GA-EP45-UD3P rev1.6 for 3TB drives

[picman]

I only did a DISKPART "clean", does that only clean the partition? Maybe I should try a "clean all" ? Reaching!

[gto4ben]

Personally, I like to use EASUS or Paragon hard disk manager. What version of EASUS did you use? I had a problem with Easus 10.1. It did not recognize a 12TB RAID0 for example. This was fixed in 10.8.

If you haven't already, try to delete all partitions on the 3TB drive first using the latest disk managers above and make it 3TB unallocated first.

Was the hard drive bought new? I've had trouble seeing capacity when drives were obtained from stand alone USB storage. They have a unique firmware.

[picman]

I have 10.8 of EASEUS, I actually deleted all (one) partition using EASEUS and then did a "wipe data", nothing changed. Then I did the DISKPART clean.

Does the "wipe data" act like a DISKPART "clean all"?

Currently in EASEUS there is 1.8 TB in GPT unallocated.

It just seems like all these tools see the first partition I created(2TB) and nothing is releasing it even though there is no partitions on the drive. Everything I have tried so far is not gettting me to the 3TB clean drive.

[picman]

If you don't have any other ideas I'm going to start a DISKPART clean all shortly.

[picman]

The DISKPART clean all didn't help. My next step is to try the drive in a PC that has a newer MB to see what it sees.

[picman]

No love in a new PC either. I will be building a new PC with a much newer MB and hardware. I'll play with the drive in the new system and see if I can figure the issue out.

[sgayner]

Hi, all.

I have discovered this excellent thread and it will probably solve my problem, but I'd like to get some verification before I jump into flashing.

I have a GA-EP45-UD3P Rev. 1.6, Bios FE, booting a WD 500GB HDD connected to GSATA port #2. (CD drive uses GSATA port #1.) I have two 1TB WD RE drives in RAID1, for data, on 2 of the Intel ports (#2 & #3). I am running Intel Matrix Storage manager 8.9, Win 7 SP1 Home Premium, 32-bit.

I currently have one 2TB external HDD and one 1TB external HDD, not RAIDed, connected to Intel ports (#4 & #5), used as backup. I'd like to increase the 2TB external to a 3TB drive, without changing anything else. As it is now, the system only recognizes the new 3TB drive as 750ish GB. (In reading the thread, I saw mods made for SSD use. I don't currently have an SSD, but have no objection to preparing for one.)

- Will a BIOS update allow me to use a 3TB drive under these conditions? 
- Would one of the modded BIOSes earlier in this thread do the trick? Which one?
- What version of Intel Rapid Storage Technology should I use?
- Will the existing RAID1 array remain viable or will I have to rebuild it?

Any comments on the order of execution? Should the RAIDed disks be turned off during the flash/reboot/install RST process?

This machine is my data server and stability is valued over speed.

Thanks.

Steve G.

[sgayner]

Anybody?

Thanks.

Steve G.

[gto4ben]

- Will a BIOS update allow me to use a 3TB drive under these conditions?
Yes, A bios update to the INTEL RAID OROM will allow 3TB recognition. Version 11.2.0.127 is supposedly best but I've used the 12 series previously without problems. Provided by Fernando, 11.2.0.127 is the universally TRIM modified version to allow RAID0 support.

The GSATA ports used with Windows Vista, 7, etc, will allow 3TB and higher recognition in AHCI but the GSATA bios and driver does not support 3TB+ recognition in RAID modes.

- Would one of the modded BIOSes earlier in this thread do the trick? Which one?
I've attached the latest I'm using now. I have a few machines still running this motherboard very reliably.

- What version of Intel Rapid Storage Technology should I use?
I'm currently using Intel Rapid Storage Technology (RST) 11.2.0.1527 with no problems.

- Will the existing RAID1 array remain viable or will I have to rebuild it?
The existing RAID1 will be recognized by the new bios since the total size is under 2047GB. Once you decide to increase the size beyond that, you'll need to replace the Intel Matrix Manager with Intel RST and install the updated bios.

for GA-EP45-UD3P rev1.6
ICH10R southbridge - v11.2.0.1527 with the TRIM mod
RTL8111C ethernet - rtegrom264.lom
SATA2 chip - j1.08.01
ICHAACHI 1.2 original from a EP45-USB3P
Updated NCPUCODE

[sgayner]

- Will the existing RAID1 array remain viable or will I have to rebuild it?
The existing RAID1 will be recognized by the new bios since the total size is under 2047GB. Once you decide to increase the size beyond that, you'll need to replace the Intel Matrix Manager with Intel RST and install the updated bios.
=======================

@gto4ben:

Thanks for the response. I appreciate your taking the time to help me. If I can ask two clarifying questions:

1. I assume the file you supplied will update the BIOS and I run that first. Then I change the 2TB drive connected to Intel port #4 to a 3TB drive. It should be recognized. Correct?

The reason I'm unsure is that in your response you say "The existing RAID1 will be recognized by the new bios...," implying that I have upgraded the BIOS, and then you say "Once you decide to increase the size beyond that [2TB], you'll need to replace the Intel Matrix Manager with Intel RST and install the updated bios" which I think at that point I will already have done. 

2. If I change only the 2TB external drive currently connected to Intel port #4 to a 3TB, do I have to upgrade Intel Matrix Storage manager 8.9 to Intel Rapid Storage Technology  v11.2.0.1527? In other words, is RST v11 needed to see anything over 2TB on Intel ports or only RAIDed drives?

Again, many thanks for the response. I'm in a bit over my head here.

Steve