter/controllers? ANTant@zimage.com (Ant) - 2015-11-17 16:07 -0600
          Re: Mac OS X doesn't see the encrypted partitions on my external SATA HDD when using different adapter/controllers? dempson@actrix.gen.nz (David Empson) - 2015-11-18 13:59 +1300
            Re: Mac OS X doesn't see the encrypted partitions on my external SATA HDD when using different adapter/controllers? ANTant@zimage.com (Ant) - 2015-11-17 20:54 -0600
              Re: Mac OS X doesn't see the encrypted partitions on my external SATA HDD when using different adapter/controllers? dempson@actrix.gen.nz (David Empson) - 2015-11-18 18:01 +1300
                Re: Mac OS X doesn't see the encrypted partitions on my external SATA HDD when using different adapter/controllers? ANTant@zimage.com (Ant) - 2015-11-18 12:01 -0600
                Can't see the partitions on my external SATA HDD when using different adapter/controllers (Vantec vs. no brand name)? ANTant@zimage.com (Ant) - 2015-11-20 19:59 -0600
                Re: Can't see the partitions on my external SATA HDD when using different adapter/controllers (Vantec vs. no brand name)? ErikRS <mac-dane@is.invalid> - 2015-11-21 04:23 +0100
                Re: Can't see the partitions on my external SATA HDD when using different adapter/controllers (Vantec vs. no brand name)? ANTant@zimage.com (Ant) - 2015-11-21 00:14 -0600
                Re: Can't see the partitions on my external SATA HDD when using different adapter/controllers (Vantec vs. no brand name)? dempson@actrix.gen.nz (David Empson) - 2015-11-22 01:11 +1300
                Re: Can't see the partitions on my external SATA HDD when using different adapter/controllers (Vantec vs. no brand name)? ANTant@zimage.com (Ant) - 2015-11-21 11:23 -0600
                Re: Can't see the partitions on my external SATA HDD when using different adapter/controllers (Vantec vs. no brand name)? dempson@actrix.gen.nz (David Empson) - 2015-11-22 10:04 +1300
                Re: Can't see the partitions on my external SATA HDD when using different adapter/controllers (Vantec vs. no brand name)? ANTant@zimage.com (Ant) - 2015-11-21 16:51 -0600
                Re: Can't see the partitions on my external SATA HDD when using different adapter/controllers (Vantec vs. no brand name)? Lewis <g.kreme@gmail.com.dontsendmecopies> - 2015-11-22 05:05 +0000
                Re: Can't see the partitions on my external SATA HDD when using different adapter/controllers (Vantec vs. no brand name)? ANTant@zimage.com (Ant) - 2015-11-22 00:19 -0600
                Re: Can't see the partitions on my external SATA HDD when using different adapter/controllers (Vantec vs. no brand name)? Robert Nichols <SEE_SIGNATURE@localhost.localdomain.invalid> - 2015-11-22 09:51 -0600

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