I have this USB 3.5 enclosure (JMicron - vendor ID 0x2338) with a 320GB SATA HD inside. Before putting it into the enclosure I formatted it to FAT32 inside the comp through the internal SATA. My Macbook mounts the drive from the USB enclosure but is struggling with it, Linux also recognises it but states that it's corrupted and suggests to reformat it, Windows doesn't even detect it at all... As mentioned, the HD is working properly when I plug it in as internal SATA. The enclosure also works properly when a 160GB HD is inside. BTW the enclosure has its own power supply so I suppose this can't be a USB power issue. I can't find any precise info if and what a possible limitation on this box is. Is there a way (perhaps with some exotic commands) to find out what the technical restrictions of a device are? And IF there are capacity restrictions for USB enclosures, my big question is WHY? What does a SATA to USB converter have to do with HD capacities? It should just take whatever comes from and goes to the HD and send it on via USB. Any hint is warmly welcome indeed. cheers! P4 930, Zalman CNPS7700-Cu cooled Intel D945GPMLKR

Return it. I read it wrong and answer it wrong too. So get off my case you peanut.

lol that certainly is a helpful advice but only if the device was just purchased... The warranty is already expired and the enclosure still works with a lower capacity HD, so this would not even be a valid RMA. My questions still stands. What sense do capacity limitations on enclosures make if the drive is powered separately? Is there a way to find out what the limit is and ideally to hack the firmware to increase it? I reckon it's a waste to just chuck the box.