16 Tbyte HDD limitation using (e)SATA removed for Amlogic 8K series (only)

Somebody asked Zidoo about the 16 Tbyte HDD limitation specified also for these new models. He got the following answer:

Hello. Sir
The suggestion for the maximum storage hard drives is 16TB, both for internal HDD and external HDD.
18TB, 20TB, 22TB drives also can work with zidoo player, but someone had reported to us that his 18TB, 20TB, 22TB drive was missing an entire folder that had been inside the drive being used.
To ensure file security, it is best to partition your hard disk if it is larger than 16TB.
The maximum size of a single hard disk partition is 16TB and the minimum is 2TB.
22TB HDD, you need to partitioning it as one 16TB and one 6TB.

The following applies to all previous Realtek based model series.
- The limitation is caused by using a 32-bit Android OS having a register limit also applicable for the Physical Sector addressing used by the SATA driver. This leads to maximum roughly 17.2 Tbyte sectors of 4K each being accessible.
Partitioning won't help here in any way as the physical sector range required isn't reduced by that. Multiple partitions just add up for the required absolute counter range. Ignoring this gives no errors as the counter just wraps when the disk is almost full unfortunately with unpredictable corruptions as the result. The FAT will still be correct but actual disk sector references may be erroneous only to be found (much) later. You are warned!
- External HDD attachment uses a completely different protocol and is not directly related.

It still applies to all Realtek based Zidoo models and most other Android based boxes. So be careful when moving HDD's between model series.

How do you test this:
- Get a bigger than 16 Tbyte HDD and connect it via SATA (=Internal mostly).
- Now fill up that disk to 100% capacity
- Next do a 100% file compare of the total disk.
Unless anybody confirms having done this test for a specific box I remain prudent and recommend sticking to the limit like glue.

Dune/Zidoo/Amlogic seem to have removed the 16 TByte limitation
Using a 64-bit register for the SATA driver can already do this. Maybe an Android generation level fixed it? Did not test/verify myself but looks like an in-depth validation by me and I am confident they did an excellent job:
Dune revealed what they did as they specify now using a 64-bit Android Kernel with all APP's still remaining 32-bit. That does its job perfect now.

The large-capacity hard drives tested this time were provided by Seagate, Toshiba, and Western Digital, and have been officially tested by Zidoo. This test primarily focuses on the compatibility of hard drives with the Zidoo 8K media players (including the Z9X 8K, Z30 PRO, Z3000 PRO, and UHD8000), adding support for certain hard drive models with capacities ranging from 18TB to 24TB.

The tests have confirmed that the Zidoo 8K series supports the Seagate Exos series X24 24TB, X22 22TB, X20 20TB, X18 18TB, as well as the Seagate IronWolf Pro series with capacities of 24TB, 22TB, 20TB, and 18TB.

I am not sure this was also tested using the included SMB Server? Asked Zidoo support but was not yet answered!

External HDD limits being USB or NAS attached???
Using USB/DAS or NAS is a very different story as those drives use internal SATA controllers (or a ATA/USB bridge) for physical disk access. If specified to support >16 Tbyte by those products then I presume they will give no problems with any new or old Zidoo player models. The absolute size of the HDD is not limited by Android in other ways beyond physical sector access and there is no need for any partitioning. I recommend using USB drives as you got them from the seller when possible.
For External via USB or NAS attachment no size upper limit specifications are ever given by any brand or product that I have seen. One needs to rely on the specifications of the actual product being attached which is correct in my view.
Any problem or claim in respect to size also needs to be done with that product and the vendor of it and not the brand or vendor it got attached to.

 

Thank you @Nice Monkey - most helpful going forwards

 

Very useful information - stickied.

 

Zidoo sent me another email, correcting the first answer they gave to me :

 

My feeling says also this one is wrong again. Looks just like mentioning the biggest HDD one can get today. Very much doubt they actually tried it and just copied Amlogic which is very dangerous here.
Already included it in my main post.

 

Maybe you ought to get a 24TB HDD and try it?

 

That would be interesting if Zidoo could do some real tests.

My initial question was about the max capacity of an external HDD plugged in USB to a Zidoo. I have a DAS, with 4 HDDs in individual mode, plugged to the Zidoo with one of the USB ports. I was curious to know if I could go over the 16TB limitation of the internal HDD in this situation.

 

It depends on the actual DAS specification. Some do have limits there too. These typical use ATA/USB chips to build these too. I am using those from Orico.

 

If they provide me with one then I will do the testing for them no problem. But won't buy one just for that fun.

 

Yes I know and I would like to use the max capacity recommended by them, that is over 16TB. With 4K, the needs for storage increases drastically.

 

You're right but the actual practice for such large storage is to get a NAS with no limitation from Zidoo. And those using USB with old SATA or HDD won't be larger for sure!!

 

For sure some use very large HDD's with a Docking Station. I do since many years. I dislike NAS as it is extremely inflexible, consumes lot of energy with noise as a bonus and ages all drives for no good reason.
Have several 16 TByte HDD's in use now. My Docking Station is automatically switched to my media player being powered by a simple 4 port USB Switch.

 

For those running in a network, NAS is an advantageous device. Noise yes, simply place it in a hidden place. Energy consumption yes, but set up sleep mode and it will be like docking station which is providing one user only. I'm also running a docking station serving one Z9XPro setting only.

 

For now, I expect an official answer about the max capacity for an external HDD plugged on one of the USB ports. This information would be extremely useful for a lot of users.

 

For External via USB or NAS no specifications are ever given by any brand or product that I have seen. One needs to rely on the specifications of the actual product being attached which is correct in my view.
Any problem or claim in respect to size also needs to be done with that product and the vendor of it.

Updated my post accordingly as it is a good question needing being answered.

 

Actually I using a WD Red Pro with 18TB without problems on internal Sata connector.

 

Not a problem until the very last sectors are written too. Excess is only 0.6 TByte and proves me nothing. How much of its capacity is used?

I recommend you reducing the partition to 17.2 TByte to avoid potential future (nasty) problems. Guided a few cases where it solved their problems.
But if ignored please share results with us when the 100% utilization point was reached.

 

Eki Shaw gave to us different HDDs tested by Zidoo and answered to my question about the ability to go over of 18TB of data on the HDD.

http://forum.zidoo.tv/index.php?threads/zidoo-8k-media-players-faq.98814/page-6#post-235096

 

Updated my post accordingly. It seems they went for full validation this time.
Excellent job Zidoo/Amlogic.

But be aware it is explicitly NOT for previous generations Zidoo players confirmed by Zidoo staff.

There are still complaints about NTFS HDD corruptions. Maybe it is SMB Server related?

 

Do the drives installed in the UHD8000 appear on any computer connected to the same network? Just wondering if I can drag and drop all the ripped MKV files from my Mac to the drive on the UHD8000.