WD HDD with Power Supply but no share folder

[neo207]

Hello. I tried to use a USB HDD by WD (Western Digital). The capacity is 2,72TB. The name of the HDD is shown in System options. I can choose and reboot the Pi, but the storage is still full (the sd card is full and this is shown in options).
When i plug the HDD to my computer, there is no share folder created.

I tried a small usb stick with 32gb - after the reboot, the share folder is there...

So does anyone have an idea what i could do? i formatted the hdd to ntfs, exfat, fat32... always same result! Name is shown in recalbox but the space itself is ignored bi the Pi4 with 4GB.

[Zing]

@neo207 See if these videos help you (enable subtitles):

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=65deA8c-stM&list=PL2oNQ0AT7fx2ExiSNrfHUzga5GnogI4sh&index=5&ab_channel=Recalbox
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=skeULeTu7p8&list=PL2oNQ0AT7fx2ExiSNrfHUzga5GnogI4sh&index=23&ab_channel=Recalbox

[neo207]

@Zing Thanks but this works - as i mentioned - with my small usb stick. it does not work with the big HDD. it is shown in recalbox but a restart does not create the share folder as it should do...

[Zing]

@neo207 Check formatting, use exFAT or FAT32.
Try to format the HD with some program more specific for this function (if you can).

[neo207]

@Zing i used windows 10 and guiformat...
i even changed the HDD and took a Toshiba 1TB HDD with external power supply. same result...

i am about to erase everything and try from sratch - do you think it could help formatting the micro sd and flashing recalbox again?

[Zing]

@neo207 I don't have an Rpi4 and I can't reproduce your problem.
Do you happen to have a Nespi 4 case? If so, check this out (if not, just ignore it):
https://forum.recalbox.com/topic/21903/recalbox-7-0-1-nespi-4-recalbox-freezes-when-using-the-ssd

I don't think that re-installing the Recalbox will solve the problem (of course it is always good to test all possibilities, so, if possible, test, but I would not create many expectations).

I'm believing that the problem is with your connection between the HD and Recalbox, the cables or adapters you're using, but I'm not sure how you can confirm this:

• If the pendrives work, the problem is not with the Recalbox or the RPi's USB port
• If it doesn't work with another HD, the problem is not the HD itself.

Automatically, the problem is between the Rpi's USB and the HD: the cables or adapters you're using.

You said that HD is recognized by Recalbox, and that you managed to make it work on a USB stick, so if it were me, I would do a test:

• Have Recalbox create the SHARE partition on a pendrive (or, use what you have already done, if you have not already formatted it)
• Format the hard drive in exFAT, and manually create the SHARE partition
• Copy all data from the SHARE partition of the pendrive to the HD
• Test in your Recalbox what happens.

[neo207]

@Zing you won't believe it but using one of the usb 3.0 ports did the job... i had one usb 2.0 port left and tried it all the time. the pen drive works there, the hdds don'`t...
just tried out the blue usb 3.0 ports and the hdd has been recognized in 9 out of 10 times... (once it wasn't, but i cannot figure out why)