Member Avatar for slash49er

Does anyone know how to get a Hitachi Deskstar 160 Gig HD to recognize more that 32.8 Gigs. Is there 3rd party software that will allow this? Or does anyone know which jumper setting I have to remove?

Thanks

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Short summary and practical follow‑ups (adds to the replies from , , and ):

Many Deskstar models include a physical “capacity clip” / jumper that intentionally reduces the reported LBA so the drive appears as ~32 GB to BIOS/OS for compatibility. This is a drive-side clamp (not the same thing as the old 137 GB BIOS/LBA28 limit) and the manufacturer docs show the jumper/capacity‑clip behavior and the exact clipped LBA value. ()

How to confirm and how to change it safely:

  • Quick check on Linux: hdparm -N /dev/sdX shows current vs native max sectors; hdparm --dco-identify /dev/sdX shows any DCO limitations. Those flags are the standard low‑level way to detect an HPA/DCO capacity clamp. (manpages.debian.org)
  • Manufacturer route: Hitachi/HGST provide the Feature Tool (bootable image or utility) to view/restore full capacity and to clear HPA/DCO settings when supported by the model — this is usually the safest method for Deskstar drives. (anyflip.com)

If partitions/data look gone:

  • Image the entire drive first (do not try repairs in place). Use a block‑level imager such as GNU ddrescue to create a full copy before any capacity/DCO/HPA changes; ddrescue documentation explains safe workflows. (gnu.org)
  • After imaging, use a partition recovery tool such as TestDisk to scan for and restore lost partition tables or boot records (TestDisk docs cover the Analyze / Quick Search / Deeper Search steps). (cgsecurity.org)

Extra notes: updating an old motherboard BIOS or using a modern controller can be necessary when you hit classic LBA limits (the 28‑bit/137 GB era), so ’s BIOS update suggestion is valid for those cases. Always document jumper positions and back up before changing drive firmware/settings — HPA/DCO changes can hide or destroy data if done without a prior image. (flylib.com)

Recommended Answers

All 7 Replies

Member Avatar for Rik_

You have to make sure the Cap Limit jumper is off.
How old is the pc you are trying to use it on?

Member Avatar for DimaYasny

you might need a bios update

Member Avatar for slash49er

The pc is approx 5-6 years old. But the funniest thing is it was running with a 80 Gig C: drive and then had a 160 Gig partitioned in to 2 - 80 Gig partitions. The 80 Gig HD crashed and was replaced. After replacement I noticed that all the data and partitions were also gone from the 160 gig HD. When trying to access it in Windows Exploreror Disk Management it is telling me it is not formatted and is only showing 32.8 Gigs. I checked in the BIOS and LBA is selected for the drive and it is only showing 32.8 Gigs there too.

The jumpers were not changed since the crash so I have no idea how to use the full capacity of the drive again..

Member Avatar for Rik_

You need to follow DimaYasny's advice and update your bios then.

What motherboard do you have, I can have a look at available bios updates for you.

Member Avatar for slash49er

Motherboard is a Microstar MS 6547.

PS. I have never updated a BIOS before. What is involved in doing that?

Thanks

Member Avatar for caperjack

Disk Management it is telling me it is not formatted and is only showing 32.8 Gigs

board should be new enough to see it as a 160gig .the above says to me that you need to try and delete partition ,create a new partition and format the disk !

Member Avatar for slash49er

Thanks everyone. Problem solved. There was a cap limit jumper in place on the drive. Removed the jumper. Downloaded feature tools software from hitachi and problem solved.

Thanks again

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