"Cannot Format the Hard Disk. The capacity is too large". Can I format via CLI?

[ought]

Helloo,

My poor T2 has been temperamental for a while. It went in to a delete cycle, which I stopped via the CLI.

Then it would not let me delete anything, even after running the disk fixer from the maintenance mode, several times. It did not actually finish even after being left running (more than once) for a whole day.

Now I have run out of space, and having copied off the programmes I require I want to format the hard drive and it tells me: "Cannot Format the Hard Disk. The capacity is too large".

So, can I format the drive with the CLI and so hopefully rectify all my problems?

If I can, please tell me how. Thank you ;o)

 

[Black Hole]

What standard firmware version are you running? This question is pertinent because it is reported that 1.03.xx has better formatting capability (in particular, up to 2TB). Presuming you are still using 1.02.xx, flash your box to 1.03.12 and perform your format, then restore 1.02.32 (or whatever) and your custom firmware afterwards.

 

[prpr]

I suspect something is stopping the Humax software unmount the partitions and it reports this "capacity" error as a generic catch all message. I've had it on my machine and it only has a 500GB disk, which patently is NOT too large.
It's probably a good idea to use the "Remove all custom firmware packages and settings" on the WebIf's Diag screen first and then reboot before attempting to format the disk.

 

[Luke]

I suspect something is stopping the Humax software unmount the partitions and it reports this "capacity" error as a generic catch all message. I've had it on my machine and it only has a 500GB disk, which patently is NOT too large.

Snap (with 1.03.06 and an old kernel).

Two questions:
(1)

It's probably a good idea to use the "Remove all custom firmware packages and settings" on the WebIf's Diag screen first and then reboot before attempting to format the disk.

What's your reasoning behind this?


(2) I've now updated my kernel but haven't had time or opportunity to refit the previously objected to disk and have another go. Do you think that is a totally waste of time when I get around to trying it.

 

[prpr]

What's your reasoning behind this?

a) It should stop anything else making the partitions unmountable
b) It's all going to get zapped anyway when you format the disk

I've now updated my kernel but haven't had time or opportunity to refit the previously objected to disk and have another go. Do you think that is a totally waste of time when I get around to trying it.

No I think it's worth a go. A disk cannot be unformattable (hardware faults aside).

 

[fenlander]

I had this problem and it defeated me some time back. A week later I tried again and it formatted normally. No idea why, but I suggest you try a few more times.