how to properly format 512 logical and 4096 physical drive

[km551]

It looks like I can't change logical size to 4096.

Code:

sudo ./SeaChest_Lite -d /dev/sdc --showSupportedFormats
=========================
SeaChest_Lite - Seagate drive utilities - NVMe Enabled
Copyright (c) 2014-2023 Seagate Technology LLC and/or its Affiliates, All Rights Reserved
SeaChest_Lite Version: 1.9.0-4_1_1 X86_64
Build Date: Mar 27 2023
Today: Fri Jul  7 20:58:30 2023        User: root
================================

/dev/sdb - ST3000DM001-1CH166 - W1F19B22 - CC29 - ATA

Supported Logical Block Sizes and Protection Types:
---------------------------------------------------
  * - current device format
PI Key:
  Y - protection type supported at specified block size
  N - protection type not supported at specified block size
  ? - unable to determine support for protection type at specified block size
Relative performance key:
  N/A - relative performance not available.
  Best
  Better
  Good
  Degraded
-----------------------------------------
Logical Block Size  PI-0  PI-1  PI-2  PI-3  Relative Performance  Metadata Size
-----------------------------------------
*               512     Y     N     N     N                   N/A            N/A
-----------------------------------------

This disk used to be in USB adapter case but recently I had problems because it didn't work with USB3 port, so I removed it from case and after that when I attached it through Sata cable I had it recognized as PTTYPE="PMBR". I want to avoid such problems in the future.

Code:

TestDisk 7.1, Data Recovery Utility,
Disk /dev/sdc - 3000 GB / 2794 GiB - CHS 357698 64 32 Current partition structure:      Partition                  Start        End    Size in sectors
Warning: number of heads/cylinder mismatches 255 (NTFS) != 64 (HD) Warning: number of sectors per track mismatches 63 (NTFS) != 32 (HD) 1 P MS Data                        6 732563999 732563994
but sgdisk (I don't remember how it was connected then) showed logical/physical): 4096/4096 bytes.

sudo fdisk -l
Dysk /dev/sdc: 2,73 TiB, bytes: 3000592982016, sectors: 5860533168 disk model: ST3000DM001-1CH1 units: sectors,  1 * 512 = 512 bytes sector size (logical/phisical) in  bytes: 512 / 4096 Size (minimal/optimal) : 4096 / 4096 etiquette: dos
device  start     end    sector size Id Type /dev/sdc                 1 4294967295 4294967295 2T ee GPT
Partition 1 doesn't start on the boarder of physical sector..


sgdisk -p /dev/sdc
Disk /dev/sdc: 732566645 sectors, 2.7 TiB Model: Backup+ Desk    Sector size (logical/physical): 4096/4096 bytes Disk identifier (GUID): ... Partition table holds up to 128 entries Main partition table begins at sector 2 and ends at sector 5 First usable sector is 6, last usable sector is 732566639 Partitions will be aligned on 8-sector boundaries Total free space is 2640 sectors (10.3 MiB)
Number Start (sector)    End (sector)  Size       Code  Name 1 6 732563999 2.7 TiB     0700


I updated firmware but

Code:

hdparm -I /dev/sdX | grep 'Sector size:'

still shows that only 512 Logical Sector size is supported. So, I am confused why sgdisk showed 4096/4096.
I want to format it with GPT and one partition only.
Forcing change of logical sector size to 4096 is not a good idea, is it?
I read something about Advanced Format and that it is better and about SmartAlign™ Technology for Advanced Format Hard Drives.

How should I proceed? Should I force change? I will not use USB adapter any more.

[fzabkar]

You cannot change the logical sector size in this model.

[mr44er]

Check the specs of your model: https://www.seagate.com/staticfiles/doc ... 1111us.pdf

still shows that only 512 Logical Sector size is supported. So, I am confused why sgdisk showed 4096/4096.

You can not change the drive's internal/real sector size.

Don't get confused and distinguish between 512n, 512e, 4kn (ignore the fast format part):
https://www.seagate.com/files/www-conte ... 1701us.pdf
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advanced_Format

I read something about Advanced Format

AF=advanced format=4kn

and that it is better

It is faster, because a bigger chunk can be read/written at once (read or write 4x512b takes longer/more overhead vs. 1x4096b) and the capacity can be used more efficiently.
https://www.ateamsystems.com/tech-blog/ ... -4k-drive/

about SmartAlign™ Technology for Advanced Format Hard Drives.

That sounds more like marketing buzz or mostly valid on older Windows Versions (without support for 4kn).

To make use of 4kn, you format the disk in the correct way (fitting block size):

Code:

sg_format --format --size=4k /dev/sdX

Afterwards create GPT partition with gpart:

Code:

gpart create -s GPT /dev/sdX

Now create filesystem correctly aligned (freebsd-zfs is example) :

Code:

gpart add -a 4k -t freebsd-zfs /dev/sdX

However, I also recommend doing a 4k alignment for the file system (and only for the file system) with 512n disks.