SOLVED Ex-FreeNAS hard drives not showing full capacity in Windows

[wblock]

Additionally, describing the hardware used to connect the drives would have made this a bit easier to debug.

 

[Chris Moore]

I don't want you thinking I am trying to bash on you, but I feel like you have less experience with troubleshooting a problem and I wanted to give you some tips on how to troubleshoot hardware problems.

I've connected them to multiple windows machines and they only show them as having 746GB.

When you say that you have connected something to a machine, that would mean directly to the machine. Also, saying that you tried multiple machines is meant to eliminate the machine as the source of the fault to illustrate that the fault is not within the computer, but within the device being tested.
If you are using the same USB adapter between all the computers and all the drives, the thing that is the common element is the adapter. That would be true if it were just a dumb wire, because we have seen bad SATA cables cause communication errors between the system and the drive. You have four different drives all exhibiting the same fault, and you have the same fault on multiple computers. The common element is the adapter, which has a controller chip in it. It should have quickly occurred to you that the USB adapter might be at fault. Especially since USB to SATA adapters are notorious for being terrible.
The most basic troubleshooting would be to change the cable between the drive and the computer. That would have normally been done before switching to a different computer, but it would have been done in conjunction with switching computers. In future, you need to apply a more systematic approach to testing.
I don't understand why your first, and persistent thought was that FreeNAS was somehow at fault.

 

[wogggieee]

I never thought freenas was particularly at fault. I came here because it seems like a place that would be experienced with moving drives around from computer to computer often.

You're right, my experience isn't real great. I'm an engraver by trade and do IT type stuff for my own personal use, so the knowledge and experience is not as deep as many of you. What would occur to you as the logical first step would not always occur to someone as less experience. Seeing it now, from a 10000 foot view, that is the logical first step. But at the time I had never had an issue with that cable and became fixated on it being a problem with the drives in some way. Simply saying "you need to apply more systematic testing" isn't particularly helpful when the knowledge for such systematic testing is not there. It was a dumb mistake and as I said before, lesson learned.

 

[wblock]

But FreeNAS can be a reason for this. Or rather, leftover GPT formatting. And we did eventually get to the solution by using that absolutely last refuge of the problem solver: math. :)

 

[wogggieee]

Regardless, Thank you all for your help. I learned some new things.

 

[Chris Moore]

Simply saying "you need to apply more systematic testing" isn't particularly helpful when the knowledge for such systematic testing is not there.

Again, I am not bashing you. I may sound harsh through the interface of typing on a computer, but I am really trying to give you guidance to make your life easier for next time.
I understand that it isn't obvious to everyone, like when my car won't start, I am not an automotive engineer.
Please come ask questions any time. Happy to help.