Help for an HD with limited capacity of storage

[GuiBer]

Hi all.
I’m asking your help for an HD Seagate ST3200822A 200GB 7200rpm ATA/100 I purchased on eBay and I received today ready to be installed as a second HD in a PMac G4 MDD FW800.
The HD was installed on a PC Laptop and surely formatted with the CLJ (Capacity Limitation Jumper) installed to limit the capacity to 32GB in a system that didn't allow more GBs.
Notwithstanding I received it without the jumper, the HD appeared on the desktop as a 32GB Ms-Dos HD and Utility Disk under Mac OS X Leopard can’t resize the partition to its full capacity of 200GB.
I have found this document at Seagate :
https://www.seagate.com/support/kb/the-drive-is-larger-than-32gb-but-the-operating-system-only-recognizes-32gb-182079en/
but it can’t help Mac users how to solve the problem.
Unfortunately the utility SeaTools is a DOS application…

I have read here (sorry, it’s in italian language) :
https://qastack.it/apple/139157/restore-macintosh-hd-to-its-original-partition-configuration
that an HD can be resized to its original capacity with some terminal commands.
The article explains to enter ‘Recovery Mode’ and then to type

diskutil cs list   to see the Logical Value of the disks (LVUUID);
diskutil cs resizeStack (LVUUID) 0g   to expand the storage to its real capacity.

Please, can someone confirm me if these steps can work under Leopard that doesn’t have a ‘Recovery Mode’ or have a different suggestion to get back 200GB from my HD ?

Many thanks for your help

P.S. I tested 'diskutil cs list' but doesn’t work with Leopard and 'diskutil list' shows the volumes without the LVUUID…

[FBz]

Can you not simply set drive jumper(s) to Cable Select and then reformat it for Mac under Disk Utility?
Try other formats first, too… MS-DOS (FAT), ExFAT, etc. and then maybe back to the Mac formats afterwards.

From Seagate (your reference):
Drive Jumpers: Applies to Mac and Window users. On drives that are larger than 32 GB there is a Capacity Limitation Jumper (CLJ), also known as the Limit Capacity Jumper or the Alternate Capacity (AC) Jumper setting. This jumper will limit the capacity of the drive to 32 GB and should only be used when the BIOS hangs when trying to auto-detect the drive. If you have two jumpers shunts on the drive you will need to remove the CLJ or AC jumper.

If you format the drive with the CLJ or AC jumper then the drive capacity will be limited to 32GB. After removing the CLJ or AC jumper the drive will still be recognized as 32GB. You must reformat the drive without the CLJ or AC jumper to gain the full capacity of the drive. The other option is to create a second partition with the remaining unallocated disc space.

[IIO]

i dont think you can resize "DOS" partitions from 10.5 - what happens if you try to simply format it?

[GuiBer]

Thanks FBz and IIO for the suggestions.
I have tried all possibilities formatting it with Disk Utility as MS-Dos, ExFat and MacOS Extended using Tiger or Leopard (internally) and Mojave or Big Sur (with an USB external case).
Nothing, the partition is always 32GB and can't be reset to its real size of 200GB.
I tried also to re-add a jumper at CLJ position, format it and then remove the jumper : it doesn't works.
It seems the only way to remove this 'flag' is using a real old PC and use the DOS utility 'SeaTools' I have found in the CD.
Let's hope to find this PC...

[DieHard]

You can use the Western Digital Lifeguard (even though it's NOT a seagate)
https://support.wdc.com/downloads.aspx?p=3

You can use this on BOTH IDE and SATA Drives, skip the diagnostics and pick (erase, write Zeros) but ONLY DO a "Quick Write zeros"
This will zero that data you can't get to and fix your issue

[GuiBer]

Many thanks DieHard for the info.
Unfortunately I only work with Macs (PPC G4 MDD with Tiger, Leo and 9.2.2, iMac with Mojave and MacBook Air M1 with Big Sur), so I have to try the app you suggested me in PC emulation, hoping it will work.
If not, I'll search for a friend with a real PC.
Thank you again

[DieHard]

Many thanks DieHard for the info.
Unfortunately I only work with Macs (PPC G4 MDD with Tiger, Leo and 9.2.2, iMac with Mojave and MacBook Air M1 with Big Sur), so I have to try the app you suggested me in PC emulation, hoping it will work.
If not, I'll search for a friend with a real PC.
Thank you again

You will need a real PC

[teroyk]

i dont think you can resize "DOS" partitions from 10.5 - what happens if you try to simply format it?

Yes, you can! With iPartition.

But have to remember that DOS FAT16 support only max 2 GB and Win98-XP FAT32 support only max 32GB. And have to remember that Windows PC and Apple partition table is different so you cannot make HD that can boot both machines. But you can make FAT/NTFS/HFS partitions with PC bootable HD if you put HFS partitions last and don't make more than 4 partitions or if you do then you have to hide them from Win XP (it has bad blue screen bug in partition table reading). My only question is that is there good tool to write files to NTFS or EXT2/3 (Linux) partitions for Mac OS 9.2.2?

[teroyk]

Unfortunately I only work with Macs (PPC G4 MDD with Tiger, Leo and 9.2.2, iMac with Mojave and MacBook Air M1 with Big Sur), so I have to try the app you suggested me in PC emulation,

You will need a real PC

You never need real PC, you need real Power PC = Mac with Mac OS 9

Use PPC Mac with Virtual PC (not OSX version) with Windows XP installed and external USB-HD-box (not Firewire) and put HD in it.
Then capture USB device to only for Virtual PC and make to HD what you need to do, should work but it is very slow (it can take over day) because emulation and USB 1.1.
And then come here to tell how well it went.

[GuiBer]

Unfortunately I only work with Macs (PPC G4 MDD with Tiger, Leo and 9.2.2, iMac with Mojave and MacBook Air M1 with Big Sur), so I have to try the app you suggested me in PC emulation,

You will need a real PC

You never need real PC, you need real Power PC = Mac with Mac OS 9

Use PPC Mac with Virtual PC (not OSX version) with Windows XP installed and external USB-HD-box (not Firewire) and put HD in it.
Then capture USB device to only for Virtual PC and make to HD what you need to do, should work but it is very slow (it can take over day) because emulation and USB 1.1.
And then come here to tell how well it went.

Thanks teroyk !
I have the software and hardware needed (the external case is both Firewire and USB).
I'll give a try soon and I'll inform you.
Again, thanks

[DieHard]

I'm not sure if the WD diag software will zero PATA/IDE drives connected via USB, I have always used a "real PC" and connected the drive (whether it's from a PC or Mac) directly to and IDE cable. The program runs on all HD manufactures and works perfectly even if the Windows OS does not "see" or mount the drive; this is the way I test and/or zero the drives... but give it a shot via USB

[GuiBer]

Hi DieHard and teroyk,
good and bad news about my Seagate HD.
The good news : I have installed VPC 6 with Win XP in my G4 MDD FW400 Mac OS 9.2.2 and WD Diag was able to do an ‘erase with Quick Write zeros’ of the Seagate HD, installed in an external USB case, in about 30 mins.
The bad news : unfortunately the ‘erase’ zeroed the sectors but leaving the partition at 32GB.
The flag was not removed
It seems the only solution is the SeaTools utility, as descripted here :
https://www.seagate.com/support/kb/the-drive-is-larger-than-32gb-but-the-operating-system-only-recognizes-32gb-182079en/
and available here :
https://www.seagate.com/support/downloads/seatools/
Unfortunately the Dos version is not available for me as the G4 has no floppy drive.
I’m now reinstalling a new Win XP as the Win app requires Framework 4.0 and my XP version haven’t it.
Let’s hope…

[IIO]

oh, it doesnt even work from big sur, i see. then using windows will probably also not help much.
maybe the HD controller is corrupt?

[GuiBer]

oh, it doesnt even work from big sur, i see. then using windows will probably also not help much.
maybe the HD controller is corrupt?

The controller on the external case works well as I use it with a different HD, both with the Firewire 400 and the USB ports.
The problem is the Seagate HD 200GB that many years ago was sold with the option to be connected to a Pentium PC with Win XP.
Win XP worked only with partitions of 32GB max and the HD was 'flagged' via software to be compatible.
This software, that I own, is unfortunately only for PC (DOS or Windows) and never developed for a Mac.

[teroyk]

good and bad news about my Seagate HD.
The good news : I have installed VPC 6 with Win XP in my G4 MDD FW400 Mac OS 9.2.2 and WD Diag was able to do an ‘erase with Quick Write zeros’ of the Seagate HD, installed in an external USB case, in about 30 mins.

Quite fast, but reason is that maybe it erase only first 32GB.
Is there possibility that HD capasity is limited with Seatools to 32GB, because some older PCs (PII-PIII, AMD K6-Athlon) BIOS doesn't work with over 40 GB.

It seems the only solution is the SeaTools utility, as descripted here :
https://www.seagate.com/support/kb/the-drive-is-larger-than-32gb-but-the-operating-system-only-recognizes-32gb-182079en/
and available here :
https://www.seagate.com/support/downloads/seatools/
Unfortunately the Dos version is not available for me as the G4 has no floppy drive.

There is also CD-ROM ISO-image and iso-images work with Virtual PC, but DOS versions you cannot use it HD in USB-box:
https://www.seagate.com/gb/en/support/downloads/seatools/seatools-legacy-support-master/

I think only solution might be update your Virtual PC winXP installation with ServicePack 2 (or SP3 (what makes VPC veeryyy slooow)) and try Seatools Windows version and try Set Capasity MAX Native.
And come back to tell if work or not.

[GaryN]

Hard drives, being electro-mechanical have problems and anomalies all their own.

In my time of computer-using, I have developed a solution for them.

It is 100% effective.

1) Disconnect HDD. Place on a hard, flat surface.
2) Using a hammer, large rock, jack handle or other suitable tool, vigorously smash the HDD repeatedly until it is rendered absolutely unusable.
3) Evaluate your emotional state. If necessary, repeat step 2.
4) Place the offending HDD in the trash or repurpose it as a doorstop, paperweight or similar.
5) Purchase a new, preferably solid-state drive and install in the computer.

Enjoy your now-working computer and remember that the best solution is often the simplest one.

[GuiBer]

Hard drives, being electro-mechanical have problems and anomalies all their own.

In my time of computer-using, I have developed a solution for them.

It is 100% effective.

1) Disconnect HDD. Place on a hard, flat surface.
2) Using a hammer, large rock, jack handle or other suitable tool, vigorously smash the HDD repeatedly until it is rendered absolutely unusable.
3) Evaluate your emotional state. If necessary, repeat step 2.
4) Place the offending HDD in the trash or repurpose it as a doorstop, paperweight or similar.
5) Purchase a new, preferably solid-state drive and install in the computer.

Enjoy your now-working computer and remember that the best solution is often the simplest one.

GaryN, you're right !

[SDG]

There is also CD-ROM ISO-image and iso-images work with Virtual PC, but DOS versions you cannot use it HD in USB-box:
https://www.seagate.com/gb/en/support/downloads/seatools/seatools-legacy-support-master/

I think only solution might be update your Virtual PC winXP installation with ServicePack 2 (or SP3 (what makes VPC veeryyy slooow)) and try Seatools Windows version and try Set Capasity MAX Native.
And come back to tell if work or not.

Doesn't SeaTools use FreeDOS now, which supports USB incl. external HDDs? Not sure whether VPC can pass USB through to the VM such that FreeDOS can see and access the USB hard drive but it might be worth a shot. Otherwise, there are USB drivers incl. mass storage ones for DOS to use with MS-DOS. I've accessed USB Zip drives and LS120 drives using those before.

[GaryN]

Doesn't SeaTools use FreeDOS now, which supports USB incl. external HDDs? Not sure whether VPC can pass USB through to the VM such that FreeDOS can see and access the USB hard drive but it might be worth a shot. Otherwise, there are USB drivers incl. mass storage ones for DOS to use with MS-DOS. I've accessed USB Zip drives and LS120 drives using those before.

WTF! I'm SMH here because AFAICT it won't be much longer before we need translator software among people speaking the same language!

G2G. TTYL.

[GuiBer]

I tested today the two SeaTools .ISO versions available here
https://www.seagate.com/it/it/support/downloads/seatools/seatools-legacy-support-master/
but I had no luck on two different systems :
PPC G4 MDD, Mac OS 9.2.2 and VPC 6 with Win XP SP3;
iMac Late 2015, Mac OS Mojave and VMWare Fusion 12.1.1 with Win 7.
In both systems the emulator mounted without any problem the HD Seagate, formatted as FAT32, and the WD Diag app, suggested by DieHard, worked without any problem with the HD.
On the contrary, the .ISO files, burned on two CDs, didn’t started under VPC, while with VMWare Fusion they started but didn’t mounted the HD in the external USB case.
I think now the only solution is a REAL PC.

Many thanks to all for your suggestions