Problems with 3TB Hitachi 7K3000

I'm having problems formatting my 3TB drive. I have OS 10.6.8 operating on a Mac Pro. I still get 800GB showing up for hard drive size. What did they do at the Mac store to get the computer to show the full 3 TB?

Let me add to this. I am using the 3TB internal hard drive as an external hard drive through an external docking bay that is connected to a USB port. I never had any problems with previous hard drives up to 750GB. However, my Mac Pro will only recognize 800GB of the new 3TB hard drive I want to use now.

However, when I connect the 3TB hard drive directly in the internal docking bay of the Mac Pro, it does recognize the full 3TB on the hard drive. However, I want an the 3TB hard drive as an external drive so that I can store the backup data in a safe location. I don't want to have to open the computer and detach the hard drive on a regular basis. So here are my questions:

Is there a limit to the size of a hard drive that can be used on a USB port? There are manufacterers of specific external hard drives of up to 2TB (that I have seen--that TB number could be higher) that operate through USB ports--so why not 3TB?

Any suggestions on how to get a 3TB hard drive to work on a USB connection? If not, is this an issue that may be resolved in Mac OS Lion. I currently have Snow Leopard--does this have any capability?

an external docking bay that is connected to a USB port.

It is not a limitation of USB. It is a limitation of your external enclosure or docking bay.

You will need a different enclosure or docking bay -- one that supports drives ABOVE the 2.2TB limit, or trade in your drive for a 2TB drive that can be supported in ordinary enclosures/ docking bays.

is this an issue that may be resolved in Mac OS Lion

This is not an deficiency in Mac OS X -- as evidenced by the fact that the drive shows at full size when placed in an internal bay. It is a shortcoming of the electronics/firmware in your external enclosure.

Thank you for the information. It is greatly appreciated.

Someone said 'other drive bays are in use with raid.'

Well, you can always just pull those drives anyway and return them later. The raid will still work and be recognized just fine unless they are a) part of the boot volume, b) linked as the /users/account and then the system expects to mount that array volume.

What should I do if I'd like to use Hitachi 3TB 7K3000 with my HDD Box External? I tried with LaCie D2 Quadra Box and WD box, tried all Firewire 800 / 400 / USB... but NO LUCK! My Mac Mini coud read only 800GB instead 3TB!

Please give me a solution!!!! +_+

Take it up with OWC, with Mac Mini forum. The issue is the external case bridge.

Realize this sounds the same but Mac Pro offers more ways to cut and solve like with PCIe controllers and internal drive bays.

OK, I started a new topic here, please do me a favor to have a look at this:

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3503157

Many thanks in advance! ^^

I was having the same problem with my OWC enclosure, I noticed a dip switch on the inside and I set it to 1. Now the drive shows up as a 3TB, it would have been really nice if OWC would have mentioned that in the manual.

JHenley01 wrote:

I was having the same problem with my OWC enclosure, I noticed a dip switch on the inside and I set it to 1. Now the drive shows up as a 3TB, it would have been really nice if OWC would have mentioned that in the manual.

I don't know which manual you're using, and OWC has quite a few, but I was just looking through an OWC Mercury Elite manual for an enclosure I'm planning to order and it makes reference to "jumpers" (which look like dip switches to me) that need to be set for RAID configuration. The first switch of the three in the picture in the manual is for "2TB" mode and is either up in the "On" label direction to turn on 2TB Mode which limits the maximum drive capacity to 2.2 TB for "compatibility with older systems" or down in the dip switch identifier direction (in this case "1" for the first of three) to allow full capacity. I agree it's not overly obvious, and if I hadn't been burned by an enclosure which gave the same results the OP got, it wouldn't have jumped out at me.

At least we don't have "older systems" for which 3TB drives fall in the category of "you can't get there from here."😉