ODroid HC4 board which hard disk size supported by SATA?

[Martin_P008]

Which hard disk size does the SATA controller support on the HC4 board ?

For example the 18TB Toshiba Enterprise Capacity MG09ACA 512e SATA 6Gb/s is possible?

[odroid]

We've tested 14TB WD Red HDDs with HC4 and it worked fine.
Since there is no HW & SW restrictions, 18TB or higher capacity HDDs should work.

[hominoid]

Which hard disk size does the SATA controller support on the HC4 board ?

For example the 18TB Toshiba Enterprise Capacity MG09ACA 512e SATA 6Gb/s is possible?

I recently picked up the 16TB version of this drive for my HC4 and it runs fine.

[tomerr]

i'm using HGST/WD WUH721414ALE6L4 14TB drive and it runs fine.

[j.fikar]

I've tried 18TB WD Ultrastart and also 18TB TOSHIBA MG09ACA1. They work.

[j.fikar]

However, there might be a slight problem with these 18TB disks. Maybe because they have increased power consumption? This is what happened:

Bought HC4 unit 1, it was working 24x7 with two 18TB disks. After 13 months there is no 12V to one of the SATA ports (the one close to the clock). So 3.5" disks do not start. 2.5" disks still work in this port. Closer inspection revealed the burnt step-down U24. I've returned the unit 1 in warranty and received a new one. I thought it could have been power surge or a simple coincidence.

Meanwhile I purchased another HC4 unit2, running also 24x7 with two 18TB disks. Since two days there is no 12V to one of the SATA ports (this time the one closer to HDMI). I just checked the purchase date and it is again 13 months. This time I don't see any damage on U21. I'll try replace unit 2, which is still in warranty.

The replaced unit 1 (let's call it unit 3) will be 13 next year in February. So we will see.

Maybe there is too much stress on the two voltage regulators U21 and U24 with these big disks?

Burnt U24:
https://imgur.com/a/xplehSa

[odroid]

I think those 7200rpm + 9disks HDDs seem to have a much larger spinning up power current (in-rush-current)
BTW, do you use our 15V/4A PSU? https://www.hardkernel.com/shop/15v-4a- ... y-eu-plug/

[j.fikar]

Both unit1 and unit2 were filled with one 7200rpm 18TB and one 5400rpm 18TB disks. Otherwise you are correct, the current to spin-up is probably high. It would help to have staggered spin-up. Not sure, how difficult is it to implement to the SATA controller or to the Petitboot though. It also looks like the disks are actually spined-up twice. Once on power-on and a second time after Petitboot.


I was thinking that the elevated current draw from the PSU can only drop the input voltage, which in turn should not damage the voltage regulators, right? I think one of the units had 15V/4A PSU, the other one even 15V/4.33A PSU. Not sure which had which.

https://rpishop.cz/zdroje/1773-21x55mm- ... cerny.html - this one looks like your official one.

https://rpishop.cz/zdroje/1663-sunny-21 ... cerny.html

Both were recommended by the local seller for HC4.

Now, maybe a week or two before unit2 failed I changed the two PSU for one industrial 15V/10A PSU with PFC: Mean Well RSP-150-15.

https://meanwell-ps.com/products/rsp-150-15

and I'm trying not to start both units at the same time.

[odroid]

Very reasonable approach.
Please don't forget to use a thick (AWG18 or thicker) DC cable when you try the industrial PSU.

[j.fikar]

Yes, the cables are AWG18. It looks like on your official PSU the cable is as well AWG18.

[tomerr]

Both unit1 and unit2 were filled with one 7200rpm 18TB and one 5400rpm 18TB disks. Otherwise you are correct, the current to spin-up is probably high. It would help to have staggered spin-up. Not sure, how difficult is it to implement to the SATA controller or to the Petitboot though. It also looks like the disks are actually spined-up twice. Once on power-on and a second time after Petitboot.

@odroid I really hope you could fix somehow the "double spin-up" issue . it couldn't be doing good to the hard drives on every boot

[mad_ady]

I'm guessing the second spin up happens when the normal kernel boots and resets/initializes the sata controller. Not sure how feasible it is to change the driver so that it doesn't initialize the controller, but picks up the state from petitboot. Seems complicated to me.

[rooted]

While not the best option you could power the drive/s externally.

[j.fikar]

While not the best option you could power the drive/s externally.

Then you'd need something like this https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005001616597571.html (and change the jack to female) with this https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32900884784.html, right? As there is not only the 12V, but also 3.3 and 5V.

And also a sata data cable.