[HDD] How to Format an HDD for Zappiti 4K HDR Range
The Zappiti 4K HDR media players are not able to format HDD themself. On the other hand, beyond 2.5TB HDDs can sometimes be poorly recognized if they are not properly formatted in NTFS / GPT partition. Indeed, beyond 2TB, HDDs recognition by Windows is different than smaller capacity. 2.5TB HDDs and beyond no longer use the classic partitioning mode "MBR" but they are using "GPT" (Guid Partition Table). MBR partitions are limited to 2TB.
IMPORTANT: You need to have only a single big partition. Multiple partitions are not supported in SATA.
If you have a MAC, you can format your disk in MAS OS partition (HFS+ Journaled).
Note: The MAC OS partitions are supported since the firmware release v3.06.
IMPORTANT: You need to have only a single big partition. Multiple partitions are not supported in SATA.
If you have a MAC, you can format your disk in MAS OS partition (HFS+ Journaled).
Note: The MAC OS partitions are supported since the firmware release v3.06.
Case 1: you don't yet purchased a hard drive
Given the complexity of the formatting process and the many pre-requisites, we strongly recommend you to purchase a pre-formatted hard drive you can find in some computer dealers or directly on the Zappiti Store.
Case 2: you already have purchased an unformatted HDD
Pre-requisites to format your hard drive:
- A docking station for hard drives (docking station) last generation compatible with the UASP transfer protocol USB 3.0.
- A computer with a USB 3.0 port.
- Windows 8 Minimum or Mac OS X Yosemite Minimum.
- Processor and operating system 64-bit.
Warning! The computer age (UEFI BIOS) can cause compatibility limitations.
Note: You can also connect SATA hard disk of a rack instead of the dock if your computer is equipped or directly connect a SATA hard drive to the inside of the tower.
Warning! It is imperative not to activate Data Compression in NTFS.
How to format an HDD in NTFS (Windows procedure)
1. Connect your hard drive dock to a USB 3.0 port on your computer.
2. On the desktop of your computer, right-click the "This PC" icon and then click the "Manage" option.
3. In the Computer Management window, click "Disk Management".
4. Right click on the disk you want to format then click the "Add a simple Volume" option.
5. Select the option GPT. Then click on OK.
6. Then click on the following button several times until you reach the following screen:
Before you click Next, select the following options:
- File System: NTFS.
- Size of Allocation Unit: 64 KB.
- Enter a hard disk name in "Volume Name" .
- Select the Perform one Format.Then click on next.
7. Wait until the end of the procedure, then make sure that your hard disk is formatted correctly in NTFS.
8. Your hard drive is now ready to use. Remove the hard drive from the docking station and insert it into your Zappiti One 4K HDR or Zappiti Duo 4K HDR or connect it to your Zappiti Mini 4K HDR using the supplied SATA cable. If it is an external hard drive, connect it to your Zappiti player.
Warning! In some cases, hard disks formatted in multiple partitions may not be recognized in the Zappiti 4K HDR player. If so, please reformat your hard drive into a single primary (not logical) partition. Multiple partitions are not supported in SATA inside the Zappiti. DISKPART and other softwares does not show the hidden partitions. So if you drive does not work on your Zappiti, make sure that there is only one partition on the drive using another format software.
If it does not work, we advise you to format your drive in ExFAT in single partition.
For formatting hard drives in ExFAT, we highly recommend Paragon Hard Disk Manager software:
Windows:
https://www.paragon-software.com/home/hdm-windows/
Windows:
https://www.paragon-software.com/home/hdm-windows/
You can also use the tool WD Drive Utilities for Windows (also available for MAC)
How to Format a Drive or Partition with the HFS+ File System (MAC procedure)
This brief guide will show you how to use Disk Utility to format a drive or partition with the HFS+ file system.
Launch Disk Utility by selecting Applications -> Utilities -> Disk Utility. Select the drive you want to format from the list on the left. Important: Make sure to select the correct drive. You do notwant to format the incorrect one, as formatting will erase all the data on that drive.
Click the Erase tab, and from the Volume Format: list, select Mac OS Extended (Journaled). Give the drive a name (in my example I named it MyDrive). When you’re ready, click the Erase… button.
You’ll be prompted with a confirmation screen. Click Erase.
The status of the format will be shown in the bottom of the Disk Utility window.
Once completed, your drive might be listed as MS-DOS (FAT), and it may not be named correctly. Ignore that.
If you select the partition itself (under the drive in the left column) you may notice that the name isn’t “correct” either. Ignore that too.
Your drive will appear on your desktop, correctly named. If you get the info on that drive (select the drive and click Apple Key + i) you’ll see that it’s formatted as HFS+.
Multiple partitions are not supported in SATA inside the Zappiti.
Troubleshooting
Problem: 746.49 GB recognized only.
Solution 1: The problem can be solved by plugging the hard drive into the tower of a PC and not in a USB enclosure.
Solution 2: The problem can be solved by using gparted and creating NTFS from this software on hiren's boot CD.
Solution 3: For its high capacity drives, Western Digital uses "Advanced Format Table". Please install a recent sata driver (iatacd) for full support of this kind of discs.
Solution 4: The Intel computer processors are using Intel® Rapid Storage Technology (Intel® RST) for high capacity drives (4k sector disks). Intel deliver a specific procedure (click here to follow the procedure...). Follow the procedure and restart.
Solution 5: Western Digital provides a formatting utility specifically designed for hard drives: "Advanced Format Hard Drive Download Utility".
Solution 6: If your hard drive is equipped with "jumpers", place a jumper on pins 5-6 to activate the OPT1 mode and allow speeds of 1.5 Gb / s.
Solution 7: if you are using multiple partitions, remove the partitions to get only one single partition. Multiple partitions are not supported in SATA inside the Zappiti.
To know if your HDD is mounted (reconnized) on the Zappiti player, you can check the USB icon on the main menu:
