West Digital WD400 has only 33.8gb capacity

  • Thread starter Thread starter zend108
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zend108

WD400
also known as
WD400BB


Using it with an nforce2 motherboard

I am really pissed off. I have two of these hard drives. The one I
bought later (made in Malaysia)I didn't use for a few years. Bios says
it has 33821mb capacity. It says 33.8gb when I write zeros to it with
gwscan program. Is this some kind of magic number?
The West Digital utilities show it as 40gb then write a dynamic overlay
on it which ends up not working when the drive is being used. It
reverts to what I consider it's true capacity of 33821mb.

I have no motherboard bios limitations. My other WD400BB comes in at a
bit more than 40gb in the bios.

I have two 60gb drives that show up correctly in the bios

My first WD400 works fine with a true 40gb capacity and was made in
Thailand

Thanks for any advice on how to make this into a 40gb drive. I think
it's hopeless. I'm ready to go after WD on a class action suit even
though my warranty is long expired. OK so I feel ripped off! 40gb is
what I need, not 33.8

zzRick
 
WD400
also known as
WD400BB


Using it with an nforce2 motherboard

I am really pissed off. I have two of these hard drives. The one I
bought later (made in Malaysia) I didn't use for a few years. Bios says
it has 33821mb capacity. It says 33.8gb when I write zeros to it with
gwscan program. Is this some kind of magic number?
Click to expand...

32 binary GB.
The West Digital utilities show it as 40gb then write a dynamic overlay
on it which ends up not working when the drive is being used.
Click to expand...

But it shortstroked it to 32GB anyway and now without the overlay working
it is stuck at that. You *do* of course boot off this drive, *right*?
It reverts to what I consider it's true capacity of 33821mb.
Huh?


I have no motherboard bios limitations.
My other WD400BB comes in at a bit more than 40gb in the bios.
Click to expand...

That is no proof.
I have two 60gb drives that show up correctly in the bios
Click to expand...

That doesn't say much.
A 32GB limited bios can read/show the capacity just fine.
My first WD400 works fine with a true 40gb capacity
Click to expand...

Right, that is the real test and proof.
and was made in Thailand

Thanks for any advice on how to make this into a 40gb drive.
Click to expand...

Hitachi Feature Tool.
I think it's hopeless.
Click to expand...

Let's see first, Ok?
I'm ready to go after WD on a class action suit even
though my warranty is long expired. OK so I feel ripped off! 40gb is
what I need, not 33.8
Click to expand...

Sue the overlay makers. Or sue yourself if you don't boot from it.
 
Hitachi Feature Tool........

I shall try it out. I like to fool with bootable floppys. BTW: the
latest gwscan is very fast at writing zeros to a drive. Thanks a lot.
The 33.8gb drive works OK with an operating system. I just feel gypped
and can really use the 40gb I paid for.


rick
 
Hitachi Feature Tool........

I shall try it out. I like to fool with bootable floppys. BTW: the
latest gwscan is very fast at writing zeros to a drive. Thanks a lot.
Click to expand...
The 33.8gb drive works OK with an operating system.
Click to expand...

Come to think of it, the OS install may have wiped out the
overlay bootsector and the overlay therefor isn't started.
I just feel gypped and can really use the 40gb I paid for.
Click to expand...

Run the feature tool and set the capacity back to full.

Or use the overlay installation to remove the overlay.
If it is designed correctly it should also set the capacity back to full.
 
I am astounded but the Hitachi Feature Tools seems to have repaired it
to it's genuine size of 40.2 gigabytes. Was some kind of firmware
inserted into the drive that the factory neglected? Many many thanks.

So far so good. The drive shows up as 40.2gb in quite a few ways. In
the bios, in gwscan, in Hitachi Tools, in WinXP also after messing
around with Part Magic 8.0 a few times. But I must wipe it clean for
the real test of this conversion to 40.2 and so I can do a 100% clean
install. Next post will be after low level reformat.

rick


___________________________
 
Come to think of it, the OS install may have wiped out the
overlay bootsector and the overlay therefor isn't started.
Click to expand...

OK. I partitioned the drive with Data Lifeguard a few times in my
experimenting. Writing zeros after each try. Drive always shows up as
40.2 while doing this due to the dynamic overlay being inserted
automatically. The last time I backtracked and removed the dynamic
overlay which was worthless anyhow. Since in WinXP the drive was only
33gb despite it. Plus overlay seems to prevent you from using Part
Magic later on. Who wants a useless overlay when I can work with the
drive's real size thanks to your advice?

Rick
 
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