I’ve my Seagate STMP14000600 14TB Expansion HDD drive connected to Nighthawk WiFi Router (RAX30) router via the USB port, to be used/shared/accessed by all devices & PCs as a network drive (all connected on the same private network). The Drive has NTFS formatting and is recognized by the router Network/Device Name: \\readyshare. It displays it as having less than 1TB I think it was but, unfortunately, when mapped as a Windows Network Drive, it shows the assigned drive as having only 196GB!
Volume Name Total Space Free Space
\\readyshare\T_Drive All- no password All- no password T:\ EFI 196 MB 196 MB
I do NOT need the shared network drive to have or support a Bootable Windows operating system Partition. Just need it to store files (Documents), Pictures etc....
I do have SMBv1 enabled on my windows 10 machine (PC), OS Name: Microsoft Windows 10 Pro; Version 10.0.19045 Build 19045.
There are no connectivity issues when the drive is directly connected to any Windows 10 PC and the full <14TB available disk capacity is made available and accessible.
I’ve followed every step outlined in the “Share USB Storage Devices Attached to the Router” several times. I’ve read “ReadySHARE USB Storage GUI explained”, mapped the “Readyshare” drive to a Windows drive letter (using windows map-a-network-drive). I’ve followed (to the best of my abilities) just about ALL directly related or not suggestions "Help Communities" of both Netgear and Seagate have offered as " Sure Fixes" including but not limited to "GUID partition table (GPT) as only has the primary partition"……. This happened since Netgear’s new Firmware release and some software Engineer doing wrong data Type Casting in their code…. on ... and on..... but nothing seems to work, when mapped, it shows only as a 196GB drive! I don't expect or care if I don't see the entire 14TB of storage space, anything less like even a 1TB would suffice! Using the "readyshare" GUI, I've even tried to create several simple 1TB Partitioned drives with their own names, nothing works! Again, when mapped on Win as a Network drive, the capacity is only 196 MB.
I'm so... so.. frustrated and desperate! Does anyone know why??? Does anyone know of a solution or workaround?? Since I’m only a casual user, please elaborate on all suggestions and not just one sentence acronyms and jargons that only the Technical Elite can understand. Thanks
I’ve my Seagate STMP14000600 14TB Expansion HDD drive connected to Nighthawk WiFi Router (RAX30) router via the USB port, to be used/shared/accessed by all devices & PCs as a network drive (all connected on the same private network). The Drive has NTFS formatting and is recognized by the router Network/Device Name: \\readyshare. It displays it as having less than 1TB I think it was but, unfortunately, when mapped as a Windows Network Drive, it shows the assigned drive as having only 196GB!
This can happen when ReadySHARE does not like the partitioning and/or formatting of the USB drive.
Since I’m only a casual user, please elaborate on all suggestions and not just one sentence acronyms and jargons that only the Technical Elite can understand. Thanks
Unfortunately, while we try our best to provide user friendly answers, some issues require a little bit of research on the part of the user. Otherwise the replies would get out of hand.
Re: Nighthawk Router RAX30; USB Connected Drive is seen only as 196 MB by \\readyshare
Thank you for your mentioning of the same article that I had read and followed already with no avail! All suggestions and subsequent comments in the mentioned post that goes back to 2017 and R8500 & R9000 models suggesting "New Netgear Firmware Updates" as solutions, simply doesn't help with my situation since as I mentioned, I've the latest "Netgear Firmware" for Nighthawk ax2400 WiFi 6 Router RAX30 installed and yet, I still have the same issue!! Did I miss something?? I agree with you that this is indeed a "This can happen when ReadySHARE does not like the partitioning and/or formatting of the USB drive." but what is the correct expected "partitioning and/or formatting of the USB drive" that solves the problem since there seems to be no answer that I could find (I've tried all I could think of). Does anyone know? please...
I agree with you that this is indeed a "This can happen when ReadySHARE does not like the partitioning and/or formatting of the USB drive." but what is the correct expected "partitioning and/or formatting of the USB drive" that solves the problem since there seems to be no answer that I could find (I've tried all I could think of). Does anyone know?
I don't know whee you looked for information. I admit that the search feature is not great, but the manuals usually explain the requirements for USB storage and there are several KnowledgeBase articles.
No partitioning is allowed. ReadySHARE doesn't like them. It may see the smaller partition and ignore the larger ones with the data you want to get at. This a a regular issue on the community.
USB drives sometimes arrive with a partition for control software and other stuff, often to support Apple devices. This screws things up.
The manuals explain which format options ReadySHARE can handle.
Your USB drive might work even if it is not included in the following list. The USB drives listed below are only the drives that NETGEAR has tested and verified. If your USB drive is not listed, it just means that the USB device has not been tested and verified by NETGEAR.
Re: Nighthawk Router RAX30; USB Connected Drive is seen only as 196 MB by \\readyshare
FYI, I’ve looked for, found, and followed the same info & articles that you’re referring to as “KnowledgeBase articles” and are assuming I’ve missed finding. Have tried creating a “No Portioned “ Drive (erased all Partitions) along with all the other suggestions and none simply work! So, I guess you can say those who write these articles and write software’s like this useless ReadySHARE really don’t know what they’re doing and have no solutions other than try this and may work!. How many more Fix suggestions do I need to try?? Very disappointed at Netgear. What a shame to offer a USB interface that user can't even use. NO more buying Netgear junk with no support ever again!
FYI, I’ve looked for, found, and followed the same info & articles that you’re referring to as “KnowledgeBase articles” and are assuming I’ve missed finding. Have tried creating a “No Portioned “ Drive (erased all Partitions) along with all the other suggestions and none simply work!
I don't know what you used to do all that, I find it simplest to use Disk Management in Windows Control Panel to look for partitions. I can then play with partitions in there.
If a drive is just one partition, I can ignore that bit of the process.
FYI, I’ve looked for, found, and followed the same info & articles that you’re referring to as “KnowledgeBase articles” and are assuming I’ve missed finding.
I assumed that you hadn't found that because I believed you when you wrote:
what is the correct expected "partitioning and/or formatting of the USB drive" that solves the problem since there seems to be no answer that I could find
Netgear's support documentation and manuals are full of the information that you said that you could not find.
You also said earlier that you own a Seagate STMP14000600 14TB Expansion HDD.
That is the largest USB drive I have seen mentioned here. Netgear does not guarantee that ReadySHARE supports every USB drive on the planet. There are simply too many out there.
At one stage the top limit seemed to be around 2 TB. I have happily got an 8 TB Seagate drive to work. Maybe you have just found the new ceiling. I cant find anything abut 8 TB in Netgear's compatibility list:
Have you tried other drives USB to see if they work?
You also claimed that this issue cropped up in new firmware, Have you tried back tracking to confirm that this is the case?
So, I guess you can say those who write these articles and write software’s like this useless ReadySHARE really don’t know what they’re doing and have no solutions other than try this and may work!.
You can say what you like, but issues with USB drives usually go away when people follow those articles and read the manuals.
The bottom line is that readySHARE is a useful add in for routers. It has been around for years but hasn't seen much in the way of development. In that time USB drives have grown from being GB devices to large TB arrays, but USB is also a poor man's substitute for proper NAS storage.
Re: Nighthawk Router RAX30; USB Connected Drive is seen only as 196 MB by \\readyshare
Hello
I had the same issue with a Seagate 14TB STKP14000400 connected to a Netgear Nighthawk RAX38; I was only seeing 196MB when I mapped this drive on Windows 10 or 11. No size problem if directly connected to a PC.
I connected a Western Digital MyBook 12TB instead, and the RAX38 fully recognized it, without issue.
I then connected the 14TB Seagate to a TP-Link router, and it also showed only 196MB.
For the info, I had a Nighthawk r7800 x4s ac2600 for years that was also showing the whole 12TB on the WD drive.
So, this issue seems more related to the Seagate drive, or its size, than the routers.
Re: Nighthawk Router RAX30; USB Connected Drive is seen only as 196 MB by \\readyshare
Thanks for the useful info. Ironically, when I contacted Seagate about the issue, their Tech Support quickly blamed the Router Manufacturer and recommended getting the latest Router Driver/Firmware installed and offered the option of buying one of their co-op NAS systems instead!
Unfortunately, I only have several sizes of Seagate 10 - 18TB useless drives. Let me know if you ever find a work-a-round.
