1TB Samsung Drive showing up as 33MB!

Besters · 03-21-2009, 05:04 PM

HI all,

I purchased this Samsung HD103UJ HDD the other day and am getting rather frustrated now as whereas I still don't believe it to be faulty per se, I'm running out of options!

So, my system consists of the following:

Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 LGA775 Conroe (2x2.4GHz)
Award BIOS
Gigabyte GA-965P-DS3 (Socket 775)
P965 Express Chipset
2 GB Corsair DDR2 XMS2-6400C5 TwinX (2x1GB)
Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 320GB SATAII HDD (System)
*** 1TB Samsung HD103UJ (storage) ***
HIS 512MB ATI Radeon Graphics (X1950Pro)
Pioneer DVR-111BK 16x16 DVD+- RW Drive
OS: Windows XP Pro (32-bit) w/SP3

So, this rather tasty HDD arrives and I install it into one of the free SATAII ports. In the BIOS, it showed up as a 33MB drive and initially in Windows it was not visible at all. After some technical shimmy-shammy with some utility
contained in the Ultimate Boot CD for Windows aka UBCD4Win; see www.ubcd4win.com) I convinced it to make an appearance in Windows but alas, only as a 33.4MB drive (as reported in the BIOS).

Suspecting this problem may be down to the SATA RAID onboard controller I also purchased a PCIe SATAII Controller card which has the Silicon Image SiI 3132 SATA chipset but still the story refuses to change. In fact I'm sure I saw the drive appear as size 0MB when the card's BIOS flashed past!

Does anyone have any suggestions on how to kick this HDD into touch as it can't be genuinely faulty - or can it?!

I'd be grateful for any advice that any of the TSF members may have on this problem.

Regards,
Nick (Besters)

**raptor_pa** · 03-21-2009, 05:12 PM

Try this http://blog.atola.com/restoring-fact...rive-capacity/

wicket · 03-22-2009, 01:51 AM

The problem is caused by the Host Protected Area (HPA) setting of the hard drive. Pretty much any recent Linux liveCD or installed distro can fix this with a simple hdparm command."

Besters · 03-22-2009, 05:17 PM

Thanks raptor - I downloaded and ran the HDD Capacity Restore app like you suggested and the Drive is now working like a Dream! Also returned the SATA card to the store for a refund.

Hats off and all that.

Have a great day!

Regards,

Nick (Besters)

03-21-2009, 05:04 PM	#1 (permalink)
Besters Registered User Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 3 OS: XP w/SP2	1TB Samsung Drive showing up as 33MB! HI all, I purchased this Samsung HD103UJ HDD the other day and am getting rather frustrated now as whereas I still don't believe it to be faulty per se, I'm running out of options! So, my system consists of the following: Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 LGA775 Conroe (2x2.4GHz) Award BIOS Gigabyte GA-965P-DS3 (Socket 775) P965 Express Chipset 2 GB Corsair DDR2 XMS2-6400C5 TwinX (2x1GB) Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 320GB SATAII HDD (System) * 1TB Samsung HD103UJ (storage) * HIS 512MB ATI Radeon Graphics (X1950Pro) Pioneer DVR-111BK 16x16 DVD+- RW Drive OS: Windows XP Pro (32-bit) w/SP3 So, this rather tasty HDD arrives and I install it into one of the free SATAII ports. In the BIOS, it showed up as a 33MB drive and initially in Windows it was not visible at all. After some technical shimmy-shammy with some utility contained in the Ultimate Boot CD for Windows aka UBCD4Win; see www.ubcd4win.com) I convinced it to make an appearance in Windows but alas, only as a 33.4MB drive (as reported in the BIOS). Suspecting this problem may be down to the SATA RAID onboard controller I also purchased a PCIe SATAII Controller card which has the Silicon Image SiI 3132 SATA chipset but still the story refuses to change. In fact I'm sure I saw the drive appear as size 0MB when the card's BIOS flashed past! Does anyone have any suggestions on how to kick this HDD into touch as it can't be genuinely faulty - or can it?! I'd be grateful for any advice that any of the TSF members may have on this problem. Regards, Nick (Besters)

03-21-2009, 05:12 PM	#2 (permalink)
raptor_pa Mod Hardware Team Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Central PA Posts: 4,836 OS: XP	Re: 1TB Samsung Drive showing up as 33MB! Try this http://blog.atola.com/restoring-fact...rive-capacity/ __________________

03-22-2009, 01:51 AM	#3 (permalink)
wicket Registered User Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 34 OS: xp32	Re: 1TB Samsung Drive showing up as 33MB! The problem is caused by the Host Protected Area (HPA) setting of the hard drive. Pretty much any recent Linux liveCD or installed distro can fix this with a simple hdparm command."

03-22-2009, 05:17 PM	#4 (permalink)
Besters Registered User Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 3 OS: XP w/SP2	Re: 1TB Samsung Drive showing up as 33MB! Thanks raptor - I downloaded and ran the HDD Capacity Restore app like you suggested and the Drive is now working like a Dream! Also returned the SATA card to the store for a refund. Hats off and all that. Have a great day! Regards, Nick (Besters)