unable to Initialize new HDD

[Caatraa]

Hi guys thanks in advance for any help.

So i've run out of space on my 3 HDD's, so i've bought a new 6TB HDD and plan to xfer my 3 old ones to the new one. but i can't get the new 6TB HDD to initialize.

i built this system with just minor problems 8 years ago and added all the drives 1 at a time over the years with no problems.

i've been trying to find stuff just though google searches but nothing really helps. only thing i've found is people thinking the drive is bad. i've tried swapping sata cables with one of the other drives so also changing MB sata port and the old drive works so it's not the cable or MB port. when i try to initialize it as both a MBR or a GPT it comes back with "The request could not be performed because of an I/O device error"

The drive is brand new, just came in today and manufacturer date is 2/8/18. really hope it's not DOA.

Thanks again guys.

[chazus]

If you can't initialize it as GPT, its likely bad. I would just contact the vendor and say so.

[Deleted]

if you get "I/O device error" and can't initialize it on brand new HDD don't even think about it - return it. Then get something that is not seagate.

[Caatraa]

it's a WD black

[Deleted]

Does it show up in disk management? if it does, try to create a parttition and format it. If it doesnt...well, it's probably Doa.

[Caatraa]

it does show up in disk management. i can't do anything to it. i was trying to format it. because it won't initialize.

[Deleted]

iit doesnt allow you to create a partition on it? because until yo do that you wont be able to initialize it.
if windows doesnt allow you to do that, find a third party program , check those https://www.lifewire.com/free-disk-p...-tools-2624950

[Caatraa]

Um i think you have that backwards? right now the it says Not Initialized and if i right click on the partition area all the options, a new simple, spanned, striped, mirrored, raid 5. are all grayed out. but if i click on the left side where it says disk i can click initialize and thats when it kicks back the I/O error.

[Deleted]

yap, i dint explain myself too cleanly...(see signature ).... Try to partition it with a third party program, maybe then windows will allow you to format it, if you havent tried. Just throwing out possible solutions
Been gooling a bit and yap, either try a third party program, check cables, sata drivers, try chkdsk,boot on safe mode, try it on a different pc and if none of this works...yap, propably dead unit.
I'm sure you have already tried most of this options but well, lnot much else can be done i think. Good luck.

[Caatraa]

So i DL Minitool Partition wizard. and it just stright up says bad disk. i can't do anything to it.

[SoulForge]

So i DL Minitool Partition wizard. and it just stright up says bad disk. i can't do anything to it.

There ya go then. Send that sucker back. It happens to everyone if you buy enough HDs. I've seen a few over the years.

[moremana]

8 year old PCs dont natively support 6 TB drives. However a bios update may help. What version of windows are you running?

[Evildeffy]

8 year old PCs dont natively support 6 TB drives. However a bios update may help. What version of windows are you running?

They'll support them working in Windows without issues, they won't support them BOOTING off of it however.
That was the main issue back then, you can use larger TB drives without problem.

[Torrasque]

Many motherboards have issues identifying more than three harddrives. The easiest fix is to search "Windows Memory Diagnostic" and run it. It will restart your computer and scan your RAM and connected drives for corruption. It takes between 10-30 minutes depending on your system's hardware, but it will register drives beyond the second one.

[Evildeffy]

Many motherboards have issues identifying more than three harddrives. The easiest fix is to search "Windows Memory Diagnostic" and run it. It will restart your computer and scan your RAM and connected drives for corruption. It takes between 10-30 minutes depending on your system's hardware, but it will register drives beyond the second one.

Windows Memory Diagnostic has absolutely NOTHING to do with hard drives, unsure how you're coming up with that "solution".

Neither have I seen common issues with motherboards unable to identify more than 3 hard drives since the very first SATA1 implementation beyond the first 2 months.
Even IDE/PATA drives were capable of 2 to 8 drives depending on how many slots they were equipped with and many (slightly older generations even) have up to 12 SATA ports, making your statement even more .... weird.

Drive initialization has nothing to do with RAM operations either and it either initializes or it doesn't, this can have several factors, RAM however is not one of them.

[Torrasque]

Windows Memory Diagnostic has absolutely NOTHING to do with hard drives, unsure how you're coming up with that "solution".

Neither have I seen common issues with motherboards unable to identify more than 3 hard drives since the very first SATA1 implementation beyond the first 2 months.
Even IDE/PATA drives were capable of 2 to 8 drives depending on how many slots they were equipped with and many (slightly older generations even) have up to 12 SATA ports, making your statement even more .... weird.

Drive initialization has nothing to do with RAM operations either and it either initializes or it doesn't, this can have several factors, RAM however is not one of them.

Trust me, I know. That said, when I have had this issue with older motherboards, it, for whatever reason, does work.

[Caatraa]

I can try the Memory Diagnositc when i get home but i agree i don't think it's going to do anything. It already has more then 3 drives. i'm currently running 3 1TB HDD 1 120GB Boot SSD and a 1TB external USB HDD. all of these i installed myself with no problems incuding replacing my SSD when my old one died. It's running on Windows 7 64bit.