HDD > 2 TB and docking stations

Jumanji discovered an interesting bit and I thought others should be aware.

This might be old news to some. I found one article to exemplify the issue, but there are sure to be more. While this article refers to 3TB drives, the same caution applies to 4TB and greater drives. Basically older docking stations do NOT have address translation for drives above 2 TB - they can only access 2 TB. Problems arrise when data exceeds that limit and data is over written at the base address corrupting the drive.

PCworld said:

Everything You Need to Know About 3TB Hard Drives | PCWorld
.....You can use the full capacity of a 3TB drive via USB--with a drive enclosure that supports it. The SATA-to-USB bridge chip inside the enclosure takes care of any addressing issues. This is why the first 3TB drive shipped last summer as an external model--a switch from the usual pattern of internal units shipping first.

Although you shouldn't have any issues attaching a prepackaged 3TB external drive, you may have problems if you buy a 3TB internal drive and try to add it to a USB-connected enclosure yourself. Read the fine print: Many of the bare enclosures say they support 3TB, but not all of them do.
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On a seperate note, I will be offline until I can arrange Internet connectivity. I don't know when the cutoff will be, but it is in the next few days - definitely by months end.

Bill

I work out something for Internet connectivity. I thought it would be disconnected last Thursday, I was notified today that the service would end by close of business Tuesday.

I'll stop in when I'm near an open router (cafe, friends, library) but can't devote much time to issues. Once our monetary situation improves, I will contract with a provider.

Bill