Hard Drive partition sizes help please

[Craig]

I've just installed a 500gb IDE HDD to an xbox and used the hexen disc to prepare the drive, which uses xbpartitioner (I think, and unsure of the version) to actually format the partitions. I've formatted the F partition to take up all of the remaining space which is around 469gb and I didn't change the cluster size (not sure even if you can or not).

With this set up am I going to run in to problems when the disc gets full? If so what are the size limits to each partition and do I need to do anything about the cluster sizes?

I'm just about to FTP coinops4 over to the box so I'd rather find out first!

Thanks in advance, Craig.

[RoyalX]

If you used XBPartitioner the cluster size is already set for you.

You can also see what the sizes are for each partitions.

[whufclee]

You'll need that partition to be 32k cluster size. I can't say I've used HeXEn to format my partitions so can't really help you on whether or not is formatted it as the correct cluster size. I think I remember Heimdall mentioning that it does do all the hard work for you but I don't want to give you duff info so you'd better check first before adding Coinops.

[Craig]

is there an easy way of checking the cluster size that it's been formatted in? I'm guessing that the size of the partition isn't too big then? I remember reading ages ago about there being a limit to the sizes but I can't for the life of me remember what was said, or whether it was definitive or not!

[whufclee]

Cluster size should be:

16k up to 250Gb
32k 250Gb-500Gb
64k 500Gb-1Tb

If you don't format it to the correct cluster size you WILL lose data and will have to re-format again at some point in the future so make sure you get it right! There is a way of checking, something to do with ftp'ing a small text file over and seeing how much space is left or something like that. It's been talked about on here recently so just do a search for "cluster" and see what comes up.

[Craig]

Thanks for the help! I went back into XBpartitioner and it said that for the size that I chose it would be 32k clusters so it's all good.

Thanks again for the info! Craig

[Xphazer]

XBpartitioner is not reporting the cluster size used on the partition.. its showing the cluster size that SHOULD be used.
Make sure to check the cluster size manually !

[Craig]

Right, thanks for the info but I'm pretty sure when I did it it said at the bottom 'formatting partition 6 using 32k clusters'.

[RoyalX]

@ Craig
Please read again what Xphazer wrote!!!
You cannot rely on XBPartitioner if you did not used it to format the HDD.

Please format with XBPartitioner then you know for sure you have the right clusters.

[Craig]

I did use xbpartitioner to format the drive, @RoyalX please read again what I put in the original post I'm pretty sure it said it was formatting in 32k clusters (at the bottom when it was actually formatting).

As far as I can tell the drive is formatted in the correct way.

Thanks for the help.

[RoyalX]

Then there is no problem.

BTW I did not see this

Right, thanks for the info but I'm pretty sure when I did it it said at the bottom 'formatting partition 6 using 32k clusters'.

I was writing my own post. And the forum was acting strange.

[infinity8x3]

I upgraded my HDD using chimp and the hotswap method. Chimp said it was cloning my old drive to the new drive. Never asked me any thing about partitions. Is this something I should be concerned with or am i good to go? Also where do i go to see drive partition info? I use unleashX as my dash and xbmc4xbox as an app.

[whufclee]

Just to be on the safe side try this method.

[Craig]

infinity8x3 once chimp has cloned the drive you need to go back into chimp and select the 'format extended partitions' option to finish installing the drive, or I think XBpartitioner will do the same job. Either way you'll need to format the extended partitions (assuming you've upgraded from the original drive). I've used the chimp method 10+ times so I can vouch that it works just fine.

[infinity8x3]

thanks for that info.... I completely skipped that step! It has been running fine for a while though.

I installed a seagate 160gb HDD, So as long as chimp didn't actually change the cluster size from the original drive...
16k up to 250Gb
32k 250Gb-500Gb
64k 500Gb-1Tb
Since im under the 250gb range Stock cluster size should be fine right? Also with a 160gb hdd there is no need for a g drive right? I only have a f drive but its partition size is like around 145gb.

Does this look correct for a 160gb hdd install? 152440.39MB is accounted for. Also if i have no g drive should i turn off enable g drive in the settings? it was on by default. and xbmc4xbox reports g drive as unavailable. As you can see im useing up 120gb of my f partition is that full enough that i should have started running into problems if the cluster size is not correct?

[drizzle]

Hi,

Sorry to revive such an old thread but it seems relevant to my problem. I have just installed a 300GB old ATA drive in my Xbox, and when I have the HeXen Engineering Disc running (which I used to build the new HDD) it reports my F drive as being almost 300GB, but when I then boot the Xbox to either UnleashX or XBMC it only sees an F drive of 120.5GB. Can anybody shed any light on why Hexen is able to see the extra storage space, and how I can make it visible to the other apps/dashs?

[xman]

Use HeXEn to rebuild the HDD with all on F drive so you end up with all the content on F drive or change your bios to an F and G drive bios and the remaining HDD space will appear on the G drive. Two ways to fix it, it's up to you how you do it.

[drizzle]

Thanks for getting back to me Xman. The first suggestion is what I would actually prefer, and is actually what I did with the Hexen disc, and afterwards, from within Hexen I can see the F drive as being the correct size from both the Hexen menu, and other dashboards that are booted from the Hexen disc. The problem is only apparent when I am using a dashboard that has booted from the hard drive (rather than the Hexen disc). Could it be that while I am running the Hexen disc I am temporarily using a different BIOS somehow? The BIOS I am using is EvoX M8+ if that helps identify this problem.

[xman]

Well the M8 bios should be seeing the whole drive. I use that bios with partitions up to 1Tb with no issues. I always use the Slayer's disc for building HDDs and I know using it there is a choose of all F or F and G. I'm not real sure how HeXEn handles this task. You may need to look at the hard drive itself and see if there is a link on it. I have seen some real old HDDs with such a link that restricts the full size of the HDD. Other than that all I can think is maybe you have accidentally choose the F and G partition option when building the HDD with HeXEn and are using the M8 bios for just F drive. That would explain why you are only seeing a F drive of only 137GB. If that is the case, I would redo using the F and G bios and rebuild the drive with all on F drive. The F and G bios will work fine on all F and F and G partitioned HDDs. If you have no G drive on the HDD, it will simply display 0GB in the G drive but if something like this happens, it will show up with what is in the G drive.

[drizzle]

Thanks again for trying to help me with this. I have actually tried several times using both all on F: and a 50/50 split between F: and G: without success. The all on F: option I have previously mentioned, and the 50/50 option results in the same 120.5GB showing on the F: partition, and no visible G partition at all (again, unless I check from an application loaded from the Hexen disc, which shows everything as correct). I will try a different hard drive this evening I think, I just don't understand how Hexen apps are able to see it and other dashboards are not, even using UnleashX shows different results depending on where is was loaded from (disc or hard drive).