i used "Secure Erase" [ http://cmrr.ucsd.edu/people/Hughes/SecureErase.shtml ] on my 500 GB WD Disk after booting from DOS.After the Erase procedure i see the Size of the Disk as 137 GB rather than 500 GB.

it seems i have deleted Host Protected Area / Device Configuration Overlay from the Disk as mentioned here http://cmrr.ucsd.edu/people/Hughes/HDDEraseReadMe.txt

is it possible to reinstate the firmware (which i think is the solution) on the WD5000AAKS ,i dont see anything on WD site to do that.
WD Lifeguard Diagnostic also shows it as 137 GB.

or is there any other solution to get back the full Disk Capacity.

Why were you doing the Secure Erase?

Was there a problem you were trying to solve?

Were you booting from this disk originally?

What OS was on this disk before you erased it?


What are you using to show the drive capacity - BIOS? Windows (which version)? Linux? Something else?

Try using bootable MHDD (from this website) and attach a photograph of the screen when you choose this disk from the list and then press F2 to show the EID data.

137GB is the LBA28 limit (i.e. without LBA48 support), so it is seems possible that whatever you are using to view the drive capacity has no LBA48 support.


IMHO other possibilities seem more likely than a DCO, and deleting an HPA would not have the effect that you are seeing - you need to explain more about your tests.


No, there is no easy way for you to do this. Also, more diagnosis is needed to understand the problem (if any), before you try to guess at a solution


Unfortunately I don't know where WDLG gets that information (BIOS or Identify Device data). That's why I asked where else you are seeing the drive capacity reported as 137GB.


More info need first, IMHO When you have answered all of the above questions, then perhaps you will get more advice.

http://bit.ly/rqjkmL

after you have downloaded and applied this patch to your machine, let us know if that fixes things.

Also, Vulcan's suggestions are to the point. If you need advice, you need to give more info.

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@vulcan, i wanted to erase the disk and in hindsight i should have used the WDLG to write zeroes to disk which would have done the job for me.saw this article on zdnet and gave it a shot (and shot in my foot ),i used Freedos LiveCd to use DOS and then executed the command with only that disk attached.the disk physically is fine.

win-xp-sp3 and linux fedora 14 both show 137 gb and in BIOS too got this G41 chipset motherboard.
since WDLGD is also showing 137 gb it cannot sort the issue i guess.

@northwind i have this 1tb disk running right now so no issue with motherboard and enabling of LBA since i am on current stuff,neverthless let me check out.

Thanks for that reply, but unfortunately you did not answer all of my questions - so some vital info is still missing. Therefore I'm not going to spend more time on this - I will just give you one comment; you might be suffering from a problem like the one described at the link below, but due to the missing info, it is not possible for me to be sure.

http://www.hdat2.com/hdat2_faq.html#q6

@vulcan,i appreciate giving me time to resolve this thank you for that.
will checkout what you have suggested.

i am trying to get mhdd to run which will give you vital clues you might need.not sure if my freedos will allow accessing usb stick (dont have a floppy drive).

i saw HDDErase (which i used to erase the disk) in ultimatebootcd is there any tool in there that mght give you same info as MHDD.

Answers to Questions you asked.

Why were you doing the Secure Erase?
[To cleanup disk]

Was there a problem you were trying to solve?
[No problems,good drive used for data storage,500 gb data on hard disk]

Were you booting from this disk originally?
[No,Only data on disk,Booted from FreeDOS LiveCD (ftp://ftp.usf.edu/pub/freedos/files/dis ... basews.iso) ]

What OS was on this disk before you erased it?
[No OS,but was NTFS formatted]

What are you using to show the drive capacity - BIOS? Windows (which version)? Linux? Something else?
[windows-XP-sp3,linux fedora 14,BIOS,WDLG]

Try using bootable MHDD (from this website) and attach a photograph of the screen when you choose this disk from the list and then press F2 to show the EID data.
[would be doing that]

137GB is the LBA28 limit (i.e. without LBA48 support), so it is seems possible that whatever you are using to view the drive capacity has no LBA48 support.
[i am using 1tb drive on same motherboard so no issues there].

IMHO other possibilities seem more likely than a DCO, and deleting an HPA would not have the effect that you are seeing - you need to explain more about your tests.
[just cleaning the drive nothing else].

Unfortunately I don't know where WDLG gets that information (BIOS or Identify Device data). That's why I asked where else you are seeing the drive capacity reported as 137GB.
[win-xp-sp3,fedora 14,BIOS,WD Life Guard Diagnostics]

Thanks for that clear info. The missing info from MHDD is important - but based on your info so far, my guess is that you are suffering the problem at the link I gave before.

Do you remember whether the Secure Erase program stated that an HPA existed, when you ran that program?


From what I could read, the UBCD contains MHDD! Alternatively, you could use HDAT2 - see my previous link. My suggestion is that you look for evidence that there is still an HPA on your disk drive, which was not correctly removed by the Secure Erase program.

@vulcan

Thanks a Ton.

Resolved the issued as suggested by you from the link. http://www.hdat2.com/hdat2_faq.html#q6

ubcd (ultimate boot cd contains both MHDD (its MHDD32) and HDAT2) although i used my FreeDos live usb
and copied HDAT2 to it,havent used MHDD just for record.

got back whole drive.500 GB.

thanks once again

"Do you remember whether the Secure Erase program stated that an HPA existed, when you ran that program?"
[Yes,the HPA existed and it shows enabled in HDAT2]

Question still remains whats the best way to use "Secure Erase" to avoid this extra step of recovery?

You're welcome


As you saw in the readme file for that software, it is no longer supported and so this issue is unlikely to be fixed. Therefore I suggest using alternative ways to remove any HPA or DCO first (e.g. using HDAT2 or others), if you really want to remove it, then perform the erase.

Unless you have done something very unusual, the HPA will not contain user data, so typically it does not need to be erased - although on some drives, they might erase the HPA contents during a "secure erase" anyway, even without removing the HPA itself.