# Ubuntu, formatting a 3TB drive December 28, 2014 · Josh Strange · Tags: 3TB, archive, command, drive, ext4, formatting, hard, line, linux, ubuntu Source: https://joshstrange.com/2014/12/28/ubuntu-formatting-a-3tb-drive/ There was a blog post that I have used multiple times to format a drive at or over 3TB in size. Unfortunately the original blog post recently went offline and I had to use the wayback machine to get it’s contents. The original URL of the post is: [here](http://amaras-tech.co.uk/article/158/Ubuntu,_formatting_a_3TB_drive) and a link to the wayback machine archive of it is: [here](https://web.archive.org/web/20130723053426/http://amaras-tech.co.uk/article/158/Ubuntu,_formatting_a_3TB_drive). If the original author puts the article back online I would be more than happy to link to it and remove the archived version I have posted below. I hope this helps other people as well but I am posting it here mainly as a guide for myself. TL;DR: 1. `lsblk` to find the drive name (will be something like `/dev/sdX` where X is a letter) 2. `sudo parted /dev/sdX` 3. In the parted interactive console type: 1. `(parted) mklabel gpt` 2. `(parted) unit TB` 3. `(parted) mkpart primary 0.00TB 3.00TB` (Changing `3.00TB` to the size of your drive) 4. `(parted) quit` 4. `sudo mkfs.ext4 /dev/sdX1` (Where X is the same as above and note the “1” now) 5. `sudo tune2fs -m 1 /dev/sdX1` 6. `mkdir /Your/Mount/Point/Here` 7. `sudo blkid` (Copy the UUID of your drive) 8. `sudo nano /etc/fstab` 9. Add the line `UUID=YOUR-UUID-HERE-XXXX /Your/Mount/Point/Here ext4 defaults 1 2` then save and exit 10. `sudo mount -a` Your drive will be partitioned, formatted as ext4, and mounted. Below is the original article: I started off following [the ubuntu guide for installing a new drive](https://web.archive.org/web/20130723053426/https://help.ubuntu.com/community/InstallingANewHardDrive), which uses fdsik to create the partitions how ever after formatting and mounting I ran `df -h:` ``` Filesystem Size Used Avail Use% Mounted on /dev/sdb1 2.0T 28G 1.9T 2% /mnt/kryten/disk5 ``` ## Which is not 3TB I then found [this article](https://web.archive.org/web/20130723053426/http://www.cyberciti.biz/tips/fdisk-unable-to-create-partition-greater-2tb.html) which worked in the long run not sure if I typo’d a command but similar to [this other user](https://web.archive.org/web/20130723053426/http://archlinuxarm.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1935&p=10490) I had to run through the commands a second time for them to work. To start with use `parted` instead of fdisk, this allows the gpt partition table that fdisk does not. ``` (parted) mklabel gpt Warning: The existing disk label on /dev/sdb will be destroyed and all data on this disk will be lost. Do you want to continue? Yes/No? yes (parted) unit TB (parted) mkpart primary 0.00TB 3.00TB Warning: You requested a partition from 0.00TB to 3.00TB. The closest location we can manage is 0.00TB to 0.00TB. Is this still acceptable to you? Yes/No? yes ``` basically after this point it showed up as a few KB after formatting, tried it again and it seemed to work much better. ``` (parted) mklabel gpt Warning: The existing disk label on /dev/sdb will be destroyed and all data on this disk will be lost. Do you want to continue? Yes/No? yes (parted) unit TB (parted) mkpart primary 0.00TB 3.00TB (parted) print odel: Unknown (unknown) Disk /dev/sdb1: 3001GB Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/4096B Partition Table: loop Number Start End Size File system Name Flags 1 0.00TB 3.00TB 3.00TB primary (parted) quit Information: You may need to update /etc/fstab. ``` ## Format ```sh $ sudo mkfs.ext4 /dev/sdb1 $sudo parted /dev/sdb1 (parted) print Model: Unknown (unknown) Disk /dev/sdb1: 3001GB Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/4096B Partition Table: loop Number Start End Size File system Flags 1 0.00B 3001GB 3001GB ext4 ``` ## Reduce Reserved Space By default 5% is reserved for the root to stop the driving becoming unusable when full, for data and not the main OS drive this does not matter too much, and 5% was decided when drives where much small. 5% of 3TB is 150 GB, way too much. Turn this down to 1% with: ```sh sudo tune2fs -m 1 /dev/sdb1 ``` ## Mount ```sh sudo mkdir /mnt/kryten/disk5 sudo mount /dev/sdb1 /mnt/kryten/disk5 ``` ## Find UUID ```sh $ sudo blkid /dev/sda1: UUID="c41cba49-bd3a-41d7-961c-b4ad45d48ed1" TYPE="ext4" /dev/sdb1: UUID="d822c6af-9802-4d00-8de8-61f1653a854a" TYPE="ext4" /dev/sdc1: UUID="59a61ceb-fee3-460a-97c5-e9f115776daf" TYPE="ext4" /dev/sdc5: UUID="80f9c384-9a5a-4563-921a-5c25628e1b2e" TYPE="swap" ``` ## Update /etc/fstab ``` $sudo vim /etc/fstab #/dev/sdb1 3TB drive replacing 1.5TB old UUID Below UUID=d822c6af-9802-4d00-8de8-61f1653a854a /mnt/kryten/disk4 ext4 rw,auto,user,exec,async,errors=remount-ro 0 1 #UUID=c41cba49-bd3a-41d7-961c-b4ad45d48ed1 /mnt/kryten/disk4 ext4 rw,auto,user,exec,async,errors=remount-ro 0 1 ``` --- **Authorship** · I write all content on this blog myself. I may use LLMs for review and feedback, but never to author the content.