Anyone install a 4TB drive in a 2010 Quad-Core MacPro? DOA?

[mhschmieder]

I installed a 4TB drive in my 2010 MacPro Quad-Core tonight, but it isn't recognized in 32-bit more 0r 64-bit mode. Also -- even though I used a shielded electrical screwdriver and grounded myself -- when I reattached all the cables and turned the computer on, my monitor briefly flashed, almost like a short, but then was OK. The computer was slow to start up.

The shipping receipt doesn't match my order page, as the DeskStar's are now by a different vendor. The receipt says 4.0TB Hitachi 7K4000 7200RPM OEM, item code HIT0F14681OEM (from OWC).

The original receipt says "4.0TB HGST Deskstar 7K4000 64MB Cache 7200RPM SATA 3.0 6Gb/s (3/1.5Gb/s backwards compatible) 3.5" OEM Hard Drive. 1 Year OWC Fulfilled Warranty."

Mine was manufactured in April 2013 so I expected it to have an HGST sticker vs. an Hitachi sticker, but I think it's just a marketing change and that everything remains the same.

OWC's product page specifically stated compatibility with my particular architecture, but did list some caveats with other architectures (saying they would see the drive as a separate 3TB and 1TB drive).

Not sure what to do at this point, but will unplug the computer and see if somehow the connections aren't as tight as I thought. I did give the computer ten minutes after unplugging everything, the first time around, and thought things were tight and secure, but I seem to recall this happening before with a smaller drive and that it's a bit tricky to know when the MacPro is really making an internal connection?

Thought I'd post this now as I'll have to go off-line for a bit trying to find ways to diagnose the problem with the computer off. Maybe someone has experience one way or the other?

I had to go to a 4TB drive because my sample libraries are on the edge of 3TB total and I have run out of internal bays as well as not wanting to split them up at this point. I was hesitant as I had heard a year and a half ago that 3TB was still the recommended max, but more for price/performance and long-term reliability than immediate DOA fault.

[mhschmieder]

Here's a Mac support case that describes my problem and indicates that even "too tight" with the screws may be a problem (wow, are they picky!) as well as suggesting to use a flashlight to make sure things are engaged at the back as it's quite difficult to align them correctly (apparently more so with the 4TB drives).

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/51 ... 0&tstart=0

I'll power down and give that a try next, and after that will try putting it in my external eSATA "toaster" bay from newertechnology to see if it is recognized when there isn't the touchy MacPro bay issue involved (though I sometimes have issues with that external bay as well).

[mhschmieder]

Recommendation is to avoid Bay 1:

http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1536464

I started with Bay 2 and tried Bay 3 the second time around.

[mhschmieder]

Here's a Western Digital article explaining why drives of 3TB and greater capacity are extremely difficult to pull off properly:

http://www.wdc.com/wdproducts/library/W ... 771501.pdf

[mhschmieder]

Hmm, is it possible it was pre-formatted for Windows and/or some file system not compatible with Mac OS X, and due to the large capacity my Mac is having trouble figuring out how/whether to expose it to me? It doesn't show up on the desktop, under "About this Mac" or using Disk Utility.

[mhschmieder]

The following compatibility page isn't from OWC but is the same as what I recall seeing there (I'll find theirs later):

http://www.macupgrades.co.uk/store/prod ... cts_id=767

Note however that Apple themselves do not indicate compatibility beyond 2 TB drives in the Westmere MacPro's:

http://support.apple.com/kb/SP589?viewl ... cale=en_US

Digilloyd at Mac Performance Guide had already given some performance metrics of four 4 TB drives in a 2010 Westmere MacPro though.

[mhschmieder]

Here's the product page from OWC where I bought mine last week:

http://eshop.macsales.com/item/HGST/0F14681OEM/

I still can't find their own compatibility chart, nor can I find their upgrade wizard which I remember using before and which guides you by category according to your specific specs.

OK, I'm going to have to go off-line now to try some things, and their support line is down until tomorrow so I'm on my own unless someone here has ideas or related experience.

I needed this like I need a heart attack; I've been working outrageous hours and gigging almost non-stop on weekends, so my wiggle room is in the negative zone at this point.

[mhschmieder]

Oh, before I log off, I did just notice that "About This Mac" might be showing me the attached drive as unknown and split into two drives:

"Unknown AHCI Standard Controller:

Vendor: Unknown
Product: AHCI Standard Controller
Link Speed: 6 Gigabit
Description: AHCI Version 1.00 Supported"

-- this appears twice, making me think the formatting is Windows-based and needs to be reformatted (possibly using the external bay), that the MacPro 2010 model can't use 6 Gigabit link speed vs. 3 Gigabit (though it's supposed to default to 3 Gigabit if 6 Gigabit isn't supported), and also that it is being seen as two separate drives (one at 3TB and one at 1TB).

[HCMarkus]

http://pondini.org/OSX/DU1.html

If the drive is functioning and formatted properly it will work as a 4tb drive; click "Options" under Disc Utility "Partition" tab and set to GUID.

[Shooshie]

I've got several 3TB drives running as we speak, and one 4TB drive still sealed in the bag it came in. I've had the 4TB since about last November or December, but have not installed it for fear of this kind of thing. I'd like to know how your experience plays out, Mark.

BTW, the 3TB drives run without a hitch. One is my Time Machine drive.

Shooshie

[mhschmieder]

HC, how do you get Disk Utility to see a drive that the OS isn't recognizing? Is there some trick to make such a drive available to Disk Utility so that I can try to reformat it?

Shooshie, I have been running a 3TB drive with complete success since about last November if I recall correctly. I was nervous about that one but have had no problems. It is my main sample library drive.

I'm going to call OWC now. If a replacement 4TB seems too risky, I'll instead buy a 2TB drive and consolidate my music/photo projects and media-hosting drives into one (with still a lot of leftover space) and reuse one of the 1TB drives for VSL (which is at 933GB but might get closer to 1TB after the Dimension Strings library is completed). Then I could stick with the 3TB drive for the remaining sample libraries.

Maybe that's the better strategy after all. I probably didn't think this through well enough at the time, but I was also concerned about VSL exceeding the 1TB boundary within the next year so was thinking ahead with a still-consolidated single sample library drive.

[mhschmieder]

BTW here's what Apple has to say about drives that don't show up in the Disk Utility sidebar:

http://pondini.org/OSX/DU10.html

I had already tried all of their ideas last night. I'm convinced this drive is fried, in spite of how careful I was with a rubber-housed electrical screwdriver and grounding myself. I also have everything plugged into the industry's best surge protector (not MOSFET-based).

[mhschmieder]

OK, this thing is resolved and I'll receive a new drive.

The woman at the other end of the line was EXTREMELY knowledgeable, helpful, and patient. She explained that getting the "Unknown AHCI Standard Controller" message when attached via eSATA indicates that the drive is NOT incompatible with my MacPro but rather the hardware controller board has an electrical or wiring fault of some sort.

I also asked her about the branding thing, and I had it backwards: Hitachi bought Toshiba. The HGST label is some sort of branding change associated with the merged companies, but Toshiba drives now say "Toshiba by Hitachi". The Deskstar line is very popular and not going away; I wasn't sure.