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Possible sector size issue? Leftover QNAP/EXT4 format weirdness?

I have been migrating drives from a QNAP NAS to a new Windows 11 Pro based server. The two drives giving me problems are the 10TB WD100EZAZ HDDs that were 'main' drives in the QNAP NAS, previously formatted as EXT4.

Those HDDs will mount and function perfectly via USB adapter (Neyer/Amazon SATA to USB adapter, and another 4-bay HDD USB enclosure).

Win11 Disk Management: Formatted the HDD to exFAT while in the USB-connected HDD enclosure

However, When connected directly via SATA to the motherboard, the drive will not even show up under Disk Management.

I have confirmed that the SATA & power connections are functioning properly with another hard drive.

cmd/wmic shows the drive as having two volumes(?) or at least two different block size values(?), but only one volume is showing up in Windows/Disk Management.

wmic: 2 different blocksizes. a hidden volume?

My best guess is some sort of sector size shenanigans leftover from something QNAP did to the drives when they were EXT4 format.

I already have the data off the drives. I just want them to work in Win11 via SATA. If it is a sector size issue, I'm not even sure where to begin to start fixing it. Thanks for any help in advance!

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  • Can you via the USB adapter format the disk as NTFS?
    – harrymc
    Jan 22, 2023 at 18:35
  • Yes. I have formatted the drive in NTFS multiple times with various cluster sizes, but the drive is still completely unrecognized every time when I switch it over and connect via SATA. Also just tried creating a RAW volume and it still didn't show up anywhere in windows.
    – Tycho Brahe
    Jan 22, 2023 at 21:51
  • And what about UEFI, is it recognized? If not then (1) it won't be in any OS, obviously, and (2) it suggests the mobo's SATA controller does not support that drive and there can be many reasons for that, namely the size if the controller is old. That it works in a proper USB-SATA interface as you proved it does is immaterial and irrelevant for the hypotheses mentioned in (2).
    – ChanganAuto
    Jan 22, 2023 at 23:47
  • I derped and thought I saw it in UEFI previously. Just triple checked again and sure enough it wasn't showing up. MOBO is an ASUS ROG Strix B550-F and the HDD is a WD100EZAZ - both manufactured from 2020 (unless the label on the HDD is lying). I can't imagine being old would be the cause. I'm going to see if I can try updating the BIOS as a next resort when I get some more time.
    – Tycho Brahe
    Jan 23, 2023 at 0:38
  • Interesting. Google came up with this: forums.unraid.net/topic/…
    – ChanganAuto
    Jan 23, 2023 at 0:46

1 Answer 1

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Well, I'm an idiot. The drives WERE shucked from an enclosure a couple of years ago and I simply didn't remember. I guess I should go get checked for early onset dementia. I assumed they didn't have to be "de-3.3volted" because they worked perfectly as NAS boot drives and were labelled as "Internal" drives.

Anyways, I stripped the 3.3v wire from the 6-pin SATA power cable (seemed cleaner/safer than the tape method) and the drives now function perfectly while connected via SATA data to motherboard. Sorry for wasting everybody's time!

SATA 6-pin power connector reference

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